MYLSTAR
MYLSTAR ENTERS THE LASER MARKET
WITH M.A.C.H. 3
M.A . C. H. 3 is a new Ia er di c game
being introduced by My! tar. The
initia ls of the game stand for Military
Air Command Hunter, and it i two
games in one.
Fir t, it i a fighter pilot game where
the player is in command of an F-15
fighter. He eek and hoot targets
a nd enemy aircraft, a aiding grou nd
fire. The ground target are comp uter
graphic overlays against live action
film footage of terrain specificall y
tailored for the game. The econd
game involves a bomber pilot run.
With Cinematronic 'Dragon l" Lair,
the firs t Ia er game introd uced, there
were complaint about the lag time
between creen . But in M . A . C.H. 3
there i no lag time becau e, according
to M ylstar's John von Le sen, "Our
game is eam less or there are no black
spot that have to do with the elec-
tronic and oftware of the game."
According to von Les en, laser di c
games will ha e a major impact on thi
industry . "The technology has much
more to offer in entertainment alue
th an conventional games. Yet we
trongly believe there will be a demand
and a market for both type of games .
"The shakeout period has extended
a little longer than some thought it
might, but we expect 1984 will be the
year of recovery . We expect to see
growth in sales of games in 1984. and
expect laser technology will be an
10
By Valerie Cognevich
important con tribut ion in the growth
and recovery of the indu tr ."
Obviou ly the laser game will be
more expen ive because of their di c
pla ye r and electronic package and the
high cost of developing the software.
But "the key to any game purchase
decision by a n operator hould be
whe ther he will ee hi return on inve t-
ment . The e Ia er games are collecting
very trongl y, " on Le en said. "Our
laser game has done exce ptiona lly well
in field tests we've done . I th ink the
opera tor can quickly calcula te that his
return on inve tment will be more even
with the higher co t of the Ia ergame .
owe don't think tha t ju t the higher
price tag will be a barrier."
von Le en also noted that in loca-
tion s where Ia er di sc game are
ope rated. greater revenues are gen-
erated by all equipment by the addi-
tion of the Ia er game.
In addit ion to introducing a new
Ia er di c game, D . Gottlieb & om-
pany ha just changed its name to
Mylstar. "Our company is 56 years old
and ha an out tandi ng reputation in
the coin-op am u eme nt industry. and
though tha t reputation i primarily
a socia ted with pinball , it is al o
establi hed now in ideo with the
popularit y of Q* Bert." vo n Le sen
sa id .
Boyd Browne, pre ident ofMyl tar ,
explained the name change in a letter
printed in M !star ' technical new -
letter: "To reflect our plan to grow in
·the coin-op field. as well a expand our
opportunities to enter other high tech-
nology egments of the entertainment
indu t ry. we will be changing the name
of our company. The new name ,
My! tar , wa cho en because it evoke
the image of an organization where
exciting. new product are being
created to meet tomorrow' e ntertain-
ment need s."
What about M ylstar a nd pinball
production ? "Even a we speak . we are
working on so me pinball games." on
Les en noted . "We will co ntinue to be
in the pinball bu ines . "
Play Meier asked vo n Le sen if he
thinks that manufacturer will come
out with fewer but better games. "The
marketplace has a wonderful mecha-
nism for dealing with that. If yo u ha ve
a product that i n't ge neratin g the
revenue expected. the n the operator
j u t i n 't going to buy it or in quantitie
manufacturers would like.
o the
economics of the marketplace will
addre s tha t issue . Tremendous excite-
ment is generated in Ia er game . not
ju t becau se they are new but becau e
the y are generating high le el of
revenue collection ."
•
PLAY METER. October 15, 1983