James Bond (1980)

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Backbox & Videomode

None

This machine has no dot matrix display thus it has no videmode.

Noteworthy features

• None

Trivia

Gottlieb's pinball interpretation of James Bond proved to be less exciting and entertaining than even George Lazenby's one-off dismal portrayal of the world's most popular spy. The concept of play limited by time was as unpalatable to player's as sleeping with the same girl twice was to Bond. Imagine playing the first ball for a while and then upon its draining seeing the Game Over light flashing...."hey, where are my other balls?......hummphh!" Gottlieb tried various remedies including a sticker for the playfield apron (see apron picture in the gallery) to try to get across to players that this was a time-based game. And as we know, nobody reads the instruction card anyway. Finally, Gottlieb hastily issued replacement software allowing regular 3 or 5-ball play but it was too late and also didn't fit to the playfield instructions offering time units when hit/lit. The original timed game is much more challenging and fits well to the James Bond "beat-the-clock and save the world" scenario. The pin's artwork is "Moonraker" vintage, and features Roger Moore as Bond and of course the usual bevy of beautiful Bond girls. Two images are taken directly from the movie poster: on the backglass is Bond's adversary of the time, Jaws (Richard Kiel), whilst on the large upper left plastic shield is the villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), together with the space shuttle "Moonraker", and the submersible Lotus Esprit. James Bond appeared again in another pinball adventure: Sega's "Goldeneye" (1996).