Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for '' Berzerk''. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.

Stern Electronics, Inc.

Stern Electronics was formed when Sam and Gary Stern bought the financially troubled

Chicago Coin Chicago Coin was one of the early major manufacturers of pinball tables founded in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in 1932 by Samuel H. Gensburg and Samuel Wolberg to operate in the coin-operated amusement industry. In 1977, ...

in 1977. Sam had previously owned the amusements manufacturer Williams, purchasing half of the company in 1947 and selling it to the Seeburg Corporation in 1964. Gary had trained under his father at Williams, and from 1973-1977 the two ran the company. Stern Electronics, Inc. acquired their core inventory by purchasing Chicago Coin's assets at bankruptcy sales; as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed. The first two games made by Stern were ''Stampede'' and ''Rawhide'', both originally made by Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977. They produced the first solid-state pinball machine, called ''Pinball'' that year. By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games. In 1979, Stern acquired the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt Seeburg Corporation, and the company became known as Stern / Seeburg. When arcade

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s became popular in 1980, Stern Electronics produced '' Berzerk''. They largely stopped producing pinball machines. In 1983, Stern became one of many victims of the amusement industry economic shakeout that occurred. In 1984, Sam Stern died and Stern Electronics closed in 1985. From 1985 to 1986, personnel from Stern Electronics formed a venture known as Pinstar that produced conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines, with Gary Stern continuing to function as president. He then went on to help found Data East's pinball division and continued to lead there when it was acquired by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in 1994. While DataEast did operate out of the old Stern Electronics property, sources differ on whether they acquired the company or just the facilities. On March 16, 2023,

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including ''Berzerk'' and '' Frenzy''.

Stern Pinball, Inc.

By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead.

left the pinball industry by spinning off their pinball division and selling it to Gary Stern, and Stern Pinball was born. Stern Pinball became the only commercial pinball manufacturer left, but continued to struggle in the 2000s, producing just 10,000 machines per year and selling the majority of them overseas. As of 2023, longtime designers Brian Eddy, John Borg, and George Gomez are designing pinball games at Stern Pinball, alongside top-ranking competitive player Keith Elwin and popular pinball streamer Jack Danger. Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Some Stern pinball tables were also digitally released through '' The Pinball Arcade'' and '' Stern Pinball Arcade''.

Lists of machines and games

Stern Electronics

* ''Stampede'' (1977) * ''Rawhide'' (1977) * ''Disco'' (1977) * ''Pinball'' (1977) * ''Stingray'' (1977) * ''Stars'' (1978) * ''Memory Lane'' (1978) * ''Lectronamo'' (1978) * ''Wild Fyre'' (1978) * ''Nugent'' (1978) * ''Dracula'' (1979) * ''Trident'' (1979) * ''Hot Hand'' (1979) * ''Magic'' (1979) * ''Cosmic Princess'' (1979) (Produced in Australia by Leisure and Allied Industries under license from Stern Electronics Inc) * ''Meteor'' (1979) (Highest production of all Stern Electronics' Pinballs) * ''Galaxy'' (1980) * ''Ali'' (1980) * ''Big Game'' (1980) (First game to incorporate seven-digit scoring in the digital era) * ''Seawitch'' (1980) * ''Cheetah'' (1980) * ''Quicksilver'' (1980) * ''Star Gazer'' (1980) * '' Flight 2000'' (1980) (Stern's first game with multi-ball and speech) * ''Nine Ball'' (1980) * ''Freefall'' (1981) * ''Lightning'' (1981) * ''Split Second'' (1981) * ''Catacomb'' (1981) * ''Viper'' (1981) * ''Dragonfist'' (1982) * ''Iron Maiden'' (1982) (Unrelated to the British heavy metal band) * ''Orbitor 1'' (1982) (Featured a 3d-vacuum formed playfield with spinning rubber bumpers causing frenetic ball action; it was the company's last released game) * ''Cue'' (1982) (Six machines built) * ''Lazer Lord'' (1984) (One prototype built)

Stern Pinball

Arcade games manufactured by Stern

* '' Astro Invader'' (1980) (programmed by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

) * '' Berzerk'' (1980) * ''The End'' (1980) (programmed by

) * '' Scramble'' (1981) (programmed by Konami) * '' Super Cobra'' (1981) (programmed by Konami) * ''Moon War'' (1981) * '' Turtles'' (1981) (programmed by

) * ''Strategy X'' (1981) (programmed by

) * ''Jungler'' (1981) (programmed by

) * '' Armored Car'' (1981) * '' Amidar'' (1981) (programmed by

) * '' Frenzy'' (1982) * ''Tazz-Mania'' (1982) * '' Tutankham'' (1982) (programmed by Konami) * '' Pooyan'' (1982) (programmed by Konami) * ''Dark Planet'' (1982) (designed by Erick Erickson and Dan Langlois) * ''

Rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injury, injuries after an incident. It may be facilitated by a range of tools and equipm ...

'' (1982) * ''Calipso'' (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics) * ''

Anteater Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue"), commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they ar ...

'' (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics) * ''Mazer Blazer'' (1982) * '' Lost Tomb'' (1982) * '' Bagman'' (Le Bagnard) (1982) (programmed by Valadon Automation) * ''Pop Flamer'' (1982) (programmed by Jaleco) * ''Star Jacker'' (1983) (programmed by

) * ''Minefield'' (1983) * '' Cliff Hanger'' (1983) (laserdisc game using video footage from TMS) * ''Great Guns'' (1984) * ''Goal to Go'' (1984) (laserdisc game) * ''Super Bagman'' (1984) (programmed by Valadon Automation)

References

External links

* {{official website, 1=http://www.sternpinball.com/, 2=Stern Pinball, Inc. official website
List of Stern Pinball Machines
at Kineticist Companies based in Chicago Companies based in Cook County, Illinois Pinball manufacturers Video game companies of the United States Elk Grove Village, Illinois Entertainment companies established in 1977 Video game companies established in 1977 Manufacturing companies established in 1977