Play Meter

Nolan Bushnell and Jules Millman
Suson
Aramayo
A.M.O.A. overview:
Only the operators were
hotter than the games
By David Pierson
It was another record -setting year
for the annual A.M.O .A. Exposition
which was held November 10-12 at
the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago .
Attendance , exhibitor interest , and
foreign representation at the show
topped all the record -setting figures
of last year's show by substantial
margins .
The Iinescore was something like
this: the ~ttendance was up from last
year's 5,487 to this year's record of
6 ,407 ; the list of exhibitors was up
from 110 to this year's 126 . The
number of exhibitor booths climbed
from last year's figure of 290 to a new
record at 308 . And foreign represen-
tation came from 36 countries this
year, as opposed to 32 countries in
last year's show .
But as a better gauge of the show's
tremendous growth in recent years is
the fact that Expo '78 was twice as
large as Expo '68 . In fact , the show
has grown so large that the
A.M.O .A. is now faced with the
decision of moving to larger quarters .
Fred Granger , executive vice
president of the A.M.O .A., at the
general membership meeting No-
vember II , announced that the
show would be moving out of the
Conrad Hilton Hotel in either 1981
or 1982 (when and where it moves ,
8
he said , depends upon the board of
directors of the association) . He did
say , however , that if the show
moved out of the Conrad Hilton in
1981 or 1982 then the Expo would
probably be held at the Hyatt
Regency in Chicago where one large
exhibit hall could accommodate all
the equipment. If, however , the
show remained in the Conrad Hilton
through 1981 , then the A.M .O .A.
could move into a new Hilton Hotel
in Chicago which would be ready by
that time . That hotel, said Granger ,
would have about 1800 rooms and
would also accommodate all the
exhibits in one room .
The show also marked the first
time the A.M.O .A. has allowed
gaming equipment to be shown on
the exhibit floor . This decision was
made in recognition of the fact that
the A.M.O .A. is an international
show and gaming equipment is legal
in many other countries . These
exhibits were closely watched by an
A . M. O . A .- appointed committee
which made sure gaming exhbitors
adhered to a set of special rules
drawn up for them . According to
Granger . there were no major
problems with these exhibits , and so
gaming equipment will probably be
on display again next year .
This decision might have resulted
in the loss of at least one prominent
U.S . games manufacturer, however .
D. Gottlieb & Company , which
began to display at the A.M.O .A.
Show only last year , might not be
back . At least that was inferred by
Gottlieb officials at the show who
protested about the open display of
gaming equipment on the exhibit
floor .
Now , while much of the attention
was focused on the new products
(amusement and gaming alike) ,
much of the talk at Expo '78 was
centered on a wholly different
matter - the compulsory jukebox
law .
More specifically, talk focused on
the recent ruling by the Copyright
Royalty Tribunal (CRT) which
ordered operators to divulge their
jukebox locations in order to con -
tinue to be in compliance with the
law. However , operators have stead-
fastly argued that their location lists
are confidential business information
and that the federal government has
no right to them .
There were three reasons why the
copyright law was such a focal point
of discussion at the show : (1) it was
the first A.M.O .A. Show since the
controversial new law went into
effect ; (2) it followed very timely
PLAY M ETER , December, 1978