Play Meter

THE LAST WORD sometimes you need reminding c Christopher Caire Features Editor PLAY METER over enough trade shows and you 're bound to become jaded. I mean, how can you maintain a high level of enthusiasm when repeatedly confronted with two-player, fighting shoot-'em-up games, with the alternating objectives of rescuing kidnapped princesses or blowing everything on a landscape all to hell. Of course, they're all "unique" and have "great graphics." But my jaundiced view was made clear when I saw the show through the eyes of people not in the industry. I suddenly remembered something that should've been obvious all along: this is the coin-op amusement industry, not the video game industry. That point was driven home in the last two hours of the show, when I toured the floor with my brother from California and his wife . I took them straight to the Midway booth , figuring, like most other people , they'd want to play Mortal Kombat II. They had absolutely no interest in it. Instead, they honed in on Bally's Judge Dredd pinball. They looked at it with amazement-- "Is this what pinballs look like these days?" asked my brother-with trepidation. 'Tm not sure what to do ," said my sister-in-law as she stepped up to the game. "Wing it," I advised. By the grace of God, she activated multi-ball. "Oh no , how do I handle this?" she shrieked. I smiled sadistically and said, "Hit and hope, darling." Folks, I wish I had a photograph of her expression. She was beaming from ear to ear as she frantically tried to control 216 those silver balls. "What are we going to try next?" she asked , racing down the aisle ahead of us. I suggested the virtual reality system at the Visions of Reality booth, thinking that since the show was winding down the long lines would be over . They weren't. "I don 't want to wait for this," said my brother. "Let's just walk around until I see something I like." Did we stop to play video games? Nope. He couldn't wait to shoot hoops at the Pop-A-Shot booth. Fancying himself a white Michael Jordan , he challenged me to a shoot-off. I summarily crushed him, which he couldn't accept. "I saw some other basketball games; I want revenge!" he snarled. We played Doyle 's dual-rim basketball game; sadly, he bit the dust for a second time . Being a masochist , he wanted to risk the hat trick, so I brought him to the National Sports Games booth. He loved the fact that the rims move forward and backward. "Great feature!" he yelled, heaving up brick after brick. Though the contest was initially close, my late barrage of three-pointers sealed his fate. "Uncle," he cried. "How about a game of Super Street Fighter II? " I asked, seeing one last time if video games were in their plans . "Maybe later; meet us at the Namco booth," they said . When I got there I expected to see them in one of Namco's big sit-down games. Wrong again. They were challenging each other to a game of skeet-shooting-and having a ball! "Well, Chris, we better run, " said my brother as he slid on his jacket. "It 's been a great time! We didn't know this industry had all these other kinds of games. You always said you worked for a video game magazine." I won't anymore. D DECEMBER 1993