• Login
  • Register
Sign In Forgot Password?
Reset Password
Reset Cancel
Reset Password
Password must be at least 6 characters long with 1 special character
Save
Create Wishlist Save, compare and share your favourite items.
Password must be at least 6 characters long with 1 special character
Tick this box to hear from us about your wishlist, discounts and promotions. We will never share your details with any third party.
Register
Select Your Options
  • Games Room of the Year
  • Order Tracking
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Our Story
  • Meet The Team
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Videos
Home Leisure Direct
Multiple Award Winning
Games Room Retailer

0800 622 6464 or 01454 413636

0 items - £0.00

Wishlist View Basket / Checkout

Free Delivery on Everything*

  • Pool
    Tables
    • By Availability
      • Pool Tables in Stock
      • In Stock Brunswick Pool Tables
    • By Game
      • English Pool Tables
      • American Pool Tables
      • Snooker Tables
    • By Type
      • All Pool Tables
      • Pool Dining Tables
      • Deep Body Pool Tables
      • Wood Bed Pool Tables
      • Slate Bed Pool Tables
      • Outdoor Pool Tables
      • Car Pool Tables
      • Interest Free Pool Tables
    • Popular Brands
      • Signature
      • Aramith Fusion
      • Billiards Montfort
      • Brunswick
      • Buffalo
      • Designer Billiards
      • Diamond
      • DPT
      • Etrusco
      • Gatley
      • Jack Daniel's
      • Rasson
      • Sam
      • Supreme
      • View All Brands
    • By Size
      • 6ft Pool Tables
      • 7ft Pool Tables
      • 8ft Pool Tables
      • 9ft Pool Tables
      • 10ft Pool Tables
      • 12ft Pool Tables
    • Other Services
      • Pool Table Benches
      • Pool Table Accessories
      • Table Tennis Tops
    • Commercial
      • Contactless Pool Tables
      • Pool Tables on Rental Agreements
      • Pool Tables on Profit Share Agreements
    • Teams & Brands
      • Chelsea FC
      • Jack Daniel's Games Room Range
  • Luxury Pool
    Tables
    • By Availability
      • Pool Tables in Stock
      • In Stock Brunswick Pool Tables
    • By Type
      • All Luxury Pool Tables
      • Best Selling Luxury Pool Tables
      • Traditional Pool Dining Tables
      • Outdoor Pool Tables
      • Car Pool Tables
      • Contemporary Pool Tables
    • Popular Brands
      • Signature Luxury
      • 247 Billiards by Porsche Design
      • Aramith Fusion
      • Billards Montfort
      • Billards Toulet
      • Bilhares Carrinho
      • Bilhares Xavigil
      • Brunswick
      • Designer Billiards
      • Diamond
      • Etrusco
      • Rasson
      • RS Barcelona
      • Sam
    • Other Services
      • Pool Table Accessories
      • Football Club Pool Table Cloth
      • Pool Table Benches
      • Pool Coaching with Gareth Potts
    • Commercial
      • Commercial Luxury Pool Tables
      • Pool Tables on Rental Agreements
      • Pool Tables on Profit Share
    • Teams & Brands
      • Chelsea FC
      • Jack Daniel
  • Pool
    Accessories
    • Cues
      • English 1 Piece Pool Cues
      • English 2 Piece Pool Cues
      • English 3/4 Jointed Pool Cues
      • American Pool Cues
      • Snooker Cues
    • Cue Accessories
      • Cue Racks
      • Cue Cases
      • Cue Rests
      • Cue Tips
      • Cue Chalk
    • Balls & Ball Racks
      • Pool Balls
      • Snooker Balls
      • Triangles & Diamonds
    • Playing Cloths
      • Pool Table Cloth
      • Jack Daniel's Cloth
      • Chelsea FC Cloths
    • Pool Table Accessories
      • Table Tennis Tops
      • Pool Table Covers
      • Pool Table Lighting
      • Pool Table Trolleys
      • Table Care
      • Pool Table Benches
      • Snooker Scoreboards
    • Popular Brands
      • Jack Daniel's Accessories
      • Aramith Balls & Sets
      • Britannia Cues
      • Buffalo Cues
      • Cannon Cues
      • George Balabushka Cues
  • Arcade
    Machines
    • Arcades by Availability
      • Arcade Machines in Stock
    • By Type
      • Upright Arcade Machines
      • Cocktail Cabinet Arcades
      • Coffee Table Arcades
      • Tabletop & Handheld
    • By Genre
      • Multigame Machines
      • Driving Games
      • Shooting Games
      • Golfing Games
    • Popular Brands
      • ArcadePro
      • Bespoke Arcade Machines
      • GamePro
      • GoldenTee
      • Namco
      • Pac-Man
      • Sega
      • Space Invaders
    • Air Hockey
      • All Air Hockey Tables
      • Air Hockey Dining Tables
      • Sam Air Hockey Tables
      • Namco Air Hockey Tables
      • Air Hockey for Commercial Use
    • Commercial
      • Commercial Arcade Machines
      • Arcade Machines on Rental Agreements
  • Pinball
    • By Type
      • Virtual Pinball Machines
      • Pinball Machines In Stock
    • By Condition
      • New Pinball Machines
      • Reconditioned Pinball Machines
    • By Genre
      • Films
      • TV Shows
      • Comics
      • Bands & Music
      • Sports
      • Classic & Original Pinballs
    • Popular Brands
      • Bally Midway Pinball
      • Stern Pinball (New)
      • Stern Pinball (Reconditioned)
      • Williams Pinball
    • Other Services
      • We Buy and Part-Exchange Pinballs
    • Commercial
      • Pinball Machines on Rental Agreements
  • Table
    Tennis
    • By Type
      • Indoor Tables
      • Outdoor Tables
      • Table Tennis Tops
      • Concrete Tables
      • Teqball
    • Accessories
      • Table Covers
      • Table Care
      • Net & Post Sets
      • Table Tennis Bats
      • Table Tennis Balls
    • Popular Brands
      • Venom
      • Butterfly
      • Butterfly (Indoor)
      • Butterfly (Outdoor)
      • Cornilleau
      • Cornilleau (Indoor)
      • Cornilleau (Outdoor)
      • RS Barcelona
    • Commercial
      • Table Tennis Tables For Schools
  • Football
    Tables
    • By Type
      • Football Tables In Stock
      • All Football Tables
      • Tables for Home Use
      • Custom Football Tables
      • Football Table Accessories
    • By Feature
      • Glass Top Football Tables
      • Outdoor Football Tables
      • Competition Grade (ITSF)
    • Popular Brands
      • Bonzini
      • Debuchy
      • Garlando
      • Jack Daniel's
      • Roberto Sport
      • RS Barcelona
      • Sam
      • Sulpie
    • Commercial
      • Football Tables For Schools
      • Commercial Tables
      • Football Tables on Rental Agreements
  • Juke-
    boxes
    • By Availability
      • Jukeboxes In Stock
    • By Type
      • CD Jukeboxes
      • Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • Digital Jukeboxes
    • By Condition
      • New Jukeboxes
      • Vintage Jukeboxes
    • Sound Leisure
      • All Sound Leisure Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure CD Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • Sound Leisure Digital Jukeboxes
    • Rock-Ola
      • All Rock-Ola Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola CD Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola Vinyl Jukeboxes
      • Rock-Ola Digital Jukeboxes
    • Vintage Brands
      • AMI Vintage
      • Wurlitzer
    • Commercial
      • Jukeboxes for Commercial Use
  • Shuffle-
    board
    • By Availability
      • Shuffleboards In Stock
    • By Type
      • All Shuffleboards
      • Shuffleboard Accessories
    • Popular Brands
      • Signature
      • Brunswick
      • Hudson
      • Hurricane
      • Jack Daniel's
    • Commercial
      • Shuffleboards on Rental Scheme
  • Darts
    • Darts
      • All Darts
      • Dart Sets
    • Player Darts
      • Daryl Gurney
      • Joe Cullen
      • Michael Van Gerwen
      • Simon Whitlock
      • Steve Beaton
    • Darts by Weight
      • 21g Darts
      • 22g Darts
      • 23g Darts
      • 24g Darts
      • 25g Darts
      • 26g Darts
    • Darts by Tip
      • Soft Tip
      • Steel Tip
      • Tungsten
    • Interactive Darts
      • Interactive Darts
      • Bullseye Interactive Darts
    • Darts Accessories
      • Darts Accessories
      • Cases & Wallets
      • Mats & Floor Protectors
      • Oche & Throw Lines
    • Dartboards
      • Professional Dartboards
      • Winmau Dartboards
      • Mission Dartboards
    • Dartboard Accessories
      • Cabinets
      • Surrounds
      • Scorers
    • Commercial
      • Interactive Darts
    • Popular Brands
      • Bullseye
      • Jack Daniel's
      • Mission
      • Winmau
    • Jack Daniel's
      • Jack Daniel's Darts
      • Jack Daniel's Dartboards
      • Jack Daniel's Dartboards & Surrounds
      • Jack Daniel's Darts Accessories
      • Jack Daniel's Darts Range
  • Cool
    Stuff
    • Home Golfing Products
      • Golf and Putting Practice
    • Games Room Accessories
      • Dartboards and Darts
      • Skeeball Machines
      • Home Bowling Alleys
    • Pool Accessories
      • Benches
      • Cue Racks
      • Lighting
      • Pool Table Covers
      • Pool Table Trolleys
    • Popular Brands
      • Jack Daniel's
      • Skeeball
    • Arcade Machines
      • Cocktail Cabinet Arcades
      • Coffee Table Arcades
      • Table Top Arcades
  • Commercial
    • Why Choose Us
      • Case Studies
      • Previous Installations
    • What We Offer
      • Free Delivery & Installation
      • Servicing
      • Try Before You Buy
      • Online Room Planner
    • Finance Options
      • All Finance Options
      • Lease Rentals
      • Outright Purchase
      • Purchase with Servicing
      • Profit Share
    • All Products
      • Air Hockey
      • Arcade Machines
      • Augmented Reality Darts
      • Batfast
      • Beer Pong Machines
      • Brunswick Duckpin
      • Football Tables
      • Golden Tee
      • Interactive Darts
      • Jukeboxes
      • Hologate Virtual Reality
      • Pinball Machines
      • Pool Tables - Coin Operated
      • Pool Tables - Contactless Payment
      • Sega Arcades
      • Shuffleboards
      • Skee-Ball
      • Table Tennis Tables
    • Contactless Solution
      • About Contactless Payments
      • Our Payment Reader
      • Our Online Portal
    • Virtual Reality
      • Hologate Blitz Driver VR
      • Hologate Hyper Golf VR
      • Hologate Arena Adventure VR
    • Augmented Reality
      • Batfast
    • Interactive Darts
      • What is Interactive Darts?
      • Interactive Darts Venue Finder
      • Bullseye! Augmented Reality Darts
      • Augmented Reality Darts
      • Smarts Interactive Darts
    • Shop by Space
      • Office Breakout Spaces
      • Schools, Colleges & Unis
      • Snooker Clubs
    • Competitive Socialising
      • What is Competitive Socialising?
      • Competitive Socialising 2023
      • Competitive Socialising Events
  • Clearance
    & Offers
  • Buying Advice
  • How To Play
  • Commercial
  • Showrooms
  • Finance
  • Games Room Designer
  • Clearance Sale
  • Home
  • Pinball Machines
  • Pinball Machine Buying Advice
  • What are STERN, Data East and SEGA Pinball Machines?

What are STERN, Data East and SEGA Pinball Machines?

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

Jurassic Park Pinball Machine - Playfield

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

Baywatch Pinball Machine - In Showroom

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.

Aerosmith LE Pinball Machine - Machine Overview

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.

<< Back to Pinball Machine Buying Advice Shop for Pinball Machines >>

More Advice for Pinball Machines

What are Bally, Williams and Midway Pinball Machines? What Pinball Machine Should I Buy? What is a Pinball LCD Display? What is the Cost of Pinball Restoration? What is the Value of my Pinball Machine? What is a Pinball DMD? What are Pinball Mods? What are Gottlieb Pinball Machines? What Are Solid State Pinball Machines? What are Pro, Premium and LE Pinball Machines? What are LED Upgrades for Pinball Machines? What Are Electromechanical Pinball Machines? Pinball Machine Buyer's Guide - 2016 Pinball Machine Buyer's Guide - 2014
Secure Shopping - We use SagePay to handle all online payments
Free Delivery* - Everything we sell is delivered FREE to most of the UK
Price Promise - We check all our prices against major retailers every day

238 reviews

Industry leading security

Opayo by Elavon

We accept the following payments

Accepted Payments

Multiple award winners

  • Gold Trust eCommerce Awards 2014
  • Venda 2014 Worldpay Venda 2013

Proud to be Official Merchandise Partner for these prestigious brands

  • Jack Daniels
  • Brunswick
  • Chelsea

Proud to Supply

  • Skype
  • Sky
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • John Lewis
  • Microsoft
  • Oxford University
  • Manchester City FC

Proud to Sponsor

  • GB9 Tour
  • BFA
  • IPA
  • Pool Tour
  • London Pinball Championship

Join Us On Social Media

Useful Links

  • About Us
  • Our Story
  • Blog
  • Meet the Team
  • Our Awards
  • Charity Work
  • Careers
  • -
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
  • How to Find Us
  • Delivery Policy
  • -
  • Finance Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Join our Newsletter

Keep up to date with offers, new products and news from HLD

Sign Up

If you need help with anything
contact our team on

0800 622 6464 or 01454 413636

Offices Open
Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm
Saturday - Sunday 10am - 4pm
Bank Holidays 10am - 4pm

Showrooms Open
Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm
Saturday - Sunday 10am - 4pm
Bank Holidays 10am - 4pm

Home Leisure Direct Limited is registered in England and Wales


Registered Office: Unit 7A Point 4 Distribution Centre, Second Way, Avonmouth, Bristol. BS11 8DF


Company Registration: 6364345 | VAT Registration: 914619912 | Consumer Credit License: 692501


Home Leisure Direct is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority


Home Leisure Direct acts as a credit broker and only offers credit products for etika Finance UK Limited.


Credit provided subject to age and status.


Created by bluebox

Learn Less