Play Meter

Up Fro
Front
Up
nt
O D
Operators
talking
ors talking
at
er
Op
atiout t high
high price
prices s
abou
perators at at the
the AMOA
AMOA show
show generally
generally
perators
were in in good
good spirits
spirits and
and refreshingly
refreshingly
were
optimistic
about
their
futures
the
optimistic about their futures in in the
coin-op
entertainment
business.
They
coin-op entertainment business. They
seemed confident
confident in in their
their businesses
businesses and
and the
the industry.
industry.
seemed
But
very
few
of
the
operators
I
talked
with
did
But very few of the operators I talked with did
not
dwell
on
the
high
cost
of
equipment.
not dwell on the high cost of equipment.
When it it introduced
introduced Pole
Pole Position,
Position, Atari
Atari seemed
seemed to
to
When
open
the
door
for
kits
costing
more
than
$1,000,
and
open the door for kits costing more than $1,000, and
the company
company began
began a a revival
revival of
of dedicated
dedicated games
games with
with
the
the
success
of
Gauntlet.
Gauntlet
was
expensive,
much
the success of Gauntlet. Gauntlet was expensive, much
more than
than the
the kits
kits operators
operators had
had become
become accustomed
accustomed
more
to.
But
it
was
unique,
a
one-of-a-kind
game
to serve
serve
to. But it was unique, a one-of-a-kind game to
as
a
novelty
in
special
locations.
as a novelty in special locations.
Sega followed
followed suit
suit with
with its
its successful
successful Hang-On,
Hang-On,
Sega
which,
again,
was
an
expensive
novelty
video
designed
which, again, was an expensive novelty video designed
for
a
limited
market
of
special
locations.
for a limited market of special locations.
Not unexpectedly,
unexpectedly, the
the trend
trend didn't
didn't end
end with
with
Not
Hang-On.
The
AMOA
show
abounded
in
dedicated
Hang-On. The AMOA show abounded in dedicated
games, as
as manufacturers
manufacturers proclaimed
proclaimed their
their knowledge
knowledge
games,
of
what
operators
want.
And
they
may
have
read the
the
of what operators want. And they may have read
signals
correctly
each
time
an
operator
bought
one
of
signals correctly each time an operator bought one of
the
arcade/
novelty
games.
A
special
piece
obviously
the arcade/novelty games. A special piece obviously
was what
what was
was wanted.
wanted. But
But how
how many
many of of these
these
was
expensive
arcade
machines
are
too
many?
expensive arcade machines are too many?
Sega and
and Konami
Konami showed
showed two
two very
very expensive
expensive games
games
Sega
that,
after
arousing
everyone's
interest
at
the
Japanese
that, after arousing everyone's interest at the Japanese
show a a few
few weeks
weeks earlier,
earlier, became
became the
the talk
talk of
of the
the
show
AMOA.
But
one
of
the
things
most
talked
about
was
AMOA. But one of the things most talked about was
the
price
of
the
games.
Both
are
designed
to
look
the price of the games. Both are designed to look
like race
race cars,
cars, which
which prompted
prompted one
one operator
operator to to quip
quip
like
that
he
would
just
take
the
same
money,
buy
two
that he would just take the same money, buy two
Hyundais, and
and let
let the
the kids
kids drive
drive around
around in in a a real
real
Hyundais,
car.
car.
This line
line of
of thinking
thinking drove
drove home
home a a point
point at at the
the
This
show:
operators
are
not
about
to
get
back
into
debt.
show: operators are not about to get back into debt.
Many
are
just
now
seeing
black
ink
on
their
company
Many are just now seeing black ink on their company
books, and
and they
they intend
intend for
for it it to to stay
stay that
that way.
way. While
While
books,
it
is
certainly
true
that
new,
exciting
equipment
can
it is certainly true that new, exciting equipment can
boost
any
route,
and
distributors
are
wondering
why
boost any route, and distributors are wondering why
operators are
are still
still holding
holding back
back on
on buying
buying new
new games,
games,
operators
the prices
prices keep
keep rising.
rising.
the
Comments
from
distributors and
and manufacturers
manufacturers at
at
Comments from distributors
the
show
clearly
indicated
that
they
feel
operators
are
the show clearly indicated that they feel operators are
in
their
best
financial
position
in
years.
That
may
be
in their best financial position in years. That may be
true, but,
but, as as the
the operators
operators say,
say, they
they are
are planning
planning to to
true,
stay in that financial position. There were fewer
stay in that financial position. There were fewer
reasonably priced
priced conversions
conversions shown
shown than
than usual,
usual, but
but
reasonably
those
that
were
got
a
lot
of
attention.
those that were got a lot of attention.
I'm not
not criticizing
criticizing manufacturers
manufacturers for
for introducing
introducing
I'm
new
product.
It's
wonderful
to
see
new
product with
with
new product. It's wonderful to see new product
new
technology
taking
its
place
in
the
industry.
But
new technology taking its place in the industry. But I I
think manufacturers
manufacturers should
should be
be fanatical
fanatical about
about pricing
pricing
think
games
within
operators'
range.
games within operators' range.
As manufacturers
manufacturers and
and operators
operators have
have vowed
vowed to
to
As
increase
communication
and
cooperation
in
the
increase communication and cooperation in the
industry, and
and this
this subject
subject is is heavy
heavy on
on everyone's
everyone's mind
mind
industry,
right
now,
we
would
like
to
hear
from
operators
and
right now, we would like to hear from operators and
manufacturers
on
the
subject.
The
topic
would
be
manufacturers on the subject. The topic would be
perfect for
for the
the page
page Play
Play Meter
Meter has
has committed
committed each
each
perfect
month,
at
the
request
of
operators
at
the
AMOA's
month, at the request of operators at the AMOA's
"Press Speaks"
Speaks" seminar,
seminar, to to allow
allow operators
operators to to voice
voice
"Press
their
opinions.
their opinions.
Too often
often operators
operators feel
feel bitter
bitter about
about something
something
Too
but
keep
it
to
themselves.
This
forum
will
be for
for you
you
but keep it to themselves. This forum will be
operators
and
for
replies.
The
operator
who
suggested
operators and for replies. The operator who suggested
felt strongly
strongly that
that operators
operators would
would take
take advantage
advantage of
of
it it felt
the
chance
to
sound
off;
don't
disappoint
him
or
the chance to sound off; don't disappoint him or
your industry.
industry. If If you
you have
have something
something on
on your
your mind,
mind,
your
sit
down
and
put
it
on
paper,
or
even
send
us
sit down and put it on paper, or even send us a a
tape.
tape.
We're waiting
waiting to
to hear
hear from
from you.
you.
We're
'(/~
~ enic
dJ h
Valer
ie
Cogn
Valerie Cognevich
Cognevich
~
Valerie
Advertising Director/Executive
Director / Executive Assistant
Assistant
Advertising
November 1986/PLAY
1986/ PLAY METER
METER 5 5
November