Zaccaria, (later briefly reorganized under Mr. Game before ending production) was an Italian company of

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 ...

and

arcade machine An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

s that existed in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

from 1974 until 1990. The factory was sold to tecnoplay.

History

The company was founded as a manufactory for pinball arcade games in Bologna by the three brothers Marino, Franco and Natale Zaccaria. The logo consists of their initials. Zaccaria was led by Marino Zaccaria, a former manager of a bar near Bologna. At their best time, Zaccaria was the third largest company of pinball machines in the world after

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 ...

and Williams. The company also entered into the

video arcade game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

sector in the late 1970s. Therefore, they licensed games and developed some games with their own designs. There are at least 47 different Zaccaria pinball machines known to exist although some are just variations of the same game.

Zaccaria pinball machines

* ''Tropical'' (1974) * ''Cine Star'' (1974) * ''Top Hand'' (1974) * ''Granada'' (1974) * ''Red Show'' (1975) * ''Ten Up'' (1975) * ''Lucky Fruit'' (1975) * ''Ten Stars'' (1976) * ''Moon Flight'' (1976) * ''Wood's Queen'' (1976) * ''Aerobatics'' (1977) * ''Circus'' (1977) * ''Combat'' (1977) * ''Nautilus'' (1977) * ''Universe'' (1977) * ''Supersonic'' (1977) * ''Queen's Castle'' (1978) * ''Winter Sports'' (1978) * ''House of Diamonds'' (1978) * ''Strike'' (1978) * ''Future World'' (1978) * ''Ski Jump'' (1978) * ''Shooting the Rapids'' (1979) * ''Hot Wheels'' (1979) * ''Space City'' (1979) * ''Fire Mountain'' (1980) * ''Star God'' (1980) * ''Space Shuttle'' (1980) * ''Earth Wind Fire'' (1981) * ''Locomotion'' (1981) * ''Soccer Kings'' (1982, released in the US by Bhuzac) * ''Pinball Champ '82'' (1982) * ''Pinball Champ'' (1983, released in the US by Bhuzac) * ''Time Machine'' (1983) * ''Farfalla'' (1983, released in the US by Bhuzac) * ''Devil Riders'' (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac) * ''Magic Castle'' (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac) * ''Robot'' (1985) * ''Clown'' (1985) * ''Pool Champion'' (1985) * ''Mystic Star'' (1986) * ''Blackbelt'' (1986) * ''Mexico ’86'' (1986) * ''Zankor'' (1986) * ''Spooky'' (1987) * ''Star's Phoenix'' (1987) * ''New Star's Phoenix'' (1987)

Zaccaria arcade machines

* ''TV-Joker'' (1974), ''

PONG ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...

'' clone * ''Circus'' (1977), licensed Exidy ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

'' * ''The Invaders'' (1978), ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...

'' clone * ''Astro Wars'' (1979), port of Data East '' Astro Fighter'' * ''Dodgem'' (1979), port of Sega '' Head On'' * ''Galaxia'' (1979), port of Namco ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...

'' * ''Quasar'' (1980), Zaccaria Original, distributed in US by US Billiards * ''Moon Crest'' (1980), ''Quasar'' machine with a space fortress side art * ''Firebird'' (1980), licensed Amstar ''

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

'' * ''Space Pirate'' (1980), copy of Cinematronics' ''

Rip-Off ''Rip Off'' is a multidirectional shooter with black and white vector graphics written by Tim Skelly and released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. It was the first shooter with cooperative gameplay and an early game to exhibit flocking b ...

'' * ''Puckman'' (1980), copy of Namco ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'' * ''Scramble'' (1980), licensed Konami ''

Scramble Scramble, Scrambled, or Scrambling may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Scramble'' (video game), a 1981 arcade game Music Albums * ''Scramble'' (album), an album by Atlanta-based band the Coathangers * ''Scrambles'' (album) ...

'' * ''Buck Rogers'' (1981), licensed Sega ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

'' * ''Vanguard'' (1981), licensed SNK ''

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

'' * ''Super Cobra'' (1981), licensed Konami '' Super Cobra'' * ''Frogger'' (1981), licensed Konami ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'' * ''Crazy Kong'' (1981), licensed Falcon ''

Crazy Kong is an arcade game developed by Falcon, released in 1981 and similar to Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong''. Although commonly believed to be a bootleg version, it was officially licensed for operation only in Japan when Nintendo couldn't keep up with d ...

'' * ''Pac and Paint'' (1981), port of Kural ''

Crush Roller , released as ''Make Trax'' in North America, is a 1981 puzzle-maze game developed by Alpha Denshi and released for arcades by Kural Samno Electric in Japan. It was licensed in Europe to Exidy, who released it under its original title ''Crush R ...

'' * ''Zaxxon'' (1981), port of Sega ''

Zaxxon is an isometric shooter arcade game, developed and released by Sega in 1982, in which the player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki is also credited for having worked on the d ...

'' * ''Hustler'' (1981), licensed '' Video Hustler'' * ''Comidar'' (1981), licensed Konami '' Amidar'' * ''Fitter'' (1981), licensed '' Round Up'' * ''Laser Battle'' (1981), Zaccaria Original, distributed in US by Midway by the title ''Lazarian'' * ''Scorpion'' (1982), ? * ''Sea Battle'' (1982), ? * ''Dribbling'' (1982), port of ''Dribbling'' by Model Racing * ''Jump Bug'' (1982), port Rock-Ola ''

Jump Bug is a 1981 scrolling shooter platform game developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei Corporation. It was distributed in arcades by Sega in Japan and Europe, and by Rock-Ola in North America. It was the first platform game to include hor ...

'' * ''Fantasy'' (1982), port Rock-Ola ''

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

'' * ''Cat and Mouse'' (1982), Zaccaria Original * ''Eyes'' (1982), licensed Techstar ''

Eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...

'' * ''Mr. Do!'' (1982), licensed Universal ''

Mr. Do! is a 1982 maze game developed by Universal. It is the first arcade video game to be released as a conversion kit for other arcade machines; Taito published the conversion kit in Japan. The game was inspired by Namco's ''Dig Dug'' released earl ...

'' * ''Eggor'' (1983), Telko ''Eggor'' * ''Money Money'' (1983, released in the US by Bhuzac), Zaccaria Original * ''Hyper Sports'' (1983), licensed Konami ''

Hyper Sports ''Hyper Sports'', known in Japan as is an Olympic video games, Olympic-themed sports video game released by Konami for Arcade game, arcades in 1984 in video games, 1984. It is the sequel to 1983's ''Track & Field (video game), Track & Field'' and ...

'' * ''Hyper Olympics'' (1983), licensed Konami '' Hyper Olympics'' * ''Shooting Gallery'' (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac), developed by Seatongrove * ''Jack Rabbit'' (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac), Zaccaria Original

Digital recreations

Magic Pixel Kft. released ''Zaccaria Pinball'' for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

as well as

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

that consists of digital recreations of classic Zaccaria pinball machines. Versions for

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

as well as

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

were released on August 31, 2017. In July 2018, it was released for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

, April 2019 for

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, and August 2020 for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Digital pinball machines

There are 42 digital tables released. * ''Aerobatics'' * ''Blackbelt'' * ''Cine Star'' * ''Circus'' * ''Clown'' * ''Combat'' * ''Devil Riders'' * ''Earth Wind Fire'' * ''Farfalla'' * ''Fire Mountain'' * ''Future World'' * ''Granada'' * ''Hot Wheels'' * ''House of Diamonds'' * ''Locomotion'' * ''Lucky Fruit'' * ''Magic Castle'' * ''Mexico ’86'' * ''Moon Flight'' * ''Mystic Star'' * ''Nautilus'' * ''Pinball Champ 82'' * ''Pinball Champ 83'' * ''Pool Champion'' * ''Postal Redux'' * ''Red Show'' * ''Robot'' * ''Shooting the Rapids'' * ''Soccer Kings'' * ''Space Shuttle'' * ''Spooky'' * ''Star God'' * ''Star's Phoenix'' * ''Strike'' * ''Supersonic'' * ''Time Machine'' * ''Top Hand'' * ''Tropical'' * ''Universe'' * ''Winter Sports'' * ''Wood's Queen'' * ''Zankor''

Company Mr. Game

Zaccaria was briefly reorganized under the label Mr. Game before ending production. The company Mr. Game produced pinball machines from 1988 until 1990. Under the Mr. Game label, the company introduced a radical redesign of the traditional pinball cabinet. The commonly known rectangular cabinet containing the 'playfield' was updated into a more modern look with a different shaped box, and trigger buttons for flipper control. The legs were also more angular in support compared to the mostly vertical legs used by other manufacturers. Additionally, the 'backbox' eliminated the traditional numeric or alpha-numeric score and status displays in favor of a small color TV screen, sometimes containing video game elements.

Mr. Game pinball machines

* Dakar (1988) * Fast Track * Mac Attack (1989) * Motor Show (1989, released in the US by United Artists Theatre Amusements) * Sofficini Dakar * World Cup '90 (1990)

Successor tecnoplay

After bankruptcy, the factory in Bologna of Zaccaria was sold to tecnoplay in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

, that produced pinball machines from 1987 - 1989 and is still in business as an importer, reseller and maintainer of pinball machines, spare parts, arcade and vending machines and other amusement games. Tecnoplay is managed by Mauro Zaccaria, the son of Marino Zaccaria, one of the founders of the company Zaccaria.

Tecnoplay pinball machines

* Devil King (1987) * Scramble (1987) * X-Force (1987) * Space Team (1989) * Hi-Ball (1989)

References

External links

Zaccaria at The Internet Pinball database

Zaccaria Forum and Database

List of Zaccaria pinball machines

Zaccaria arcade machines

Zaccaria arcade collection and book of production

Zaccaria company information

Zaccaria at The International Arcade Museum
* {{MobyGames, id=/zaccaria-pinball, name=Zaccaria Pinball
Official Zaccaria Pinball support site

Zaccaria parts & diagnostic tools

'Arcade Raid! Euro Zaccaria Rescue'
retrospective on discovering disused Zaccaria machines (2017-07-28, Tony. 8 arcade coin-ops, 2 pinball machines & 2 cocktail tables.)
Mr. Game at The Internet Pinball database

Mr. Game at The International Arcade Museum

Tecnoplay at The Internet Pinball database

Tecnoplay at The International Arcade Museum

Zaccaria Pinball Unofficial "Hall of Wizards" Steam
Android (operating system) games Entertainment companies of Italy IOS games Defunct manufacturing companies of Italy Manufacturing companies based in Bologna Pinball manufacturers Pinball video games PlayStation 4 games Windows games Linux games