Play Meter

Issue: 1984 December 31 - Vol 10 Num 24

country.
OPINION : I could not imagine
having someone like Gene Lewin on
the staff of a magazine that I would
like to have taken seriously.
RATING : I don ' t think its
worth the bother devising a new
scale of incompetence for this
pathetic attempt at journalistic
parody.
Letters to
the editor. • •
Bill Loumpouridis
Chicago, Illinois
RAY METER. December 31, 1984
We are an overseas company
involved in the video games busi-
ness, and we would find it very
useful to have some information
about the ratings of video games
overseas. For they are often dif-
ferent from what is happening in
the United States.
For example, baseball and golf
are not popular games in our coun-
·Audio Visunl
Rmu.sements
Dill"s banner
READING: If I were looking for
something interesting to do and
were given the choice between
read ing Gene's misspelled, mis-
ided "Gudgements" and refolding
my socks, the choice would indeed be
di fficult one to make . Is this some
- esh man journalism student trying
-o make some freelancing money? Is
· an inept publication falling for
stunts.
ACCURACY: In addition to the
lve lighted buttons used to select
me plays inBally's NFL Football,
ere is a "game breaker" button
much larger than the play selection
ur ro ns ) that Gene adamently
dai ms does not exist. This button
..:.Ho ws players to increase . the
·avorable outcome of a play up to
- ree rimes a quarter for each player.
How ca n we take this person seri-
ly when he omits vital features in
· ga me reviews? Gene, maybe you
eed glasses or maybe college life is
rri ng to you. Gene also fails to
ders rand the concept of target
rke ring . Maybe he will study this
sop ho more year. NFL Football is
igned to appeal to the older b~r-
c isi ng crowd, not the kiddie
·· hoo r-em up" crowd Gene is
viously associated with.
OR IGINALITY: Gene's style
an originality that is rivaled only
che half million or so other fresh-
n journalism students in this
Overs•es poll?
Offering the finest
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used ~~~
eq~ipment
REPRESENTING LEADING FACTORIES


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NEW IN CRATE
(Cine.) Dragon 's Lair (1000 disc) S1595
(Myl.) M .A .CH . 3 S1695
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(Nin.) Donkey Kong 3
(Nin .) Mario Bros.
S10o45
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call
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, cali .Pete Entringer (collect)
7
·quality Is Our Family Tradition"
try; and, for this reason, they would
be ranked completely different in
this country. So please consider this
problem and remember that many
countries all over the world read
Play Meter and use it as the bible for
buying equipment .

Julio Blitzer
Play Center
Montevideo, Uruguay
TOKENS
800-227-5813
IN CA 800-227-5814
Quality control pe fson nel at Hoffman & HoHman
checking d1ameter of token w1th m1crometer
• Immediate same-day ship-
ment on stock tokens
• Quality artwork and design
service at no charge
• Hoffman & Hoffman tokens
are minted under the most
rigid quality control
standards.
• We match Old World crafts-
manship with advanced
technology.
• Hoffman & Hoffman has
the best prices and fastest
delivery for stock or custom
tokens.
• You can buy the best
tokens for less. Check
our prices and see.
HOFFMAN{JHOFFMAN
P.O. Box 896, Carmel, CA 93921
[Editor's Note: The problem with
having different · equipment polls
for each country are many-fold.
First , the delay in getting the
responses to surveys to and from
each poll respondent would take so
long that, by the time we published
the poll, it would be too much out of
date. Second, although it's true
people all over the world do, in fact,
read Play Meter, not enough of them
read it in each country to make such
a poll possible. A poll is only as good
as the number of people taking part
in it, and we're sorry to say that an
equipment poll that's applicable for
Uruguay-would have a few responses
that would hardly be valid. Play
Meter prides itself on having a great
response to its J'urveys, and that's
why the Play Meter polls are sq
valid, because they're not influenced
by just a handful of respondents but
are the cumulation of hundreds of
responses. You have pointed out a
deviation where what's hot in the
United States won't necessarily be
hot in your country; but, overall, the
Play Meter poll rankings should be
applicable in most areas. As an
operator experienced in your own
locale, you can spot the exceptions to
the rule, the game rankings that
don't apply-like baseball or golf.
It 's the same way you know a soccer
game would probably be more
successful in your country than here
in the United States where "football"
means an entirely different game.]
Needs Duyenr
guidance
I found your 1984 Buyers' Guide
issue (October 1, 1984) to be quite
interesting and informative. It moti-
vated me to inquire about some of
the products shown. But, alas, there
was no address for Standard Metal
Typer and J.F. Frantz. Could you
please help me here?
Martin Faber
M&C Vending Co.
Teaneck, New Jersey
[Edit or's Note: Standard Metal·
Typ er is located at 2910 W. Montrose
Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618, tele-
phone 312/ 583-8300. ].F. Frantz or
j ohnston Products is located at 627
Fifteenth St., E. Moline, IL 61244,
telephone 1-800/447-6768.]
No more blues
It looks as though the sun is
beginning to , shine through the
clouds. For those operators who
have bee~ singing the blues, my
message of hope emphasizes the
common sense steps to be followed
down the street of success.
Step 1: Place only proven video
games on your routes and rotate
them when necessary
~ ..
Step 2: Listen to responsible
industry leaders.
Step 3: Be discriminating when
serring locations. Do not over-set.
As an example, here is what the
three leading games are doing for
me in one location in three consecu-
tive weeks: Spy Hunter at 25-cent
play-$393, $313, and• $231; Punch
Out.'.' at 50-cent play-$325, $190,
and $189; Badlands at 25-cent
play-$557, $525, and $482. And
Spy Hunter was out of service for
two days during the third week!
Badlands is a Centuri laser game
(w hich costs less than many video
games); and while I have heard
many operators condemn those
games, I have yet to meet an opera-
tor who sneer · at that much income.
Finally for those who wish to
stay with the business, get your
heads out of the sand. Things are not
as bad as they seem. There is money
to be made.
Be sure to attend meetings and
expositio ns to get the latest infor-
matio n on games and trends.
George A. Kane
Kane Amusement Co.
Petal, Mississi ppi
PlAY METER. December 3,1. 1984

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