Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1988-June - Vol 10 Issue 4

(
June 1988
Co1n1nentary:
Ga1ne Difficulty
)
STAR*TECH Journal
13
DEALERS WANTED!
FOR THE NEW
DIGITR0NICS 7000
Evan Wessel
Mercury Amusement Co,
Havertown, Pennsylvania
I hope manufacturers will eventually do two
things in the future to increase our earnings:
1) Increase play difficulty according to the
player's skill level.
2) Programmed incentive for continued play.
30 MINUTE PLAYERS
Players are now getting good enough at
Double Dragon to complete the entire game
with one or 2 coins, even at maximum diffi-
culty settings! The hardest setting is too fast
for beginners and too easy for experts. I wish
the game would be smart enough to "skill-
sense" (Atari trademark?) and adjust to
these 30 minute players.
e
CONTINUED PLAY
I am also surprised to see the vast majority
of players starting games like Guerilla War
and Shinobifrom the beginning, rather than
continuing their games. (Of course, a game
that has been continued at a higher level will
be more difficult and take more coins to
play.) Games such as Champion Sprint, that
let players retain their hard-earned bonuses
do get continued play.
9
FUTURE?
A little more attention to these play points
will increase game longevity and of course
earnings. Atari seems to be one of the few
manufacturers that have succeeded here in
the past. What about the future?
***
THE SMART PHONE MADE SMARTER
IN THE FRIENDLY WESTERN CASE
Featuring
• True Bell Rates
• Weather Resistant
Gold Contacts
• 30° Circuit Board Flex
to Prevent Warp
• AOS Chips Now
Available
• Key Pad Programmed
• Phones and Parts
Priced to Please
• One-year Warranty
• Fast and Efficient
Customer Services
D
I
DIGITRONICS MARKETING CO.
3603 Clearview Place
Atlantic, GA 30340 • 800-225-9331
PAY PHONE VENDING IS BETTER THAN EVER!!!
ALUM I-LINK*
ALUMILINK - A direct factory replacement part (MADE IN
AMERICA), for all System 9 and System 11 Williams' (c) pinball
machines, AND the new Data-East (c) pins.
ALUMILINK is manufactured from HIGH TENSILE AIRCRAFT
ALLOY. ALUMILINK will not fracture or elongate as plastic or
fiber links have. EACH ALUMILINK WILL SAVE UNTOLD TIME
$$$ LABOR--SERVICECALLS--THROUGH -OUTTHE LIFE OF
YOUR Pl N, GUARANTEED. Thousands now in use across North
America
and
Australia.
Detailed
installation
instructions enclosed with shipment.
THE ANSWER

.
~
~
QUANTITY
10
25
50
250
PRICE/EACH
$3.50
$3.25
$3.00
$2.15
$$ SAVE TIME/LABOR$$
INSTALL AMUMILINK:
ALUMILINK DIST. CO.
1022 Key Colony Drive
Garland,Texas75043
(214) 270-0448
ALL ORDERS C.O.D. Add $2.50 Sh ip-
ping. Outside U.S.A. Add $ 10. Foreig n
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Ord ers Payable in U.S. Dollars.
ALUM I LINK
*
GUARANTEED FOR FIVE YEARS.
June 1988
14
)
Industry Standardization Ideas:
Frank Seninsky
Alpha-Omega Amusements & Sales
Edison, New Jersey
STANDARDIZATION
There are two new standards that I would
like to see game manufacturers adopt that
would make life better for us operators:
problems. Why haven't these Roms been
made available to operators?
FEEDBACK NEEDED
1. The AMOA standardization committee
(chaired by Craig Johnson) recently met in
Reno and approved the use of the standard
JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machine
Manufacturer Association) edge connector
configuration, but also, one where the wire
colors are all to be identical and in the same
order among the various manufacturers.
2. That all manufacturers have price setting
capabilities for an initial game of 50 cents
with additional buy-ins (continuations) set
for 25 cents. The operator could also set the
number of buy-ins before a game would end
and it would take 50 cents to start up again.
With these options, more games could stay
on 50 cents initial play.
SECRET ROMS
I'm told that Sega has chips available for
After Burner and I would like to know why
they haven't been made available to opera-
tors. I sure could use them ...
I would like the readers of STAR*TECH
Joumat who know the value of game stan-
dardization, to jot down a standard that they
feel would save time and money. Send the
Hantarex PCB
Screening Error
James Beck
Greater Southern Dist. Co.
Atlanta, Georgia
PROBLEM
Some Hantarex monitors have the parts silk
screen, on the PC board, reversed for C25.
The"+" marking is incorrect. If the part was
ever replaced, it was probably put in back-
wards. Some even came from the factory
reversed.
SYMPTOMS
On this subject, Todd Erickson informed me
that Atari has had Roms for Tempest that
eliminate the monitor screen graphic explo-
sions in the attract mode. It is these unnec-
essary explosions that causes the tremen-
dous current surge through the monitor
deflection drive transistors (which is the
main failure item). With these new Roms,
Tempest (which is still a good earner) could
be kept working with little or no service
The symptoms of a failed C25 are: A jitter in
the raster, like horizontal noise, and possi-
bly what looks like a change in the verticle
frequency, or a verticle jump.
SOLUTION
Check the schematic when replacing this •
capacitor. The"-" terminal should go to the
center leg of IC 1, a 7905 regulator. C25 is a
47uf@ 16V.

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