Manufacturer Gottlieb System Gottlieb System 80 Production run 8,774 | Release date October 1981 Artwork Terry Doerzaph | |
Design Jerry Yingst, Joe Cicak, John Buras, Adolf Seitz Jr. | ||
Black Hole is a pinball game released in 1981 by Gottlieb. It is notable for having two playfields: one on top with a conventional slope, and one mounted underneath, sloping away from the player. It has no connection with the 1979 film of the same name.
Contents
Description
Black Hole was the first machine to feature a lower playfield viewed through a window in the upper playfield. It was touted as the highest-grossing pinball game of all time shortly after its release, partly due to (or despite) the fact that it was the first pinball game which cost 50 cents to play (although many argue that Williams Black Knight, and Firepower were already at 50¢ before the release of Black Hole). Black Hole's robotic speech is generated by a Votrax SC-01.
Features
Appearances in pop culture
Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1983 movie Les Compères
Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1983 movie Strange Brew
Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1989 movie Next Of Kin
The phrase "Do You Dare To Enter The Black Hole?" which the machine says during attract mode was etched in the vinyl runout grooves on LP versions of the band Hovercraft's 1997 album, Akathisia.
Digital versions
Black Hole is available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms. The game is also an included in the Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection.