Story dated 28th August, 2002.
Only
a matter of days after the news that John Popadiuk Jr is set to return
as a pinball game designer and manufacturer comes the revelation that
yet another ex-WMS designer is about to make a comeback.
Steve
Ritchie, renowned game creator of such classics as Black Knight, Terminator
2, Getaway and Star Trek - TNG is to design a game for Stern Pinball
Inc.
Like Pat Lawlor, Ritchie
has a devoted following of fans who love the long flowing gameplay
of his designs along with the fast loop shots.
Ritchie left WMS in the
mid-nineties to concentrate on video game, working for Atari in California
designing California Speed before moving onto slot machines and other
gambling devices. He had predicted the collapse of the pinball market
and wanted to get out of the industry before the hard times arrived.
Now, seven years after
No Fear - his last game - was released, he is to design a game for
Stern in mid-late 2003.
It was known he had been
in contact with Gary Stern but appeared less than enthusiastic about
designing a game for him, He said:
"Actually, yes I called Gary Stern. He is a great guy, I like
him and we get along. I called Gary and said "Do you want a pinball
design?", we can talk about it and, well basically he said "sure,
what have you got, bring it in", but I would never invest my
time and energy on speculation. Not now, at least."
Well, now things have changed
and with interesting timing, Stern have announced the deal. Gary says
of the collaboration:
"Steve is at the top of the elite class
of pinball designers and we are extremely happy to have him working
with Stern. We know Steve will design another great game."
Lets hope
Steve Ritchie has changed his mind from the time he said:
"I
don't think there is much of a chance of Pinball ever coming back
because, well I don't think it is a product of the 21st century....I
mean there is no market for pinball. We all loved pinball so much,
and believe me, if it made sense, we'd be doing it too."
With
Steve back in the game, perhaps pinball makes a bit more sense.
Stern's full press release
is shown below.
Stern
Pinball is very excited to announce that former Williams' designer
Steve Ritchie will be designing a new pinball machine for the
company in the upcoming year.
Ritchie has a very
distinguished place in pinball industry. He started making pinballs
for Atari with AIRBORNE AVENGER and SUPERMAN. He then went to
work for Williams in Chicago, Illinois in 1978 where he designed
FLASH, STELLAR WARS, FIREPOWER, BLACK KNIGHT, HYPERBALL, HIGH
SPEED, F-14 TOMCAT, BLACK KNIGHT 2000, ROLLERGAMES, TERMINATOR
2-JUDGEMENT DAY, THE GETAWAY, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION,
and NO FEAR/DANGEROUS SPORTS. In the late nineties, Ritchie
returned to Atari and made CALIFORNIA SPEED, a linked-video
driving game system. He is currently designing animated slot
machines and gambling devices.
Steve Ritchie is
not only known for his strong titles and gameplay, but also
for his innovation, being named as one of the owners of many
pinball patents.
Ritchie says, "I
am excited to be back at my CAD station designing another pinball
and working with Gary Stern, Dwight Sullivan, Ray Tanzer, and
the rest of the people at Stern. It feels great to be working
on a pinball design again and with this strong team of uniquely
talented professionals. I think we can promise a very special
game in the coming year."
Gary
Stern says, "Steve is at the top of the elite class of
pinball designers and we are extremely happy to have him working
with Stern. We know Steve will design another great game."
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You can read a detailed interview with Steve Ritchie at http://www.pinball.com.au/
which provides a number of insights into the pinball business.