Ice Cold Beer

The 1983 Taito America Corporation release Ice Cold Beer is a well-known arcade redemption game rather than a true pinball machine — IPDB catalogs it as "Not A Pinball." It runs on solid-state electronics, controlled by a 68A09E microprocessor and supporting logic, though by 1983 solid-state technology was already well established in coin-op equipment rather than being among the first of its kind.

Gameplay revolves around using a motorized bar to move a single steel ball up the playfield and into one of ten numbered, illuminated target holes scattered among many trap holes; landing in the lit hole advances the target, and successfully reaching all ten lights the star on the scoreboard. This physical, skill-based challenge — closer to a carnival midway game than conventional pinball — helped make it a popular arcade fixture, and a tempered-glass playfield cover protected the mechanism during play. An optional ticket dispenser was available, and the game was reissued the following year as Taito's own Zeke.

Details about the machine's individual designer remain undocumented, but Ice Cold Beer's inventive, novelty-driven design has made it a memorable and enduring piece of arcade history, later inspiring other manufacturers' versions of the concept.