Talk:Stern Electronics

This was placed in the article, so I'm relocating it here where it belongs: --Jeff Axelrod (talk) 17:43, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

What coincidence? Please define the referenced coincidence concerning the undefined Williams, which was only mentioned for the first time here without any connection to Seeburg or Chicago Coin.

This is more a note to myself to come back and fix this article later, but there is no direct link legally between Stern Electronics, Inc. and Stern Pinball, Inc. The only actual link there is is the man himself, Gary Stern. SPI does not own any rights to former SEI IP. Keefer 00:41, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

This article has to be split. The topic are completely unrelated. Might as well have Deer and John Deere in the same article. Nearly 4 year is way too long for this to have remain munged like this. — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 05:57, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Saying they are completely unrelated is somewhat incorrect, but there is about 8 years worth of information missing so its understandable. Data East Pinball was Stern Electronics in everything but name. Basically after Stern Electronics died the assets were picked up by Data East and Gary Stern was put at the helm, he was the one that made it happen anyway. When Data East was falling apart they transfered their US operations to Sega, including the pinball division in Chicago (everything at the time went through San Jose but the factory was still in Chicago IIRC). When Sega went through their re-origination in 1999 they sold the division back to Gary Stern. Stern Electronics died in/around 1984 but the company that is now Stern Pinball is a direct decedent of Stern Electronics in everything but legal status, last I heard there was even a few staff left from the late 70's with Stern Pinball now). You are correct in asserting that this article needs work, and I would be glad to write it but I haven't been able to find anything like a reliable source for much of this information. If you can find the sources and post them here I'll do everything else, but hell, the research is the hard part. Lando242 (talk) 04:12, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

• Split has been disputed with valid reasons. The article needs cleaning up. It needs appropriate sourcing to discover the correct relationship between the companies, and opinions and original research removed. SilkTork *^YES! 00:40, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Article needs to be split. Two completely separate companies. Having staff work in both companies is completely irrelevant.

Stern Pinball does own all Stern Electronics IP. That has changed since the 2006 Keefer quote. Company has licensed Stern Electronics tables to Pinball Arcade under the Stern Pinball banner. Confirmed this with the company myself.

All queries for Data East Pinball, Sega Pinball, and Stern Pinball should direct to one article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Napabar (talk • contribs) 22:05, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Has Stern Pinball published anything about its ownership of Berzerk and other Stern Electronics video games? If so, you can cite it as a source for the connection between the companies. --68.50.233.67 (talk) 15:06, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

So is anyone ever going to split this article or fix the article to justify keeping it un-split? Trivialist (talk) 10:21, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

• I've been doing more research, and as best as I can tell, Data East did not buy Stern Electronics. Three sources state that Data East's pinball division was established as a separate subsidiary in 1986, while Stern Electronics folded in 1985. The closest assertion I can find that Data East bought Stern Electronics is this 1999 article which says, "Oddly, Stern Pinball is, on paper, a new company in the field despite a name that has been in the business since the 1930s...[Stern] became absorbed by Data East Pinball in 1986, which sold it to Sega, the Japanese-owned conglomerate, in 1994." Although legally distinct entities, it would certainly be reasonable to say that Stern Electronics was absorbed by Data East in the form of staff and facilities. There has also been some ambiguity about Stern owning the IP from Stern Electronics given their licensing to Pinball Arcade. I strongly suspect (though I do not have sources to verify) that Gary Stern retained the IP of the defunct Stern Electronics and later allowed Stern Pinball to acquire it. I strongly support splitting the two articles, renaming this one to Stern Electronics and creating a stub for Stern Pinball that can easily be filled out. Vegantics (talk) 14:21, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

  Well this is clear that they are two separate companies. Author of that article is an expert about Sega and has written several books about it and pinball. This is also useful.

  This also states that they are separate companies.

  Have a listen to this [Gary Stern 75th Birthday Interview - Part 1] - Stern Electronics IP bought (different to retained) and owned by Gary Stern and his [now] ex-wife. Wilbers (talk) 00:01, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

• I know splitting was brought up 20 years ago; however, unfortunately, there are still currently very few reliable sources detailing the modern Stern Pinball company, and therefore, it by itself will not pass WP:GNG. Unless more sources can be found to make it notable on its own, I abstain on splitting as the two companies have relation by ownership although not by legal status. TruenoCity (talk) 21:32, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

Could someone please check the links for Gary Sterns name, to me it looks like they link to a completely different person - a "Gary H Stern" who was a banker. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.142.164.192 (talk) 21:38, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Since there is no Wikipedia article about Gary Stern of this company I have removed the misleading links. --Tochni (talk) 05:49, 4 October 2016 (UTC)