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boards for every game you operate, so you must
have progressed to a level of having people working
for you that can repair the machines for you.
LESLIE: Again we have to talk about the Cherry
Group. Our knowledge of operating comes from
Sweden where our operation is extremely sophisti-
cated. There has never arisen a problem that we
couldn't cope with in Sweden --and now in England.
We have excellent en$;ineers in England who can fix
anything that any operator carries in video. In fact,
we improve games ourselves. We modify the Atari
games with our own ideas. We believe Atari makes
a great product, but there is nothing ever been
produced that can't be improved upon.
PLA Y METER: Where do these technical people
come from?
LESLIE: Both in Sweden and in England, there is
no lack of technical people. Weare not talking about
atomic technology, after all; we're talking about
solid -state technology. We find it is not difficult to
find people who can read schematics and who know
the whys and wherefores of integrated circuitry.
And really that's all we need.
A small operator in England though suffers with
the same problems as a small operator in America
probably does. But we do try to help smaller
operators. Because we sell to them, we have an
obligation to the smaller operator. Where there's a
man who has just bought his first video game, I
would give him all the help I could, technical or
otherwise.
PLAY METER: How much down time do you
experience with your games?
LESLIE: In Sweden, we like to think that we have
a one-hour service. In England at the moment we
are still running on twelve-hour service. But our
goal in England would certainly be a one -hour
service as well.
PLA Y METER: Has the reliability of the games
improved over the years?
LESLIE: Here we're talking about Atari. I think
everybody accepts the fact that Atari has improved
their equipment. They obviously have better
factory testing equipment, obviously have better
everything at Atari now: they've become bigger
and richer. They can do a better job now. They are
young, enthusiastic people. And I think they want
to give a good machine for the money they get. .
I really believe that. They are ~alled ~tarl
Innovative Leisure, and they are full of mnovatlOns;
they're always improving. A perfect example of
that i that every Atari game comes with a full
service manual and parts manual.
PLAY METER: Does this include schematics?
LESLIE: Everything. Absolutely everything.
PLAY METER: For a while, nobody wanted to part
with their chematics.
LESLIE: Right, but that was the old days. That
situation has changed. Nowadays, when we sell a
new Atari game, you open up the machine and
there is a full manual, giving a parts breakdown, so
that when you want to order a part, you can tell us
I exactly what part you need. There are schematics
-
0 that you can trace the problem when you've got
~ omething gone wrong. There is a trouble-shooting
=
e
40
guide, a guide showing how to set the game up, how
to make operator options work. There are all sorts
of things: a full manual. So, in general, I would say
the reliability of the games is far, far better; the
technology is far, far better; the testing at the
factory is better also. So really we have far less
down time than we ever did before.
PLAY METER: It's good to hear that. What is your
commi ion structure?
LESLIE: In England, we hold out as much as we
can for 60 per cent of the take for ourselves and 40
per cent for the ite owner.
PLA Y METER: How many video games operators
are there? Do you have any idea?
LESLIE: It depends on what you classify as a video
game operator. There is nobody else like us that
operates only video, and there are probably no
more than a dozen companies operating video to
any great extent in the country. But if you want to
take the operator who have the odd video game
here or there, you would probably run into two or
three hundred operators and there is a great deal of
video operation in our arcades, which is a seaside
business mainly. Every arcade has video.
PLAY METER: Do you think there is a future in
multiple player games?
LESLIE: Yes, absolutely. We're convinced. We
haven't had a large quantity in the country- -they've
only been here ince mid-June--so we haven't as yet
had the opportunity to analyze the take or get any
real feedback on the Indy 8, but we have enormou
confidence in it. We al 0 think the the Indy 4 is
going to be a fabulous gam.e, perhaps more so
becau e it' cheaper and the size IS better for many
of our locations.
PLAY METER: What about thi new kiosk game?
LESLIE: I have nothing but confidence in it. We
feel that that is the future of video because with the
kiosk, you are going to have a situation of only once
buying the cabinet and being able to rotate the
game within the cabinet. This will bring the costs
of the games do~n to a much mor~ acceptable level.
Also with the kIOSk, you are gomg to be able to
make a much more pre entable show than perhaps
you can with the different shapes and sizes of video
game.
PLA Y METER: What i the general opinion of
video game in the United Kingdom now? Has the
bitterne s faded away?
LESLIE: No, it's still a very hard sell. The arcades
have accepted the video game to a great extent.
But many of the operators are till very anti -video.
PLA Y METER: Do you think this situation will
ever change?
LESLIE: I think we are overcoming the problem.
The games are becoming more accepted. We do a
lot of publicity within the trade. We advertise our-
elve a being purely and simply video operators.
Con equently, we say, that we have confidence in it
o that you hould have confidence in it. We also say
that if anybody can help you with your video
problem ,w can becau e we know all there is to
know about video. So, in a few years, I suspect,
there will be a considerably larger proportion of
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