Play Meter

Issue: 1984 May 01 - Vol 10 Num 8

Letters to
the editor
~
. .
'Devilish' cover
It has been my pleasure to read
your very informative magazine
over the past four years. I have read
your magazine and enjoyed the
editorial content not only from a n
in formational standpoint, but also
from the a ppreciation for the
graphics that you have used to illus-
trate many of your concepts and
articles.
Our company represents 163
franchised Putt-Putt Golf & Games .
game rooms which are loc ated
throughout the United State . We
have buil t our sys tem of game rooms
on one basic principle, which is th at
we are a family, fu n, and entertain-
ment center which appeals to all
ages. Our marketing approach has
been to encourage everyone to visit
our game rooms and enjoy playing
video games at our clean, whole-
some facilities. Based upon the gross
receipts of our game rooms and the
growth pattern of our company
during the past five years, we feel
that this marketing thrust has been
most successful.
Due to the immense amount of
work, time, effort, and money th at
we h ave invested in the game room
industry, I felt that I must take this
opportunity to express my sincere
disappointme n t in the subject
matter which Play Meter chose ro
use its cover photo on the March 1
edition.
Over the past five years, our com-
pany has fought many battles with
hostile city councils and town
fathers in an attempt to convince
them that video game rooms are not
an "addictive," "sinful," or nega tive
business for their community . We
PLAY METER, May 1, 1984
have fought these battles based o n
the point that the video game
industry ha received a bad "rap"
from many so-called video game
expert around the nation. We have
also shown that our company could
offe r a clean family game room
environment through strict man-
ageme nt contro ls.
Your choice of a "devi l" being
observed by three you ng children on
the cover of your March 1 edition of
Play M et e1· can potentially nega te a
great deal of the positive public
relations work that we have under-
taken during the past five years. I do
not think th at your magazine really
wanted to portray a group of youth
smiling at and inter-reacting with
what most Americans have come to
know as a symbo l of the devi l or
satan. While this particular cover
h as great creative impact, I do
believe that you could have selected
numerous other creative subjects
relating to the video game industry
ro use in lieu of the statue image of
the devil portrayed on this parti-
Audio Visual
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7
cular cover photOgraph.
A great number of our game room
facilities are operated in what is
known as the "Bible Belt" of
America. Because of this , our opera-
tions have come under close scrutiny
by members of various church
groups. The last thing I would want
some of the opponents to game
rooms tO have in their hands is a
copy of your March 1 edition of Play
Meter magazine.
It is my firm belief that we as an
industry must continue to set our
own standards from within which
will radiate out co those people
throughout America whom we
appeal to as an entertainment alter-
native. I am sorry that this cover
seems tO be so callous and contrary
tO the true needs of most game room
operators in America today.
D avid R. Lloyd
Vice Chairman of the Board
Putt-Putt Golf Courses
of America, Inc.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Editor's N ot e: W e appreciate y our
comments. Mike Petroff, president
of Zany Animat ed Products, sub-
mitt ed th e March 1 cover. In
CALL TOLL FREE
800·227·5813
INCA 800·227·5814
OR 408·625·5333
8
response to your comments, he said
" W e have independently come to
th e same conclusion ." Petroff said
ZAP planned a wide variety of
characters, ranging from th e devilish
to th e angelic, but the devilish
character was completed first . To
av oid offending any one furth er,
Petroff said the character is being
changed.
Association
membership
I read the letter lamenting the
membership woes of the Washing-
ton Amusement and Music Opera-
tOrs Association (as presented by its
president, Bob Kline, in the March 1
issue p. 9) with great i merest. It is
unfortunate that only three opera-
tOrs showed up at the Seattle City
Council meeting last fall tO fight
their licensing problems .
Last year we had a similar pro-
blem in Philadelphia. The city was
attempting to impose a 10 percent
gross receipts tax on coin-operated
amusement machines. However, we
did defeat it because an extremely
large number of operatOrs turned
out in protest of the proposed
measure. We presented our position
through public testimony, quoting
facts and figures as they related to
the economic good that we provide
(e.g. employment, wage taxes , mer-
cantile taxes, etc. ) and the probable
disastrous repercussions of such a
new tax. I am convinced that this
was a classic example of strength in
numbers.
Mr. Kline is right ... membership
in an association is vital. We are now
on a massive membership recruit-
ment program in Pennsylvania
(PAMMA ). Our board of directOrs
has lost track of the miles we've
covered tO do this. One thing is cer-
tain ... the cost of belonging is only a
-fraction of what new taxes will cost
the operatOr who decided tO sit back
and "let the other guy do all the
work." When the ink at the bottom
line is red , it doesn't matter whether
the operatOr has 50 or 500 or 5,000
machines tO lose.
Sharon Harris
Public Relations
Stan Harris & Co., Inc.
Pennsylvania Amusement &
Music Machine Assoc. (PAMMA)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"Oua/ity is our
Family Tradition"
HOFFMAN (J HOFFMAN
CARMEL·BY·THE ·SEA CALIFORNIA 93921-0896
PLAY MITER. Ma y 1 , 19 84

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