Sources

Contributors to this record: Flipcommons AI Descriptions (Manufacturer), Flipcommons Catalog.

description: Zaccaria began as the venture of three brothers from the [[location:italy/bo/bologna]] area — one a carpenter, one an electrician, one a barista — none with any background in designing games.^[1] They entered the trade at a peculiar moment. A 1965 Italian law had outlawed pinball as a form of gambling, and Bologna's artisans answered with a workaround: machines that rewarded the player only with extra balls rather than cash, which kept them within the law and seeded dozens of small local manufacturers.^[2] When an economic crisis pushed up the cost of the American machines Italy's operators depended on, the brothers found their way in through refurbishment rather than design, buying up worn imported tables and reskinning them with fresh artwork — an idea suggested to them by a friend, [[person:lorenzo-rimondini]].^[3] In those unbranded early years the shop went further than new paint, rebuilding American games outright, among them [[manufacturer:gottlieb]]'s 1973 *[[model:jungle-life]]*. The copy-shop business grew quickly, and the brothers formally established the company under the Zaccaria name in 1974, based just outside the city, by which time they had already moved from freshening other makers' cabinets to building original machines; the first game to carry the name was *Strike*, a single-player [[technology-generation:electromechanical]] table on a bowling theme.^[4] Much of the line's identity came from Rimondini, the self-taught artist behind most of its games, who drew each backglass and playfield by hand in pen and ink.^[5] From 1975 the firm began to export — first across Europe, then to Japan, Australia and the United States.^[6] Zaccaria's rise coincided with pinball's shift from relays to circuit boards, and where many of the copy-shops that had multiplied under the 1965 loophole could not make that leap, Zaccaria was one of the few Italian firms to carry through the transition to [[technology-generation:solid-state]] play, its business running on into the early 1990s.^[7] By then it counted among the most important pinball companies the industry had produced,^[1] with a catalogue of more than forty distinct games known for vibrant artwork and inventive playfields.^[8] Its designers worked the new electronics hard: *Pinball Champ*, the company claimed, was the first machine anywhere to address its players in four separate languages.^[9] Late in the 1980s the firm regrouped under the name Mr. Game before pinball production wound down.^[10] Zaccaria's machines never lost their following. Long after the factory fell silent they became among the most sought-after games of their era, and the company's catalogue found a second life in officially licensed digital recreations that carried the games to PC and console players.^[11]

Flipcommons AI Descriptions (Manufacturer)
opdb_manufacturer_id: 11
Flipcommons Catalog
name: Zaccaria
Flipcommons Catalog
slug: zaccaria
Flipcommons Catalog

Citations

Taste Bologna — https://www.tastebologna.net/blog/pinball-museum-bologna
a carpenter, an electrician and a barista who created one of the most important pinball companies ever.
Taste Bologna — https://www.tastebologna.net/blog/pinball-museum-bologna
In 1965 an Italian law declared pinball outlaw because of gambling. A few artisans in Bologna found a workaround and started to sell new machines that allowed them to win only other balls and not matches. More than 30 companies were born and history began.
Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/zaccaria
At the time pinballs were mostly being imported from the USA, but due to an economic crisis in Italy their cost increased a lot, and so we decided to start refurbishing used pinballs with new graphics applied. Lorenzo, a friend of ours, introduced us to this idea.
Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/zaccaria
The company was established in 1974 in Calderara di Reno, Bologna, and set up by three brothers (Mario, Franco and Natale Zaccaria). The first model they released under the Zaccaria company name was a single player, electromechanical pinball called Strike.
Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/zaccaria
Most of them were designed by self-taught visual artist Lorenzo Rimondini. [...] He designed everything by hand, which took a long time. Each design, each model was composed of twelve colours and then twelve separate designs components - such as the backglass and the playfield - each one hand-drawn with pen and ink.
Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/zaccaria
We started exporting to other European countries in 1975, and soon after to the rest of the world as well - Japan, Australia, America, etc.
Taste Bologna — https://www.tastebologna.net/blog/pinball-museum-bologna
Zaccaria was one of the few companies to survive the transition to electronic pinball machines and their story lasted until 1991.
Kineticist — https://www.kineticist.com/manufacturers/zaccaria
Over its run Zaccaria produced more than 40 distinct machines known for vibrant artwork, inventive playfield designs and early adoption of solid-state electronics
Pinball News — https://www.pinballnews.com/learn/zaccaria
Pinball Champ was the first pinball in the world that talked to the player in four different languages. It was a real success for us.
Zaccaria Pinball (fan archive) — https://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/backround.html
Zaccaria Games, from Bologna, Italy, produced pinball machines from the early 1970s (electromechanical), through the early 1980s (solid state). They briefly reorganized under the name Mr. Game before ending production.
Kineticist — https://www.kineticist.com/manufacturers/zaccaria
those vintage pinball machines remain highly sought-after by collectors and preservationists. [...] preserved for modern audiences through licensed digital recreations and releases on PC/Steam