ACME '90 New Gantes In Review
A few Industry Operators who attended the
American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) held
mid-March in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency
downtown, share their opinions on the more
interesting new product shown there.
Acme '90 Most Creative Games on the Hyatt
Exhibit floor: (And they're both from the USA!)
Trog by Bally-Midway. This dedicated, narrow,
4-player cartoon takes Gumby-style clay-ani-
mated, cute, dinosaur characters and turns
them loose on a prehistoric grid. Your joystick
and button can place bones into your critter's
waddling path to save him from trouble or
detour him to collect his eggs for points.
Phantom of the Opera by Data East. This pinball
is phenomenal. The amount of different types of
shots, the music and speech make it the best
game to come out for quite some time. "Magic
Mirror", "The Organ", and an outrageous ramp
shot are combined into a package like I've never
played before. I even saw some guys from Wil-
liams drooling over this one! Get 'em quick,
because I think they might short-run this one!
Brian Schorr, Land of Oz, Stockton, CA.
Well, what were the best games shown at
ACME? My picks are# 1: D.J. Boy from American
Sammy, #2: Final Fight by Capcom, #3: Snow
Brothers by Roms tar. #4 Buster Brothers by
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The squabbling between the dinosaurs, the evil
caveman who will eat them, the fall-off-the-edge
effect, and the tumbling into the open pit car-
toon effect are all outstanding, not to mention
the victorious dance if you clear the board of
eggs and collect the bonus. Strong kid and
female appeal will add a wider player base to this
clever merger of strategy and cartoon cuteness.
Bill Johnston, Johnston's General Store, Buffalo,
NY.
Slick Shot by Grand Products. I'm hoping for a
strong tavern piece in this creatively merged
pool table/video game. With software from In-
credible (Capcom Bowling) Technologies. a cue
ball, two 4-foot cue sticks, and a 25" Wells-
Gardner monitor, up to four alternating players
can shoot a cue ball with a cue stick and see
their shot on the video monitor. Bill Johnston,
Johnston's General Store, Buffalo, NY.
Capcom and #5: Blooxeed by Sega (this kit is a
good bar piece and priced right).
I called my distributor about D. J. Boy on Mon-
day after the show to order 5, and he called back
to say that American Sammy is going up $100 on
all new orders. Well, I guess they know that they
have a winner! James Overman, Game Master
Amusement, Greenwelt LA.
Meanwhile, my advice of caution in this buying
season stands: Buy no game before its (chart)
time! You pick the minimum number of chart
months in the top ten that are required before
you part with your cash. Only in the proven
presence of strong month-after-month on-chart
performance can the cautious small route op-
erator safely make a purchase in the current
market. BillJohnston, Johnston's General Store,
Buffalo, NY.