Play Meter

The Charilp available as a kit Due to unforeseen circumstances, Capcom has made the decision to offer its popular Street Fighter II: Champion Edition as a conversion kit . While Capcom's original intention was to offer it only as a dedicated game, the copies and parallels were making it difficult for both operators and distributors . No one predicted how popular the game would be and how fast copiers would turn out their inferior wares. According to vice president Jeff Walker, "Capcom's original position was to offer it only as dedicated. However, very few of us anticipated the overwhelming performance and demand for the game after having shipped over 20,000 Street Fighter Ils last year. "The entire series has impacted the market in a way that has not been experienced in the past several years. Therefore, after numerous calls from our distributors, we feel obligated to provide a factory-authorized kit to operators who would prefer to purchase the game in that form." Salesman Brian Duke explained that the mar- ket was being bombarded with parallels and copies that were causing distributors and operators problems . "These games have no warranty , yet operators expect their distributors to fix them. The sad part is that the parallels are not much cheaper than we will be selling the authorized version." We mentioned that manufacturers have in the past promised only the dedicated version , then proceeded to offer a kit a short time later. We asked Duke why this was different. He said, "When that happened before, it was usually because a company bought too many of an a verage or below-average game and couldn't sell them. We certainly didn't have that problem. Our motive in offering Champion Edition as a kit comes from our distributors who requested it. If I thought Capcom was doing something underhanded, I think I would have to hand in my resignation. But I know that this is the right thing to do. I'm just sorry that there are those who think we are doing something wrong." Barnes joins Pioneer Maggi Coniature buys Maggi Coin Bud Barnes has joined Pioneer Laser Entertainment as director of marketing. He replaces Steve Rogers, who left the company to pursue his own business interests. Barnes worked with Pioneer when he was vice president of DCA Inc. from 1988 to 1991 . He supervised the Pioneer account and helped introduce the karaoke line into the U.S. market. Maggi Coniature in Milano, Italy, a major creditor whose principals were former partners of Maggi Coin Ltd. , has bought the assets and goodwill of that company from the receiver called in by the Maggi family when financial problems could not be solved. The Maggis tried to resolve the company's difficulties by supplying substantial stocks on an PLAY METER 12 Bud Sames AUGUST 1992 extended credit and offering to buy the controlling interests from their former partners. Maggi products will be sold through a new company being formed, headed up by Douglas Bartys (formerly of Bell Fruit Services) as managing director, Aldo Maggi as chairman, Bianca Biagioni as financial director, and Elio Barattieri as commercial director.