![]() We believe his best games are ahead of him,” said Jersey Jack Pinball founder Jack Guarnieri. “Steve is not joining the JJP team because of what he has done, but for what he will do. Ritchie’s best-selling designs are among the most sought after in pinball history, including: Flash, High Speed, Terminator 2, AC/DC, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars. Known as the ‘King of Pinball’ and ‘Master of Flow,’ Mr. ![]() Ritchie’s illustrious career spans 47 years in the gaming industry starting in 1974 with Atari Inc. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) adds legendary pinball designer, Steve Ritchie, to their growing team of talented designers. Here’s how Jersey Jack Pinball made the announcement of Steve’s appointment: CHICAGO, Aug. ![]() Steve started work at JJP today, but with a long backlog of Guns N’ Roses orders to fulfil and Pat Lawlor’s Toy Story believed to be next up, it could be up to two years before any Steve Ritchie design hits the production line. Now Steve has moved one street north from Stern Pinball on Lunt Ave. ![]() Steve’s fellow designer at Williams, Pat Lawlor, took a similar path, contract-designing games for Stern Pinball before joining Jersey Jack, while JJP’s lead programmer, Keith Johnson, also moved to Stern before joining Jersey Jack. They were unable to reach agreement at that time but, although expanding, the pinball world is still relatively small with many of the same people moving from company to company. When Jack Guarnieri was setting up Jersey Jack Pinball a little over ten years ago and was in need of a game designer, Jack was in discussion with Steve about him coming to work for the company. Lyman also left Stern Pinball, in his case at the end of last year. These latter two titles were collaborations with Lyman Sheats who crafted the games’ software and rules. Further hits came with Firepower, Black Knight, High Speed, F-14 Tomcat, Terminator 2, High Speed 2: The Getaway and Star Trek: The Next Generation.Īfter Williams downsized and ultimately exited the pinball business, Steve went to work for Stern Pinball – first as a contract designer through his California-based company Steve Ritchie Productions, and then relocating to Illinois to work full time at the Stern Pinball factory.Īfter being allocated a number of themes which held little interest for him such as Elvis, World Poker Tour and 24, Steve was able to recreate his earlier success with the enduring titles Spider-Man and AC/DC, both of which spawned several remakes and multiple different editions, and, it is understood, continue to be the company’s biggest sellers. It was at Williams where he achieved his greatest success in terms of units sold, with his initial design, Flash, revitalising the company’s fortunes and selling more than the preceding three titles combined. “ I was also a lot happier working at Williams, happiness being an important ingredient that enables a designer to create to his/her potential“, he said. Steve has spoken about his frustrations working under the management constraints at Atari. Steve began his pinball career at Atari in his native California where he soon moved from a support role into full game design, producing Airborne Avenger and Superman, although by the time Superman went into production Steve had already left to join Williams.
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