Stern (game company)

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Stern Electronics was formed when Sam and Gary Stern bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in 1977. Sam had previously owned the amusements manufacturer Williams, purchasing half of the company in 1947 and selling it to the Seeburg Corporation in 1964. Gary had trained under his father at Williams, and from 1973-1977 the two ran the company. Stern Electronics, Inc. acquired their core inventory by purchasing Chicago Coin's assets at bankruptcy sales; as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed.^[1]

The first two games made by Stern were Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977.^{[citation needed]} They produced the first solid-state pinball machine, called Pinball that year.^[2] By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games.^[3] In 1979, Stern acquired the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt Seeburg Corporation, and the company became known as Stern / Seeburg.

When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern Electronics produced Berzerk.^{[citation needed]} They largely stopped producing pinball machines.^[2] In 1983, Stern became one of many victims of the amusement industry economic shakeout that occurred. In 1984, Sam Stern died and Stern Electronics closed in 1985.^[2][1] From 1985 to 1986, personnel from Stern Electronics formed a venture known as Pinstar that produced conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines, with Gary Stern continuing to function as president.^[3] He then went on to help found Data East's pinball division and continued to lead there when the it was acquired by Sega in 1994.^[4][5] While DataEast did operate out of the old Stern Electronics property, sources differ on whether they acquired the company or just the facilities.^[1][6]

On March 16, 2023, Atari announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy.^[7]

By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead.^[8] Sega left the pinball industry by spinning off their pinball division and selling it to Gary Stern, and Stern Pinball was born.^[6] Stern Pinball became the only commercial pinball manufacturer left, but continued to struggle in the 2000s, producing just 10,000 machines per year and selling the majority of them overseas.^[9][8]

As of 2023, longtime designers Brian Eddy, John Borg, and George Gomez are designing pinball games at Stern Pinball, alongside top-ranking competitive player Keith Elwin and popular pinball streamer Jack Danger.^[10] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

Some Stern pinball tables were also digitally released through The Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade.

• Astro Invader (1980) (programmed by Konami)^[17]
• Berzerk (1980)^[17]
• The End (1980) (programmed by Konami)
• Scramble (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Super Cobra (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Moon War (1981)
• Turtles (1981) (programmed by Konami)^[17]
• Strategy X (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Jungler (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Armored Car (1981)
• Amidar (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Frenzy (1982)^[17]
• Tazz-Mania (1982)
• Tutankham (1982) (programmed by Konami)
• Pooyan (1982)^[17] (programmed by Konami)
• Dark Planet (1982) (designed by Erick Erickson and Dan Langlois)
• Rescue (1982)^[17][18]
• Calipso (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
• Anteater (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
• Mazer Blazer (1982)
• Lost Tomb (1982)
• Bagman (Le Bagnard) (1982) (programmed by Valadon Automation)
• Pop Flamer (1982) (programmed by Jaleco)
• Star Jacker (1983) (programmed by Sega)
• Minefield (1983)^[17]
• Cliff Hanger (1983)^[17] (laserdisc game using video footage from TMS)
• Great Guns (1984)
• Goal to Go (1984) (laserdisc game)
• Super Bagman (1984)^[17] (programmed by Valadon Automation)