Play Meter

Issue: 1982 September 01 - Vol 8 Num 17

Letters to
the editor • • •
Convertible games
I have been reading with great interest
article ' in your magazine regarding "con-
vertible games ." I was particularly inter-
e ted in Mr. David R osen's view in the
Sept. IS, 19 I i sue .
Although thi letter is too late to re pond
to those article , neverthele ,the ubject
still remain with us .
I would like to make a few comments
abou t this ubject. and offer some c10 ely
related idea about what the future may
hold for thi indu try.
We all know that the game indu try will
change in the future, and we will ee dra tic
changes in the total concept of video game
entertainment centers. as we know it today.
One of the mo t important factor will
be the nexibilit y of the "software" or pro-
gram s for these machine. to pla y. The
ugge t ion from operator, to update old
programs or exchange them for new. i a
ver y attractive olution to continually
purchasing new "hardware" or machines.
H owever. di s tributor are trongl y
oppo ed to thi olution. ince their very
existence i at take . Game manufacturer
are also oppo ed . though to a somewhat
lesser degree.
Mr. Ro en' article / interview deal onl
with the top-gap solution by the . ega
Gre mlin device. Other companie offer
somewhat of the same type ofarrangement.
This may be great. for the time being. but it
falls s hort of the long-range solu t ion th i
indu try need s .
Mr. Louis Boa berg's e a y in the 19 2
March issue of an industry trade maga7ine
came right to the point in dealing with the
"de pre sion ."
Quote : "Let the manufacturers mak e
more and more ingeniou and appealing
equipment. Let the di tributors see to it
their operator cu tomer get the e new
games a often a s to keep the re enue and
pla yer. intere t ah a ys at the highest
peak ."
If Mr. Boasberg's ideas have all the
PLAY METER. September 1. 1982
elements we wa nt. the y till would be too
expensive and a slow proce if the indu -
try conti nues th e way it i today. In my
o pinio n . th ere are many things that have to
be considered t o accelerate the indu try
into high gear.
The manufacturers have to originate the
.. econd video game revolution ." New
hardware along with a new programming
language mu t be developed. which makes
it impossible to cop any program . ew
program would be very cost effecti ve.
ince all the hardware would remain the
ame. Once the machine were purcha ed .
only the program would have to be
updated . I am referring to true software,
not plug-in boards etc.
Here is a not her po itive a pect to thi
revolution . It i a lot ea ier to sell oft ware
than whole machines . If tre co t of a new
program for the operator would bearound
$)00 or Ie s, I think we woulrl have a itua-
tion where the co t of playing the game
ma even go down to a dime. like the good
01' da y !
There would al so be less opportunity for
the progra ms to be copied , ince they
would function onl y in conjunction with
the ma c hine a igned to them by the
factor y. Bes ide . $)00 or Ie ? for a new
gam r? I don't ee any reason for tealing.
Once the machine are depreciated ... .
( a y. in a two to three year time span) the
operation ha onl y some repair and occa-
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io na l re place m e nt o f th e da m age d
ince a ll th e mac h ines a re
ma chines.
equipped with uni ve rsa l contro ls, mos t of
th e gam e ca n be playe d as we kn ow th e m
toda y, a nd it wo uld acco mm od ate a ll th e
future ga me to co me. The cu to mer will
cho o e th e ga me fr o m th e se lect io n of
" hundred s" o n th e me nu a ft e r th e d e pos it.
If e e ryo ne wa nt s to play th e SA M E
GAM E , it wi ll be poss ible on A L L th e
mac hin e a t thi pa rt icul a r loca ti o n!
With th ese modifi ca ti o ns of th e ga me
indu stry, let us not forge t th e playe rs. T he
pre e nt ga me o ffe red tod ay a re fair ly
. im ple- mind ed im ita ti o n of pa . t succes -
ful ga mes. T he ge ne ra l surro und ings whe re
th ese so-ca lled vid eo ce nt ers a re loca ted .
a re rea ll y no mo re th a n an empt y sto re
where th e mac hines are s la pped agai n t
~ a ll a nd oth er a rea wh ere a mac h ine can
fi t.
So me loca ti o n a re ve ry fun ct io na l, but
no t rea ll y e nt ertai nin g. T he th eme o f th e e
loca t io n must be c ha nged in o rd er to
ur vive a nd a ttract more custo me rs. T his
pro ba bl y will requ ire m o re inves tm e nt
fro m th e o pe ra t or in th e begi nn ing. but it
will payoff in th e long run . T he publ ic
wa nt s ne w a nd so phi st ica ted ga me with
th e pro per e n iron me nt to play in.
I a m persona ll y e ngaged in th e d eve lo p-
me nt of th ese fu ture en te rt ai nm e nt ce nt er,
a nd ho pefull y, in th e nOl-lOo-d i tan t
fut u re, yo u will see th e fir t o ne o pe n in Los
An ge les .
T h is fra nchise opera tio n wi ll be t he firs t
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com puter o pera ted e nt e rt ai nm ent ce nt e r in
the .S . o r in th e wo rld .
T he fra nch i e inve tm e nt in the equip-
me nt wi ll be h igh er th a n th e a e ra ge in vest-
me nt tod ay in th e wh o le ma chine .
Howeve r, th e e nti re o pera t io n i co mpute r
o rie nt ed , a nd th e c ho ice o f ga me ava ila bl e
to th e playe r i r unn ing in th e hundred .
oft ware sa les ca n be tra n acted via
te le ph o ne line a d dressed to th e particula r
loca t io n. The se lling of th e ha rdware a nd
soft wa re st ill ca n be ma intai ned by th e d i ..
tr ib u tors if th ey a re wi ll ing to go a lo ng with
t h is c ha nge in th e indu t ry. They would
recei e th eir co mm issio n 0:1 th e a les o f
bo th ha rd wa re a nd so ft wa re. o ftware
wo uld be ha ndl ed by th e factory in o rder 10
as ure it ec urit y a nd tra ns mit it to th e
opera to rs' co mput e r d irec tl y.
W e a re n ot t ryi ng to by pass a nyo ne in
t he ind us t ry, but we must move fo rwa rd to
a m o re fl ex ibl e a nd eco no mical wa y to
p ro m o te m o re public int e res t in vi d eo
ga mes.
I wou ld like to hear from th e o pera tors
a nd th e di tr ibut o rs wh o wo uld be inte r-
e ted in th is si tu a tio n. T he mo re input I
receive , t h e bett e r th i sys te m will be
deve lo ped to e rve us a ll .
T . Peto Jr.
President
Gam ma Electronics Co.
Los Angeles, CA
Good publicity
W ith a ll th e ba d publicit y abo ut vid eo
ga me tod ay. we too k it up o n o urse lve to
try to gene ra te so me good publ ici ty.
We offered o ur arca d e 10 a ll th e churc hes
in o u r tow n fo r a R E two- h o ur pa rt y
fro m 8- IO a . m . o n any a turd ay d u ring th e
s umm er. T he c hurc he re po nd ed , a nd we
have tw o-ho ur free pa rt ie b oo ked eve ry
Sat urd ay in J u ne, Jul y, a nd Au gust.
M aybe m o re a rcad e o pera to rs h o uld
co nsid er a t wo- h o ur free pa rt y d uring a
ti me th ey a re n o rma ll y c lo ed . T he P. R . is
g rea t, a nd it u re look good in chu rc h
b ull et ins.
Charles C. Ross
President
Helix Enterprises Inc,
an Marcos, Texas
[Ed. ote: Here is a note fro m someone
I\'ho allellded one of the two- hour part ies.]
Frie nd a t Atla nt i ,
On b eha lf of o ur yo uth gro up . I wo uld
like to th a nk yo u ve r y muc h fo r a ll owing u s
to use yo u r fac ilit y fr ee o f c ha rge. W e k now
t ha t you certai nl y d idn 't gai n a nything
fina n cia ll y by lett ing u co me, but yo u did
ga in our s upp o rt a nd frie nd sh ip.
T ha nk yo u for p rov id ing a n e nt e rtai n-
me nt ce nt er wh ere yo un g pe ople can go fo r
so me good clea n fun . I've fo und vid eo
ga mes to be ve ry th era peuti c a nd fun . If I
ca n be o f help to yo u, plea e call me.
Mr. Jackie L. Gibbs
PlAY METER. September 1. 1982

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