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Gottlieb's countertop pinball game became one of the Depression's unlikely bestsellers, and the network of Chicago manufacturers, distributors and route operators that grew around machines like it became the commercial ancestor of the American arcade.
Coin-operated play became an industry before it became electronic. The supply chain, the low price per attempt, the split with location owners and the geographic concentration in Chicago were all in place by the mid-1930s, and the video game business inherited them intact when screens replaced steel balls.
