Play Meter

New games at Charlotte
When it comes to having both a
successful and enjoyable state
association convention, it's hard to
top the efforts of the North Carolina
Coin Operators Association. The
NCCOA is one of the most active
organizations around; and this year
again, under the direction of
President James B. Reeves and his
directors, the NCCOA came up with
another fine effort.
This year's event took place
August 5 through 7 at the lavish,
newly-opened Radisson Plaza Hotel
in the heart of downtown Charlotte .
The schedule of events included a
Friday evening cocktail party fol-
lowed by a get-together in the
NCCOA suite.
Once again, the
convention had a trade exhibit open
throughout the day on Saturday
with all manufacturers well-repre-
sented by the local distributing
concerns.
Saturday's agenda included a
ladies' luncheon, an afternoon
seminar, another cocktail party, and
finally a banquet and dance where
there were door prizes galore. The
exhibits were open again the
following morning, and the after-
noon was taken with a final
luncheon and a general meeting .
The exhibition itself seemed
Bernie Powers of Bally is beaming for a
good reason. The pinball game behind
him. Eight-Ball. seems to be another sure
winner for the company .
somewhat smaller this year as
compared to last year's. Yet the
attendance and the activity around
the booths was about the same as
before. We did have an opportunity
to view some new equipment that
has recently been released.
ATARI
Three of Atari's latest offerings
were on display in the Brady
Distributing booth. Starship 1- a
video game version of inter-galactic
combat with starships from other
worlds - similar in many respects to
the air-to-air combat scene in the
current motion picture smash, Star
Wars.
Starship I can best be described
as a Sea Wolf with the dimensional
effects of Night Driver (where the
objects come out at you). The play
pattern effect is much like Jet
Fighter with the player trying to- hit
targets for scores. With the present
interest in science fiction (especially
from Star Wars) and with all the
play action in the game, Starship I
should add up to be a profitable
addition .
Atari's Drag Race was also on
display . It seems to be a video
version of Allied's infamous Street
Burner, tachometer and all. The
difference is that it's a one- or
two-player game, and you play it
standing up. As the name implies,
the players drag race against one
another or against the computer. It
has good possibilities of becoming
an excellent arcade piece.
The third Atari game on exhibit
was its latest pin game, Time 2000.
It's a marked improvement over
Atari's initial effort (The Atarians)
and should draw some additional
play .
BALLY
Speaking of pinball, I saw where
Among those attending the NCCOA annual meeting were Fred Granger (executive
vice president of the AMOA (second from left) and Richard N. Peery, (far right).
president of the Virginia association . Also seated at the table is Mrs. James Reeves,
the wife of the president of the NCCOA.
.
PLA Y METER. September, 19n
by RALPH C. LALLY II
Bally lifted the veil on its next
four-player game. If you think Bally
outdid itself with Evel Knievel, wait
If you
until you see Eight-Ball.
expected something ho-hum to
follow Evel, you've got another
thou~ht comin~ .
Eight-Ball will be the first Bally
multi-player game with the capacity
to memorize the position of the
playfield for each player and to
return to it as the game progresses.
This has been one of the major
attractions of single-player games.
Eight-Ball puts a lot more emphasis
on skill shots and encourages
players to "shoot the lights out"
(that is, make every shot that can be
made, hit all the possible targets).
It's a sensational idea, especially
when it's tied in with the pool
theme . It's sure to be another great
one .
BOWLING
Both Exidy and Meadows showed
their latest marvels.
The Exidy
game is called Robot Bowl, and the
Meadows game is entitled Meadows
Lanes ... You guessed it, they're
both video bowling games. One or
two players take turns as in bowling
and, by pushing buttons, position
the bowler and release the ball. In
addition, the player has control over
the ball speed and can try to hit the
slice into the pins from an angle by
chancing a hook shot. The scoring
in both games is the same as in
regular bowling.
Rate them as
better-than-average.
MIDWA Y and RAMTEK
Midway and Ramtek also had
their new games there, Ramtek with
its M-79 Ambush and Midway with
its Guided Missile.
The M-79 Ambush from Ramtek
has been out since June, but the
game is still in production, and at
the North Carolina show was
getting its share of playing time
from the exhibit goers. It's a one- or
two-player video target game that
can best be described as a two-
player version of Bazooka and Sea
Wolf.
Midway' s Guided Missile is an-
other video target game that is
similar in some respects to their
earlier hit, Sea Wolf. This new
game offers ground-to-air combat
rather than sea-to-sea, as in Sea
Wolf. Guided missiles are shot up in
the air then are dropped towards the
ground timed to intercept flying
objects on the way down.
The
action on both games is good, and
both pieces should do well.
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