History of Bubble Hockey
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There were early prototypes of a game that resembled a hockey table game with players controlled by rods that dates back as early as 1932. However, the game of dome hockey as we know it today as an arcade game was invented in 1982.
This bubble game was created by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE). ICE created Chexx and began manufacturing the game in 1982. The original game was developed with the underdog USA Olympic Hockey team of 1980 faced off against the clear favorite Russian Hockey team. Playing off the popularity of this win, they sold 5,000 tables in their first year of business and were popular in arcades and hockey stadiums all over the country.
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They still continue to develop the sport today in Clarence, New York just outside of Buffalo. Their biggest evolution to the domed table to date was the release of the Super Chexx in 1993 and has become the staple of the sport. Though ICE was the original inventor of the arcade game, other manufacturers began producing their own variations of the table in the 1990′s. Companies that were already making similar games like the Carrom Company, Harvard, Shelti and Stiga all have their own tables and some are featured without domes or bubbles today.