Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Who invented pinball?
In 1869, British inventor Montague Redgrave settled in the United States and manufactured bagatelle tables in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1871 Redgrave was granted U.S. Patent #115,357 for his "Improvements in Bagatelle",[1] another name for the spring launcher that was first introduced in Billard japonais. The game also shrank in size to fit atop a bar or counter. The balls became marbles and the wickets became small metal pins. Redgrave's popularization of the spring launcher and innovations in game design are acknowledged as the birth of pinball in its modern form.
Popular pinball games of the 1990s include Pinball Dreams, Pro Pinball and 3D Pinball: Space Cadet that was included in Windows ME and Windows XP. More recent examples include Pinball FX, Pinball FX 2, and Pinball FX 3.
Data East was one of few regular pinball company that manufactured custom pinball games e.g. for the movie "Richie Rich". This pinball machine was based on "The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard" machine.
A BBC News article described virtual pinball games e.g. Zen Pinball and The Pinball Arcade as a way to preserve pinball culture and bring it to new audiences.[55] Another example of preserving historic pinball machines is Zaccaria Pinball that consists of digital recreations of classic Zaccaria pinball machines.
Humpty Dumpty is a historically important pinball machine released by Gottlieb on October 25, 1947. Named after Humpty Dumpty, the nursery rhyme character, it is the first pinball machine to include flippers — invented by Harry Mabs  — distinguishing it from earlier bagatelle game machines. 
Despite early skepticism over the quality of a pinball video game themed after the "Metroid" series, reviews praised the integration of the two in "Metroid Prime Pinball". "Nintendo Power" called the game a "fully realized and well-tuned hybrid of pinball play and Metroid Prime atmosphere", and the "Official Nintendo Magazine" named it one of the better recently released pinball games. GameZone believed that the game appeals to anyone who is a fan of pinball games or the "Metroid Prime" franchise, to which "Play" magazine attested, adding that the game embodies the "Metroid Prime" series well.
TechTV criticized it as being less "addictive or diverse as the great pinball videogames", though noted it to be fun for those looking for a "Pokémon" title. "Game Informer" praised its ball physics and controls, calling them "dead on". GameSpy's Darryl Vassar gave similar praise, describing the game as a "blast". He added that it had surprising depth. "GamePro"s "Dan Elektro" commented that "Ruby & Sapphire" would not interest those who do not have interest in the series, but fans of the series would enjoy its "unusually satisfying" gameplay. "Games(TM)" praised it for combining pinball and "Pokémon", adding that the pinball gameplay would be more likely to draw those who are not fans of the series into playing "Pokémon" more so than the adventure games. Eurogamer's Martin Taylor commented that only the "most demanding of pinball wizards would be right to turn their nose up at Pokemon Pinball's charming slant on the genre." Computer and Video Games praised it for its broad appeal, commenting that it is "fast and fluid for the casual player, yet has collecting and evolving for the obsessive." "Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire" has been compared to other pinball video games, including "Mario Pinball Land", which GameAxis Unwired treats as an inferior to "Ruby & Sapphire". Eurogamer described "Ruby & Sapphire" as a spiritual predecessor to "Metroid Prime Pinball".
"Sonic Pinball Party" is a pinball video game with the objective being to earn as many points as possible. During both the Story and Arcade Modes of the game, the player starts each match with three pinballs, each one shot onto the playfield from the plunger. When the pinball rolls into the hole on the bottom of the table, the player loses a ball and must try again with another. Losing all three pinballs ends the pinball match. Much like in "Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball", the player can control each pinball on the table using the two flippers set on the lower part of the table or the lone flipper placed in the upper right side of the table. The player can also shake the pinball table in three directions. With these methods, the player can make the pinball sling and hit one of the pinball tables' targets in order to rack up points.
George Gomez is an industrial designer, video game designer, and pinball designer who has worked for Bally, Williams, and Stern Pinball, among other companies. He worked on the team that created the "Tron" video game, and headed the team that created "Spy Hunter". In 1984 after the 1983 video game crash, he left Midway to invent toys at the consulting firm Marvin Glass & Associates. After Glass he worked on numerous projects through the contract manufacturer Grand products, including the Battletech Centers and several Sega video games of the late 80's. In '93 he went to Williams Electronics and designed several pinball machines including "Monster Bash" and was one of the lead developers of the Pinball 2000 system. As a consultant he designed several games for STERN pinball including "The Lord of the Rings", and "Batman". Along with his recent work in pinball, he was also one of key designers of the street basketball video game series "NBA Ballers" for Midway.
Gomez enters his latest endeavor with a "second chance" to save pinball becoming the VP of game development at Stern Pinball on July 12, 2011.
Pinball games have frequently been featured in popular culture, often as a symbol of rebellion or toughness. Perhaps the most famous instance is the rock opera album Tommy (1969) by The Who, which centers on the title character, a "deaf, dumb, and blind kid", who becomes a "Pinball Wizard" and who later uses pinball as a symbol and tool for his messianic mission. (The album was subsequently made into a movie and stage musical.) Wizard has since moved into popular usage as a term for an expert pinball player. Things came full circle in 1975 when Bally created the Wizard! pinball game featuring Ann-Margret and The Who's Roger Daltrey on the backglass.[63] In the movie version, Tommy plays a Gottlieb Kings and Queens machine,[64] while The Champ plays a Gottlieb Buckaroo machine.[65] In 1976, Bally released Capt.Fantastic, which had an image of Elton John on the backglass, playing pinball in a similar costume as used in the movie Tommy. Data East produced The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard in 1994, based on the rock musical The Who's Tommy. This game is notable in its use of The Who's iconic songs, including "Pinball Wizard", sung by original Broadway cast members.
By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead and Williams stopped manufacturing pinball machines and focused on gambling devices as WMS Gaming. During the same year, Sega left the pinball industry and sold its pinball division, previously purchased from Data East in 1994, to Gary Stern, the son of Sam Stern. Gary Stern, who had been running Data East/Sega pinball since 1986, founded Stern Pinball, Inc. that same year. 
Critics have also compared "The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy" to "Pokémon Pinball". Gamekult.com's David Choquet wrote that "The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy" had a superior design and richer gameplay experience than "Pokémon Pinball", and Craig Harris preferred it to the previous Nintendo pinball releases. Frank Provo described the game as a remake of "Pokémon Pinball", and felt disappointed by the absence of Pikachu and other Pokémon. Brett Alan Weiss argued that the cute visuals of "The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy" was derivative when compared to other pinball games. He wrote that the game would appeal primarily to young girls, while experienced pinball players would prefer "Pokémon Pinball."
The end of the 1990s saw another downturn in the industry, with Gottlieb, Capcom, and Alvin G. closing by the end of 1996. Data East's pinball division was acquired by Sega and became Sega Pinball in 1994. By 1997, there were two companies left: Sega Pinball and Williams. In 1999, Sega sold their pinball division to Gary Stern (President of Sega Pinball at the time) who called his company Stern Pinball.[8] By this time, Williams games rarely sold more than 4,000 units. In 1999, Williams attempted to revive sales with the Pinball 2000 line of games, merging a video display into the pinball playfield. The reception was initially good with Revenge from Mars selling well over 6,000 machines, but short of the 10,000-plus production runs for releases just six years earlier. The next Pinball 2000 game, Star Wars Episode I, sold only a little over 3,500 machines. Williams exited the pinball business to focus on making gaming equipment for casinos, which was more profitable. They licensed the rights to reproduce Bally/Williams parts to Illinois Pinball and the rights to reproduce full-sized machines to The Pinball Factory. Stern Pinball remained the only manufacturer of original pinball machines until 2013, when Jersey Jack Pinball started shipping The Wizard of Oz. Most members of the design teams for Stern Pinball are former employees of Williams.
Data East was one of few regular pinball company that manufactured custom pinball games (e.g. for Aaron Spelling, Michael Jordan and the movie Richie Rich), though these were basically mods of existing or soon to be released pinball machines (e.g. Lethal Weapon 3 or The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard).
Data East was one of few regular pinball companies that manufactured custom pinball games e.g. for the movie "Richie Rich". This pinball machine was based on "The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard" machine.
"Pinball FX 2" is available free of charge and includes tables that can be played with a set time limit (Xbox and Steam) or fully with video advertisements (Windows 8). Players can choose to download an expansion pack dubbed "Pinball FX 2 Core" which unlocks four tables: BioLab, Pasha, Rome, and Secrets of the Deep. Additional tables can be purchased individually, or via compilations. The first compilation, titled "Pinball FX Classic", contains four tables from the original "Pinball FX". As the original "Pinball FX" was delisted from Xbox Live Marketplace, people who purchased "Pinball FX" receive the Classic collection, as well as other tables they purchased for that title, for free. The second compilation, "Marvel Pinball", has four pinball tables based on major Marvel Comics characters: Blade, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. Achievements are based on the table rather than the game, allowing "Pinball FX 2" to have a record 2050 gamerscore and 97 achievements on Xbox Live Arcade. Each table can also be tweaked and configured via the game's Operators menu. This allows players to adjust where certain parts of the table are located and how many points unlock special sections and features of the table. On April 20, 2011, the Mars table was released. Themed around the planet of the same name, it is the first new individual table since the release of "Pinball FX 2". On August 31, 2011, "Pinball FX 2" received its first original individual table with the release of "Ms. Splosion Man", a table based on the Xbox Live Arcade platformer of the same name developed by Twisted Pixel Games. From October 26 to November 2, 2011, the full version of the Paranormal table was given away for free as a gift to the game's fans. On September 4, 2012, a table based on the popular PopCap Games title "Plants vs. Zombies" was released for both "Pinball FX 2" and the newly released "Zen Pinball 2" for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. On December 12, 2012, four tables from "Zen Pinball" were released for "Pinball FX 2", leaving only one PlayStation 3-exclusive table from the original "Zen Pinball" remaining on that platform. Said last table, a table based on "Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2", was finally released on the Xbox One version on December 4, 2014, thus removing all table exclusivity for "Zen Pinball".
In 2013, Jersey Jack Pinball released The Wizard of Oz pinball machine. It is the first pinball machine manufactured in the USA with an LCD as backbox,[15] the first widebody pinball machine since 1994[16] and the first new US pinball machine not made by Stern Pinball since 2001.[17]
The 5th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show drew 3,000 visitors to the Seattle Center June 8–10, 2012. The show featured "Jersey Jack" Guarnieri speaking about the making The Wizard Of Oz Pinball, as well as the first public peak at a prototype of the game. Gary Stern of Stern Pinball talked about his history in the pinball industry. UK pinball author Gary Flower talked about his history with pinball. Rich Lint from This Old Game did a talk about replacing the artwork on arcade and pinball machines. Pinball designer Steve Ritchie (AC/DC, Spider-Man, Terminator 2, Black Knight, High Speed, Star Trek: The Next Generation) talked about his experience in pinball design. Pinball artist Doug Watson (Attack From Mars, Indiana Jones, The Shadow, Terminator 2, F-14, Black Knight 2000) spoke about his experiences as a pinball artist. John Popadiuk (Circus Voltaire, World Cup Soccer '94, Tales Of The Arabian Nights, Theatre Of Magic) spoke about his history with pinball design. Eugene Jarvis, video game and pinball designer and programmer (Robotron: 2084, Defender, Firepower, Narc, Smash TV, Gorgar, Cruis'n) gave a talk about his experience and history in the industry. Rick Bartlett, owner Planetary Pinball talked about new pinball parts. Lindsey Rupertus spoke on the basics of solid state pinball repair methodology. Twin Galaxies was on hand to judge world record high score attempts and presented their Trading Card Expo. There were also panel discussions on game collecting and repair seminars. The NW Pinball and Arcade Show Pinball Tournament drew top players from around the world and the Seattle Pinball Museum put on a series for more casual, fun and family oriented pinball tournaments throughout the weekend. One lucky winner per day won a pinball or arcade game, prizes this year included a Wizard of Oz, Centipede, Galaga and Terminator 2 pinball machine. There is a great recap of the 2012 show with photos on Pinball News.
Sega Pinball Inc. was a division of Sega which existed from 1994 until 1999. Though Sega first entered the pinball market in 1971 but stopped production in 1978. Sega re-entered the market when it took over Data East's pinball division in 1994. They produced machines under the name Sega Pinball Inc. for 5 years before leaving the market again in 1999. Sega sold all pinball assets to Gary Stern, president of the division, who then founded Stern Pinball, Inc.
Somewhere between the 1750s and 1770s, the bagatelle variant Billard japonais, or Japanese billiards in English, was invented in Western Europe, despite its name. It used thin metal pins and replaced the cue at the player's end of the table with a coiled spring and a plunger. The player shot balls up the inclined playfield toward the scoring targets using this plunger, a device that remains in use in pinball to this day, and the game was also directly ancestral to pachinko.
The game is the successor to the first "Simpsons" pinball game, entitled "The Simpsons", which was released by Data East Pinball (the predecessor to Stern Pinball) in 1990. In 2007, Stern Pinball president Gary Stern said in an interview with "License!" that "We first licensed "The Simpsons" for pinball in the early '90s, when we were Data East Pinball. While we export about one-third of our games, that first model did especially well in the U.S." He went on to say that more than a decade later, "we started to manufacture a totally new game, "The Simpsons Pinball Party". We coordinated with Fox and "The Simpsons" folks who did the art for the game, as well as the actors who voiced the speech heard during gameplay. We then made an initial production run, totaling thousands [...]". 
Boing! is a miracle plastic invented in 2101. It is stored as a liquid in an aerosol can, and is sprayed onto the user, where it solidifies and expands into a bubble surrounding the user like a zorb ball. The solid form of Boing is extremely bouncy. The user can safely jump off a great height, such as a tall building, bounce up again without injury, and continue bouncing until the boing! sphere runs out of kinetic energy. As this is extremely hazardous outside, it is only permitted indoors in licensed premises such as the Palais De Boing, with unauthorised use carrying a penalty of twenty years. Boing! is also used to play human pinball in giant-sized pinball machines, with people inside the balls who try to control their direction of travel (in addition to the pinball machine controls).
In 1978 the first Kiss arcade pinball machine was introduced by Bally, and stayed in circulation well into the 1980s. In 2001, a "Kiss Pinball" game was released for the PlayStation. In September 2006 it was announced that a new coin-op machine was in the works from Kiss licensee ICUP. On May 6, 2015, Stern Pinball announced the release of three new versions of a KISS pinball machine. The machine features the artist who worked on the original Bally pinball machine, Kevin O'Connor. 
Although "Zen Pinball 2" is fundamentally a free download, users who already own "Zen Pinball" or "Marvel Pinball" for the PlayStation 3 are able to use all their downloadable content in the PS versions of "Zen Pinball 2", which imports automatically. There were 26 tables at launch (available separately as premium DLC) each of which are available as a free trial (though packs like "Marvel Pinball: Vengeance" and "Virtue" will still have to be bought as a whole). Users who purchase a pinball table on one Sony console are able to play it for free on the other.The game has a score of 85% on Metacritic.
The development of "Galactic Pinball" was managed by Gunpei Yokoi, who also created the Virtual Boy. It was directed by Kenji Yamamoto, who composed the sound alongside Masaru Tajima. It was shown during the Virtual Boy's Las Vegas debut alongside "Teleroboxer". It has been known at varying points as "Space Pinball", "Virtual Pinball", and "Pinball VB". It was one of the launch games for the Virtual Boy, and was released on July 21, 1995 in Japan and on August 14, 1995 in the United States. Like all Virtual Boy games, "Galactic Pinball" uses a red-and-black color scheme and parallax visuals to simulate three-dimensional depth.