Steve Kordek (December 26, 1911 – February 19, 2012) was an American businessman of Polish descent who was best known for the design of the

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 ...

machines. Kordek is credited with designing over 100 pinball machines. The last game Kordek helped design was 2003's ''Vacation America''. Among the companies that Kordek designed for are

Genco is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as ''Honey and Clover'', ''Nodame Cantabile'', ' ...

, Williams and

Bally Bally may refer to: Places *Bally, a historical spelling of Bali *Bally (from the Irish ''baile'') or townland, a traditional division of land, as well as a common prefix in the names of settlements throughout Ireland *Bally, Bally-Jagachha, a c ...

. Kordek was credited with many innovations to pinball machines. He revised the pin game machines of the 1930s by putting two inward-facing flippers at the bottom of the playing field that were controlled by two buttons on the side of the machine. Other innovations still used today are drop targets and multi-ball mode. Kordek died on February 19, 2012, at age 100. Kordek can be seen at the age of 81 when the television show ''

Wild Chicago ''Wild Chicago'' is a television series that aired on Chicago's WTTW (a local PBS affiliate) from 1989 to 2003. The show took viewers on a trip through Chicago's "urban jungle", highlighting hundreds of offbeat and unusual people, places, and e ...

'' toured the Williams factory in 1993

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External links

Wild Chicago visits Williams Pinball
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YouTube
1911 births 2012 deaths American centenarians Men centenarians American people of Polish descent Pinball game designers 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub