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UP FRONT
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§A NEW EQUIPMENT POLL FORMAT §
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With this issue, we have changed the industry's
B regular equipment poll, "National Play Meter," to give
0 our operator/ subscribers better information when
B making decisions about their new equipment purchases.
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In the past, games in this industry were ranked according
o to their different classifications-that is, separate cate·
gories for pinballs, dedicated videos, conversion kits,
0 laser disc games, and novelty devices. But this created
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o the problem of leaving operators with the impossible task
of comparing apples to oranges since such polls did not
o reflect how the top games in one classification stacked
up against the top games in another classification.
o
Therefore, the new "National Play Meter" will rank
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o the top 50 games, regardless of their equipment classifi-
cation. The games' equipment classification is noted only
0 on a checklist next to each entry; so operators can see
§ what types of games are earning at the top of each poll.
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We have also changed our polling method. In the
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o past, Play Meter polled the same group of subscribers
§ over and over again. This approach, however, is not as
o representative of the industry as a whole as the new
§ approach we are now instituting. Over the course of the
o next several months, every operator/ subscriber of Play
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0 Meter will be asked to fill out an equipment evaluation
survey and return it to Play Meter for ranking purposes.
o Twice each month a different scientifically selected
§ survey group will be mailed the survey.
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The average operator/ subscriber will probably be
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asked
to respond to, at most, four such regular surveys
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§ over the course of the year (actually, it will probably be
o closer to two). In this way, we believe the new "National
§ Play Meter" will be more reflective of the entire coin-
0 operated amusement industry and not just a select
§ number of operators who just so happen to respond to all
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the surveys. Such a polling procedure may create some
significant fluctuations from poll to poll; but the findings
will more accurately represent the whole coin-op equip-
ment field .
Now, for what has not changed in the "National Play
Meter." The ratings are still based on the only concrete
way to evaluate games-what they generate in the
cashbox. A survey which has operators rate game
earnings as "excellent," "very good," "good," "fair ,"
"poor," and so on, is unreliable because it multiplies a
subjective factor by the number of people responding to
the poll. After all , what is excellent for one operator may
be merely good for another. So Play Meter will continue
to ask operators to rate the games according to their
actual cashbox collections. Play Meter then will translate
this average into an index which allows a relative ranking
of all equipment. As each survey is compiled, we plan on
extending each game's index rating so you can tell trends
about which games are fading and which are still holding
their own after weeks on location. In this way, operators
will be better served by the new "National Play Meter"
and in a better position to make educated decisions
about new equipment .
Finally, we thank you for your continued support of
Play Meter and ask for your assistance whenever you are
sent a Play Meter equipment survey form . For only with
your input can we make the magazine as useful a tool as
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you wan9i
to be .
~
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-0 D
Ct--1,;-(_cl
;·~B
David Pierson
Editor
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PLAY METER. June 1. 1985