Pinball Electronics - Pinball Platforms, Pinball 2000, Williams Pinball Controller, Digital Compression System, Whitestar, Superpin, Yamaha Ym3012 (Paperback)

Chapters: Pinball Platforms, Pinball 2000, Williams Pinball Controller, Digital Compression System, Whitestar, Superpin, Yamaha Ym3012. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Pinball 2000 is the last pinball hardware and software platform developed by major pinball manufacturer Williams, and was used in the machines Revenge From Mars (under the brand name Bally) and Star Wars Episode I (under the brand name Williams) before Williams exited the pinball business on October 25, 1999. It is the successor to the Williams Pinball Controller platform. Unlike previous pinball machines, Pinball 2000 machines feature a computer monitor to display animations, scores, and other information directly onto the playfield by using a mirrored playfield glass (through a technique called "Pepper's Ghost") that reflects the output displayed from the monitor hanging in the head of the machine. This construction was inspired by the Asteroids Deluxe arcade machine which used a one way mirror to add a static background graphic to the animated vector graphics of the game. This allows the display of virtual game targets in the upper third of the playfield that can be physically hit by the regular steel ball of the machine. To detect the impact of the ball the released games used various targets in the middle of the field, or by recognizing successful shots up the left and right ramps and orbits/loops. Another novelty is the fast swapping of playfields and software, so operators can convert an existing game into a completely new one in (theoretically) 5 to 10 minutes. A conversion kit for Revenge from Mars was released so it could be converted into a Star Wars Episode I. The kit included a new playfield, ROMs, cabinet decals and a manual plunger. Although the success of the fi...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=12489753