High Ace

High Ace is a fascinating footnote in Williams history: an electro-mechanical, single-player Add-A-Ball game designed by Norm Clark with artwork by Christian Marche that was never actually produced by Williams in the USA. Williams assigned it model number 455 and authorized 30 units, per its first appearance on the company's Daily Production Log on November 28, 1973, but no brochure was ever made and US production never happened. Instead, the game was licensed for production in Spain, where it appeared as Segasa's 1974 'High Ace'.

The design itself was well-traveled: High Ace shares its layout with Williams' 1973 'Dealer's Choice' and matches both the design and coloring of Williams' 1974 'Lucky Ace'. Surviving promo photos even show "Williams Electronics Inc." printed in the lower right corner of the backglass, a mistake that was caught and corrected since the game was destined only for licensed Spanish production.

On the playfield, the cards-and-gambling theme is served by four flippers, three pop bumpers, and eight standup targets, with a distinctive array of nine rollover buttons in the center of the playfield and an end-of-ball bonus. As a game that officially exists mostly on paper and in promo photography, High Ace is a genuine curiosity for students of Williams' EM era.