History Pinball / Contact

* AscendedGlitch: The doorbell added to later games started off as a practical joke -- an employee at Pacific Amusement wired a doorbell buzzer to a ''Contact'' demo table, so every time the switch was hit, owner Fred McClellan thought his phone was ringing. It proved popular enough that it was quickly added to production machines.

%%* AppealToNovelty

%%* SkillShot: The Contact Switch.

* AppealToNovelty

* SkillShot: The Contact Switch.

* FollowTheLeader: The success of ''Contact'' prompted many copycats by other manufacturers, and fostered the rapid use of solenoids, bells, and tilt.

* SkillShot: The Contact Switch.
* ThrowItIn: The use of a bell started as a practical joke at Pacific Amusement. One of the employees wired a doorbell buzzer to the Contact Switch on a demo table, and every time it was hit, owner Fred [=McClellan=] thought his phone was ringing and tried to answer it. When the bell proved to be an attention-getting device, it was added to all subsequent machines.

If ''Pinball/BaffleBall'' is the ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' of {{Pinball}}, then '''Contact''' is its ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'' -- it took the ideas of its breakthrough predecessor to the next level, injecting technological improvements that quickly spurred a raft of imitators.

As for Harry Williams, the success of ''Contact'' elevated him almost overnight to a major player in the industry, and he followed it with numerous other innovative mechanisms and game designs. By 1938, the mere mention of Williams' name became a major selling point, and eventually led to the creation of Creator/WilliamsElectronics.

* NoFairCheating: Although ''Contact'' was not the first game to use a "Tilt" mechanism, it was included in later versions of the game to prevent players from excessively jostling the cabinet for an easier game.

Inspiration struck when Harry decided to use small electromagnets in his game -- if the player could shoot a ball over the top switch, any earlier balls in low-scoring holes would be kicked out and drop into a higher-scoring hole underneath. He found a nearby manufacturer of small electromagnets called "solenoids", then partnered with Pacific Amusement Manufacturing to sell the games. Williams called his new game ''Contact'' after the electrical "contact" (switch) to initiate the action, and included three dry cell batteries ("good for months") to power the game.

''Contact'' did well at first, but Williams soon updated the game with a doorbell that rang whenever the player hit the Contact switch, and a "Tilt" mechanism to prevent cheating. These innovations turned the game into an instant success, as the ball-kicking action and tilt sensor challenged skilled players, and the clacking solenoids and ringing bells drew in spectators. Orders soon overwhelmed Pacific Amusement's Los Angeles plant, and they opened a second plant in Chicago in April 1934 to meet demands. When that was still insufficient, a nearly-identical game called ''Lightning'' was licensed to Exhibit Supply Company. Even so, imitators soon followed, and it is estimated that over 33,000 ''Contact'' games in various forms were made.

* ThrowItIn: The use of a bell was started as a practical joke at Pacific Amusement. One of the employees wired a doorbell buzzer to the Contact Switch on a demo table, and every time it was hit, owner Fred [=McClellan=] thought his phone was ringing and tried to answer it. The bell proved to be an attention-getting device and added to all subsequent machines.

* FollowTheLeader: The success of ''Contact'' prompted many copycats by other manufacturers, and fostered the rapid use of solenoids, chimes, and tilt.

* SkillShot: The Contact Switch.

If ''Pinball/BaffleBall'' is the ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' of {{Pinball}}, then '''Contact''' is its ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'' -- it took the ideas of its breakthrough predecessor game to the next level, injecting technological improvements that quickly spurred a raft of imitators.

''Contact'' did well at first, but Williams soon updated the game with a doorbell that rang whenever the player hit the Contact switch, and a "Tilt" mechanism to prevent cheating. These innovations turned the game into an instant success, as the ball-kicking action and tilt sensor challenged skilled players, and the clacking solenoids and ringing bells drew in spectators.

Orders soon overwhelmed Pacific Amusement's Los Angeles plant, and they opened a second plant in Chicago in April 1934 to meet demands. Even that was not enough, and a nearly-identical game called ''Lightning'' was licensed to Exhibit Supply Company to help alleviate the load. Even so, imitators soon followed, and it is estimated that over 33,000 ''Contact'' games in various forms were made.

''Contact'' did well at first, but Williams soon updated the game with a doorbell that rang whenever the player hit the Contact switch, and a "Tilt" mechanism to prevent cheating. These innovations turned the game into an instant success, as the ball-kicking action and tilt sensor challenged skilled players, and the clacking solenoids and ringing bells drew in spectators. Orders soon overwhelmed Pacific Amusement's Los Angeles plant, and they opened a second plant in Chicago in April 1934 to meet demands. Imitators soon followed, but Pacific Amusement produced over 30,000 ''Contact'' games in various configurations before finally closing the line.

* SkillShot: The Contact Switch.

* NoFairCheating: Harry Williams invented the "Tilt" mechanism to prevent players from excessively jostling the cabinet for an easier game.

* FollowTheLeader: The success of ''Contact'' prompted many copycat versions by other manufacturers.

''Contact'' did well at first, but Williams soon updated the game with a doorbell that rang whenever the player hit the Contact switch, and a "Tilt" mechanism to prevent cheating. These innovations attracted players and turned the game into an instant success, as the ball-kicking action challenged skilled players, and the clacking solenoids and ringing bells drew in spectators. Orders soon overwhelmed Pacific Amusement's Los Angeles plant, and they opened a second plant in Chicago in April 1934 to meet demands. Imitators soon followed, but Pacific Amusement produced over 30,000 ''Contact'' games in various configurations before finally closing the line.

In 1933, Creator/HarryWilliams was trying to make money by inventing arcade games for sale. In the two years since the release of ''Pinball/BaffleBall,'' "pin games" had evolved from simple boxes with holes and nails to fairly complex "mechanical marvels," such as Rockola's ''World Series''; Harry had recently produced ''Advance,'' a modest success, but needed something bigger to stand above the crowded field.

->"Times Have Changed In The Pin Game business. ''Contact'' Marks a New Chapter in Coin Machine History"

Inspiration struck when Harry decided to use small electromagnets in his game -- if the player could shoot a ball over the top switch, any earlier balls in low-scoring holes would be kicked out and drop into a higher-scoring hole underneath. He found a nearby manufacturer of small electromagnets called "solenoids", then partnered with Pacific Amusement Manufacturing to sell the games. Williams called his new game ''Contact'' after the electrical "contact" (switch) to initiate the action, and included dry cell batteries to power the game.