Bally Platforms

[stayouttadabunker]

Does anyone have a list or know of all the Bally machine platforms
and their history or time-line of manufacturing?
I want to learn more about the history of Bally's.

I actually have a pressing question which seems obvious
I'm amazed at how the time lines of different machine platforms can be mixed up...
For example, which came first, Bally 5500's or Bally 6000's?
I know it sounds like a dumb question but I really don't know.
Any help on this would be fantastic and of course - very appreciative! 

[TZtech]

Hello SB

As far as I can Figure - Dates are what appears on manuals

Video
V1000 - 1983
V2000 - 1984
V5000 - ?
V5000+ - 1988
V5500 - 1993
V7000 - ? Game Maker Platform
EVO - ?
V8000 - 2000- Game Magic Platform
V9000 - ? - Alpha platform (current product)

Stepper
Mechanical - Various
electro Mech - Various
S5000 - 1987
S6000 - 2004
EVO Hybrid - ?
Alpha (Current)

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Technologies
I am still trying to get the book mentioned in this entry in softcopy.
On the Bally website - http://ballytech.com/company-information/history

[stayouttadabunker]

Thank you very much for the links TZ...
I don't know why I didn't think to search Wikipedia...
I had a hunch it was the same company that made pinball machines
but I wasn't sure.
Much of my Stern pinball boards have many board components extremely similar to Bally board materials.
However, they are not etched "Made In China" like the IGT boards...lol

[icu44444]

JUST ANOTHER ADDED BIT OF INFO CLUTTERING THE BRAIN. ALONG WITH YOUR COMMENT ABOUT BALLY BEING THE SAME THAT MADE PINBALL MACHINES. ANOTHER SLOT MANUFACTURER, WMS OR WILLIAMS WAS A BIG PINBALL MANUFACTURER WHO ALSO CROSSED OVER TO THE SLOT WORLD. BALLY ON ONE HAND MADE BOTH PINS AND SLOTS FOR QUITE A WHILE, IT SEEMS WILLIAMS SAW THE END COMING FOR THEM AND TOOK EVERYTHING THEY KNEW IN PINBALL AND IT RESOURCES AND BAILED ON PINBALL THING TO DO JUST SLOTS. TO ME THEIR FIRST SLOT MACHINES UTILIZED ALOT OF THE SAME HARDWARE THEY DESIGNED FOR PINS.  I AM SURE WMS PINBALL  ENTHUSIASTS WOULD RECOGNIZE THE DOTMATION SCREENS USED IN PIGGY BANKIN AND MERMAIDS GOLD AS THE SAME ONE IN ADAMS FAMILY PINBALL MACHINES. They changed the interface of how the light driver board connected into the system hardware wise but compare the circuuitry of an early model wms light driver board to their pinball board almost looks the same including the components used and the component layout. So without knowing how this change took place i would guess to say they didnt really expand the company but rather changed the company product line and customer base utilizing alot of its key pinball employees. more of a transition as where bally products from the ones i have seen shows that even though technically the same bally as the pinball bally it was a separate entity like a new startup operation with very little similarities to their pinball operation. Both have successful slot operations but its my opinion that WMS continues to evolve especially the last few years with alot of innovative technology where as Bally has added some reels and redesigned the cabinet etc lilke everyone else but nothing really new of theirown. I personally think Bally is one company if i had stock in it, i would consider dumping it. and walking through casinos here in vegas from what i see in new slots BALLY is not doing well. and in this weak economy i wonder....
dont get me wrong i prefer bally over most including IGT who other than excellent game appeal and the GAME KING SLOT, ARE CHEAP QUALITY hardware designs. i call them cardboard slots compared to built in the USA bally slots. anyhow just rambing on on my own but was brought about by your comment on bally pinball related to bally slots. i find the histories of bally and wms very interesting and enjoy running across old issues of magazines for pinball people that profile some of the key people in the early days of pinball and their companies today and blah blah blah blah blaaa blaaa. thanks for letting me share.   

[stayouttadabunker]

You're right icutoomany4s!
I totally had forgotten that Williams was a major player in the pinball manufacturing business.
I think Williams slots are much more innovative than Bally slots.
It will be fun to keep an eye on these two companies to see what they come up with in the next few years,
especially with the invention of flexible LCD screens.
It would be neat to see these screens put on actual reel strips but it probably
would be less costly to keep going with full-sized LCD video screens, thus wiping out the physical reels.

[reho33]

It's all going to VGT Video Gaming Terminals and server based gaming. The slots of 20 years from now won't even resemble a spinning slot. It will probably be along the lines of the Mega Touch and maybe playing against others and the house. Maybe 100's or 1000's of games and it will remember your session, etc. The s+ and S2000 will be antiques that will be left for us to collect and enjoy in those days.

[a69mopar]

Hello SB

As far as I can Figure - Dates are what appears on manuals

Video
V1000 - 1983
V2000 - 1984
V5000 - ?
V5000+ - 1988
V5500 - 1993
V7000 - ? Game Maker Platform
EVO - ?
V8000 - 2000- Game Magic Platform
V9000 - ? - Alpha platform (current product)

Stepper
Mechanical - Various
electro Mech - Various
S5000 - 1987
S6000 - 2004
EVO Hybrid - ?
Alpha (Current)

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Technologies
I am still trying to get the book mentioned in this entry in softcopy.
On the Bally website - http://ballytech.com/company-information/history

Bally made several manuals for the machines through the years so you can't go by those dates.  The S6000 came in around 1998(late 1997), S9000 I believe was 2005, s5500 was about 1993.  There was some overlap I believe also.  I may look for more on this is quiter times.

Thanks,
Wayne