History Creator / SteveRitchie

** A {{Combo}} shot: outer left loop shot to the upper right flipper, for a shot to an upper loop or side ramp.[[note]]Called "The Picard Maneuver" in ''Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''[[/note]]

Ritchie has also helped in the development of many video games for [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally and Midway]], and provided the voice of Shao Khan in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3''. Today, Ritchie is the lead of [[http://www.steveritchiepinball.com/ Steve Ritchie Productions (SRP)]], where he develops pinball machines for Creator/SternPinball, such as ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''[[Pinball/{{ACDC}} AC/DC]]''.

Steve Ritchie is known as "The Master of Flow" by pinball enthusiasts, as his pinball designs heavily favor fast ball speeds, large loops, and associated combos. He is an avid fan of PC gaming, motocross racing, and street motorcycles. He is married to Dianne Ritchie, and is the older brother of fellow pinball designer Creator/MarkRitchie.

->"''My games are never subdued. They're always intense as intense we can make them. I'm not sure why that is, [[RatedMForManly but I don't do cute.]]''" -- '''Steve Ritchie''', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJi0G_2VYA The Getaway: High Speed II promo video]], 1992

* RatedMForManly:
-->"''I don't do cute.''"\\
-- '''Steve Ritchie''', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJi0G_2VYA The Getaway: High Speed II promo video]]

* CreatorCameo: Ritchie provided his own speech in his games, like the Black Knight in ''Pinball/BlackKnight'' and ''Black Knight 2000'', Car 504 in ''Pinball/HighSpeed'' and ''The Getaway: High Speed II'', General Yagov in ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]'', and Skull the Bone Head in ''Pinball/NoFear''.

* ''Pinball/{{Hyperball}}'' (Williams, 1983)

* TropeMaker: First solid-state pinball with multiball? ''Firepower''. First progressive jackpot? ''Pinball/HighSpeed''. First autosave? ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]''. First WizardMode? ''Pinball/BlackKnight2000''. First VideoMode? ''Pinball/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. And that's just the gameplay tropes.

Ritchie joined Creator/{{Atari}} in 1974 as an electro-mechanical technician, but soon advanced to their fledgling pinball division and worked with Creator/EugeneJarvis on ''Pinball/AirborneAvenger'' and ''Pinball/{{Superman}}''. Before the latter was released, however, Ritchie moved to Chicago and joined the prominent pinball company Creator/WilliamsElectronics. There, he developed an extensive list of renown [[PhysicalPinballTables pinball machines]], including ''Pinball/{{Flash}}, Firepower, Pinball/BlackKnight, Pinball/HighSpeed, [[Pinball/Terminator2JudgmentDay Terminator 2: Judgement Day]],'' and ''[[Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

Ritchie has also helped in the development of many video games for [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally and Midway]], and provided the voice of Shao Khan in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3''. Today, Ritchie is the lead of [[http://www.steveritchiepinball.com/ Steve Ritchie Productions (SRP)]], where he develops pinball machines for Creator/SternPinball, such as ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''AC/DC''.

** A preference for adversarial themes, where it the player vs. the BigBad (''Black Knight'', ''F-14 Tomcat'', ''Terminator 3''). ''Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' pits the player against three adversaries, and ''Spider-Man'' pits the player against four adversaries.

** Ritchie is not thrilled with his work on ''Stellar Wars,'' feeling it was rushed to production.

* OldShame
** Ritchie is not thrilled with his work on ''Stellar Wars,'' feeling it was rushed to production.
** He also admits in hindsight that spelling A-I-R-B-O-R-N-E-A-V-E-N-G-E-R in ''Pinball/AirborneAvenger'' was not a great idea.

** Ritchie is not thrilled with his work on ''Stellar Wars'' or ''Rollergames''.

Ritchie joined Creator/{{Atari}} in 1974 as an electro-mechanical technician, but soon advanced to their fledgling pinball division and worked with Creator/EugeneJarvis on ''Airborne Avenger'' and ''Pinball/{{Superman}}''. Before the latter was released, however, Ritchie moved to Chicago and joined the prominent pinball company Creator/WilliamsElectronics. There, he developed an extensive list of renown [[PhysicalPinballTables pinball machines]], including ''Pinball/{{Flash}}, Firepower, Pinball/BlackKnight, Pinball/HighSpeed, [[Pinball/Terminator2JudgmentDay Terminator 2: Judgement Day]],'' and ''[[Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

* AuthorAppeal: ''Pinball/HighSpeed'', ''Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', and ''[[[Pinball/NoFearDangerousSports No Fear: Dangerous Sports]]'' are but a few examples.

* AuthorAppeal: ''Pinball/HighSpeed'', ''Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', and ''No Fear: Dangerous Sports'' are but a few examples.

* OneOfUs: Ritchie is a huge Star Trek and Terminator fan, and is an avid PC gamer.

[[caption-width-right:350:The Master of Flow[[note]]''Alternative:'' [[Franchise/MortalKombat "Test your might!"]][[/note]]]]

-->"''I don't do cute.''" -- '''Steve Ritchie''', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJi0G_2VYA The Getaway: High Speed II promo video]]

Ritchie joined Creator/{{Atari}} in 1974 as an electro-mechanical technician, but soon advanced to their fledgling pinball division and worked with Creator/EugeneJarvis on ''Airborne Avenger'' and ''Pinball/{{Superman}}''. Before the latter was released, however, Ritchie moved to Chicago and joined the prominent pinball company Creator/WilliamsElectronics. There, he developed an extensive list of renown [[PhysicalPinballTables pinball machines]], including ''Flash, Firepower, Pinball/BlackKnight, Pinball/HighSpeed, [[Pinball/Terminator2JudgmentDay Terminator 2: Judgement Day]],'' and ''[[Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

Ritchie has also helped in the development of many video games for [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally and Midway]], and provided the voice of Shao Khan in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3''. Today, Ritchie is the lead of [[http://www.steveritchiepinball.com/ Steve Ritchie Productions (SRP)]], where he develops pinball machines for Stern, such as ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''AC/DC''.

* TropeMaker: First solid-state pinball with multiball? ''Firepower''. First progressive jackpot? ''Pinball/HighSpeed''. First autosave? ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]''. First WizardMode? ''Pinball/BlackKnight2000''. First VideoMode? ''Pinball/Terminator2JudgementDay''. And that's just the gameplay tropes.

* TropeMaker: First solid-state pinball with multiball? ''Firepower''. First progressive jackpot? ''Pinball/HighSpeed''. First autosave? ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]''. First WizardMode? ''Pinball/BlackKnight2000''. First VideoMode? ''Terminator 2: Judgement Day''. And that's just the gameplay tropes.

Ritchie has also helped in the development of many video games for [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally and Midway]], and provided the voice of Shao Khan in the ''MortalKombat'' series. Today, Ritchie is the lead of [[http://www.steveritchiepinball.com/ Steve Ritchie Productions (SRP)]], where he develops pinball machines for Stern, such as ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''AC/DC''.

* CreatorCameo: Ritchie provided his own speech in his games, like the Black Knight in ''Pinball/BlackKnight'' and ''Black Knight 2000'', Car 504 in ''High Speed'' and ''The Getaway: High Speed II'', General Yagov in ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]'', and the Skull in ''No Fear''.