Gottlieb: История американского производителя аркадных игр и пинболов.

Pinball and arcade game manufacturer
the pinball and arcade game manufacturer

Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games (including Q*bert) throughout much of the 20th century.

Gottlieb's main office and plant was at 1140 50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s, when a new modern plant and office were opened at 165 W. Lake Street in Northlake, IL. A subassembly plant was also built in Fargo, ND. The company was established by David Gottlieb in 1927, and initially produced only pinball machines. It later expanded into various other games, including pitch and bats, bowling games, and eventually video arcade games (notably Reactor, Q*bert and M*A*C*H*3.) Like other manufacturers, Gottlieb first made mechanical pinball machines, including the first successful coin operated pinball machine Baffle Ball in 1931. Gottlieb was bought by Columbia Pictures in 1976. Gottlieb released Q*bert in 1982, which would become immensely successful and is an icon of the golden age of arcade games. In 1983, after the Coca Cola Company had acquired Columbia, Gottlieb was renamed Mylstar Electronics, A management group, led by Gilbert G. Pollock, purchased Mylstar's pinball assets in October 1984 and continued the manufacture of pinball machines under a new company, Premier Technology. As a result of this a number of prototype Mylstar arcade games, which were not purchased by the investors, were never released. Premier did go on to produce one last arcade game, 1989's Exterminator. Premier Technology, which returned to selling pinball machines under the name Gottlieb after the purchase, continued in operation until the summer of 1996. Gottlieb's most popular pinball machine was Baffle Ball (released mid 1931), and their final machine was Barb Wire (early 1996).

The 1965 machine Gottlieb's Kings & Queens is the one played by the title character in the 1975 rock opera movie Tommy about a psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute pinball wizard. Today, Gottlieb's pinball machines (along with those distributed under the Mylstar and Premier names), as well as the "Gottlieb" and "D. Gottlieb & Co." trademarks (USPTO registration nos. 1403592, 2292766, and 3288024, and other numbers in countries around the world), are owned by Gottlieb Development LLC of Pelham Manor, New York. Most of Gottlieb and Mylstar's video games are currently owned by Columbia Pictures.