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COALITION ON VIOLENCE MEETS AT CES A recently formed coalit~on of consumer and coin-op industry members met durmg the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month to discuss what to do about violence in video games. Representing the coin-op industry ~ere AMOA board members Randy Chilton and Frank Semnsky; AMOA government relations manager Laura Olson; and AAMA associate director Elaine Krieger. Also present were members of the Video Software Dealers Association, the Software Publishers Association and a staffer from Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman's ~ffice. ''We went in not knowing what to expect,'' Chilton told Play Meter. "We wondered, 'What's up? ' Well, what's up is this: the games are absolutely going to be rated whether volun~ril)'. or inv?lun~rily. '.J'~e consumer market makes up the big picture m this coaht10n. It was pretty humbling to look around the room and see the heavyweights from Nintendo, Sega, and about 50 other people, and then realize that two people-Frank and I-were there to talk about coin-op. The SPA, by consensus, will organize the coalition, but they very much want our support. We'll be right in the middle of it." On Feb. 8 the AMOA representatives will meet with an AAM~ committee th~t in.eludes Williams Bally/Midway's Joe Dillon and Stratas Richard Ditton to coordinate a unified coin-9p position on the violence issue. Though on one hand the mdustry needs to have a voice in the coalition might it not also be a good idea to keep a distance from th~ consumer side and its problems? '.'Sen .. Lieberman's ~taffer speci~ically referred to the ~~i,n-OJ? mdus~ry ~s bemg part of this ; there's no escaping it, Chilton said. I guess we could attack this thing on our own and get away from the consumer side, but that wouldn't be my personal recommendation. I would rather see all of the coal~tion ~embers g~t together, agree on something we can all hve with, present it at a Senate hearing and put this whole issue behind us.'' ' ~e believes that a rating system could work for both the com-op and consumer industries. " Not only could it work but in fact I think it's the right thing to do" Chilton said' "But it has to be an informational rating ~ystem like th~ m9vie industry has. You can't lock a 13-year-old boy up for gomg to an R-rated movie; it's not against the law. 'We also have to avoid age-controlled environments. Say ~ havetopu~a signonM?rtalKombatthatreads, 'This game is rated 17; it may contam scenes of violence and/or sex that ~ay be unsui~ble for players under the age of 17.' That's fme. Just don t make me put all my 17-rated games in a separate room and check IDs, and then, if the duties are neg~ecte~, the proprietor poes to jail. We can't let these types of situat10~s occur. Thats n?t what lawmakers are asking for, but unmformed people, if left uninformed make decisions like that." ' In related news, Sega has withdrawn the current CD version of the controversial game Night Trap for re-editing. The company says the new version will be released only after and industry-wide rating system is in place. JUKEBOX LICENSE FEES DUE Melonie Krisza, manager of the Jukebox License Office wanted to remind jukebox operators of the license fee struc~ ture for calendar year 1994. It's $287 for the first jukebox · $54 ~ach for jukeboxes two through 10 ; and $46 each for ev~ ery Jukebox thereafter. The JLO must receive the money by March 15. Beyond that date operators will be assessed a 1-1/2 percent finance charge per month. For more information, contact the JLO, 1740 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York City, NY 10019. The toll-free number is (800) 955-5853. DATA EAST USA CONSOLIDATES Data East USA announced on Jan. 13 that it will be con~olidati~g.some of its operations in the Chicago area, where its subsidiary, Data East Pinball, is located. NEWS BU.LLETIN Included in t~e move will be the coin-op sales, service, and parts func~10ns. The consumer business operations and some of the com-op market research functions will remain in California. The consolidation process will take place over many months. FOROUE JOINS ARACHNID Arachnid Inc. has expanded its sales force to the West Coast, naming Lamar Forque sales manager for the area. Forque, fl 22-year coin-?P veteran who worked most recently for Merit, will be stationed near Seattle. One of his duties will be to increase sales of Arachnid's Galaxy dart game. Forque's office phone is (206) 235-5200. GLASCO EXPANDS DISTRIBUTOR NETWORK Glasco, which formally debuted a new line of vending equipment at last fall's NAMA show has added three distribut?rs ~o its exclusive network. Th~ additions give Glasco a distributor network of 26 offices in the United States South and Central America, and Puerto Rico. ' Mountain Coin has added the Glasco line to its Denver Salt Lake City, and Albuquerque offices· the line is no~ represented in all five of the Mountain Coin' branches. Three new companies were appointed in California. A-1 Distributing in Sacramento will serve the Northern California market. David's Vending in B':ll'bank will distribute in the greater Los Angeles area, while Hoffman Sales and Service in Chula Vista will handle distribution in and around San Diego. For more information, contact Glasco at (314) 298-3510. CRAVENS ELECTED AAMA VP Bill Cravens, president of Bulldog/ Leprechaun Amusements in Redmond, Wash., has been elected AAMA vice president, following the resignation of Rus Strahan. Cravens has been actively involved in a number of activiti~s since becoi:ning a board member in 1987, including work with the American Amusement Machine Charitable Foundation and the Joint Venture/ACME Committee. He was also the recipient of the Joe Robbins Award in 1987. Jerry Gordon, senior vice president of Rowe, was named to the AA~A board to fill the position vacated by Cravens' move ~o v~ce president. .Gordo!! has a long history in the coin machme mdustry and is lookmg forward to working on the board. CHICAGO LOCK, CAMLOCK FORCE ALLIANCE Chicago Lock Co. and CamLock Systems have formed a co-distributorship agreement to market each other's pro~ucts worldwide. The agreement was announced by Dale PadJen, sales/general manager of Chicago Lock who has rejoined the company from CamLock. ' "This will be an outstanding alliance of two quality product lines that complement each other'' he said. ''With o~ new ~ssociation, Chicago Lock product's will now be distributed m Europe. CamLock products will be distributed in North America." VL T AND EDS FORM PARTNERSHIP Video Lottery Technologies, parent company of Video Lottery Consultants and Automated Wagering International, and Electromc Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors, have agreed to a 10-year partnership that ~ill in effect accelerate and expand VLT's systems services and research and development efforts in the entertainment/gaming industry. Separately, EDS will take a minority equity position in VLT. EDS and VLT will c~llaborate on a wide range of product development a.nd service enhancement projects, including VLT's M~ste~lmk Advanced Gaming System, which is currently bemg implemented for the Atlantic Lottery Corp. in four eastern Canadian provinces and was recently selected by the Delaware state lottery to operate its on-line system. '