Atari Coin Connection

LOCATION PROFILE:
WILLIAMS,
PINBALL DIVISION
GIL
A SPECIAL GAME ROOM
operator arranged for one of their
meeting rooms to be converted to a
temporary game room for the kids
the
the
attending
sporting
events.
MANAGER
Special
were posted inviting them to come
game room. The motel manage-
ment even offered to pay for one half of
signs
to the
the cost of having an attendant on duty
in this special
temporary game room. Of
course, the motel would get a percentage
of the collections which turned out to be
most profitable for both the operator and
the location.
A local operator in Des Moines, Iowa
has a special location idea that is most
profitable for him. “This idea could work
in other cities as well and I would like to
share it,” he says.
Several very
large state-wide
High
School sporting events were scheduled for
three weeks in February and March. The
boys and girls basketball tournament and
a
big wrestling event were scheduled
within four weeks. This would bring
hundreds of young people to the city
who would be staying in the local hotels
and motels. While one of the motels had a
small game room, it was evident that all
these kids could have a good time with
even more games. Therefore, this oper-
ator spoke with the management of
several of the hotels and motels about
having extra games for these special
events.
The idea was well accepted and plans
were made. In one of the larger motels
Additional games were placed in the
lobby of this and other motels and hotels
in the area for the event. This also proved
to be successful from the high collections.
This idea could be applied to other
youth oriented events. For example, if
there is a youth group convention in your
city,
you may want to consider a
temporary game room in or near the
place where it is held. Post signs or
handout notices inviting them to come to
the
play
games.
A
mini game
special
tournament miglit be appropriate to
provide added incentive to the players.
This idea was profitable in Des Moines.
would be worth considering for
It
your city.
If you have any unique locations or just
location ideas that you would like to
share with other operators, please write
and let me know about them. We will
feature various location profiles in future
editions of the Coin Connection. Editor
I’ve been told that not too long ago
the coin-op game industry was small and
everyone in the business knew each other.
If there was a problem or you had an
idea, you could call and talk to someone
you knew about it. That must have been
very nice.
The growth over the past few years has
been exceptional. However, together with
more profits and the other benefits of
growth, there is a loss of close communi-
cations between people in the industry.
Atari
TECHNICAL TIPS
would
like to alleviate this obstacle
encourage better communications
with our customers. The Coin Connection
and
one way in which we are trying to
promote better communications. We
hope to keep you informed on what is
happening at Atari. In addition, we hope
that you will let us know what your
thou^ts are about Atari and our
is
'
STEERING WHEEL CONTROL BOARDS
LIGHT
1
ONE
The control board consists of a pair of
emitters and liglit receivers. Located
between the emitters and receivers is a
liglrt
slotted ring which,
when
rotated
by
The on-and-off light received by
receiver
pulse
is
the
then transformed into a voltage
suitable
the
for
main computer
board. The on-and-off action can be seen
on the main board by observing the two
red light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
steering board,
when
A
good
the steering wheel
is
slowly rotated, will cause the red lights to
flicker as follows:
DIRECTION
ON
OFF
OFF
1
ON
OFF
ON
ON
OFF
OTHER
DIRECTION
j
products.
1
the
steering wheel, breaks up the invisible
light.
t
LIGHT 2
1
Please
Since there are only four wires to the
steering board, there is no need to know
the functions of each to determine a good
steering board. All that is required is that
one connection is 5 volts, one is 0 volts,
and the other two are alternating between
0 and 5 volts.
If all
connections are zero, look for an
open connection
conditions
steering board.
other
in
the
dictate
harness.
a
Any
defective
opinions.
and let us know your
you have general ideas or
write
If
specific concerns regarding Atari games,
assure
you
that
I
your comments will be
company.
seen by the right person in our
We
are listening.
C.
Kan tor
Editor, Coin Connection
1265 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale,
CA 94086