(Topic ID: 162747)

What machine is this article referring to?

By drsfmd

7 years ago


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  • 10 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by I_P_D_B
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    #1 7 years ago

    So I'm reading an article from the August 1966 Esquire, entitled "Mother Was a Pinball Machine". In interviewing one of the Bally designers, he mentions a photoelectric eye used on a particular machine-- I didn't realize that any sort of optos were in use that far back.

    Anybody know the title of the machine he's referring to?

    Attached the relevant snippet.

    bally_(resized).jpgbally_(resized).jpg

    #2 7 years ago

    It's possible that they are talking about something that never made it into production but was tested on a game although I can't be too sure.

    If it is indeed Bally, I'm guessing the designer they are refering to might be Ted Zale as he came out with many innovations in pinball that were way ahead of their time.

    #3 7 years ago

    There's a reference to "far out computer sounds", so it's not a really, really old article. It was likely in the late EM or early SS era, but as O-din said, the idea was likely not released in a production game.

    #4 7 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    It's possible that they are talking about something that never made it into production but was tested on a game although I can't be too sure.
    If it is indeed Bally, I'm guessing the designer they are refering to might be Ted Zale as he came out with many innovations in pinball that were way ahead of their time.

    Yes, the article is about Ted Zale.

    #5 7 years ago

    Bally was tinkering with solid state MPUs back in 1974, which never really saw the light of day until a few years later.

    #6 7 years ago

    So while Ted Zale was making way out pinball designs in the 60s, his dreams of multi level games and computer sounds actually became reality later.

    #7 7 years ago

    Mr. Zale was definitely an "out of the box" thinker when it came to pinball design. Did you know that later in his life he and Wayne Neyens were practically neighbors in Arkansas, but neither one knew it?

    #8 7 years ago
    Quoted from jrpinball:

    Did you know that later in his life he and Wayne Neyens were practically neighbors in Arkansas, but neither one knew it?

    I had no idea.

    #9 7 years ago
    Quoted from jrpinball:

    There's a reference to "far out computer sounds", so it's not a really, really old article. It was likely in the late EM or early SS era, but as O-din said, the idea was likely not released in a production game.

    As I noted in the original post, it's from August 1966.

    #10 7 years ago
    Quoted from drsfmd:

    As I noted in the original post, it's from August 1966.

    Oops! Missed that. Odd. How would they know about "far out computer sounds" that long ago? They were definitely thinking way ahead of their time!

    #11 7 years ago
    Quoted from jrpinball:

    How would they know about "far out computer sounds" that long ago?

    They probably watched Star Trek and Lost in Space.

    #12 7 years ago

    I remember "LIS" debuting. I became totally addicted to the show until it got so silly that even I noticed and tuned out! I really dug the robot. If I had the cash, I'd buy one of those repros that some outfit has made. I'm going to visit their website again. I remember seeing it a couple of years ago, and thought it was way cool that someone actually made full sized repros of the LIS robot.

    #13 7 years ago

    lostinspacerobot.com

    #14 7 years ago

    LIS space was good for about the first season or so. But I could never get enough Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Still watch it when it comes on after LIS on MeTV.

    11 months later
    #15 6 years ago

    Giving this one a bump. I have been doing extensive research on Ted Zale, and haven't come up with an answer to this question I raised almost a year ago.

    I've gone through all of the machines he's credited with, and I suspect that the suggestion that it was something that never made it into production is probably correct, but I thought I'd give it another try.

    #16 6 years ago

    Hi drsfmd
    there are EM-pins that have "Photo Cell" --- Chicago Coin "Juke Box", http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1324 is one --- see schematics-29-A/B/C/D. But the pin is from 1976 and searching for "Ted Zale working for Chicago Coin" does not give positive result. Greetings Rolf

    #17 6 years ago

    Thanks Rolf!

    Ted retired from Bally in 1973 and moved to Arkansas. He passed away in 1977-- I think it's unlikely that he did any work with Chicago Coin-- he would have been in his late 70s then.

    Probably safe to say that whatever machine is being referred to in the article never made it past prototype, but I thought it interesting enough to take another try and see if anyone knew more.

    Thanks as always for your help and insight.

    #18 6 years ago
    Quoted from rolf_martin_062:

    there are EM-pins that have "Photo Cell" --- Chicago Coin "Juke Box",

    I owned the sister game of Jukebox, being Gold Record
    which has spinning post feature on the middle of the playfield,
    and the way to game acknowledged each revolution of the spinning disk
    was thru use of the crude photo-electric cell
    attached on the underside of the playfield.

    The photocell trick that Zale may have been referring to,
    might actually have been used on one of those helicopter EM arcade games
    that as the chopper navigates thru the maze of targets
    (it switched/scored as completed) by using P-E cells.

    The article writer might have mis-remembered or paraphrased what the designer actually said.
    (no pinball involved)

    #19 6 years ago

    pinwiztom

    I don't think I ever saw one of those helicopter machines before-- you mean something like this one? http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/whirlyb.htm

    That machine dates to 1969-- the article I referenced is 1966... and Zale arrived at Bally in 1963. My google-fu is pretty good, but I couldn't come up with any helicopter games earlier than this one.

    I know that most of the EM gun games worked with a contact plate inside of the cabinet where the player would get a "hit" if the correct point on the plate was contacted when the trigger was pulled. Did some of those games use a photocell instead? We're well outside of my knowledge base here

    #20 6 years ago

    Could you please post the entire Esquire article in this thread? Thanks!
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-articles-in-old-magazines-and-newspapers

    #22 6 years ago

    @dennisdodel, frobozz linked to it. If you need a copy of it, or any of the other sources I've found in putting together my Pintastic seminar, PM me an email address.

    #23 6 years ago
    Quoted from drsfmd:

    dennisdodel, frobozz linked to it. If you need a copy of it, or any of the other sources I've found in putting together my Pintastic seminar, PM me an email address.

    Thanks!

    #24 6 years ago

    Remember now,Moog synthesizers have been around a long time,creating crazy computor sounds!!

    1 month later
    #25 6 years ago

    Keeney's 1937 "Fire Ball" used a photo-electric vacuum tube:

    http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=847

    and here's its 1937 payout version, Magic Lamp:

    http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3439

    Jay

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