DESIGNERS'SEMINAR
Last time, during my outline of the
events that occurred
during
the fabulous Pinball Expo '85 show in Chicago last
November,
I promised to provide details of the questions and
answers
presented during the "Designers' Seminar" which was part
of that
event. I shall now present the
questions asked by the
audience,
along with the answers given by the three guest
designers,
Wayne Neyens, Norm Clark, and Steve Kordek.
You will
note
that in a few cases the answers given did not always exactly
answer
the questions posed, but since what the designers had to
say was
always interesting and informative I chose to include all
of the
dialog that occurred.
Before we get to the questions I shall
again explain the
format
of the seminar in case you may not remember from my
previous
article. The three designers: Wayne Neyens (major
designer
for Gottlieb during the fifties and sixties), Norm Clark
(Bally
and Williams designer), and Steve Kordek (designer for
Genco
and later Williams) were seated at a table on the stage.
Members
of the audience were asked to ask questions of the
designers,
which they would then answer. In some
cases the
question
would be directed to a particular designer, and in other
cases
to anybody who cared to respond, or to all of the
designers.
In my presentation of the questions and
answers I have
indicated,
where I had it noted, to which designer the questions
were
asked (for example: Q (Wayne):). If the
answer was provided
by that
same person no further indication was given.
If an
answer
was given by a different person, or in the case of
questions
not directed to a specific designer, the person
providing
the answer would be indicated (example:
A (Steve):).
There
are a few cases, however, where I failed to include this
type of
information in my notes. Now, without
further ado, here
are the
questions and answers presented during this extremely
interesting
event of Pinball Expo '85
Q
(Wayne): Were you a part of Gottlieb, or was Gottlieb's success
due to
you?
A:
Probably a little of both.
Q
(Norm): Tell about the time that you
almost killed Steve.
A: I
let go with an air horn and steve collapsed.
Q
(Steve): Describe the impact of
flippers on the industry.
A: Of
all inventions, flippers had the greatest effect. Early
games
were mostly 'chance'. Flippers changed
that. there were
many
kits built to convert old games to "flipper skill" games.
Q
(Steve): Why did Williams use 'impulse'
(one quick flip per
push of
buttons) flippers on their early flipper games?
A: Flippers staying energized used too much
current.
Q
(all): What was the first and last game
each of you designed?
A: FIRST GAME LAST GAME
---------- ---------
Wayne COLLEGE DAZE (1949) SHIPMATES (1963)? - not sure
Norm KING PINS (1962) DEALER'S CHOICE (1974)
Steve TRIPLE ACTION (1948) CONTACT (1978) - still involved
with design.
Steve, as a sidelight, talked a little
about Harry Williams
in the
mid fifties. He said Harry was not at
the Williams very
frequently
around 1954. Harry Mabs did much of the
designing.
He said
Harry would occasionally make changes to a design and
write
on it "redesigned by Harry Williams."
Q
(anyone): In the early 50's Williams
made some games with
symmetrical
playfields and others with asymmetrical ones.
Why?
A
(Steve): I was not at Williams then,
still at Genco. Harry
Williams
didn't do much design.
A
(Norm): Harry Mabs did most of the
design, but Harry Williams
did
some. Mabs was at Williams between
approximately 1950 and
1960. Mabs said he should have never left
Gottlieb.
Q
(anyone): In 1963, when Bally started
making flipper games
again,
their designs were radically different from those of
Williams
and Gottlieb. Why?
A
(Steve): Ted Zale was designing for
Bally and had these new
ideas.
Q
(all): What is each of your favorite
games, and why?
A
(Wayne): QUEEN OF HEARTS - Unique, with
good artwork and good
features. Drop-through holes were new and provided
"last ball
suspense".
A
(Norm): EIGHT BALL (Williams) - had a
good theme (pool) and
was a
good 'competitive' 2 player game.
A
(Steve): SPACE MISSION - NASA photos
were used; also artwork
was
finished before the actual space mission was completed.
Q
(Norm): Tell the story of SPEAKEASY and
how the number of
players
was changed.
A: For three or four years the intention was to
bring out an
Add-
A-Ball. The game was made a single
player, but Germany
wanted
a multiple player. It was changed to 2
player. The game
was
shown at the European show and they wanted a four player.
Q
(Wayne): Who had the idea for backboard
animation as was used
in
COWPOKE?
A: Dave Gottlieb and his chief engineer.
Q (for
each of them): Why did each of you get
involved in the
coin
machine business?
A
(Wayne): It was by accident. It was early in 1936, the
depression
was on and any job was welcome. I was
still in High
School. There was a notice at school for part-time
draftsmen.
It
turned out to be Western Equipment. I
got the job the next
day
after being interviewed. I was first on
the drawing board.
The
boss was Lyn Durant and the pay 30 cents/hour.
A
(Norm): Also by accident. I was from Canada and into
electronics. I came to the U.S. and got a job at
Hallicrafters
the
communications equipment manufacturer.
In 1954 Harry
Williams
became interested in the possibility of using
electronics
in pinball. Harry hired me. I liked pinball and
decided
to stay with him as a circuit designer.
A
(Steve): I had a good job in Idaho as a
Forest Ranger
Dispatcher. I had family in Chicago. I was walking down Ashland
Ave.
and had to get out of the rain. The
door I stepped into was
Genco
and I was offered a job. This was in
1937.
Q (to
all): What are your ages?
A:
Wayne 57, Norm 63, and Steve 74
Q (to
all): What is your advice to young
people who want to get
into
pinball design?
A
(Steve): A 9 year old boy once offered
a design to me. He
even
had a lawyers name at the bottom of the paper.
My advice is
to get
a good education and an engineering degree first. Then
approach
the head design engineer at a company.
Q
(Steve): How often are you approached
with a working prototype
from a
young aspiring designer?
A: Very seldom.
A
(Norm): I have had many designs
submitted to me over the
years.
I even got one from a patient in a mental hospital. My
advice
is to build a working model if you are serious.
A
(Wayne): My advice for young aspiring
designers is to come
into
the industry at a 'lower level' first, then advance to
design.
Q
(anyone): Why were Bally's MOONSHOT and
Gottlieb's TROPIC ISLE
so
similar in playfield design? Was one a
copy of the other?
A
(Wayne): TROPIC-ISLE was not copied
from MOONSHOT.
Q: What about using theme ideas from outsiders?
A: Theme ideas alone are not enough, much more
is needed.
SIDE
COMMENT (Harvey Heiss): All designers
are a "bunch of
thiefs
(laughing). I went to conventions where
many machines
were
"stolen."
Reply
(Steve): That was true in the early
days. It is more
difficult
now to "steal" games because games have become much
more
complex.
Q
(each): What do you consider to be the
most collectable
pinball
machines?
A
(Steve): HUMPTY DUMPTY and Williams'
FLASH
A.
(Norm): EIGHT BALL DELUXE
A
(Wayne): First "flipper",
first "2 player", etc; ie.
firsts
of a
type.
Q
(all): What do each of you think of the
current games? What
about
the direction of games in the future?
A
(Norm): "Kit" form copies of
old games are no good. New
designs
are much better.
A
(Steve): The programmers really do
wonderful things which were
not
possible before, such a allowing one player to "carry over"
earned
advantages from one ball to the next.
Q
(anyone): Were there any
multi-level" playfields in the
1950's?
A
(Steve): Norm and I worked on a
plexiglass "insert" which gave
a
playfield two levels; we even built models.
Harry Williams
once
said he built a five level playfield.
COMMENT
(Wayne): I really like the action of
today's games with
their
multi-level playfields and sound.
Q
(all): Have you ever put your initials
on any games you
designed?
A
(Steve): I never did.
A
(Wayne): No.
A
(Norm): No, but I know of an artist who
put his initials on
the
backglass. It was on ZODIAC.
Q
(anyone): Do you know of any instances
where competing
companies
banded together to help each other?
A: Yes, in associations for common protections.
Q
(anyone): Are game designs legally
protected? Are there ever
lawsuits?
A (Steve): There used to be lawsuits, but not anymore.
A
(Norm): Copyrights are sometimes
used. Patents take to long
to
obtain. GRAND PRIX was copied in Spain
and called FACES. A
lot of
that went on in europe.
Q
(anyone): Do you ever "design
around" patented features?
A: Usually "deals" are made so one
company can use a patented
feature
of another.
Q
(anyone): Do you think pinball art
could be used in museums to
establish
a form of "folk art"?
A: It was done in Chicago a few years ago.
Q
(anyone): In the late 50's or early
60's a "disappearing pop
bumper"
was used on a few games. Who's idea
was it and why was
it not
used on more games?
A
(Steve): It was too expensive to
implement.
A
(Norm): Harry Williams had the idea and
Gordon Horlock
(Williams
designer) worked it out. It didn't
enhance any of the
game's
features and was too expensive for what it did for the
game.
Q
(Norm): Why was it decided to use D.C.
power for the Pop
Bumpers
on SPANISH EYES and later games?
A: D.C.
worked well and gave the bumpers more power.
Q
(anyone): Why did GRANADA, the
"Add-A-Ball" version of SPANISH
EYES,
have a different playfield?
A
(Norm): The Italians wanted it to be
different.
Q
(all): Did you also design other types
of games such as guns,
etc?
A
(Steve): All types. Genco made good gun games.
A
(Wayne): I designed WESTERN BASEBALL, a
great game! Other
than
that, just pins.
A.
(Norm): I did circuit designs for other
types of games, but
no
complete designs other than pinballs.
Q
(Wayne): What dont you like in the
features of new games?
A: They only have straight "high
score", no "sequences", "carry-
over
features", etc.
Q
(Steve): From the standpoint of
"cost vs earnings", have you
considered
bringing back proven designs of the past?
A: Maybe when we run out of ideas we will look
back at older
games
for new inspirations.
Q
(anyone): Does anyone know what
happened to the giant machine
called
"TIME OF YOUR LIFE", which was made in the late 40's as
part of
a cancer fund raising project of the coin machine
industry?
A: No one seemed to have heard of it except for
Alvin Gottlieb.
He did
not know what happened to it.
Q
(anyone): Did you have an idea for a
game that you liked but
others
didn't?
A
(Wayne): CHALLENGER. It looked like it was "designed by a
committee."
A
(Norm): SPEAKEASY. I thought it would
be a great "Add-A-
Ball".
Also, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.
A
(Steve): BO BO. Junk it!
Q
(anyone): Do you have any games at
home?
A
(Wayne): SPIRIT OF 76, serial #
10,000.
That was the end of the fantastic
"Designer's Seminar".
After
it was over there was a brief period where members of the
audience
could 'mingle' with the designers and ask a few more
questions. It was at this time, while talking to Steve
Kordek,
that I
learned a very interesting fact. This
was that the famous
pinball
artist, Roy Parker, designed many of the backglasses for
pre-war
Genco pinballs, including, I was told, my own METRO from
1941.