I had a chance to meet Barry and also if you listen to This Old Pinball podcast with Barry, he explains a little about why he doesn't get respect maybe as much as Richie or Lawler.. He explained that especially during the busier times, he could design and crank out a pinball MUCH faster than those guys could... He said in some cases Steve Richie would be working on a game for up to a year, while he could get a game out and done in less than 6 months. Remember, it's a business and the production lines had to keep going. I'm not pitting the two against each other, but that was the reality. Barry also explained that especially in the mid 80's up through close to his final game, he often tried to make games and themes that were a little easier/more family friendly in general, because many of the other guys were working on more of "Macho" themes... ie High Speed, F-14, Black Knight 2K etc... Oursler was doing Cyclone, Police Force, Bad Cats, Space Shuttle/Station Fire etc... He said this was also intentional... as was not having multi-ball in some of his games. Keeping it more simple.

So just something to think about....

Barry designed some of the best pins ever, for a LONG time. Oursler prob had the most games by far at williams that made it to production, not sure on overall production numbers. Let's not forget Barry also desinged Joust - One of the coolest pins ever!