Editing Pinball (section)

===1970s: Solid-state electronics and digital displays introduced===

[[File:Visible Pinball III - Pacific Pinball Museum cropped.jpg|thumb|right|A clear-walled electromechanical pinball machine created by the [[Pacific Pinball Museum]] to illustrate the inner workings of a typical pinball machine]]

The introduction of [[microprocessor]]s brought pinball into the realm of [[electronic game|electronic gaming]]. The electromechanical [[relay]]s and scoring reels that drove games in the 1950s and 1960s were replaced in the 1970s with [[circuit board]]s and digital displays. The first pinball machine using a microprocessor was Flicker, a prototype made by Bally in 1974. Bally soon followed that up with a solid-state version of Bow and Arrow in the same year with a microprocessor board that was also used in eight other machines through 1978, which included Eight Ball, the machine that held the sales record from 1977 to 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?gtype=SS&yr=1973-77&sortby=date&searchtype=advanced|title=The Internet Pinball Machine Database|website=www.ipdb.org}}</ref>

The first solid-state pinball is believed by some to be [[Mirco Games]]' ''[[The Spirit of '76 (pinball)|The Spirit of '76]]'' (1976),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/toys/4276614|title=Top 8 Most Innovative Pinball Machines of All Time|work=Popular Mechanics|date=5 August 2008|access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref> though the first mainstream solid-state game was Williams' ''Hot Tip'' (1977).  This new technology led to a boom for Williams and Bally, who attracted more players with games featuring more complex rules, digital sound effects, and speech.

The [[Golden age of arcade video games|video game boom]] of the 1980s signaled the end of the boom for pinball. Arcades replaced rows of pinball machines with video games like 1978's ''[[Space Invaders]]'', 1979's ''[[Asteroids (video game)|Asteroids]]'', 1980's ''[[Pac-Man]]'', and 1981's ''[[Galaga]]''. These earned significantly greater profits than the pinball machines of the day while simultaneously requiring less maintenance. Bally, Williams, and Gottlieb continued to make pinball machines while also manufacturing video games in much higher numbers.

Many of the larger companies were acquired by, or merged with, other companies. [[Chicago Coin]] was purchased by the Stern family, who brought the company into the digital era as Stern Enterprises, which closed its doors in the mid-1980s. Bally exited the pinball business in 1988 and sold their assets to Williams, who subsequently used the Bally trademark from then on for about half of their pinball releases.

While the video game craze of the late 1970s and early 1980s dealt a severe blow to pinball revenue, it sparked the industry's creative talents. All companies involved tried to take advantage of the new solid-state technology to improve player appeal of pinball and win back former players from video games. Some of this creativity resulted in landmark designs and features still present today. Some of these include speech, such as Williams' ''[[Gorgar]]''; ramps for the ball to travel around, such as Williams' ''[[Space Shuttle (pinball)|Space Shuttle]]''; "multiball", used on Williams' ''[[Firepower (pinball)|Firepower]]''; multi-level games like Gottlieb's ''[[Black Hole (pinball)|Black Hole]]'' and Williams' ''[[Black Knight (pinball)|Black Knight]]''; and blinking chase lights, as used on Bally's ''[[Xenon (pinball)|Xenon]]''. Although these novel features did not win back players as the manufacturers had hoped, they changed players' perception of pinball for decades.