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Al an Van Campen Appointed
Director of National Sales
Don Osborne, Vice President of Sales
and Marketing, has announced the re-
cent addition of Alan B. Van Campen as
Director of National Sales for the Coin
Video Games Division. Mr. Van Campen
comes to Atari from Kawasaki Motors
Corporation, where he was the Nor-
theastern Regional Sales Manager.
Mr. Van Campen knows well the mean-
ing of being a "team player". Upon
graduating from the University of Mary-
land with a degree in marketing, he
played defensive end for two seasons
with the N.Y. Giants. Because of a
forced retirement due to injury, he decid-
ed to pursue the advertising marketing
and sales management interests he de-
veloped at college. His career line in-
cludes advertising agency experience,
most notably with the top N.Y. firm of
D'Arcy-MacManus and Masius Inc. He
served for several years as Community
Relations Director for Xerox Corporation
in Rochester, N.Y. On his own time, he con-
tributed marketing expertise to the cam-
paigns of various upstate N.Y. politicians.
Commenting on Van Campen's ap-
pointment, Osborne said: "Alan has a
strong understanding of the distribution
of sales, but his experience is much
broader than that. His sales background
industry and civic leaders. "Atari has al-
ready done a good deal more than oth-
ers in this respect. In our approach to
the public, we need to continue em-
phasizing Atari's desire to be a vital
member of the community and to edu-
cate the citizens via the leaders that
video game playing is a healthy form of
family fun. Of course, this campaign calls
for a combined effort with our distrib-
utors and operators:·
As far as Atari's stance in the market-
place, Mr. Van Campen sums up his feel-
ings rather emphatically: "Losing is not a
viable option. I like to be a winner, and I
like to associate with winners. Atari is
clearly the ace ... the winner'.'
AMOA '83
is supported by a diverse advertising,
marketing and community relations
knowledge. These different orientations
have en riched the total working experi-
ence he brings to Atari'.'
Mr. Van Campen is aware of the neg-
ative public image that surrounds the
coin video games industry. He relates
that the stigma attached to video games
is not unlike that associated with motor-
cycles. With the insight he has gained
from past responsibilities, he urges a
continuance of communication between
continued
given a starting position from one to
eight for the final race. The lights count
down: red, red, red, green, and all eight
cars take off. Puddles of water and oil on
the track can slow a car down, so it's
best to avoid them. When the race is
completed, the driver is ranked from one
to 300. Once players have mastered
Pole Position, they'll be ready to take on
Mario Andretti at the Indy 500 anytime.
This year's AMOA Show is the port-
hole to an exciting new era of Atari
leadership, creativity and innovation: the
vision continues.
• Pole Position is Engineered and designed by NAMCO. Ltd.
Manu factured under license by Atari. Inc.
Youth Rights And Video Game Legislation
This is the fourth in a series of articles
on Youth Lifestyles by Brenda Wells-
F lexer, Graduate Intern.
A Case Study on Youth Rights
In the 1970s skateboard fever spread
across the nation. Skateboard manufac-
turers increased production and skate-
board parks opened to meet the de-
mands of teenage consumers. In com-
munities where skateboarding was pop-
ular, city councils began passing legisla-
tion to control the sport.
In 1976 land was purchased in San
Jose, California to build a skateboard
park. Due to citizen protests, the City
Council passed a moratorium on skate-
board parks in San Jose.
At this same time, the San Jose Parks
and Recreation Department was opera-
ting special interest clubs in junior and
senior high schools throughout the city,
with one of the most active being skate-
board clubs. When members of a skate-
board club in south San Jose learned
that the park was not going to be built,
they developed a plan to reverse the
decision of the City Council. With the as-
sistance of parents, teachers, recreation
teen leaders and skateboard operators,
the teenagers' plan included gathering
support from other teenagers and adults.
With the help of other skateboard clubs,
petitions were distributed throughout the
city. Local media helped publicize their
campaign and the club members visited
City Hall to present their case to the City
Council. Due to a well-planned campaign
and very strong presentation to the City
Council, the park was approved.
This is an example of the political
clout that teenagers working together
can have in local communities. They are
an untapped resou rce for the video
game operators.
Video Game Legislation
The rights of teenagers to play video
games have been severely hampered by
the restrictive legislation that has passed
or is pending in local communities in 31
states.
The most prevalent includes:
1. Zoning ordinances restricting video
game operation near schools, chu rch-
es or residential areas.
2. Restricting hours of operation.
3. Age restrictions such as requiring
players under 16 to be accompanied
by an adult.
4. Limiting the number of games at each
site, moratorium on new arcades, etc.
5. Increased licensing fees and sales tax
fees which discou rage expansion.
6. Anti-noise ordinances. There are also
13 states with taxation on coin-
operated video game laws passed or
pending.
Youth Rights
Youth find video games challenging,
complex, and graphically exciting. The
games require a great deal of skill, and
teenage rs love the complexity of pushing
buttons and gathering around the games
with their friends and peers in a social
environment.
By the time teenagers find out about
local video game legislation it is usually
too late for them to speak out against it.
They need some guidance from adults
and deserve competent and effective ad-
vocates when regulation of their rights is
being considered by lawmakers. Inter-
ested adults should be alerted to the
work that must be done to inform the
public and decision makers about youth
needs, interests, rights and responsibil-
ities to secure positive action.
Helping teenagers develop a support
group to protest video game legislation
could have the same results as what oc-
curred in San Jose, California. The Ch il-
dren's White House Conference passed
the Nation's Rights for Children with one
being: The right to have a meaningful
choice in the process of maturation
and development. If video game clubs
were formed by operators throughout the
nation, composed of regular players,
teenagers would be united to defend
their freedom of choice to enjoy video
games.
Every child should be entitled to ex-
periences that foster growth to responsi-
ble adulthood and enhance self-respect.
Working with local operators and other
advocates for youth rights, teenagers
would learn to become participants in
local political issues and defend their
rights as members of their community.