In AAA video game land there are a lot of times 100+ people that work on the development for a game. In pinball there's a lead programmer, maybe 2 and some times a couple others assisting (sometimes just one person total!).

Also, the type of programming being performed is completely different. Take Pinball FX2 for example, dozens of programmers working on digital tables yet many have boring rules compared to what guys like Keith Johnson, Ted Estes, Lyman Sheats and Dwight Sullivan can do on their own.