Bally Manufacturing: Difference between revisions

In the late 1970s, Bally entered the [[casino]] ownership business when [[New Jersey]] legalized gambling in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]]. The effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime, which he strenuously denied.<ref name="news.google.com">{{cite news|date=18 September 1973|work=The Age|title=Bally chief denies links with mafia|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SuFUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xJADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6965,4528014&dq=joseph+dan+testa&hl=en|via=[[Google News]]|access-date= 8 October 2018}}</ref> When questioned by the [[Moffitt Royal Commission]] (the NSW Clubs Royal Commission) in New South Wales, Australia, during an investigation of criminal activities between the US and Australia, O'Donnell admitted that Genovese Mafia boss [[Gerardo Catena]], once owned shares in Bally, "but Iclaimed to have bought him out."<ref name="news.google.com"/> He also denied knowing Chicago mobster Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian police described Testa "as a representative of Bally who visited Australia."<ref name="news.google.com"/> The company opened the [[Bally's Atlantic City|Park Place]] Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979.<ref name="Marfels">Christian Marfels; 2007, ''Bally: The World's Game Maker'', 2nd ed., Bally Technologies Inc., Las Vegas {{ISBN|978-1-4243-3207-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry-url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2562.html |last=Wilson |first=Mark R. |year=2005 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |entry=Bally Manufacturing Corp. |publisher=[[Chicago Historical Society]] |location=[[Chicago, Illinois]] |access-date=2007-06-27}}</ref>

Also in the late 1970s, Bally/Midway also made an entry into the growing market for home video games with the [[Bally Professional Arcade]]. It had advanced features for the time, including a palette of 256 colors and the ability to play 4-voice music. It shipped with a cartridge that allowed users to do a limited amount of programming on the machine themselves, using the [[BASIC]] language and record their programs on cassette tape. However, because it cost more than its main competitor, the [[Atari 2600,]] and had manyfar fewer games, it failed to compete successfully despite a loyal following.