CONVERSIONS
Savior or
Band-Aid~
Conversions came and assumed a position in the
coin-op amusement industry f w would hav
believed possibl s veral years ago . It didn't see m
feasible that new life could b add d to a carcas of a
game at a nominal co t. It was pr sumed that once a
game lost its app al, that was it.
Two years ago manufacturers generally agreed
that conversions would only produce a generation of
boring, dull, old technology games . The conversion
concept brought speculation of doom on the
industry-speculations of the loss of new technology ,
a diminished need for distributors, and mediocr
games .
However , sin e conversion ar b ing made by
n arly all of the manufacturers, many of the e fear
have been stopped , and the distributor serv s an
important function in remanufacturing games.
Conversions have not mad compani s ease
introducing dedicated games (look at Track & Field).
But they may hav given manufa turer information
on what operators look for in a gam . When
operators can purchase a kit to transform an old game
into something special, they don ' t need to settle for a
mediocre or awful dedi ca ted vid o .
On the other hand , there are two sides to the
conversion issue. When talking to someone who left
the industry but apparently till cares , h
aid th
operators are the locomotiv s of th indu stry but
manufacturer must supply fuel to k p th m going .
He said he is disgusted that operators ar n' t taking a
chance on new equipment. Because of their
reluctance , he said, manufacturers are hesitant to
invest the dollars necessary for the research and
development of n w gam s.
It sounds lik ther 's a never nding cycle-
operators don ' t buy becau e th y ar n't happy with
6
what ' b ing off red , and manufa turers won't risk
R&D for om thing with a high risk factor , not
knowing if th y will mak a profit.
But th r i one fact in thi s ycl -operators will
buy a good gam ; operator won't buy a dog. Con-
version kits have enabl d op rators to have breathing
space b twe n larg inv st ment s. Every game can ' t
be Pa c-man, Tra ck & Fi ld, or Spy Hunt r .
But when a gam tak
off, it's gr at for that
company and hances ar it has d voted money and
time to R&D in tead of taking the attitude , " Why
bother. o one will buy it anyway ."
Conversions are probably one of the most
mi understood ar as of th coin-op industry. Are they
just a Band-Aid forth boo-boo the industry suffered
or are th y a viabl alt rnativ ? Will companies
co ntinue to ell larg quantiti s of conversions?
W have tried to an wer orne of th e questions
in this i su by taking a look at various aspects of
onversions . We talk d with distributors who have
been sue e ful in co nv rting gam s for operators,
and with arious manufa tur r on Ia er co nversions.
Two new video game y t m ar al o dis uss d-The
Answer and The Time Ma hine .
In a peech to hi di tributor
veral years ago,
David Ro n of Sega aid that onv r ion would soon
be mar than 60 percent of th mark t. Many scoffed,
but he was right.
Will onv rsions retain th ir promin nee in the
industry or ar th y a tempora r y oa i ?
Val ri Cogn vich
Editorial Dire tor
PLAY METER. July 1 5. 1984