Play Meter

Issue: 1981 January 15 - Vol 7 Num 1

Why?
Why do you suppose mote opetatots tead
Play ffietet than any other
industry-related trade publication?
We think it must have something to do with the fact that
Play meter is independently-owned and
honest with its readers.
We are, after all, the only publication that
evaluates pinball machines.
Not only that, our articles (such as the recent three-part
series on business profitability) are thought provoking,
useful, and written specifically for the operator.
And we cover more industry news than anyone
else, month after month.
Then, of course, there's our "Technical Topics" section,
which is written by independent technicans who
have firsthand experience in the field.
There seem to be as many reasons for reading
Play meter as there are readers.
~I.AY
104
Iiiii
PLAY METER. January. 1981
,
Door-to-door
madness
Stern Electronics, Inc. premiered its
latest video game, Berzerk, at the
AMOA exposition in Chicago.
Berzerk offers voice-in-video, a 30-
word vocabulary that enables the
game to communicate to the player,
challenging him to "Stay and fight
like a robot" and warning of an
"intruder alert."
Billed as the first video game with a
sense of humor, Berzerk tempts
passers-by into play by broadcasting,
"Coins detected in pockets," at
timed intervals.
A challenging "fight to the finish"
game, in Berzerk the player, pursued
by programmed robots across the
video board through a maze of up to
64,000 rooms , avoids robot attack
with the use of a "joystick" -a newly
designed photo-optical feature that
enables players to move images in
eight different directions.
Lunar sea aama
Eat or be eaten
"Pac-Man is not only sensational,"
said Stan Jarocki, Midway's vice
president for marketing, "it's a
unique, full color video attraction for
one or two players that tickles vision
and is a stimulating challenge to
reflexes. Adding to the fun are
musical refrains, chomping and
action sounds, along with amusing
cartoon shows between racks."
The player, using a single handle
control, guides the Pac-Man about a
maze, scoring points by munching
up the dots in his path. Four Ghost
Monsters-Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and
Clyde-chase after the Pac-Man
trying to capture and deflate him.
The Pac-Man can counterattack by
eating the big Power Capsule that
enables him to overpower the
monsters for additional score.
After all the dots are gobbled up, a
new labyrinth appears, andPac-Man
continues for another round. Each
ra'Ck features a different Fruit Target
(cherry, strawberry, peach, etc.)
which appears twice in the maze,
and if eaten, earns bonus points.
Players start with three Pac-Men,
with one additional man awarded for
10,000 points scored.
Pac-Man is produced by Midway
under license from Namco, Ltd. -
PLAY METER. January, 1981
Tomahawk Missile from Electro-
Sport is a one or two-player game
with play action on an imaginary
moon. The action takes places in a
"sea" from which the player fights
with missile fire against aliens who
attack his sub from space.
The attackers have the capability
to make the "water" disappear if the
player is slow to reduce the attacking
numbers of spacecraft.
The upright Tomahawk model
stands 72W' high, 26Y4" wide, and 33"
in depth. Also available is the Salon
model size, its dimensions: 58Ji:!"
high, 22Y4" wide, and 26" in depth.
A cocktail version was scheduled
to be marketed before the end of
1980 by the new Irvine, California
manufacturer.
105

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