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It's game over for pinball pioneer

Tilts after 100 years

Steve Kordek, the man widely dubbed as the Godfather of Pinball, has fired his last steely sphere at the ripe age of 100.

While Kordek was credited with developing hundreds of pinball games, it was his implementation of two flippers that cemented his legendary status in the gaming world.

After the 1947 game Humpty Dumpty broke onto the scene with six weak flippers, Kordek started work on a machine that used just two, each powered directly from a mains current.

Triple Action

Triple Action was Kordek's first game with dual flippers

This idea was demoed at a Chicago trade show in 1948. The rest is history, with almost all current pinball tables still based on Kordek's original design.

The innovator also coined the concept of multi-ball play and pop-up targets on tables.

Kordek passed away on 19 February, after failing to respond to persistent nudging. ®

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