Pinball Manufacturers: Stern Electronics

Founded in 1977, Stern Electronics emerged directly from the ashes of the bankrupt Chicago Coin. Sam Stern—a legendary industry veteran who had previously been a massive force at Williams—teamed up with his son, Gary Stern, to purchase the factory’s assets. With a fully operational manufacturing floor at their disposal, the father-son duo quickly established Stern Electronics as a formidable contender in the rapidly evolving solid-state pinball and arcade markets.

Stern Electronics fully embraced the transition away from electro-mechanical (EM) designs. By focusing on the processing power of early microprocessors, they built machines known for blistering speed, brutal drop-target banks, and incredibly challenging rulesets that still punish competitive players today.

Beyond the silver ball, Stern Electronics capitalized heavily on the golden age of the video arcade. They developed absolute coin-op juggernauts like the voice-synthesized Berzerk (1980) and its sequel, Frenzy (1982), alongside highly successful licensing deals to distribute Konami games (like Scramble) in North America.

Unfortunately, despite their incredible lineup of physical and digital games, Stern Electronics was not immune to the devastating video game crash and subsequent pinball downturn of the early 1980s. The company faced mounting financial difficulties and officially ceased operations in 1985. While this specific iteration of the factory closed its doors, the family legacy survived, with Gary Stern eventually going on to found the modern juggernaut of Stern Pinball, Inc. in the late 1990s.