The Simpsons (pinball) game to the press as "fun – a whole package ... voices, music, artwork, great ramps." He also noted that "This game is already on its way to becoming a monster hit." In 2007, Stern said in an interview with "License!" that "While we export about one-third of our games, that first ["The Simpsons" pinball] model did especially well in the U.S." The "Simpsons" pinball machine won the award for best pinball game in 1990 by the Amusement and Music Operators Association, a group that represents coin machine operators. According to the "Chicago Sun-Times" article, pinball players have cited Data
Pinball reproduce full-sized machines to The Pinball Factory. Stern Pinball remained the only manufacturer of original pinball machines until 2013, when Jersey Jack Pinball started shipping "The Wizard of Oz". Most members of the design teams for Stern Pinball are former employees of Williams. After the closure of most of the pinball manufacturers in the 1990s, smaller independent manufacturers started appearing in the early 2000s. In November 2005 The Pinball Factory (TPF) in Melbourne, Australia, announced that they would be producing a new "Crocodile Hunter"-themed pinball machine under the Bally label. With the death of Steve Irwin, it was announced that