''Fireball'' is a historically notable

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

machine designed by Ted Zale and released by Bally in 1972. The table was one of the first to have a modern

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

type of outer space theme and featured elaborate, painted artwork on the sides of the table, painted by Dave Christensen.

Description

The game itself is notable as it featured several pinball innovations, including a spinning disc, moveable "zipper" flippers, and trapped ball bonuses. ''Fireball'' was also an early table to have the multi-ball (three balls, in this case) feature. ''Fireball''s main surface and raised surface also featured elaborate artwork of a flaming "fire man", flames, and stars in space. Fireball - the pinball machine from Waking Life

Fireball - the pinball machine from Waking Life

FireBall Professional Home model

Partly due to the success of the original ''Fireball'' pinball machine, Bally released a "Professional Home Model" available to the regular consumer beginning in 1978. The layout was different from the arcade ''Fireball''; it was a slight modification of the Bally's ''Hocus Pocus'' playfield with the subtraction of a ball diverter gate.

Fireball Classic

In February 1985, Bally released ''Fireball Classic''. While the playfield closely resembled the original this version was electronic and had no zipper-flippers. In a review for ''

Play Meter ''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C ...

'', Roger Sharpe rated this machine at a generous 2/4 due to nostalgia for the original version. He noted that the 1972 version had helped propel Bally to a leading pinball manufacturer.

Cultural references

Chip Carter bought one of these machines in 1977 while his father,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, was president; it was inspected by the secret service on delivery.

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

plays a rotoscoped ''Fireball'' in his 2001 film ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American adult animated surrealist drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, ...

'', in the penultimate scene where he expounds Dickian

gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...

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''. During the episode "Pinball" (Original air date: November 29, 1985) of the television series ''

Mr. Belvedere ''Mr. Belvedere'' is an American sitcom that originally broadcasting, aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from March 15, 1985 until its cancellation (television), cancellation following the 107th episodic television, episode on December ...

'', the title character becomes obsessed with a "Firebomb" pinball machine, a slightly altered ''Fireball''.

Digital version

''Fireball'' was a licensed table of ''

The Pinball Arcade ''The Pinball Arcade'' is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of 100 real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of mac ...

'', but was removed from sale on June 30, 2018 due to the loss of the Williams license.

References

External links

*
''Fireball'' (home edition)
at the Internet Pinball Database
''Fireball Classic''
at the Internet Pinball Database
1972 pinball machines 1985 pinball machines Bally pinball machines {{pinball-stub