Play Meter

blip
by Dick Welu
The introduction of the video
machine to the game market revolu -
tionized an industry and every
operator has heard the story of
Nolan Bushnell who has justly
received credit for his contribution .
But sadly, till now, the true story
of Homer Quigley, another pioneer
in the field, has gone untold and we
are here to correct that oversight .
As often happens with technolo-
gical breakthroughs, parallel discov-
eries were made . Homer Quigley , in
the small garage behind his home,
developed a video game slightly
ahead of the man who has received
most of the recognition . Homer,
unfortunately, when looking for a
manufacturer to produce what he
felt was a sure-fire winner, ran into
Richard M . Dixon, supervisor of
new product developement for the
Lemons and Losers Coin Game
Mfg . Co. (now into bankruptcy
filing) .
Recent investigation has brought
to the surface a tape recording of
the conversation between Dixon
and Quigley on May 19, 1965. (It's
been a bad year for tapes .)
For the first time , we publish a
transcript, word for word , of that
historic occasion . Only the inflec-
tions and accents on certain words
are missing .
The tape begins as we hear the
door to Richard M . Dixon ' s office
open :
Dixon :
I'm sorry .. . the men's
room is two doors farther down the
hall .
Quigley: Ahem ... no .. . are you .. .
I' m looking for Mr . Dixon , supervi-
sor of new product development .. ?
Dixon : Oh , yes ... well , that's me,
I guess, ha, ha . What can I do for
you?
Quigley : I'm Homer Quigley--
Dixon : Oh , yes , of course, the
man who called about the new
game you 've invented ... come in
and sit down .
(Footsteps; chair scraping the
floor .)
Dixon: Now before you start,
: Homer, may I call you Homer, I
~ warn you not to get your hopes too
~ high . Everyone thinks that they've
got the greatest game since pinball ,
5
t
46
01
PONG (SpIQsh)
~
o
but believe me, I've been in this
business a long time and I think I've
seen about everything.
Quigley : Yes, sir ... but I'd still like
to try.
Dixon : Of course, of course--and
I've got ten minutes before my
foursome tees off over at the
country club . Tell me about your,
ha , ha , new game . Does it have
flippers or guns?
Quigley: Ah ... no, sir, nothing like
that I'm afraid .
Dixon : (clearing his throat) Well ,
I see , then it's got a ball that rolls
around ....
Quigley: Ah ... no, Mr . Dixon , it
hasn't got that either .
Dixon :
A steering wheel and
accelerator?
Quigley : No , sorry .
Dixon: Ha , ha , ha , Hoover, that
leaves only pucks .
Quigley: Homer, sir . No pucks.
Dixon :
(Expletive deleted) .. .
then what the (expletive deleted)
does it have?
Quigley: It' s a television game,
sir .
Dixon : You mean like What 's My
Line or To Tell the Truth? Who'd
pay a quarter to see them?
Quigley: No, no , sir, you don't
understand .
Dixon : I'm trying . Just a second .
(Sound of plop , plop, fizz , fizz .)
Quigley : I have this television
monitor and on it there is a tennis
court ....
Dixon: Probably the Wimbledon
Tournament on Wide World of
Sports . Just change the channel.
Quigley : No, I created the tennis
court picture on the screen ; it's only
on my machine's screen ...
Dixon: (Yawn.) Terrific so far .
Quigley: ... and there' s a paddle
that goes up and down on each side
of the screen when the players turn
the knobs.
Dixo n: Gee, sounds exciting .
Turning knobs has always been a
great sport . Why do they want to
turn them anyway?
Quigley : To hit the blip bouncing
back and forth on the screen .
Dixon : Oh , that explains it-- hit
the blip! Just a minute . (Telephone
dialing .) (Whispering .) Hey, J .P.,
want a few laughs? Try to make it
up to my office . Some nut named
Quigley is in here trying to peddle a
game where you hit the blip by
turning a knob . (Pause .) A scream I
tell you .. . yeah , he's still here ...
okay, see you at number one .
(Telephone hanging up .) Ah ... let's
see where were we, Hoover,
hitting the blip?
Quigley : A white spot on the
screen, sir . It bounces back and
forth like a tennis ball .
Dixon: How did it get there?
Quigley : This circuit board in the
machine is programmed to create
the image on the screen .
Dixon : Now hold it, Henry, that's
the second time you've mentioned
creation . I'm a religious man and I
believe in creation like it says in the
Bible , none of this evolution stuff!
Qu igley: And when you turn the
knobs attached to the potentio-
meters .. .
Dixon : Potentio-whatometers!
Just a minute . (Phone dialing) Get
me the Engineering Department .. .
Frank Crankshaft, please ... Frank,
you ever hear of a - what was that
again , Howard?
Quigley : Potentiometer, sir .
Dixon : You ever hear of some-
thing called a PO-TEN -TIO-METER?
... yeah .. . yeah ... no ... yeah . (Phone
hanging up .)
Qu igley : What did he say?
Dixon : Said he wasn 't sure but
he thought a buddy got some in
Tiajuana once and it took a dose of
penicillin to cure it.
Quigley : The game is really a lot
of fun , sir.
Dixon : That's what his buddy
said about Tiajuana .