Atari Coin Connection

Sensational Centipede™
Now in Cocktail Cabinet
ATARI Pursuing
Copyright lnfringers
Recently, the General Compu-
ter Corporation of Boston re-
ceived a restraining order from
Judge Robert E. Keeton of the
U.S. District Court, District of
Massachusetts, to temporarily
prevent them from manufactur-
ing, advertising or selling "Super
Missile Attack", their product de-
signed to "enhance" the ~ame
play on Missile Command M_ The
restraining order was granted in
conjunction with a suit that
ATARI has filed to protect their
copyrights and trademarks on
the Missile Command video
game. The suit asks for punitive
and exemplary damages from
General Computer Corporation
and its two principals. It also
asks for all profits from the sale
of the product.
This is a good example of the
ATARl's super new Centipede
video game is now available in a
14" cocktail version .
Centipede is an incredibly fast-
moving game where lethal centi- separate locking cashbox, and
pedes attack the player's posi-
telescopic legs that allow the op-
tion at the bottom of the screen. erator to adjust the game from
The player must try to destroy
sit-down to standup height, de-
the rapidly approaching centi-
pending on the location traffic.
pede by shooting its head with
Frank Ballouz, ATARI 'S Vice
his bug blaster gun. Other pests President of Marketing for the
against which the player must
Coin Operated Games Division,
defend himself are mushroom-
commented: "Now that Centi-
dropping fleas, hopping spiders,
pede has been selected as the
and the poisonous scorpion,
official game of the ATARI
which poisons mushrooms and
$50,000.00 World Champion-
any centipede that it comes into ships, demand for the game has
contact with.
really increased. This versatile
The cocktail version of this
cocktail cabinet version allows
successful game includes spe-
operators to adjust the height of
the game for maximum benefit
cial ATARI features like a 14"
color raster monitor, ATAR I Trak- and player availability."
Ball™ control, continuous fire
button, special coin door and
Join the Centipede Stampede!
Promotion for Profit
The promotion idea for this
month's Coin Connection was
once again submitted by Ian Bul-
loch at Game Town U.S.A. in
Oakland, California. Mr. Bulloch
has a great idea for those oper-
ators who have games in con-
venience stores.
He tells us that he has had
games in a convenience store
for three years, and the biggest
problem has been the noise gen-
erated by the games. Oftentimes,
games were actually unplugged
just so that the store employees
could have a bit of peace and
quiet. To resolve this problem,
Bulloch installed head sets with
volume controls on the games.
Installing the headphones is sim-
ply a matter of adding a jack or
hardwiring the phones to the
presently enclosed speakers.
And the result is great for every-
one. The players can adjust the
volume of the game to suit their
own tastes, and the store em-
ployees don't hear a thing.
We're always looking for great
suggestions like this. If you have
an idea for "Promotion for Pro-
fit", please send it to The Editor,
Coin Connection, 1265 Borregas
Ave. , Sunnyvale, CA 94086. If
we use your idea, we' ll mail you
a free gift.
ATARI policy of pursuing and
prosecuting anyone who infringes
ATARI trademarks and copy-
rights. Advertisements have
been placed in all the trade jour-
nals letting people know that we
are serious in our efforts to pro-
tect our copyrights on graphics,
computer programs and audio-
visual work on our video games.
Meanwhile, on August 25 the
court began hearing ATARl's
suit against General Computer
Corporation. At that time, ATAR I
requested that a preliminary in-
junction be granted against
General Computer Corporation ,
preventing the manufacture or
sale of any more of its kits.
Watch for more news of this
case. It is an important one for
everyone in the coin-operated
games business.
Positive Publicity: Space is
the Place for Lunar Lander™
Each month in the Coin Con-
nection, we will try to print a re-
cent news item pointing out the
benefits of coin-operated games.
We feel this is particularly impor-
tant at this time since many
communities are trying to restrict
the operation of games.
The Alabama Space and
Rocket Center in Huntsville has
found a new use for the ATARI
Lunar Lander™ video game. A
mockup of the Apollo lunar
module cabin has been con-
structed around a Lunar Lander
game, and visitors are encour-
aged to try to land the simulated
craft without crashing or landing
in a crater. To make the exper-
ience as close to the real one as
possible, additional knobs and
control panels surround the play-
er in the capsule.
This is just one example of
how a video game can be used
for education as well as enter-
tainment. The Alabama Space
and Rocket Center expects to
have over 500,000 visitors a
year by the mid-1980's; that
means that a lot of people will
benefit from the game's pre-
sence there.
Centipede UL Approved continued
product. Currently, the Cabaret™
and cocktail versions of Centi-
pede are being considered for
approval by UL, and we expect
to receive final approval very
soon. ATARI also plans to submit
all new games for UL approval
in the futu re.
Frank Ballouz, Vice President
of Marketing for the Coin
Operated Games Division of
ATARI, said: "ATARI has always
considered the manufacture of
consumer-safe products one of
its top priorities. We submitted
Centipede for UL approval
because UL is an independent,
third party organization with a
reputation the consumer can
count on. This is a guarantee of
quality for operators and
players alike, and we hope that
our effort will set a standard for
the rest of the industry."