Atari Coin Connection

Issue: Vol 2 Num 05 - 1978 May

Ata ri, Inc. 1265 Borregas, Sunnyvale , Cal ifo rnia 94086
© A t ari Inc . 1978
Volume 2 , Number 5
May, 1978
f IRE UP ~OUR PROF ITS WITH fFIIII 1rlWJCIMl™
Teamwork is the key to Fire
Truck's'fM outstanding play appeal. It is
the first cooperative video driving game
fro1n Atari. One or two players can
participate in tl1e race to the fire.
Choosing to drive the cab or steer tl1e
trai ler of the realistic hook and ladder
Fire Truck , p layers can go on tl1e hard or
easy route (track) tl1rough unpredictable
city streets. As arrows flasl1, showing the
proper turns, qu ick reflexes and driving
skill are needed by both players to avoid
crashing into curbs, parked cars and other
obstacles along the way . One player can
choose to drive either the front or back
of the truck and the con1puter will drive
the other part . A "crunch" n1essage on
crashes adds to the exciten1ent an d
a1nusement of this gan1e .
The bright yellow and red old-
I
fash ioned Fire Truck on the un ique
front-bac k position cabinet design will
attract players of all ages . T he thrilling
teamwork participation in ga1ne play
encourages players to try again and again,
driving in botl1 the front and the back
positions.
" Distributors were most enthusiastic
abou t Fire Truck when they previewed it
at our annual 1neeting last month,"
reported Frank Ballouz, National Sales
Manage r. "The field test that followed
the meeting prove d the high profit
potentials on location . F ire Truck is an
excellent addition for the summer arcade
season ."
The Atari self-test syste1n is built-in
fo r easy trouble-shooting. Durastress™
tested solid state circuitry insures long
profit-1naking life .
Operato rs can select from four game
times; 16 coin 1nodes, including one or
two coins per play and two plays per
coin; four languages availab le in video
,
display; and optional extended play at
three different levels of difficu lty .
(Continued on page 4 )
IT'S AN AVAl'=ANCIHI~™ I
Avalanche™ is an exciting new one
o r two player video ga1ne from A tari. I t
captures the skill an d challenge features
of Breakout™ and adds the thrilling
play action of catcl1ing the fa lling rocks
in an Avalanche .
When the player presses the release
buttons, the Avalanche starts to ruin ble
an d the rocks begin to fa ll. Tl1e rocks fall
slowly at first, then gaining spee d as the
game progresses. The player tries to catch
tl1e falling rocks with six paddles. As
1nore rocks are caught, the nu1nber of
paddles decreases, increasing the skill
facto r. The paddles and rocks also get
s1naller as tl1e score gets h igher. Tl1e game
gets more exciting and ch allenging as it
progresses.
Avalanche can be set fo r 3 or 4 heats
per game; when a rock h its the bottom
line, tl1e avalanche freezes and the peat is
over. Players continue toward the goa l of
catching all of the rocks on the screen. If
all of the rocks are caught, a new
avalanche begins; however, this time the
player starts with only 3 paddles. (The
third avalanche starts with two paddles,
an d the fourth with only one .)
The points scored fo r catching rocks
range from l to 6, the value increasi ng as
tl1e falling rocks and pa ddles get smaller.
There is an optional exten ded play
feature to add to the replay incentive,
and the previous high score is displayed in
the attract mode for an added compet-
itive feature . Avalanche also inclu des
(Continue d on page 4 )
PROMO ITEMS:
BUCKLES AND PENS
TECHNICAL TIP
Atari now !1as exciting new leather and
brass belt buckles and jun1bo pens for
your pron1otions. Middle Earth'fM and
Breakout™ T-shirts and pinball posters
are also still available.
These pron10 ite1ns n1ake excellent
player prizes for tournaments, !1igl1 score
on games, or other special progra1ns.
Tl1ey can also be offered for sale in your
locations.
The growing popularity of be! t buckles
and T-shirts as collectors iten1s 1nake
them ideal for promotions. Atari pens
also 111ake an excellent give-away
- students especially like the ju1nbo pens
with the f~uniliar Atari logo.
Atari pro1notion ite1ns offer an added
incentive as prizes. Belt buckles, T-shirts,
pens and posters can be ordered through
Atari distributors for a minin1al cl1arge.
Each iten1 has high appeal and will
continue to encourage players to enjoy
the Atari gan1es.
STAR SH IP 1 TM
SYMPTOM: Cannot steer Starsl1ip in
one or more directions.
Check for the following :
I. Roll and pitcl1 pots are operating
properly .
2. Make sure there is electrica l
continuity between the pots and
PCB in the control panel !1arness.
3. Check that IC 14051 (N-1 1) and
ICLM319 (L-1 1) are operating
properly.
4. Check the A/D ran1p at Pin 5 of
the LM319 (L-11). The ran1p 1nust
be a perfect sawtootl1. If it is
curved, replace transistor Q I
(2N3644) or n1ylar capacitor C-55
(.047 1nfd).
AUDIO AMPLIFIERS
Some new Atar i games are now
equipped witl1 a separate audio an1plifier
board with the volume control on the
board. This board is located outside of
the RF cage and is easily accessible fron1
tl1e front coin door .
Two types of an1plifier boards are
used : the single channel for gan1es with
one speaker and the dual cl1annel for two
speakers. The single cl1annel amplifiers
are interchangeable between single
speaker gan1es, and · dual cl1annel a1npli-
fiers with dual speaker games.
''THE OFFICE'' TOURNE!::1
"The Office" is a bar in Aurora,
Illinois, where over eighty pinball
entl1usiasts gathered on a snowy day in
March for a tourna·m ent. Randy Jol1nson
of Twin Oaks Music and R. Bob McDade
from tl1e location, organized the event
which was most successful.
They coordinated the effort with the
Aurora Budweiser Distributor wl10
provided T-shirts for the participants and
advertising posters for tl1e event. The top
prizes inclu ded a ho1ne pinball, a hockey
table, and cash. High score winners on
individual gan1es received Atari Airborne
Avenger T-shirts.
Randy
Johnson
reported, "I overheard one contestant say
all he cared to win was the Atari T-shirt."
There are seven pinball gan1es, two
videos and two foosball tables in The
Office location. Tl1e top five finisl1ers
were selected based on a point value
systen1 on each game rather than total
accumulation of points . "This n1ade eacl1
game as important as the next," said
Randy Johnson. The final playoff was
held three days later an1ong the top five
competitors. This brougl1t the players
back to the location for the fina l
chan1pionship 1natch.
CUSTOMER
SERVICE: NEW
NUMBER FOR
TELEHELPTM
Atari's Custon1er Service group was
1noved to a new building. With this 1nove
the Custo1ner Service telephone nun1 ber,
Tclel1elp™, has been changed.
(800) 538-1 6 11
( toll-free outside of California)
The new Californ ia service line is
( 408) 745 -2900.
This toll-free Telehelp nun1ber is
provided for distributors, operators and
game technicians to contact Atari's
technical support staff for service assist-
ance on our gan1es.
"Atari's objective is to provide the
best service support in tl1e industry," said
Don Sn1ith, Manager, Custon1er Service.
"\1/e want to encourage our distri bu tors
and operators to call the Atari service
technicians if they need assistance in
troubleshooting and
repa1nng our
gan1es."
Please make note of the new telephone
nu1nbers for your future use.
PLA~El2
PROMOTION IDEAS
A Tourney Event
For a son1ewhat unique twist to a
pinball tourna1nent, a special en durance
event could be added. The player who
can keep a single ball in action on the
playfield for the longest tin1e will win a
special prize . (The only special rule for
this event should be that the player
cannot hold the ball on the flipper fo r
n1ore tl1an 2 seconds!)
After Gan1e Play
If you l1ave ga1nes at a bowling alley,
1niniature golf course, or other si1nilar
location, a special offer for free play on
coin-gan1es can be awarded . for good
scores on bowling, golf, etc. Th is can
encourage even more play on the coin
ga1nes; wl1ile the winners of the free
games are collecting tl1eir reward, their
friends n1ost likely will join in and pay
to play .
ff _you have an interesting pron-iotion
idea to share, please write to the Coin
Connection.

Download Page 1: PDF File | Image

Download Page 2 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.