''Gorgar'' is a 1979

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 Barry Oursler and released by

Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams ...

. It was the first speech-synthesized ("talking") pinball machine, containing a vocabulary of seven words ("Gorgar", "speaks", "beat", "you", "me", "hurt", "got") that were combined to form varying broken-English phrases, such as "Gorgar speaks" and "Me got you". The pinball machine also has a heartbeat sound effect that increases in speed during longer gameplay. According to the game's programmer, Paul Dussault, "the voice was

John Doremus John Doremus (August 3, 1931 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma – July 6, 1995 in Naperville, Illinois) was an American radio personality, best known for his radio syndication of ''Passing Parade, The Passing Parade'', a series of short stories of remarka ...

, an announcer in Chicago that we recorded and then digitized his voice. He was the voice of the in flight audio for various airlines. We had tried in house voices but weren’t getting the bass effect we wanted to make Gorgar sound menacing." Also a promotional record for the machine titled ''Gorgar Speaks'' was produced by Bud Solk & Associates and recorded at Zenith Cinema Service Studios.

was the announcer, Tom Erhart portrayed Gorgar, Phyllis L. Fineberg wrote the script, and Ron Crouse directed.

Digital versions

''Gorgar'' was available on

FarSight Studios FarSight Studios (formerly FarSight Technologies) is an American video game developer established in 1988 by Jay Obernolte. They are an official licensed developer for all current home and handheld consoles including the Sony PlayStation 4, Play ...

' 2012 release ''

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 ...

'' for multiple platforms until June 29, 2018, when the license for inclusion of Williams and Bally tables in the game expired. The table is included in the '' Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection''. Unauthorized reproductions of this table are available for ''

Visual Pinball Visual Pinball ("VP") is a freeware and source available game engine, video game engine for pinball tables and similar games such as pachinko machines. It includes a table level editor, editor as well as the Computer simulation, simulator itself, ...

''.

In popular culture

The machine appears in the 5th episode of the 2nd season of

Highway to Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred its creator and co-director Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth to help peo ...

, appropriately an episode in which the Devil himself appeared. German

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. The band has at times been called one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Its first ...

's 1985 album '' Walls of Jericho'' included a track titled "Gorgar" that symbolized the machine as a form of

gambling addiction Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...

References

1979 pinball machines Williams pinball machines {{pinball-stub