FROM THE EDITOR
Coin-op not about to
give up the ghost
I
recently had the honor of speaking
at the Wiscons in and Minnesota
operators fall conference. It was the first
time the two associations had combined
their fall meetings, and it was a tremen-
dous s uccess with a r espectable
attendance.
Joe Phillips , the executive director of
WAMO , had asked me to speak about
the future of the industry and where it is
heading. While it may seem a s imple
task , as I pondered ou r fate, it proved to
be somewhat difficult. But the more I
thought about it , the more I realized that
since the industry began, so-called in-
dustry experts have tried to predict the
path the industry was headed. Even if
they were right on the mark, disbelief
abounded. Just as it isn't easy now , it
wasn' t that easy then either.
I remember very well attending a
seminar given by Hanson Distributing's
Ray Hibarger. It was back in the early
'80s, w hen the industry was at its peak.
Ray warned operators that what goes up
must come down and they should be
prepared for it. His predictions were
amazingly accu rate in reflection , but at
the time it seemed impossible that things
would not continue to grow and prosper.
I also recall a speech by Sega's Dave
Rosen around the same time. He claim-
ed that in the not-so-distant future, at
least 65 percent of the video games sold
would be kits. Those listening to him had
to gasp because what he was saying
10 PLAY METER/October 1989
seemed so remote from reality that very
few foresaw it as being possible.
And yet, here it is a good many years
in the fu ture, and both predictions hit
home with precise accuracy. I think
Rosen might have been a little low in his
estimate of the percentage of kits. When
laser video games were touted as the next
level for the industry , there were those
who saw past the hype and figured that
laser was not goi ng to be a salvation.
They were certainly right.
It truly is impossible to give a crystal
ball prediction about the future , but cir-
cu ms ta nces, tech no logy, attitudes,
public acceptance, and competitio n all
figure into the final outcome.
Right now o ur industry is competing
with some very stro ng forms of enter-
tainment. The movie industry tends to
drop into a rut of rehashed movies until
surprisingly a movie comes along that
stimulates the pay ing public's interest
aga in . There are some fantastic movies
out right now. I was talking with Pat
W a lton of Capcom and we both
discovered that though we are not movie
buffs, we have been to the show several
times lately because the movies are so
good.
Public attitudes abo ut the industry are
coming around but we seem to have a
perception mo nkey on ou r backs that is
hard to shake . But video games have
become commonplace in the home, and
parents arcn 't as intimidated by them in
arcades or street locations anymore .
I am confident enough to know that
this industry will not fade from ex-
istence. After we run through the gamut
of analogous games, something will
emerge that will whet game players' ap-
petites once again.
At the Discovery Place Museum in
Charlotte, I was treated to a laser ''pin-
ball " machine. It was so much fun, it
was hard to walk away. The player tried
to aim a laser beam , with the help of
prisms and mirrors, at bumpers at each
end of the game while avoiding the one
in the middle. It was challenging. I
wondered if we would see something
like that in coin-op one day and deducted
that we probably will , if not something
even more appealing.
That 's just how this industry is. It
stagnates to a certain point and then
so me how, so mewhere , something
comes along that brings us out of the
doldrums. It has always happened before
and I know it will soon. We need it. 0
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Valerie Cognevich
Editor