Gorgar

Gorgar, designed by Barry Oursler and released by Williams Electronics in December 1979, is a landmark game in the evolution of pinball: it was the first talking pinball machine commercially released by any manufacturer. Built on the Williams System 6 solid-state platform, Gorgar spoke with a seven-word vocabulary - enough to taunt players with phrases built from words like "Gorgar," "me," and "beat" - and featured a heartbeat sound that sped up during longer play, ratcheting up the tension. The talking feature was technically an operator option costing an extra $70, but the great majority of machines were ordered with it. Eugene Jarvis handled the sound and Paul Dussault the software and speech processing, and the game sold a confirmed 14,000 units.

At its core, Gorgar is an engaging fantasy-themed game. The playfield offers two flippers, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, four standup targets, two 3-bank drop targets, a kick-out hole, and a spinning target. A distinctive touch is the Snake Pit, which uses a stop magnet under the playfield to hold the ball while the lit value is scored - a clever bit of drama that reinforces the theme.

Gorgar's striking artwork by Constantino and Jeanine Mitchell depicts the demonic Gorgar himself looming over the playfield; his physical stance on the lower playfield invites comparison with Boris Vallejo's 1978 painting "In the Underworld." Unveiled to great attention at the 1979 AMOA Expo in Chicago, Gorgar remains one of the most fondly remembered games of pinball's early solid-state era.