Episode 115 - The Age of Desperation and Innovation: Gottlieb System 80A

Deep dive into D. Gottlieb & Co. 80A (1982-85): chaos, innovation, and the games that stuck or plopped.

Synopsis

Wedgehead A A A Pinball Podcast 115 examines D. Gottlieb & Co. 80A arcade pinball games (1982-1985), a period of managerial chaos and experimental design when the company was struggling against video games and competitors. Hosts Alex and Alan review ~20 games from this era using a 'stuck or plop' ranking system, discussing memorable titles like Devil's Dare, Spirit, Goin' Nuts, and Kroll, while exploring themes of desperation-driven innovation, rare European distribution patterns, and designer attribution mysteries.

Highlights

• Gottlieb's late adoption of solid-state technology put them in a difficult competitive position in the 1980s
• Coca-Cola purchased Columbia Pictures (who owned Gottlieb), leading to name changes to Mylstar and then Premier
• Devil's Dare sold 3,800 units, making it the most successful System 80A game
• Devil's Dare was the first game with a multiball restart feature
• Caveman was the first hybrid pinball-video game, predating Baby Pac-Man
• Rocky (Gottlieb) sold 1,500 units and is Mr. Trudeau's first design credit
• Spirit had only 1,200 units produced but most or all went to Europe, making US examples rare reimports
• Goin' Nuts is a canceled prototype with only ~10 copies made; one playable copy is at Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas
• Black Hole and Goin' Nuts designer is listed variously as 'Adolf Seitz Jr..' or 'Shing Lam' depending on source, possibly an adopted anglicized name
• Kroll is a canceled Trudeau design with Liam Neeson licensing featuring upper and lower playfields

Entities

• Coca-Cola· company
• Columbia Pictures· company
• Gottlieb· company
• Mylstar· company
• Premier· company
• Stern· company
• IPDB· organization
• Pinside· organization
• Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
• Adolf Seitz Jr.· person
• Alan· person
• Alex· person
• David Moore· person
• Doug Watson· person
• Ed Krynski· person
• George Christian· person
• John Buras· person
• John Trudeau· person
• Keith Parkinson· person
• Larry Day· person
• Margaret Hudson· person
• Shing Lam· person
• Terry Doerzaph· person
• Tom Safransky· person
• Pinball Hall of Fame· venue
• Wedgehead· venue