Cary, IL – April 6, 2023 - The American Amusement Machine Association, (AAMA) inducted 31 individuals and six legendary products/games into the inaugural class of the Amusement Industry Hall of Fame on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
About the Amusement Industry Hall of Fame
The story behind how the HOF came about is one that could be best described as a “Covid Keep” – something good that came out of an otherwise abysmally bad time for the entire planet.
As the grip of the pandemic began to tighten and non-essential businesses were forced to close across the planet, we reached out to several adjacent trade associations to form a coalition with the goal of helping each other get their members to the other side of the pandemic. With no playbook to turn to, we all started sharing best practices, resources and ideas in the spirit of “We” are so much smarter than “Me.”
“As we began interacting with the other trade associations, we spent some time touring their websites hoping to gain a better understanding of how they operated,” said AAMA EVP, Pete Gustafson. “In almost every case, we found a section dedicated to a Hall of Fame which got us wondering, ‘Why don’t we have a Hall of Fame?’”
When I mentioned the idea during a board of directors meeting, the room fell silent for several beats. If you knew who was on our BOD, you’d know how rare a moment of silence is. Shortly after that collective ‘Ah ha!’ moment, a HOF committee was organized which went to work putting the criteria and nominating procedures in place.”
About 2023 AAMA Amusement Industry Hall of Fame Inductees
The inaugural class is comprised of 31 individuals and six legendary products, that have contributed to forming the thriving and expanding industry as it exists today. Each has made a positive and lasting difference to our business of fun. The individuals being inducted are made up of two categories, 21 Legacy Inductees who are no longer with us, and 10 living inductees.
By category, they are:
Entities (Products or Games)
1. The Wurlitzer 1015 Juke Box
2. Donkey Kong by Konami
3. Space Invaders by Taito
4. PacMan by Namco
5. Skee Ball, originally manufactured by Skee Ball, Inc. and today by Bay Tek Entertainment
6. The Touchtunes Juke Box
Legacy Inductees
1. David Rockola – Founder of Rockola Juke Boxes
2. Harry Williams – Founder of Williams Mfg.
3. Bill O’Donnell, Sr. – President of Bally Manufacturing
4. Hank Ross – Co-Founder of Midway Manufacturing
5. Marcine “Iggy” Wolverton – Co-Founder of Midway Manufacturing
6. JP Seeburg – Founder of Seeburg Juke Boxes
7. Lynn Durant – Founder of United Manufacturing
8. Michael Kogan – Founder of Taito
9. Ray Maloney – Founder of Lion Manufacturing, which became Bally Manufacturing
10. George Miller - Founder of the AMOA
11. Marty Bromley - Co-Founder of Sega
12. Ralph Coppola - Founder of Innovative Concepts in Entertainment
13. Dave Corriveau, Co-Founder of Dave and Busters
14. Buster Corley, Co-Founder of Dave and Busters
15. Joe Robbins - Executive with Empire Distributing, Atari, and a Co-Founder of the AAMA
16. David Gottlieb - Founder of Gottlieb Pinball
17. Chuck Milhem - President of Valley Mfg. Co and Founder of the VNEA
18. Earl Feddick - Founder of Valley Pool Tables
19. Masaya Nakamura – Founder of NAMCO and the leader of the company when PAC-MAN was introduced
20. Sam Stern - Co-owner of Williams Electronics, and Founder of Stern Electronics
21. Humbert “Bert” Betti - Founder of H. Betti Industries
HOF Inductees
1. David Rosen - Co-Founder of Sega
2. Jules Millman - Creator of the Mall Arcade with Aladdin’s Castle
3. Eddie Adlum - Founder of Replay Magazine
4. Gary Stern - Co-Founder of Data East Pinball and Stern Pinball and Co-Founder of the AAMA
5. Nolan Bushnell – Founder of Atari, Chuck-e-Cheese and Sente
6. Elaine Hodgson - Co-Founder of Incredible Technologies
7. Richard Ditton - Co-Founder of Incredible Technologies
8. Eugene Jarvis - Creator of some of the best video games ever made while a game designer with Williams Electronics, and founder of Raw Thrills.
9. Joe Kaminkow – Game Design Engineer with Williams Electronics, and Co-Founder of Data East Pinball which became Sega Pinball and the man singularly responsible for the permanent return of licensing pop-culture movies, plays, and musical acts for amusement games.
10. Malcolm Steinberg - Founder of LAI Games, Embed, and Time Zone Family Amusement Centers
About The AAMA
The American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) is an international not-for-profit 501(c)6 trade organization representing the manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, professional service providers and location owner/operators for the coin-operated amusement industry. Our mission is to make the industry better through collaboration, education, advocacy and networking. We never stop playing!
