''The Spirit of '76'' was the first
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
-based production
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 ...
table, i.e. the first solid state pinball table. It was released by
Mirco Games, Inc. on July 4 1975. The pinball machine should not be confused with the pinball machine ''
Spirit of 76'' by Gottlieb.
Technology
The table was based on the technology
Dave Nutting Associates
David Judd Nutting (December 26, 1930 – September 23, 2020) was an industrial design engineer who played a role in the early video game industry. He also designed the exterior of the Jeep Wagoneer.
Career
David Judd Nutting was born in 1930 to ...
had created for
Bally in 1974 which used Intel's
4004. The firm licensed the technology to
Mirco Games in 1975 to create the table, since Bally was not initially interested in the system. The patent was later assigned to Bally whose first solid state pinball machine, ''Freedom'', released in 1976. The table had a fairly small production run and was regarded as having an unattractive design by critics.
The CPU is a
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
6800 with a single 6820 used for I/O. The program memory is stored in ten 512 x 4 bit bipolar PROMs which is no more than 2.5 Kbytes of program memory. RAM is 256 bytes, using two 2112 static RAMs. The CPU, score LEDs, backbox displays, and lamp and solenoid drivers are all contained on the main board. The cabinet contains the power supply, and EM-style chime unit.
One change from electro-mechanical (EM) games is that solid state games could register all hits of targets whereas EM games could only activate one relay at a time so if multiple targets were hit in quick succession only the first one registered.
References
External links
''The Spirit of '76'' on Arcade Archive''The Spirit of '76'' on the Internet Pinball DatabaseRecent Auction Results for ''The Spirit of '76''
1975 pinball machines
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