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Big Bang Bar - The Complete Story

Big Bang Bar was one of the last (and greatest) pinball machines Capcom created before they closed the doors on their pinball division in 1996. The story about this unique machine is another sad chapter in pinball history, particularly with demise of nearly all pinball manufacturers in the mid to late 1990's.

The 1990's were not kind to Pinball. In fact, with the demise of arcades and shift to console games for the home, Pinball was hanging on for dear life.

Perhaps Capcom, a massive world class game developer with smash hits such as Street Fighter thought they could make an impact. Sadly it didn't work out. Their pinball division only lasted two years (1995&96). But the games they created during this short timeframe were completely unique and not based on a hit movie or television show. What's more, Capcom's pinball machines tend to stand out from the crowd with their bright vibrant artwork. It's sort of like pinball meets arcade game from a color point of view!

In it's two year lifespan, Capcom created six titles, four of which went into production (Airborne, Flipper Football, Pinball Magic & Breakshot) and two that only reached the prototype stage (Big Bang Bar & Kingpin). None of Capcom's titles ever achieved impressive sales figures (around 1000 units each).

Although fully functioning, only 9 Kingpins and 13 Big Bang Bar's were built. Capcom closed their pinball division due to lackluster sales and these two machines were never put into production. In collector circles, these are some of the most prized (and expensive) games one can collect. All 9 Kingpins and 12 Big Bang Bar's are still firmly in collectors hands. One BBB was destroyed in a fire.

First of all, Big Bang Bar is undoubtedly one of the strangest, most unique games ever built. It's original, witty, funny, challenging, and even strangely erotic at times! If you can imagine a fantasy outer space strip club, that's about the feeling of it. Sort of like Star Wars meets Strip Tease.

Originally to be titled "Mars, The Red Planet" BBB was revolutionary for it's time. It featured 15 stacked modes, meaning you could play multiple modes at the same time, plus the final wizard mode, where all the lights turn off in the game except for the black light! There's also a magnetic ball diverter that splits the balls to both sides of the playfield during muti-ball instead of shooting them out of just one place!

The sound in BBB is particularly noteworthy (especially the bass). That's because each speaker is encased in it's own cabinet, as opposed to being simply mounted on a speaker panel. The bouncer guy you hear during the game was actually the security guard at Capcom, and the sultry woman's voice was none other than Mark Ritchie's secretary! (Mark was the manager of Capcom's pinball division at the time).

BBB is such a cool shade of purple, which is really unusual for a cabinet color choice. According to our sources, purple was chosen because it was the favorite color of designer Rob Morrisons wife! There's also the electro-luminescent arrow stickers mounted to the underside of the ramp! These were incredibly expensive in their day, and priced out at $85.00 - for each sticker! Additionally, Rob Morrison was a competition Jet Ski racer at the time, so if you happen to find the "Racer X" plastic on the playfield, this was his nickname.

BBB was so well received that it seemed Capcom's fortunes were finally about to change. But with pinball players on the decline, Bally/Williams wasn't about (or couldn't afford) to let Capcom take away more market share. There are rumors that Bally wouldn't allow their distributors to also carry Capcoms product. Shortly after the public debut of BBB at the 1996 pinball expo the decision was made to close Capcom's pinball division. Had pinball playing been alive and stronger at the time, the story may have had a happier ending.

Interestingly enough, Williams bought two of the BBB prototypes and took them apart to see if they could build a similar game on their WPC platform. The project got as far as the whitewood stage but was canceled when it was determined the game would be too cost prohibitive to build.

In 2004, Illinois Pinball announced plans to remake this historic game through a licensing arrangement (by name only) with Capcom. (Interestingly, Capcom still has the exact same logo they used for their pinball machines, although their core function is still producing hit video games such as Resident Evil).

Although IPB was reported to have numerous challenges along the way with cost overuns and such, (one can imagine the scope of putting together such a project) the result is a masterpiece. The reproduction is for all practical purposes identical and true to the original down to the very last decal, artwork and plastic.

Although originally intended to be a run of 101 machines, the final count rests at 183 with each machines serial # designated by a brass plate where the price card normally sits.

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