Pinball 2000

Pinball 2000 is the latest pinball hardware and software platform developed by Williams and has been used in the machines Revenge From Mars by Bally and Star Wars Episode I by Williams before both were going out of the pinball business on October 25th, 1999.

Unlike previous pinball machines, it features a TV to display animations, the player score and other information directly onto the playfield by using a mirroring playfield glass (a technique first developed and used by Disney in some of their live shows) which reflects the output displayed from the monitor hanging in the head of the machine. This allows to display virtual game targets in the upper third of the playfield that can be physically hit by the regular steel ball of the machine. To detect the impact of the ball the released games used various targets in the middle of the field or by recognizing succesful shots up the left and right ramps and loops.

Another novelty is the fast swapping of playfields and software, so operators can convert an existing game into a completely new one in (theoretically) 5 to 10 minutes. A conversion kit for Revenge from Mars was released so it could be converted into a Star Wars Episode I. The kit included a new playfield, ROMs, cabinet decals and a manual plunger.