(Topic ID: 203685)
Paradise, NV
I’m my humble opinion the greatest games of all time came from the Bally/williams company. I voted Williams because I prefer their games in the later 80s pre merger but after that they are essentially the same company and probably deserve their own category
But the above comment about it depending on which era is spot on. I think Gottlieb made the best EM games hands down. I’ve really became quite the fan of system 80 as well. I prefer the Gottlieb games of that time period to their bally or Williams counterparts.
Ipswich
Williams overall.
Honorable mentions to Bally and Stern.
I can't stand Gottlieb games other than some of the classic EMs, so while I appreciate everything they've done for Pinball, not the best manufacturer for me personally.
Stern was. Because they put out some of the best games. When I go down the list of the “greatest” games ever made, it was the Stern games that I considered to be the most fun to play.
Sadly, the years were not kind to them, and in order to survive they had to cheapen their product while increasing prices. And along the way of doing that they had a LOT of issues with accomplishing the basics like playfields and cabinets. But now they have accomplished bringing consumer level work to what used to be commercial machines. But for a while, they made some of the best games on the planet.
Game Plan. Just kidding. They weren't even mentioned and probably never will be in this thread.
Carry on...
Id say they have to be in business for more than 20 years and still be in business today. Say what you will but one stayed in the game while others walked away or were forced to close.
Build quality, art work and such can be debated all day long.
If everyone had closed their doors in 2000 my vote would be different and IMO if that would have happened jjp dutch and the others would never had been considered viable business ventures.
bally Williams in the late 80's into early 90's (89-95) Stern in the early to mid 2000's (2003-2008) and jersey jack in the the later 2000's.(2013-present)
For fun factor would be stern......best build quality jjp.... Gottlieb would be for creativity...Williams and bally had the whole package....my vote for stern jus because of the deeper codes and fun factor....
Interesting Poll as it is missing a few 90's Capcom, Data East, and Sega
All manufacturers that produced way more pinball than Dutch, Spooky or possibly even Chicago Coin. Also as mentioned, era's is important as well as other determining factors.
this poll is flawed because different manufacturers were the number 1 depending on the time period you are talking about. Also, which country you are talking about differs as well.
And where is Zaccaria? in the early 80's they were the 3rd biggest manufacturer of pinballs.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:And where is Zaccaria? in the early 80's they were the 3rd biggest manufacturer of pinballs.
THere are only 9 spots for choices so you have to leave some out. And let's be honest, more people would claim Sega over the 1 lone vote Zac would get from you 
Sydney
Breda
)
Gottlieb led the pinball explosion for over three decades bringing pinball into unprecedented popularity. Once they left the pinball market it collapsed within five years; much like a couple who have been married for decades dying of natural causes within day of each, pinball could not live without Gottlieb in its life.
Seriously though, do people really want Sega to be in the discussion, lol.
Quoted from Matesamo:Gottlieb led the pinball explosion for over three decades bringing pinball into unprecedented popularity. Once they left the pinball market it collapsed within five years; much like a couple who have been married for decades dying of natural causes within day of each, pinball could not live without Gottlieb in its life.
Seriously though, do people really want Sega to be in the discussion, lol.
uhm, i think you've got that backwards. the pinball market didn't die because Gottlieb failed. Gottlieb failed because pinball was dying.
I'm pretty sure this is going to come down to Bally or Williams, all Bally pins 1989-2000 are actually WMS (Williams) so keep that in mind when voting!
Quoted from gmkalos:I'm pretty sure this is going to come down to Bally or Williams, all Bally pins 1989-2000 are actually WMS (Williams) so keep that in mind when voting!
They might have been owned by WMS but they are still marketed and labeled under the Bally brand.
Toronto, ON
Quoted from pezpunk:Gottlieb failed because pinball was dying.
Also their electronic games were 90% crappy.
Quoted from jwilson:Also their electronic games were 90% crappy.
well, i didn't want to be cruel, but that had to be a factor. by 1996, operators were massively cutting back on their pinball purchases, and those corny Premiere titles were probably the easiest to skip.
Quoted from jgentry:They might have been owned by WMS but they are still marketed and labeled under the Bally brand.
This is why I said there needs to be a separate category for just bally/williams.
Quoted from EM_SteveE:Gottlieb was the best by a mile!!!
A lot has changed in 40 years lol.
Quoted from cooked71:You can't change the rules mid vote.
I never did they were always manufactured by WMS lol
Quoted from pezpunk:well, i didn't want to be cruel, but that had to be a factor. by 1996, operators were massively cutting back on their pinball purchases, and those corny Premiere titles were probably the easiest to skip.
Operators were avoiding the names in order, changing them didn't bring back customers. Gottlieb, Mylstar, Premiere, then back to Gottlieb.
LTG : )
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