Play Meter

Survey'76
(continued from page 20)
When deciding to buy a new
game, 38 per cent of our respon-
dents found distributor recom -
mendation to be the most important
factor, 26 per cent said they relied
most on word of mouth and 16 per
cent said graphics .
Of those
responding to our poll, 21 per cent
said they used some form of
location testing.
These are the dry-as-dust facts
about Mr. Ave . Op and his opera-
tion , but he's human in a way . At
least the operators that responded
to the Play Meter poll are human .
They have complaints about the
industry and reasons why they stay
in it . They are bugged most by the
current commission structure and
by the bane of everybody in the
world today, rising costs. Service is
also a major problem, the service
demands made upon them by their
locations, getting good servicemen ,
the late night calls, and particularly
the down time while waiting for
parts .
They complain about their loca-
tions, about the owners "not keep-
ing the amusement areas neat and
clean ," and in more than one case
about those owners' "lack of busi-
ness sense ." They complain about
the manufacturers. Answers to our
question, "What's wrong or right
with operator-manufacturer rela -
tions? " indicated that many opera-
tors feel that they have no relations
with maufacturers. More than one
listed "lack of communications" as
a wrong, and one complained that
"if an operator buys a bad game he
is stuck with it; the manufacturer
will not try to help him .
Operators complain about their
distributors, about their selling di-
rectly to locations and selling boot-
legged equipment then being unable
to supply parts . But most answer-
ing our poll emphasized that they
had good relations with their dis-
tributors .
Despite the complaints, our op-
erators enjoy the challenge of the
~ business, the mobility and constant
~ variety of activity . "The work is
;
stimulating," one operator wrote,
~
" always different, never a grind."
=
44
They enjoy being their own bosses,
they enjoy giving fun to others and
they enjoy the people they have met
and are meeting in the industry.
One laconic operator summed up
the gripes and the cheers best.
Asked, " What bugs you most about
the operating business?" he an -
swered, "Lack of ." Asked "What
do you enjoy most about the
operating business? he answered,
"Counting the money . ..
Consumer Electronics
(continued from page 21)
the video game business . Sy Lipper
of APF also distinguishes TV games
from other toys because they stay in
the electronics catagory . He adds
that they will increasingly become a
learning device with changes being
made as fast as new technology
develops . He sees such high -ski ll
video games as chess and backgam-
mon available in the near future.
A major concern among potential
investors in the industry is the
possibility of price erosion, similar to
that wich occurred with electronic
caluclators and digital watches. All
panelists agreed that within the next
18 to 24 months a home video unit
will be available for as low as $29.95.
However, none of the panelists
considered the price drop an indica -
According to
tion of erosion .
Lipper, a low price category of
simple games, with limited game
features, will develop because the
technological investment is limited.
Once the software investment is
covered, a simple quality game can
be produced for less than initial
costs would permit, and the manu-
facturers, in his opinion have a
responsibility to the consumer mar-
ket to reduce the selling price as this
r
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occurs.
Bushnell pointed out that the
price erosion which took place with
calculators and digital watches can-
not really be compared to TV video
games because of inherent differ-
ences in the products.
Unlike
calculators and watches, which do
not have that many differentials,
according to Bushnell , each TV
game has its own concept. The
research and software development
invested to create these concepts
raises the price of a game.
Therefore, TV game manufactur-
ers will constantly require an invest-
ment that will keep the selling price
up . Helms pointed out that for the
first time this year, consumers will
be in a position to measure between
good and poor games, which may
limit a proliferation of games on the
market.
Also hindering to the proliferation
of TV video games are the very
stringent controls being implement-
ed by Federal Communications
Commission . Radio frequency in-
terference on television receivers
and the emmission of radiation from
the video games has caused the
FCC to place costly quality require-
ments on all video game products.
In fact, only nine of the manufactur-
ers displaying video games at the
shows have received FCC approval
of their products . Those who had
not were legally required to display
signs informing the public of this .
While costly to the manufacturer, all
panel members agreed that the FCC
regulations are positive . Eventually
an FCC ruling may demand that
video games be built directly into
the television, but according to
Helms this will probably not happen
for years .
During the week of the Chicago
show, it was announced that an out
of court settlement had been made
between Magnavox and Atari re-
garding the patent on who originally
created the video game for home
use. Asked what this settlement
would mean to the consumer,
Bushnell indicated that neither side
was happy with the settlement, so it
must be fair . According to Bush-
nell, licensing should be shared by
the industry and patents are essen-
tial to protect the manufacturer's
investment in engineering and R &
D technology . Helms of Magnavox
agreed with Bushnell regarding the
importance of this protection and
had little more to add .