From the Editor
Fortunately, the coin-op amusement industry is
somewhat immune to the nation's economic ills. There
are many reasons for this , so many that it seems almost a
cliche when you say the coin-op amusement industry is
recession-proof.
Still , o ur industry is not completely isolated from what
is happening to the rest of the country . For one thing ,
interest rates are still o ut of sight , obviously making
financing a greater problem for this or any other industry.
And , second , our industry is still dependent upon the
outside world for its new materials. And costs for those
goods have risen steadily . Manufacturers especially have
felt this pinch and it's reflected in the ever-increasing costs
of their new equipment . This rising cost spiral is
somewhat above and beyond the control of any single
industry , even an industry that is buffered , in most
respects , from other economic influences.
Now. for the good news . While the rest of the nation is
suffering from a sluggish economy , there 's something
which sets us apart and should keep our industry whirring
along. Other industries are hampered by slow play ; and
that , of course , results in a slowdown in productivity . But
for the coin-op industry , at the grassroots level , we don 't
have to worry about that kind of foot-dragging because
the income is gotten in cash-up front. That's a big plus ,
an in-bred edge that the industry should use to its
advantage, especially when other outside forces threaten
to put a crimp in the industry . The fact that an operator
gets paid in cash should be used to an advantage by the
industry as a whole .
However , we really haven't been using that built-in
edge to our advantage . Distributors and manufacturers
have been too willing to allow easy credit to make a sale ,
easy credit where it's not really necessary . If the untimate
buyer of the equipment was dependent upon the fickle
pay sche dules of his customers , there would be reason
for the manufacturers an d suppliers to extend easy credit
terms to the buyers . But since this is not the case for o ur
industry, such practices take away the industry
advantage.
For their part, opperators need to be more responsible
~ a nd not as dependent on slow-pay terms . And
manufacturers , for their end of the bargain , could
probably combat the high cost of new games by making
better games . For instance , instead of having ten
production runs of 10,000 games each , manufacturers
should p ut more ingenu ity into the games they build and
reduce the number of models . Why not have five runs of
20 .000 games each? That would ease the demand on the
operator so he wouldn t have to over-extend himself and
buy every new ga me that comes out just to keep himself
covered . And the games wo uld have a higher resale
value . thus help ing the o perator out of the pinch so he'll
have the ready cash to buy the new e quipment .
It's simply a case of o ne hand washing the other. And
all it requires is a sense of cooperation from everyone in
this industry.
Ralph C . Lally II
Editor and Publisher
Five years ago in Play Meter's pages ...
Here's a look into the files of PLAY METER's past
issues-some of the news and feature material fro m o ur
pages , five years ago this month .
AUGUST, 1975
Coinman of the Month was Harry Williams "the man
who gave us TILT!" and who introduced electricity to the
pinball machine in the 1940s, industry pioneer an d still
active in the business of amusement games.
Said Williams , "I can't see where pinball is a harmful
device , not the way it's constructed today. For example ,
in Los Angeles , there were many licensed machin es that
were called games of skill. I told the judge that pinball
games were more skillful than some of those licensed by
the police . I showed him where the different cha nce
features existed on those , too ... "
And on TV, we reported in August , 1975, there was a
current game featuring a giant pingame with a shot-put
sized ball : 'The Magnificent Marble Machine ."
In the news pages: Hanson Distributing had held a
grand open house for its new Bloomington , Minnesota
headquarters .. .. New York State operators were being
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faced with legislative bills to restrict pingames . One would
have empowered local zoning boards to prohibit coin-
operated am usement machines within 2 ,640 feet of
public schools .... Wisconsin operators were planning an
apprenticeship program in early 1976 to train persons
interested in becoming coin machine repair technicians .:.
Seeburg corporate officers announced that a $5 .25
million financing program had just been completed to
provide capital for its Chicago jukebox and vending
machine plant.
Ne w products? These were bowed-in for August ,
1975 : Atari released a cocktail video game , Goa/14
(soccer style , for one , two , or four players) .... Mirco
Ga mes' Slam cocktail table was unveiled (combining
features from volleyball and tennis) .... Chicago Coin was
shipping a new two-player console sit-down baseball
game. Big League . . .. The first release from Project
Support Engin eering of Sunnyvale was called Scandia
(with interchangeable logic boards for operator control) .. .
Red Baron flipper game from Chicago Coin was its latest
pin (the game had a World War I air dogfight
motif) .... and Meadows Games had out a new aerial
bo mbing video game , Bomber.
PLAY METER, August, 1980