Atari

The name Atari conjures images of video game dominance, but for a brief period in the late 1970s the Silicon Valley giant made a serious push into pinball. Between 1976 and 1980, Atari produced roughly sixteen pinball titles, hoping to leverage its engineering talent and brand recognition in the coin-op amusement sector.

The results were mixed. Atari’s machines featured innovative Solid State electronics — the company was an early adopter — but struggled to distinguish themselves in a market dominated by the established giants of Chicago. Titles like Superman (1979) and Hercules (1979) — the latter featuring an enormous 4-by-8-foot playfield — showed ambition but failed to find lasting commercial success. By 1980, Atari had exited pinball entirely to focus on its booming video game division. Their machines are now prized by collectors for their rarity and the novelty of the Atari name on a flipper game.