Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1981 July 01 - Vol 7 Num 12

~I.AY lllil~
Volume 7. N umber 12
July 1. 1981
......................
Staff
Publi her and Editor :
Ralph C. Lally II
Editorial Director:
David Pi rson
Managing Editor:
Ray E. Tilley
Admini trative A ss i tant :
Valerie ognevi h
Art Director:
Kat y Schwark
Circulation Manager :
Renee' C. Pierson
Technical Writer :
lac Oliver
Randy Fromm
Frank Seninsky
Correspondent :
Rog r C. Sharpe
Patrick Matthew
Dick Welu
Irving Bla kman
Mary Claire Blakeman
Charles C. Ross
Cia ifi d Advertising:
Valerie Cognevich
Typographer :
Sharon McCall
Aclverti ing Manager:
David Pierson
Europ an R pr entative :
Esmay Leslie
PL AYM ETE R, July1 , 1981 . Volum
7, o . 12 . Copyright 1981 by Skybird
Publishing Company. PLAY METE R
(ISS 0162-1343) is published twice
monthly on the 1st and 15th of the
month . Publishing offices : 320 Old
Hammond Highway, M tairie, La .
70005 ; M ail in g add ress- P.O . Box
24170,
ew Orleans 70184 . Tel.
ubs ription rates :
504/ 838-8025 .
U .. and Canada-$25 ; Europe and
Japan-$45 ; elsewher -$50 .
Multipl -sub cription orders : 2-9,
$20 each ; 10-24 , $17 ea h; 25 or
more, $15 each . Advertising rates
available on request. o part of this
magazine may be reproduced
without expressed permission . The
editors are not responsible for
unsolicited manuscripts. Second-
class postage paid at Springfield ,
Mass 01101 and additional mailing
offi es. Pos tm aste r: Send Form 3579
to PLAY METE R, P.O . Box 24170,
ew Orleans, La . 70164
European Offi e : PLAY METE R
Promotions , " Harescombe "
Watford Road , orthwood Middx.
England , orthwood 29244 .
PLAY METE R, July 1, 1981
BPA Circulation Audit Applied For
LAY
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Features
Selling Used Games ............................... 10
The player who loves to play the same game
every day might just love to take it home. And if
the game has seen better days of income draw,
pushing its sale to the player can benefit more
operations than those with off-seasons. Roger
Sharpe analyzes how to stimulate home sales.
Don't Panic, Pinball Operators . .................... 34
Continuing our dialogue on the health of
pinball, Dick Welu points out some interesting
historical trends. He sees the pinball as the
workhorse that can carry operators over rough
times. It makes thoughtful reading.
Technical Surprises at the AOE ..................... 36
Randy Fromm gives detailed technical review
to the new games and the service equipment
displayed last spring at the New Orleans coin-
op show.
Departments
From the Editor .................................... 4
Editorial . ................ . .................. . ...... 6
Mailbox ............ . ................ . ............. 9
News . ... .. . . . . .............................. . 14-33
Equipment Poll ................. . ............. . ... 16
Music Programming . .. . ........................... 40
Frank's Cranks . . ... .. ............................. 46
Technical Topics ...... . . . .... . .................... 48
Critic's Corner . ........ .. ......................... 60
New Products ......... . .... . ................... . . 64
Classified Advertising ............ . ................ 67
News Briefs .... . ................................. 72
Cover Credit:
Williams' Gorgar pingame playfield special
photography courtesy of Xcor Corporation, as
originally used in an Xcor annual report.
3
In case yo1,.1 haven't noticed there's been a recent upsurge in the
amounf of attention this industry has been getting from the national
media. Witness a recent feature on video games by "NBC Magazine"
and numerous feature articles in Newsweek, TV Guide, Fortune,
Forbes, and hundreds of newspapers. Hardly a day goes by that we
are not being interviewed by a reporter or a free lance writer doing a
piece on our industry.
The fastest and surest way for the industry to continue to grow as
it has been growing is by attracting more players. Obviously, the more
people that play electronic diversions, the more profitable this industry
is going to get. The more attention this industry gets from the national
media, the more the general public will be aware of our entertainment
offerings. For it is not just the press which has become infatuated with
our games; it's the general public as well.
· Positive exposure in the national media is probably one of the best
things that has ever happened to this industry. The more the-;9eneral
public becomes familiar with our games, the more play our games will
get. One ~an't help but applaud the efforts of Atari, Inc., which
recently announced that it would be including its coin-op video games
in its national commericials for its consumer system. This form of
national exposure can do nothing but good for this industry.
When things are going good, there is often the tendency to
be~ome complacent. There are boom times ahead for the operators
who are wise enough to seize the moment and work harder than
they've ever worked before. Now that we are in the public eye, people
are going to be searching out for the games. People no longer play
games on impulse; they play them because they want to. They will
even go out of their way to do so. They expect to find late models of
clean, well operating games whenever they walk into our location.
Let's make sure that is what they find.
Our goal should be to make as many customers as we possibly
can. Lots of happy customers make for Jots of happy operators.
There's no better time than now; so go to it.
Ralph C . Lally II
Editor and Publisher
· ,.
PLAY METER, Ju ly 1, 1981

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