Play Meter

Issue: 1976 July - Vol 2 Num 7

"It is with a great deal of arcades; but in point of fact, I
surprise that I find the reaction have encountered far worse con-
to the May issue cover one of ditions (and people) while travel-
mixed reviews and feelings. My ing throughout the United States
view of the pinball industry is and the major cities of Europe.
slanted only by reality and I wiU
"I did not wish to offend
always endeavor to report what anyone or cast any disparaging
is truly hapening in the real images concerning the industry I
world. The May cover picture,
truly love, but let's face facts
This was an important and con-
'\ which was taken by James Ham-
~ I ilton when we were in Europe
temporary statement on what is
reflected a certain atmosphere.
happening 'today' with the pin-
Here was an arcade, called the
ball arcade. There are of course
Crystal Room in Leicester Sq.,
the sterile and spotless locations
. London which was representa-
dotting many cities and countries
~-:::/,e:::-. _ ______ --' _ _ _ _ tive of how glamorous a location
but the humanism is missing. We
can be--witness the ornate crys-
should strive to create a mood, a
I would like you, if you could, chandeliers, mirrored walls and
setting if you wiU, for pinball
explain to me what the cover plush carpeting (which is not in
machines. But judge this deci-
photograph of the May issue the picture). However, within
sion by the audience
means. I don't understand how this classic ambience, that is
"This location (The Crystal
such a picture could be selected typically European in flavor, the
Room) has a minimum age of 18
for the cover of PLA Y METER, a human factor crosses oceans and
to enter, as do most places in
magazine that has always tried to spans the element of who is
London.
Would it have been
upgrade the image of our indus- playing pinball.
better to show young children,
try . (Please reread PLAY ME-
neatly dressed, playing the
"These were young 'kids' who
TER, Jan. 75, p. 9.)
games? No! That's the image we
were having fun 'mugging' for the
We feel that one way in which camera. Granted, they were not
are trying to steer away from.
we can guarantee that everybody dressed in evening gowns. But
Many people outside the industry
will find a "clean atmosphere in then who does when they are
think that aU we do is steal lunch
our center is to attract small playing pinball? Are we to say
money from children as it is--a
children that will have to come that blue jeans are no longer
picture on the cover might have
with their parents. When these proper apparel for the clientel of made it worse. How about adults
children will have grown, their arcades? True, this is not the
playing you may ask? Well,
parents will have no objection to wholesome AU-American image
honestly how prevalent is this
letting them come alone, because we would like to think frequents
occurrence? Realize that the
they will know the place very
Exidy .Ch icago Coin
oPl easure Games •
well. But to obtain this clean
image of which we are proud, we
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appearing at our center in the aI
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way they appear in the cover of III
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PLAY METER.
PARTS AND SERVICE
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I really expect to hear from you ~ ~ooming
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~ FUN GAMES Tankers • .. $
CHI COIN Rifle Gallery •. $
about thi matter; meanwhile
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a: FUN GAMES Take-5
CHI COIN World Series ••.
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Cocktail Table .......... 795 CHI COIN Trapshoot ..... .
as the theme of your next cover.
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I am sure it will erve omeone
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U.S. BILLIARDS Survival
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COCktail Table ...... •. .. 595 ALLIED Super Shifter ....• 795
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MIDWAY Racer ....... • . 1095 I»
to improve the image of our
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Cocktail Table . ... . ..... 695 GREMLIN Trapshoot
industry.
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[We appreciate your concern
for the image of our industry and
assure you that ours has not
abated.
The May cover was
chosen in conjunction with Roger
Sharpe, that month's Coinman of
the Month. We asked Roger to
respond to your letter and re-
ceived the foUowing from him:
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800-Call Collect
In the Midwest its:
In the South its:
ADVANCE
ADVANCE
DISTRIBUTING
INTERNATIONAL
COMPANY
INCORPORATED
2820 N. GRAND BLVD.
ST. LOUIS, MO . 83107
3815 N.W. 38th AVE.
MIAMI, FLA. 35142
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11
major proportion of people play-
ing in the world is that misunder-
stood group known as teenagers,
who dress a particular way, and
no doubt feel that someday they'll
change the world.
"This was the classic photo-
graph for the cover. 'We (Jim
Hamilton, George Delmerico, my
art director, myself and I'm sure
the PLAY METER staff) delibe-
rated over what picture (out of
thousands) to use. We chose this
one because we didn't see it as
being a harmful influence on the
industry; we saw that it was
entertaining as a tableau, that it
gave some humor to the concept
of pinball and finally that it was
real and human with a personality
that transcended class and cul-
tural boundaries.
"For those who have taken
offense to it, ! apologize, but !
believe in what ! portrayed and
its positive points. Now after
reading this, ! hope others can
see my position and at least
empathize with me. ! think !
have proven my sincerity and
willingness to serve this indus-
try_of would never try to do
anything to change that and
never will."
Thank you, Roger. --Ed.]
I liked Mr. Boasberg's Editori-
al [May, 1976] very much and
agree with him that the amuse-
ment flipper is pure amusement
and outstanding entertainment.
I do wonder, however, about his
last sentence. If the game is pure
amusement and as harmless as
any other form of entertainment
(as I believe it is), then why
should it be "properly regulated
and licensed"? I believe our
industry must stop thinking and
talking in this manner as it
implies that there is something
wrong with the industry.
Mac Hasvold
Hasvold Vending Co.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
I· had never been to a foosball
tournament before I attended a
recent match at Brockport State
~ University. I used to think there
_ wasn't too much to the game, but
~ the tournament really opened
~ my eyes.
=
12
This was a comparatively small
tournament among the upper
New York state colleges. RIT
placed first followed by Geneseo,
Brockport, Genesee Community
and St. John Fisher College.
One girls team, Marilyn Green-
zeig and Michelle Tornatora from
Brockport went up against some
very tough competition. They
didn't win but they sure gave it a
good try.
The final match, between Mike
Comfort and Gary McConnell
from RIT and Mark Cocce and
Gary Andrews also from RIT,
saw the crowd geting very tense.
The concentration in the player's
faces, the stance of their bodies
and te sweat from their play was
all a part of how this game goes.
These guys are really great,
keeping that ball from making a
score is a real art, and the way
they maneuver the ball into
position then "POW!" right in --
fantastic!
I won't shrug my shoulders at
foosball anymore; in fact I'm on
my way to playa game right now.
S.D. Casperson
. Dynamic Recreation Corp.
Rochester, N. Y.
We've been in the business for
approximately six years and have
had to fight city regulations
concerning .zoning, parking, non -
permitted pin balls and all the
other stuff associated with chang-
·ing people's attitudes toward
"the business_" Eugene, Ore. is
noted for being a progressive city
though so everyting has worked
out.
We operate over 100 machines
in our two locations in Eugene
and fine the action involved with
all the new games coming out all
the time very interesting. What
a lot of people don't understand
about this business though is it's
not a case of throwing a bunch of
machines into a location and then
sitting back and collecting all the
money. This business is work,
work , work.
We enjoy your magazine.
Thanks for the good articles.
Charlie and Cheryl McCown
Charlie's Poolhall/Charlie's Too
Eugene ,Ore.
[Thanks for the kind words.
You might be particularly inte-
rested in Gene Beley's article
about fighting city hall in this
issue. He hasn't always been as
lucky as you seem to have been,
but his experiences make most
interesting reading. --Ed. ]
I had a rather unusual experi-
ence I decided to share with you
since it reflects on our industry in
a good way!
I delivered a video game to a
customer and he paid me the
balance in cash, 10 one hundred
ollar bills and one twenty in a
small envelop. I was not wearing
a jacket so I stuck it in my hip
pociet. My next stop was the
Back Fourty Bar on Van Dyke
near Outer Dr. in Detroit. I used
the pay phone there to call my
secretary and meanwhile pulled
the envelop out of my pocket and
counted the money. I must have
stuffed it outside my pocket while
taking because when I returned
to my office the money was gone!
I looked everywhere to no
avail. The next day I retraced all
the stops I made and wound up
back at the Back Fourty. I looked
around but no envelop, then
asked the owner I bartender if he
had seen a small envelop and
would you believe, he asked me
what was in it and after I told
him, he produced the envelop
with every cent still in it.
I asked him when and where he
found it and he told me that one
of the largest vending companies
in town, Cigarette Service in
Dearborn, collects their jukebox
and cigarette machine money
that day, and their collection man
Joe Haffey found the envelop near
the phone, looked in it and
brought it back in to the owner
and said that he thought some-
body lost it!
Needless to say , I contacted
Joe's employer--his father works
there, too -- and congratulated
him on the caliber of his employes
and I asked Joe to stop in and
pick up his reward and my
personal thanks.
I though you'd like to know taht
there are still honest people
around .. . as well as stupid ones
like myself.
Andre R. Dubel
Elcon Industries
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

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