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f ROM THE EDITOR A hot commodity "It used to be one of the hottest commodities in town, but changing times have melted the demand.'' T hus began an article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper. Read it again and you can envision the quote applying to a variety of businesses-even ours. However, this particular article was centered around something that we all take for granted-ice. A short 60 years ago, before electric refrigerators or modern air conditioning, ice was exactly as described, a hot commodity. Literally everyone needed it and wanted it. The iceman must have been one of the most popular figures in town as he drove his horse-drawn cart from door to door , sharing the cool luxury or perhaps we should say ''necessity .'' In New Orleans alone from the 1930s until World War II, there were over 20 ice companies operating to fill the demand . Not only were the ice companies running successful operations but enabling peddlers to pick up ice to re-sell in order to make a living. I wonder if housewives ever dreamed of having an electric "icebox. " Most likely they sought to improve the machines they had, perhaps the coveted less-drip model, one with a prettier exterior, or even one with a bigger space for the ice chunk. But the concept evolved much farther , into spacious electric refrigerators with machines inside to make their own ice cubes. How we take those for granted. The coin-op industry hasn't evolved all that differently. We've seen concepts evolve and improvements made on what we've had to work with. We saw that with pinball machines, from the antique ones PLAYMETER 10 JULY 1991 with marbles up to modern , multi-level , multi-ball wonders. Video games have evolved from Pong to the 32-bit Rad Mobile . Color's been added, the capabilities have expanded considerably, and play has been detailed. There's been a wide-open market for the entertainment the coin-op industry provides . Coin-operated amusement machine operators were a hot commodity in the late '70sandearly '80s. ltseemed there just wasn't enough equipment to be bought. The operator ranks swelled to 12,000 from an average of 5 ,000. The number oflocations grew nearly as fast as the number of operators servicing them. These locations were begging for the latest games. Think of other industries that had their day before fading slowly away. Were there people making a good living producing the cards that explained the story in silent movies? How about blacksmiths, who were vital during the days before cars? I'm sure everyone can think of several more. The coin-op entertainment industry is facing a situation that could possibly change it more than anything has in the past. Video lottery is on the list of possibilities in more than a few states, but I'm not going into any details; our managing editor, Bonnie Theard, has done a commendable job of that. But the fact is that whether operators are for or against won't really matter if the machines are legalized. Every operator in the state will be affected one way or the other. No operator will be able to go about his business as if nothing has happened. Locations that were happy with amusement games are not likely to pass up a money-making poker game instead, even if it's offered by another operator. And location contracts may not even apply to video poker games. On top of all that, it won't be that easy to come up with the capital needed to buy the machines in quantity unless you are prepared. But the most worrisome thing I see is the complacency of some operators. To all of you who have put time and effort into studying this issue, congratulations on your forethought . I'm not talking about you . No, I'm talking to those who don't think it will affect them and have made no effort to find out what's going on. As I mentioned, Bonnie has been doing a thorough job keeping up with all the latest developments, talking with those who are involved, and sifting through the tons of information to give an update in her " Video Gaming Outlook." Although she regularly shares her information with me , I have to admit that I don ' t know a fraction of what there really is to know . I have learned enough to know that I would be trying to find out all I could ifl was an operator. I would certainly join AMOA if I wasn't already a member. Operators supplying amusement games may have been a hot commodity, but they could be out of business without much notice. D ~&f'L~dJ Valerie Cognevich Editor