Despite their popularity and prevalence to the pinball industry, we have a number of customers asking us exactly "what are STERN Pinball machines?" STERN (or by their full name, STERN Pinball Inc) are currently the largest manufacturer still designing and releasing pinball machines in the world today, but do have a very long and detailed history dating back as far as the late 1970s. This history even includes their other company names they have had throughout the years, including Data East Pinball and SEGA Pinball.
1977 - 1986: STERN Electronics
Originally founded by Sam Stern, STERN Electronics began its life producing more traditional arcade games and cabinets (the most popular being Berzerk) but also had a hand in producing some early solid state pinball machines as well.
Whilst the general sales and popularity of these machines were frequently eclipsed by the likes of Bally and Williams, STERN did nonetheless produce some very interesting pinball designs, some of which are sought after machines today such as Flight 2000, and the very unique Orbitor 1 which used a very unique non-flat, moulded playfield.
1987 - 1994: Data East Pinball
Data East Pinball was founded by Sam Stern’s son Gary, and began the trend of producing pinball machines for some of the biggest movie, TV and music licenses of the day. Some huge names in Data East’s library of games include games for Jurassic Park, Robocop, Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even Guns N’ Roses (which is arguably one of their most popular machines).
In addition, STERN also were the easiest adopters of the first pinball DMD (Dot Matrix Display) technology, with their 1991 game Checkpoint. Whilst Checkpoint isn’t often discussed nowadays, this technology kickstarted the DMD revolution and era of pinball which lasted for many, many years. Games at last could convey more clear messages and even animations to players, increasing immersion and game potential.
Data East continued trading until the mid 90s, where the company was bought out by SEGA, and changed its identity once again.
1995 - 1999: SEGA Pinball
In 1995, SEGA acquired the pinball division of Data East, and rebranded the company into SEGA Pinball. SEGA Pinball’s machines all exclusively focussed on producing licensed games and themes based on what was particularly popular at the time like Baywatch, The X Files and Godzilla. The division formed at a time when pinball at a game had passed its peak in the 90s, and was really beginning to decline in popularity in the arcades. Despite this, SEGA kept on trying to innovate with their machines.
Some examples of SEGA’s unique innovations include the giant DMD seen on games like Baywatch and Batman Forever, and even the unique Magna-Disc seen on Twister.
2000 - Present Day: STERN Pinball Inc.
After four years as SEGA Pinball, original company president Gary Stern was able to purchase the rights for SEGA’s pinball division in 2000 to create STERN Pinball Inc, a company that continues to design and release pinball machines to this very day.
It is worth remembering too that towards the end of the 1990s, Pinball was in a very rough shape as an industry with very little interest from operators in pinball machines from an earning potential. In that regard, STERN Pinball is invaluable as a company for keeping Pinball as a game afloat, and producing new machines in those very difficult times.
Today, STERN produces pinball machines using the latest in tried and tested pinball advances, such as high definition LCD displays, colour changing LEDs on the playfield, and of course show-stopping licenses that the company has pursued since its early days as Data East.
Even to this day, STERN continue to release numerous titles each year, and Home Leisure Direct is proud to be able to offer the latest machines by STERN Pinball as they are released here in the UK. It’s worth checking out both our section dedicated to STERN pinball machines, as well as our vintage machines to see some of the best Data East offerings from the 90s.
For any more details, don’t hesitate to phone us on 0800 622 6464 or 01454 413 636.
