Promotions
for Profits
Arcade or Street Location:
Draw in some new players by
featuring a "School of the Month"
promotion. Salute a community col-
lege or high school who agrees to
distribute free game or discount
coupons to their students. For ex-
ample, distribute coupons to stu-
dents in a computer programming
or electronics class, inviting them to
''experience the latest in electronic
computer games.''
Did You
• Know ...
You can also use this idea to
feature a "Business of the Month"
for any office or company that dis-
tributes coupons to all employees.
This promotion has been used in
other industries and has been very
successful in attracting new cus-
tomers. If you have a promotional
idea, please share it with others in
the amusement games business.
Send your idea to the Coin Connec-
tion and receive a gift from Atari.
Asteroids™
Y (vertical) output missing pieces
r~
Asteroids:
one side brighter than the other
'-v...J
Place game in Self-Test. On the
display the lines running left to
right are good, but the lines run-
ning from top to bottom are broken
up. The problem is in your Y-output
circuit. Could be a bad D-to-A con-
verter Bll or Y-position counters
J9, H9, F9.
X (horizontal) output missing pieces
Problem in Scale 0-3 circuit. Could
be bad Latch K7 or wrong resistor
value in your Scale 0-3 resistor net-
work. Correct values are: R35 1.2K,
R36 2.2K, R37 4. 7K, R38 lOK; or
Q7, Q9 bad.
Letters and asteroids
shaky or shadowed
,(~ ~v
In Self-Test, the lines running left to
right are broken up, but .t he lines
running top to bottom are good. The
problem is in your X-output circuit.
Could be a bad Dll (AD561) or bad
X-position counters E9, D9, C9.
Test mode ok,
but won't go into game play.
Problem could be in the NMI circuit
to the Processor Pin 6. In Self-Test
Pin 6 of MPU should be high. In
game play, should be high with low
pulses. If game won't go into play
mode, problem probably is C5
counter or LlO input multiplexer.
Bad qraphics
(alphanumencs, ships, rocks)
,t~
Place game into Self-Test. Look at
lines. If lines running top to bottom
are bad, look at your Y-output cir-
cuit and position counters Bll, H9,
J9, F9. If lines running left to right
are bad, you have an X-output or
position-counter problem Dll, E9,
D9, C9.
Problem could "" - be bad Op-Amp Cl2
or Al2. If either Op-Amps are
N947s, replace with TL082. Pro-
blem could also be bad or missing
inductors Ll4, Ll5 (90 uH).
Bad ship fire sound
Check power supplies + 12, + 5 for
ripple. If power supplies okay,
could be bad MlO or Ql, Q5.
Oversized characters,
letters too big
Problem in your timer circuit could
be bad M7, M6, E7.
Reset problem
where game won't go into game
play but goes into Self-Test
Bad graphics in Self-Test
If Pin 40 of MPU is pulsing, then put
the game into Self-Test. If it stops
pulsing and the graphics are bad,
problem probably is in state ma-
chine PROM CB.
In the continental United States,
six out of every ten persons over the
age of 13 have played a coin-
operated video or pinball game at
least once!
This is a finding from an Atari
study conducted by Consumer Re-
sponse Corporation earlier this
year. Almost 1,100 households
were randomly dialed to comprise
the national sample.
Missile
Command™
Cocktail
WARNING! There may be a
hazard of electrical shock at the
black posistor just above the focus
adjustment knob at the right-hand
side of the monitor chassis (as
viewed from the rear). To a void this
potential hazard, the posistor
should be relocated away from the
focus control in the existing hole as
shown. Use the same screw (screw
will form its own threads).
Please take care to ensure that
this modification is implemented as
soon as possible.
This affects Cocktail MISSILE
COMMAND from S/N. 001-449,
453-455, 462-464, 468 and 681
(Matsushita monitor).
Missile
Command
At location J-7 on the main PCB, you
may find a part with #C014362
marked on it. This is a 74LS32 as
called out in the schematics. Vendor
delivery problems required that we
use parts which were labeled for use
in a different application.