New Improved Rocket

The New Improved Rocket, manufactured by Bally in February 1934, is an early electro-mechanical (EM) payout machine designed by Herbert G. Breitenstein, with mechanics by Bud Breitenstein. It represents an improved version of Bally's 1933 Rocket, notable for replacing the earlier model's red-and-chrome "R" emblem with chrome trim lines set against cabinets available in varied colors.

As a payout machine rather than a scoring/flipper game, the New Improved Rocket rewarded players directly rather than through the point-based objectives found in later pinball machines (flippers would not be introduced to pinball until 1947). According to period trade coverage, the game used an entirely new coin mechanism compared to its predecessor, and was offered in both battery-operated and plug-in AC versions, with later production adding a check separator so it could run on cash or tokens and pay out in tokens.

The machine is documented by several patents connected to Breitenstein and to the payout mechanism's inventors, brothers Henry W. and Herman L. Seiden. While detailed gameplay specifics beyond its coin and payout mechanics are not well documented, the New Improved Rocket remains a notable early example of Bally's payout-machine line from the company's formative years.