Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1982 February 15 - Vol 8 Num 4

UP FRONT
There was a time in this industry when the amount
of money that your game machines take in would be
one of the last things you would want to tell an
outsider. In those days, the amusement business was
regarded by the general public as a nickel and dime
business and most people had no idea, nor did they
much care about how much money amusement
machines took in . Back then , the ordinary person had
no idea what a Chicago Coin Speedway or a Gottlieb
Sheriff was.
Ever since the space age technology gave birth to
the video game, the general public has been
becoming increasingly aware of these modern-day
marvels of skill. One would be hard pressed to name a
national TV network, newspaper, or magazine that
has not done a splashy feature story on video games.
Names such as Space Invaders, A steroids, and Pac-
Man have all but become household words. And no
thanks to the national news media, the general public
now has the mistaken impression that video games
take in $500 a week and that last year alone, video
games brought in $5 billion as a gross take. What they
don 't know is what the nation's media failed to tell
them-less than one percent of the video games on
location today earn anything close to $500 a week ,
and of that $5 billion gross, only half went to the
operating sector of the industry. The location owners
all over America got the other half!
What we have now are a lot of industry outsiders
who no longer regard our industry as a nickel-and-
dime business but rather a get-rich-quick business
where huge fortunes can be amassed in one' s spare
time. Heading the list of these industry outsiders who
harbor these laughable misconceptions are govern-
ment officials, overly concerned parents, and those
countless dreamers out there who still cling to the
belief that one can make money without having to
work for it.
Legislators are just champing at the bit to increase
taxes on an industry that appears to be making a lot of
money and is defenseless at the legislative level. A
growing number of parents are becoming concerned
with the amount of money their kids are spending on
the play of video games. And many of these parents
have gone so far as to get local restrictions put on
arcades and in some areas to have arcades outlawed
entirely. And then there is the vast number of people
out there who have been looking for a business in
which it's easy to start up, easy to run, and easy to
make money . The lure of all those quarters in all the
video games has attracted a large number of people
looking to get into the amusement machine business.
Everybody and his brother-in-law, it seems, wants to
open his own arcade.
What somebody should tell all these people is that
the average video game earned $140 a week last year .
That left only $70 for the operator-before expenses!
And after one year, the operator is lucky if the
machine has earned back its purchase price. If he' s
really lucky, that same machine may still be on loca-
tion after one year but it's not likely to earn anything
close to $140 a week.
These people should be told that the cost of video
games has increased 300 percent in less than ten years.
What these people should know is that it is difficult
for the operator to control his costs . It is even more
difficult to control his pricing, not to mention loca-
tion commissions, equipment selection, labor costs,
licenses, taxes, and all the other costly headaches
today's operator has to put up with .
It's time these industry outsiders got the real
picture of what our business is really like. The plain,
simple fact is that it has become a hell of a lot tougher
than most people think it is to make a buck in this
business. It's time they learned that simple fact and it' s
time for you to start telling them!
~~-
Ralph C. Lally II
Editor and Publisher
Letters to
the editor • • •
warranty issue with each unit. We
request that future references to our
product reflect the above.
Mik e Mac k e
Exec u tive Vice P resi den t
Digital Controls, Inc.
Atlanta
[Ed. Note: The above writer refers
to the "New Product" item in Play
Meter, November 15, 1981.]
H igh on scoring
Longer life yet
Is pinball dead?
If the object is to make all the
money you can, then why alienate
the customer that only likes to put
his quarters in a pinball because he
doesn't like the intensity of playing a
video game?
When you have saturated the
video market, where will you turn to
make more money?
Phil Barnett
Service Manager
Sun Fun Amusements
Satellite Beach, Florida
[The dialog on pinball's fate
appeared in the January 1 issue,
with surrebuttal in the issue of
February 1. We welcome further
commentary from our reader/
operators on the viability (or the
opposite) of the game.]
Factory clarification
This letter is intended to clear up
several inaccurate statements in
your issue dated November 15, 1981,
that have only recently come to our
attention.
On page 72, an introduction article
was printed in reference to our pro-
duct Little Casino. Apparently, in
this article representatives of Shanco
International Ltd., a former distri-
butor of Little Casino, referred to
themselves as being the manufac-
turer of our product. This is a false
statement.
Little Casino is owned and manu-
factured by Digital Controls, Inc.,
Atlanta, Georgia. Further, Digital
Controls, Inc. is the sole party
responsible for warranty and service
work. This is clearly stated on the
copyright notice displayed on each
unit and on the manufacturers
PLAY METER, February 15, 1982
I am writing concerning your high
score on Crazy Climber. You
indicated the world's record on
Crazy Climber was 231,000 points
by Kim Rodoflich.
I run Fantasy Island Game Resort
in Alcoa, Tennessee and one of my
regular players has achieved 302,600
points on Crazy Climber. He com-
pleted all four buildings and half way
up the third building the second time
around. His name is Rocky
Montgomery, age 19. He has been
playing the machine everyday for the
last three months.
Please be in touch if this is a
record .
Jeff T ipton
Fan tasy Is land Game Resort
Alcoa, Te nnesse e
[ Congratultions to player Rocky on
~~
his high score.
D ue to the large number of
marathon high-score achievers and
tournament champions currently,
however, we are not a final authority
on record scores. Players and/or
arcade operators are advised to
contact a representative of the
manufacturers, who will be
interested in the high mark achieved
on their machines. Play Meter,
meanwhile, welcomes news ' of
individual high scoring events, with
the understanding that this maga-
zine cannot "referee" whose is the
highest score.
But we recommend that Rocky,
after three months, get some extra
sleep. He has definitely set an
awake ness record.
-ed.]
Something on your mind you want to
uent? Got a gripe? Full of praise? Haue a
question? If you haue comments on the
coin operated entertainment industry,
write to Play Meter. Our "Letters to the
Editor" columns are dedicated to you,
the operator/ reader.
All/etters must be signed; if requested,
only initials will be used or the name
withheld from print. Please include
return address (although, for the sake of
your priuacy, addresses will not be
printed.) All letters subject to standard
editing. Be concise.
Audio Visual Amusements
-~~~~-~~------------------------------------,
Offering the finest new
and used equipment
REPRESENTING LEADING FACTORIES
1-
• SALES, PARTS , SERVICE •
ARCADE PLANNING SPECIALISTS
Over 50 beautifully reconditioned
solid state pinballs available
YOU'VE TRIED THE REST,
NOW TRY THE BEST
WE'RE EAGER TO SERVE
1809 Olive Street
St. Louis , Missouri 63103
(314) 421-5100
For further information, c all Pete Entringer (collect)
5

Download Page 4: PDF File | Image

Download Page 5 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.