Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for Berzerk. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.

Stern Electronics, Inc.

Stern Electronics was formed when Sam and Gary Stern bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in January 1977. Sam had previously owned the amusements manufacturer Williams, purchasing half of the company in 1947 and selling it to the Seeburg Corporation in 1964. Gary had trained under his father at Williams, and from 1973-1976 the two ran the company. Stern Electronics, Inc. acquired their core inventory by purchasing Chicago Coin's assets at bankruptcy sales; as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed. In September 1977 it acquired Universal Research Laboratories after they went bankrupt a few months earlier. Universal Research Laboratories manufactured circuit boards for Bally pinball machines, and then reverse engineered these for Stern, who were then sued by Bally. An agreement to pay royalties was reached which by September 1981 totaled $700,000.

The first two games made by Stern were Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977. They produced their first solid-state pinball machine, called Pinball that year. By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games. Stern sought to increase sales in the declining jukebox market by modernizing machines with the addition of screens and customizable displays. He then went on to help found Data East's pinball division in November 1986 and continued to lead there when it was acquired by Sega in 1994. While Data East did operate out of the old Stern Electronics property, sources differ on whether they acquired the company or just the facilities.

On March 16, 2023, Atari SA announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy.

==Stern Pinball, Inc.==<!-- This section is linked from Pinball -->

left|thumb|2015 John Borg [[Kiss (band)|Kiss Stern Pinball Machine (Premium Version)]]

By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead. Sega (which had acquired Data East Pinball in late 1994 and renamed it to Sega Pinball), left the pinball industry by spinning off their pinball division and selling it to Gary Stern, and Stern Pinball was born. Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

Some Stern pinball tables were also digitally released through The Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade.

Lists of machines and games

Stern Electronics

  • Stampede (1977)
  • Rawhide (1977)
  • Disco (1977)
  • Pinball (1977)
  • Stingray (1977)
  • Stars (1978)
  • Memory Lane (1978)
  • Lectronamo (1978)
  • Wild Fyre (1978)
  • Nugent (1978)
  • Dracula (1979)
  • Trident (1979)
  • Genesis (1979) (shuffle alley)
  • Hot Hand (1979)
  • Magic (1979)
  • Cosmic Princess (1979) (Produced in Australia by Leisure and Allied Industries under license from Stern Electronics Inc)
  • Meteor (1979) (Highest production of all Stern Electronics' Pinballs)
  • Seawitch (1980)
  • Cheetah (1980)
  • Quicksilver (1980)
  • Star Gazer (1980)
  • Flight 2000 (1980) (Stern's first game with multi-ball and speech)
  • Nine Ball (1980)
  • Freefall (1981)
  • Lightning (1981)
  • Split Second (1981)
  • Catacomb (1981)
  • Viper (1981)
  • Dragonfist (1982)
  • Iron Maiden (1982) (Unrelated to the British heavy metal band)
  • Orbitor 1 (1982) (Featured a 3d-vacuum formed playfield with spinning rubber bumpers causing frenetic ball action; it was the company's last released game)
  • Berzerk (1980)
  • Calipso (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
  • Anteater (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
  • Mazer Blazer (1982)
  • Lost Tomb (1982)
  • Bagman (Le Bagnard) (1982) (programmed by Valadon Automation)
  • Pop Flamer (1982) (programmed by Jaleco)
  • Star Jacker (1983) (programmed by Sega)
  • Minefield (1983)