Marino Zaccaria (photo left), one of the three brothers behind Italy’s most recognizable pinball brand, Zaccaria, has died at the age of 89.
Alongside brothers Franco and Natale, he launched the company in 1974 in Bologna. Zaccaria rose to prominence through the 1970s and 1980s, becoming—by several industry counts—the third-largest pinball manufacturer in the world behind Bally and Williams. Over its lifespan, the company produced roughly fifty machines, many of which were exported globally. Famous games include titles like Farfalla and Robot.
The news was first reported by Italian and European gaming outlets including GiocoNews, InterGame, and Italian Gaming Expo.
He leaves behind a legacy of machines that helped define a distinct chapter of European pinball manufacturing.
Colin is the chief pixel pusher at Kineticist. He's a lifetime gamer who became enamored with pinball after taking in a family copy of the 1979 classic Joker Poker (the EM version). Since then he's bought, sold and repaired many machines, competed in all kinds of tournaments, and contributes to This Week in Pinball, the New England Pinball League, and Pin-Masters of New England. Previously, Colin spent over a decade working in marketing for agencies and tech startups. He also started and ran a music blog, happy hour website, and wrote a regular craft beer review column for Central Track in Dallas. Once aspired to be an artsy film director.
