Fireball (pinball)
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 | |
| Manufacturer | Bally |
|---|---|
| Release date | February, 1972 |
| Design | Ted Zale |
| Artwork | Dave Christensen |
| Production run | 3,815 |
Fireball is a pinball machine designed by Ted Zale and released by Bally in 1972. The table was one of the first to have a modern sci-fi/fantasy type of outer-space theme and featured elaborate artwork, on the sides of the table, painted by Dave Christensen.
The game itself is notable as it featured several pinball innovations, including a spinning disc (called "whirlwind spinner"[1] on the flyer) in the centre of the playfield which spins continuously throughout a game, moveable "zipper" flippers, and trapped ball bonuses. The zipper flippers move to their inner position if the blue mushroom bumper is hit, or to the outer position if a yellow mushroom bumper is hit; when in the inner position the gap between the flippers is smaller than the ball. It also includes the "messenger ball", this is a ball trapped in a channel that can be hit with the ball in play to try and get it to hit the target behind it.
Fireball was an early table to feature multi-ball (three balls, in this case). This was started by locking a ball in each of the games saucers, Odin and Wotan (in this game, the fire gods), and the hitting a target with the messenger ball.[2][3]
Fireball's playfield and backglass featured elaborate artwork of a flaming "fire man", flames, and stars in space. The concept of this fire god came from a comic book.[4]
Cultural references
Chip Carter bought one of these machines in 1977 while his father, Jimmy Carter, was president; it was inspected by the secret service on delivery.[5]
Richard Linklater owned a Fireball, and it appears in two of his films. In his 2001 film Waking Life he plays a rotoscoped Fireball in the penultimate scene where he expounds Dickian gnosticism to the protagonist. Also, Linkater's 1993 film Dazed and Confused features a scene that shows extreme close-ups of a game being played on a Fireball.[6]
During the episode "Pinball" (Original air date: November 29, 1985) of the television series Mr. Belvedere, the title character becomes obsessed with a "Firebomb" pinball machine, a slightly altered Fireball.
Digital versions
The table was included in the arcade game cabinet UltraPin in 2006.[7]
Fireball was a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade,[8] but was removed from sale on June 30, 2018 due to the loss of the Williams license.[9]