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The Classic Pinball Podcast
The Classic Pinball Podcast
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#18 Superman - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago25 min listenBy George
From the creator

Dave talks about a customers 1979 Atari Superman pinball he is restoring. He remembers a seminar about Steve Ritchie and Eugene Jarvis and their time at Atari. Williams flippers and reworked target...

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Highlights

  • Steve Richie designed Superman as one of his first games at Atari and worked on it for approximately a full year
  • Steve Richie left Atari before Superman was even released to join Williams, where he worked on Flash
  • Atari produced approximately 5,000 Superman machines, though the exact number may be an estimate
  • Superman was equipped with LED displays instead of plasma displays used by other manufacturers
  • Superman features a 'stay-alive' warming circuit that keeps constant low current flowing through incandescent bulbs to extend their lifespan
  • Superman's power draw runs near maximum capacity, pulling approximately 11.5 amps on a 10-amp fuse when using 44-watt bulbs
  • Original Superman flipper assemblies are weak and worn, making it difficult to shoot to the top spinners
  • WPC flipper conversions work effectively in Superman while maintaining appropriate power balance
  • Superman was Atari's final pinball machine, representing their 'swan song' before exiting the pinball market
  • Eugene Jarvis contributed to Superman's development and worked alongside Steve Richie at Atari

Notable quotes

“he wound up leaving before Superman even came out. He went up going over to Williams and worked on flash his first game for them and actually got his way and got the background sound on flash.”
Dave
“It's a wide body. It's wider than any other pinball machine manufacturer made at that point, wider than Paragon and Big Game and so forth, Bally and Stern respectively.”
Dave
“Superman it was Steve Richie influence to do it the right way like the normal convention of everybody else And he put the scores in the back box like they supposed to be and the boards are...it was actually a real pinball head like you're supposed to have.”
Dave
“They put the scores in strange places, and the back box had no boards in it. It was just like a light bulb box except for Superman.”
Dave
“They engineered that with very little...close tolerance or you know too close...it runs right on the edge of 10 amps it's pulling a lot”
George
“we want our game to stand out. It's always working. The bulbs always work, and our game always works great because we don't trust the technicians back in the day to fix the stuff.”
Dave
“Superman was their swan song...they left in a high note, kind of.”
George
“Steve Ritchie and Eugene Jarvis were at a seminar one time and I listened to them talk about that stuff and how they had to fight with management about these dumb ideas the management wanted to put out there.”
Dave
“I found a good reason why you want to put LEDs in this game, which usually that's a no-go for me...they blink like crazy because they have this warming circuit on.”
Dave
“I'm going to make three good games. I'm going to have one for me.”
Dave

Entities

  • Atari· company
  • Bally· company
  • Gottlieb· company
  • John's Jukes· company
  • Stern· company
  • Williams Electronics· company
  • Airborne Avenger· game
  • Alien Poker· game
  • Firepower· game
  • Flash· game
  • Middle Earth· game
  • Neutron Star· game
  • Roadrunner· game
  • Superman· game
  • Pinside· organization
  • Dave· person
  • Eugene Jarvis· person
  • George· person
  • George Opperman· person
  • John Day· person
  • Steve Richie· person
  • Comet· product
  • WPC· product

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