Baby Pac-Man

Baby Pac-Man is a solid state electronic machine that stands out as one of the most intriguing entries in Bally's extensive catalog: a combination of a scaled-down pinball machine and a video game, tied to the iconic Pac-Man franchise. Designed by Claude Fernandez, with art by Margaret Hudson and Pat McMahon, it was released to production in late 1982, during a pivotal time when video games and pinball were competing for players' quarters.

The machine's most distinctive aspect is its built-in video screen, which displays the score and also plays a Pac-Man-style video game during pauses in the pinball game, controlled by a joystick on the cabinet front. The pinball layout is equally unusual: two flippers, a 5-bank of drop targets, two spinning targets, two kick-out holes, and a horseshoe captive ball lane - but no pop bumpers, no slingshots, no outlanes, and no plunger, with the ball served from the outhole instead.

With a confirmed production run of 7,000 units, Baby Pac-Man is not especially rare, but its hybrid design has earned it a devoted following among collectors. Its unique blend of traditional pinball gameplay and video game technology makes it a fascinating artifact of the early-1980s arcade era.