Sources
Contributors to this record: Flipcommons AI Descriptions (DisplayType), Flipcommons Catalog.
- description
- Flipcommons AI Descriptions (DisplayType)A small number of pinball machines used color CRT monitors — cathode-ray tubes capable of rendering full-color graphics and video-game sequences — as part of their display system. The term CGA, borrowed from IBM's Color Graphics Adapter standard, is loosely applied to these machines in collector circles, though the earliest examples predated the IBM PC and used custom arcade video hardware rather than PC-compatible graphics cards. [[manufacturer:bally]]'s *[[title:baby-pac-man]]* (1982) was the first: a hybrid pinball/video game where the ball could leave the physical playfield and enter a color Pac-Man maze rendered on a 13-inch CRT driven by Bally's custom Vidiot board. *[[title:granny-and-the-gators]]* (1984) followed the same concept with upgraded hardware. Both machines were genuine hybrids — not pinball machines with a video screen bolted on, but designs where the two formats were mechanically integrated. Neither sold well enough to establish the format. The idea resurfaced fifteen years later with [[manufacturer:williams]]' Pinball 2000 platform (1999), which used a 19-inch CGA-specification color monitor and a Pepper's Ghost optical illusion to overlay video graphics directly onto the playfield. Only two titles shipped — *[[title:revenge-from-mars]]* and *[[title:star-wars-episode-i]]* — before [[manufacturer:williams]] exited pinball manufacturing entirely. CRT-based pinball machines remain rare curiosities, their scarcity and hybrid ambition making them prized among collectors who appreciate the strange corners of the medium's history.
- display_order
- 4Flipcommons Catalog
- name
- CGA MonitorFlipcommons Catalog
- slug
- cgaFlipcommons Catalog