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10
as conversion kits for older games.
Actually, kits now account for the
bulk of operator purchases. According
to Tony Moore of State Amusement
Company in Roanoke, Virginia,
"Though I haven't really bought more
dedicated games than I did last year, I
have definitely bought more conver-
sion kits. I have been converting a lot
of my games to trivia because trivia
games are hot right now."
Cates added, "The collections we
have right now don't warrant buying
anything but kits."
Jacobson of Amusement Devices
in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, summed it
up, "Manufacturers are finally making
some good kits."
Manufacturers offered a variety of
conversion kits. Atari offered Empire
Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
conversions for Star Wars. Bally intro-
duced Flicky and S. W.A. Tfor its Six
Pac series, and Galaga 3 as a conver-
sion for any video game .
Exidy offered a graphically supe-
rior conversion for Crossbow called
Cheyenne.
Kitkorp introduced its hit Crown's
Golf as a kit. A St. Louis operator
epitomized operators' reluctance to
purchase even the best games if every-
thing isn't just right when he noted at a
distributor showing last year that
Crown's Golf ~as the best game out,
but he wouldn't buy it since it wasn't a
conversion. ·And Kitkorp showed the
willingness of manufacturers to give
operators what they want by intro-
ducing the Crown's Golf kit.
Konami introduced several kits
including Road Fighter, Super Basket-
ball, and Yie Ar Kung Fu, the latter
two being popular sports themes .
Other companies offering kits
include Magic Electronics with Bull-
seye Darts, Samurai, and 8-Ball
Action, all based on popular themes;
Cardinal Amusements, (which was
overwhelmed at the response it
received at the AOE show on kits
Street Heat, Drakton, and Beastie
Feastie); Crown Vending, with Hero
in the Castle of Doom; Memetron, a
newcomer in the kit field with Atomic
Conversions
Boy, Attack of the Savage Bees, and
Another example of the newfound 10- Yard Fight '85; Monroe, with an
interest in catering to the operator in update for its Birdie King; Nichibutsu,
this buyers' market is the amount of with Magmax and Roller Jammer;
product manufacturers are intro- Progessive Game Distributors, with
ducing not even as systems but simply Complex X and Trivia Master;
System. New kits include Duck Hunt,
Excitebike, Hogan's Alley, Ice Clim-
ber, Pinball and Golf.
Atari introduced two systems, each
with an outstanding game. Marble
Madness leads off System I and
Paperboy, System II. Although the
quality of the games is strong, price
appears to have created some resis-
tance to the Atari systems. And that
again has reaffirmed the buyers
stranglehold on : the market-that
operators, who once couldn't pass on a
solid piece are willing to pass now if
everything isn't just right.
Said Mason, "Operators can buy
some of the new equipment at reason-
able prices but some will have to lower
prices." James Cates of Albany
Amusement in Albany, Georgia,
echoed Mason's comments, "Prices
have been escalated for a long time.
Price is one of my prime considera-
tions when deciding on what to buy.
The closeout prices of games taught us
what they could really sell a game for."
Cinematronics' Cinemat System
was introduced with Cerberus but the
second offering, Mayhem 2000, has
received encouraging reviews and may
be the game that assures the success of
the Cinemat system.
Konami premiered its Bubble
System at the ASI show in early
March but to date it has announced no
plans for the release of games.
Bally Sente with its SAC-I System,
has introduced Chicken Shift, Goalie
Ghost, Off the Wall, Hat Trick,
Stocker, and Snacks n' Jaxson. But
the SAC-I premier game appears to be
Trivial Pursuit, based on the board
game. It's an attempt at mixing trivia
games with the system format which
operators are looking for, again
showing a newfound consciousness on
the part of factories to make what
operators want.
This attempt to make new equip-
ment purchasing as palatable and
painless as possible is a big change
from the video boom years when
manufacturers dictated price, format,
and availability to operators.
PLAY METER. June 1. 1985