Atari Coin Connection

IINTHERIIAD
AMOA Recap
Bob Harvey, Western Regional Sales
Manager, gives a post-show rundown on
the exhibited ATARI product:
• What can you say about Pole Position
II, a sure-fire winner by birthright, but that
it was unquestionably the best buy at the
show. The enhancement kit takes a great
game and makes it greater! Just watch the
earnings curve start heading up, up, up
again!
• Large arcade owners were excited over
TX-1~ the three-monitor driving dream
machine, as a showpiece. The tremen-
dous response we saw to our sneak pre-
view confirmed our own evaluations that it
is a sensational and unique product. Atari
will make it available to the market in Feb-
ruary/March of 1984.
• The kids there at the expo loved MAJOR
HAVOC™! It represents a new type of
space/maze game and has tested strong-
ly with particular arcade appeal.
• Operators were disappointed not to be
able to see the actual Fl RE FOX game;
however, they were excited over the con-
cept and the display that we had. Come
January, the wait will have been worth it!
• Many operators still see STAR WARS
as the number one game in the field. They
are continuing to buy it with confidence.
• To tell the truth, it was the first time for
some operators to see Crystal Castles™,
as we have not shown it at any other show.
But now that they've seen it, substantial
orders are being placed.
AMOA Award
*TX-1 is manufactured by Atari, Inc. under license from Namco.
TM and © 1983.
As determined by a vote of the AMOA mem-
bership, Pole Position* has been named
"1983 Most Played Videogame" based on
the criterion of most money earned. Don
Osborne, V.P. Marketing, accepted the
award for Atari at a special awards cere-
mony held in New Orleans.
Mike Watson, press relations director of
Canada's 40-location Wizard's Castle ar-
cade chain, wrote in with the following
news of good cheer:
Wizard's Castle Co-Sponsored
Toronto Metro Santa Claus Parade
Wizard's Castle, a chain of coin-operated
family amusement centers in Canada,
sponsored a large fantasy-themed float in
the world-famous 1983 Metro Santa Claus
Parade, which was held in Toronto on Sun-
day, November 13. A child's delight for
featured extensive coverage of the Metro
Santa Claus Parade with CBC-TV and
CBS:rv reaching a total combined au-
dience of some 32 million viewers across
the continent. The program was aired live
in Canada by CBC at 1 :00 p.m. on
November 13 while U.S. viewers watched
it on Thanksgiving day, from 9:00 a.m. to
noon on the CBS network channels.
During the superbly produced and nar-
rated show, the Wizard's Castle ''Toyland
Band" float received a detailed descrip-
tion concerning the float's originator, giv-
ing a giant boost to arcades, arcade
games and their operators across Cana-
da and the U.S. Already a good corporate
citizen, the Wizard's Castle chain has
helped propel the video amusement in-
dustry into the forefront beside some of
North America's finest companies through
eighty years and long-funded by the giant
Eaton's department store chain, the pa-
rade was supported this year by private
sponsors such as Coca-Cola, General
Motors, Irwin Toy, Mattel, McDonald's
Restaurants, and now, Wizard's Castle
Family Entertainment Centres!
The event, which featured 21 floats, put
Wizard's Castle in a position to project a
positive image for the entire video amuse-
ment industry. Major television networks
its co-sponsorship of the parade in con-
junction with the other notable firms.
Paul Janda, Vice President of the ar-
cade chain, said: ''As a long-time viewer of
the Metro Santa Claus Parade, I'm very
happy to see this event continued for the
enjoyment of all children-large and
small. We at Wizard's Castle are proud to
help fill a public relations gap, left open by
others in our industry, by supporting worth-
while family ventures such as this one."
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'Pole Position is engineered and designed by Namco. manufac-
tured under license by Atari, Inc. Trademark and © Namco 1982.
Tips to Play AND Operate By!
Our three-part series of the "Bentley
Bulletin" proved very popular. A coin-op
ad placed in Electronic Games, which
came out in November, offered players
the opportunity to write in for a set of their
own tips. Over 250 requests were receiv-
ed within the first two weeks.
In a second similar effort, we are an-
nouncing available copies of the "MAJOR
HAVOC STAR JOURNAL' in the January
issue of Electronic Games, appearing in
December. Because the game fuses
space wave action with maze-running ad-
venture to deliver incredible depth, the an-
ticipated response for "helpful hints"
should be equal to or even greater than
that for the Bentley Bulletin trilogy.
We strongly suggest that you make
playing tips available to your customers.
Tack up copies near the respective ma-
chines or distribute them to your own mail-
ing list. The hints decidedly stimulate play
action (especially on the part of novice
players) as well as access those ad-
vanced players to higher levels more ra-
pidly-which actually decreases the aver-
age game time!
Players become more intrigued when
they learn of challenging intricacies and
"secrets" within the game play ... imply-
ing more "bang for the token"! This situa-
tion gives the game increased "staying
power" as they become determined to
master the strategies offered. Besides-
you don't have to tell them everything-
just enough to whet their interest and de-
sire to play!