" What we have asked is first of all
that automatics be recognised as a
profession ."
This might sound
somewhat odd but in fact from the
official point of view automatics do
not exist in Italy. Although every-
one in the business is burdened by
taxes and there are strict laws,
offici::llly it does not exist!
Fagioli said unfair competition
was a big headache to the Italian
operator as are operators who start
up with no knowledge of the
business .
As th ings stand in Italy, if the
local chief of police says pinball may
not be operated within his terri-
tory, then there is no pinball. (This
situation exists in several places,
such as Palermo and Bolzana .)
Perhaps in the country where the
operator has all the problems, the
attitude of Mr . Fagioli , a mixture of
realism and optimism, is the best :
" In our business here in Italy, we
seem to have all the problems in the
world. You name it and we 've got
it. But I' m alive and ready to work ,
in spite of all the things that are
wrong . Once you begin in this
business you stay in it. You can't
leave it. "
(continued from page 22)
bottom', but have recently learned is
a 'Gottlieb bottom ', is in evidence on
this game. Four top lanes offer a
random bonus feature similar to
Gottlieb's successful Super Soccer,
and can be returned to rather easily
from the bottom right flipper .
There is nothing truly outstanding
or intriguing about Wood 's Queen
except for the artwork, which is
colorfu l and offers a semi-topless girl
swinging through the jungle . Flora
and bright colors predominate both
back glass and playfield ; besides the
'swinging Jane' I am partial to the big
blue monkey at mid-field on the
board.
It's a high scoring, six-digit game
that was getting some good play
when I was in London a few months
back . What Zaccaria does in the
future should prove interesting for
European players, Wood's Queen
might even hold its own in the U .S.
with , of course, some help from a
blue chimp and a swinging lady .
Rating: ##
Playmatic's NEW WORLD (single-
player CONQUEST2(0)
This is really Playmatic's third model
designed for American consump-
tion, following Fairy / Fantasy and
Fiesta / Fandango; and it looks like
they' re going to have a successful
game if the test model I played is any
indication. (Also, lest you think that I
do all these reviews alone, a fourteen
year old and two sixteen year olds
agreed that they liked the game and
the way it plays .)
The only thing I missed was the
kitchen sink, as the machine has a
great deal of features and action
crammed into it. There are drop
targets, targets, thumper bumpers,
spinners, rollovers , side bonus lanes
and a center bonus target.
The playfield is coated with
polyurethane, so action is fast, and
with the slightly steeper Spanish
incline what would be fast is even
faster . The stars and stripes spinners
supply most of the action by
regulating wf)at the center target
bonus value will be . They almost
serve the same purpose as the
swinging target in Williams' Swinger
and Fun Fest, which controlled
similar bonus values . On New World
one can get an extra ball, 6,000
points or a special if the spinners stop
at the right time and the center target
is hit .
An interesting aspect of the game
is the two top lanes which are metal
(or at least they appeared to be),
rather than the plastic ones most
American manufacturers' rely on. It
makes nudging a little bit more
difficult, while giving the plunger
(continued on page 43)
(continued from page 37)
The two reliable systems in use
today, according to Pfaff and
Arkush, are the F8 by Fairchild and
the Intel 8080 system . The Fairchild
system is the basis of Spitfire,
PT-l09, Bally's home pin game and
most video terminals , while the 8080
is used in Gunfight, Seawolf and
hobby kits like the Altair.
Currently most Kush n' Stuff
seminars are set up through distri-
butors. "They get overloaded with
broken machines and technical
problems," according to Pfaff, "and
can't find anybody to help them out .
The manufacturers mayor may not
have a program to help them, and
even if they do, it sometimes takes
days just to get the right guy to call
you back. We 're a small outfit with
only technical material to worry
about, so they call us. I can usually
answer their questions and if they
want I can help them set up a class in
their area for their technicians ."
In a way the classes are free, at
least they can be, again according to
Pfaff. "What we ask is that the
person or company sponsoring the
session guarantees us a sale of a
block of text books, usually fifty .
These books are essential in the class
because of their precise photos and
illustrations. The seminar sponsor
can either buy the books outright or
just guarantee us that there will be
fifty people at the session who will
buy one . If we just sell fifty to his
students, the sponsor doesn 't pay a
cent. "
Kush n' Stuff's main seminar
lecturer at present is Robin Minnear
who has done all the presentation in
the Phase I series . Minnear was
basically a technician, working for
Games Unlimited in Southern Cali-
fornia , when he came to work for
Kush n' Stuff . The result is that he
has a background of practical
experience with a lot of different
games and his presentation makes
use of that experience. It empha-
sizes a practical how-to approach.
"Robin's great for the job, " Pfaff
said . "He loves to talk to people and
he loves electronics .
He's been
fixing TV's in his basement since he
was five, if you know the type . He' s
one of those technicians who's made
the jump from pinballs to micropro-
cessors and he's eager to share the
experience . "
Minnear will be joined by Michael
Smiroldo as the program moves into
Phases II and III.
Like Arkush,
Smiroldo also used to work for Atari
in engineering . He also worked for
M emorex and Intel, with the latter
during the development of 8080,
before coming to Kush n' Stuff.
There he has helped to write the
Gunfight and Seawolf books .
Arkush calls Smiroldo "our math-
ematician. To him a video game is
just a set of algebraic equations and
algorythms. He can take interwoven
knots of circuitry that would drive
the rest of us to the psycho ward and
unravel it like mother unravels knots
in her yarn. He's a bit of an
eccentric, though , only comes out
at night.
Joining Arkush, Pfaff, Minnear
and Smiroldo to make up the Kush n'
Stuff operation are Bill's wife Kath-
erine Arkush who handles all inter-
national sales, secretary Marla ;!
McKellar, engineer Dennis Hughes ~
and
technical
illustrator Mark.
Leegard. They're all hoping that ~
service will sell .
;
41