Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1988-August - Vol 10 Issue 6

SWITCH LOCATION
Power switch: Which "standard location"
were you referring to? Top - like Bally; Back
- like Atari; Front - like Taito, or something
different?
MONITOR TILT
You didn't mention this at all. What angle
would you prefer? Most players, that I spoke
to, like the Williams Defender design most
and the Bally Midway Pac-Man "Head-in-
the-cave" design least of all!
.
CABINET FINISH
We can finish the box with any available
finish including a custom finish under de-
velopment (harder and glossier than Atari
ever dreamed of) or anything else -includ-
ng sealed screen printing for those special
locations!
Custom designs are available as well as
duplication of popular designs or repair of
current equipment. I am new to building
cabinets for games because of cost or con-
venience, had always used existing cabinets
for conversion. But now that I have an expert
source·forwoodworking, I feel many vendors
will benefit from the availability of a first
quality generic cabinet at a price less than
that of the "Big Boys".
From: Evan Wessel
To:
Mike Cowen
Here are some more thoughts about our
cabinet design. Even if you don't actually
build them, we may give the manufacturers
some feedback.
DESIGN EXAMPLES
For simple design in a compact cabinet, see
Atari's Rolling Thunder. Pure efficiency and
almost perfect. I also like the appearance of
Data East videos and Konami's Contra keep-
ing my other fine points in mind.
SWITCH PREFERENCE
I prefer the power switch in the top front
right of the cabinet but I'm not sure if that's
everyone's favored location. Please use a 6
amp (at 120 Volt) on/off switch. I'm tired of
replacing underrated power switches.
OPTIMUM MONITOR TILT
Monitor tilt should be optimized for glare
reduction, but some Bally games with nearly
upside down picture tubes may have had
reduced life. I heard that burned phosphor
fell into the picture tube necks and caused
problems.
CUSTOM FINISH
I like formic a finishes, but it's difficult to
repair chips and gouges or to repaint. A
super hard red or blue finish would be nice.
Try to match a Krylon spraypaint color and
touch-up will be easy. How about the opera-
tor or arcade name screened on the sides?
Not too good for resale, but think of the
advertising potential!
Hey, why not sell the cabinet as a kit?
Shipping would be a snap and we've all put
bookcases together, haven't we?
(For more information on this subject, see "AMOA In-
dustry Standardization" on page 76 in this issue.)
Murphy's Law# 106
Marquees/Sega Update/Capco111 Bowling 9
Frank 'The Crank" Seninsky
Alpha-Omega Amusements & Sales
Edison, New Jersey
SAVE ON MARQUEES
It is very upsetting to an operator when a
video game top marquee panel is either
broken or stolen. These little babies often
cost more than $30 each or they are no
longer available for older games. How many
times have you had no choice but to cut a
piece of colored plexi-glass and tell the loca-
tion that the real marquee is "on order"?
Then you see the game two years later and it
still has the same "temporary" colored plexi-
glass!
I have come across a great solution to the
replacement marquee problem: a generic
marquee made of styrene and with stick-on
letters that costs only $6.50. They are avail-
able fromDrycal, Inc., 14511 Saranac Road,
Cleveland, OH 44110 (216) 541-0225. Ask
for Margus Sweigard. You can put the name
of the game on the marquee and it looks
great. None of our games will ever have a
blank marquee again.
Drycal, Inc. also sells three-color generic
side decals in the same colors as the mar-
quee and control panel overlays (Sunrise or
Pyramid/Diamond). A special high tack
adhesive is used on the side decals. We are
using all of their products and our games are
earning more money.
SEGA UPDATE
I was called by the chief engineer at Sega who
politely informed me that Sega DOES NOT
have 50 cent initial play with 25 cent ex-
tended play chips for After Burner and that
my information stating that they did in
STAR*TECH Journal was incorrect. I am
truly sorry about my error. My sources can
sometimes be a bit over zealous. Sega will
most likely put their new driving game, Hot
Rod, out on 50 cent initial play with 25 cent
buy-in continuation option. I applaud Sega
for taking this much needed step and hope
that this option becomes one of the "stan-
dards" for the AMOA Industry Standardiza-
tion Committee. Thank you Sega and Presi-
dent, Tom Petit.
CAPCOM BOWLING
I was very impressed with Capcom Bowling
as a video game for street locations, espe-
cially bowling alleys. Don't take this to mean
that kids won't like it because they certainly
do. It's easily the best bowling video that I've
seen.
What makes this game unique are the opera- -
tor adjustments and the 54 different sounds -
and graphics. The strike difficulty settings
run from 0-9. The track ball has four sensi-
tivity settings. There are three different
graphics options depending on the type of
location: Coors Light Beer, Risque and Nor-
mal. Every time you get a strike or make a
spare, you are awarded with a complimen-
tary sound and cute graphic display; if you
miss a shot ... well, you'll hear about it!
Capcom Bowling comes as a kit and as a
dedicated game. I noted that the track ball is
larger on the dedicated game, which in my
opinion makes the game play slightly better.
I'm very happy that Capcom is offering the
operators the choice (kit or dedicated) but do
wish that the kit version could be made with
the same size ball. Other than that, this
game is high on my recommended list.
Thank you Bill Cravens for listening to op- •
erators and improving this model from what
it was at the ACME Show. It looked "promis-
ing" then, but it looks great now!

Download Page 7: PDF File | Image

Download Page 8 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.