''Gorgar'' is a 1979

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

machine designed by Barry Oursler and released by

Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. William ...

. It was the first speech-synthesized ("talking") pinball machine, containing a vocabulary of seven words ("Gorgar", "speaks", "beat", "you", "me", "hurt", "got") that were combined to form varying broken-English phrases, such as "Gorgar speaks" and "Me got you". The pinball machine also has a heartbeat sound effect that increases in speed during longer gameplay.

Digital versions

''Gorgar'' was available on

FarSight Studios FarSight Studios (formerly Farsight Technologies) is an American video game developer established in 1988 by Jay Obernolte. They are an official licensed developer for all current home and handheld consoles including the Sony PlayStation 4, Play ...

' 2012 release ''

The Pinball Arcade ''The Pinball Arcade'' is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of machin ...

'' for multiple platforms until June 29, 2018, when the license for inclusion of Williams and Bally tables in the game expired. The table is included in the '' Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection''. Unauthorized reproductions of this table are available for ''

Visual Pinball Visual Pinball is a freeware and source available game engine, video game engine for pinball tables and similar games such as pachinko machines. The software is composed of an level editor, editor and the Computer simulation, simulator part itself ...

''.

In popular culture

The machine appears in the 5th episode of the 2nd season of

Highway to Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth in order to help people in need. Victor ...

, appropriately an episode in which the Devil himself appeared. German

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael We ...

's 1985 album '' Walls of Jericho'' included a track titled "Gorgar" that symbolized the machine as a form of

gambling addiction Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...

References

1979 pinball machines Williams pinball machines {{pinball-stub