next month
Spring sort of crawled in this year rather than
doing its perennial blossom act. Snowstorms, rain-
storms and generally cool weather continued to
plague parts of the country long into March and
April.
But despite spring's unusuaJIy timid advances
into our lives, it and the arcade season have once
again come face-to-face with us.
So as you read this, issue number six is in the
oven and with arcade season on our minds, next
month's Play Meter will naturally concentrate its
feature content on arcades, arcade games and
arcade operators.
The Arcade Huyers' C"ide will examine the
latest offerings in arcade features from all the
manufacturers and provide statistical information
on all of them. The feature will also delve into
arcade equipment manufacturing and the popu-
larity of some older pieces.
ational Arcade Chains: Do They Hind? will
explore nationwide chains that operate arcades,
find out how they started, find out how th ey have
affected localized, smaller arcade oper~tors and
seek reasons for their successes and failures.
An Operator Ogles A rcades will be one opera-
Coinman
(Contil/lled from page 63)
They say they can get the equipment at better
costs, of course, and that th ey can have first shot
at new models and that they can actually create a
demand by exposing their products. They also say
they can be of better service to the operator by
offering guidelines on placing equipment and :;0
forth.
BETTELMAN: The only response I can give to
that is that, yes, there are good arguments sup-
porting distributors who operate. But on the other
hand, th ere are successful distributors who have
never operated.
PLAY METER: I understand your position. I'm
understanding you to say that CA. Robinson is a
specialty company, specializing in games?
BETTELMAN: That's exactly right.
I've asked people the same question: Where is
the money? In operating, distributing or manufac-
turing? And I think the answers I've received are
nearly equal.
64
tor 's first-person view of operating arcades and
what he's learned in many years of operating them~
I n addition to these three features, Play Meter
will offer its usuaJ abundance of news, interesting
insights and entertaining features about the coin-
operated music and games industry.
We'll be half a year old next month, but we feel
like veterans. Since our first "newspaper-like"
presentation we have expanded, added talented
staff personnel and improved our overall appear-
ance.
But we're not letting that stop LIS. No, sir. It has
been said that the true student is one who learns
every day and that is how we look at producing
this magazine for you. Through our relationships
with advertisers and readers, we are learning more
about the industry and the industry is learning
more about itself. We're learning more about
ourselves, too. About how much there is to know
about the industry we serve, about how much
there is to know about producing a quality
magazine month in and month out and about how
much there is to share between the industry and
the rest of society.
Until nex t month , read and enjoy.
PLAY METER: And even manufacturers are
starting to operate. Some operator~ are complain-
ing about this.
BETTELMAN: Yes, but the manufacturers are
taking over such damned big operations. The flak
on the streets there is minimal because your
average operator couldn't afford to take a location
like that. It's too expcnsive. Where it hurts is when
a distributor is operating on the streets.
PLAY METER: What do you think about the
future of the industry? Do you think it's bright?
BETTELMAN: Yes, I do. Without a doubt. I
think with the way our economy is, people are
losing regard to loose change. I remember when I
was a kid and my father would come home, the
loose change in his pocket was /lwlley. He 'd let me
have th e pennies. But now if it dosen 't fold It goes
to the kids. This will help the industry.
And another thing is that people are starting to
get bored with movies, and are looking for
alternative e ntertainment. I think we have the
answer to th at. Now it is not an accidental form of
entertainment. Now it is a legitimate,
pre-meditated form of amusement. And that makes
our future look indeed bright.