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Worlds Game Maker Celebrates 75 Years of Ballyhoo

Bally Technologies' diamond jubilee marks a high point in a successful era that includes contributions to the arcade game boom, fitness trends, consumer marketing and the latest in casino gaming innovations.

And it all started with a little box called the Ballyhoo.

Bally Manufacturing entered the world in 1932 dedicated to coin-operated amusement devices like the Ballyhoo, one of the first pinball games. Then came the inventions of the "modern" slot machine in the 1960s and the first computerized slot accounting/casino management system in the 1970s. But the gaming industry was not the company's sole focus during the middle and latter half of the 20th century.

"Bally delved into many industries and has strongly influenced much of the country's entertainment culture with its wide-ranging products and business endeavors," said Richard Haddrill, the Chief Executive Officers of Bally Technologies. "We revolutionized the casino slot industry and set the course for the evolution of gaming as entertainment. And while many people recognize us on slot machines and pinball games, Bally's reach also touched casinos, health clubs, theme parks, amusement arcades and various other industries. All of this vast experience has set the stage for Bally today, the broadest supplier of technology to the global gaming industry."

Bally Technologies' signature has been seen on a number of enterprises and products, including:

-    Pac-Man and Space Invaders arcade games

-    Bally Total Fitness health clubs

-    Bally's hotels and casinos

-    Aladdin's Castle amusement arcades

-    Six Flags theme parks

-    Scientific Games lottery company

Gamblers and non-gamblers alike have all been touched by Bally Technologies in the past 75 years. Ultimately, the company would return to its roots and usher in a new age of slot play, one that maximizes entertainment as well as fun and positions itself as a leader in the slot machine industry.

"We've come a long way from the simple three-reel machines with lemons and cherries," Haddrill said. "The casino floor is an extremely sophisticated marketplace in 2007, with high-tech machines and systems contributing to an electric atmosphere of chance and fun. Bally continues to lead the way as the gaming industry evolves."

Economic Professor Christian Marfels of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, examined the company's remarkable history in his book, "Bally: The Word's Game Maker." Having completed his second edition to commemorate the 75th anniversary, Marfels summed up Bally Technologies' future on the final page: "This is Bally . . . with the same energetic and forward-looking spirit of the days of (founder) Ray Moloney and (former president) Bill O'Donnell. Bally is alive and well at 75."

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