Play Meter

[continued from page 19]
were when a southern country's prohibition on
machines went into effect and we had some goods
on the way. And those goods were not covered by a
letter of credit. Since the customer didn't pick up
the goods, we still had control over them, but we
had to bring them back or sell them elsewhere; and,
of course, this involves a certain amount of loss due
to the double or triple transportation. I might add
that we have found very little delinquency in the
customer per se. We like to sell to people who are
going to make money. We want repeat business.
Therefore, we sell only what we think they will
make money with. Sometimes there are guys who
say they would like us to import machines that we
know are no good, and we have to warn them. We
do this because we have nothing to sell but our
know-how and service. Now if I sell him what he
wants, next time he will come back to me and
complain that we should have warned him that the
machine was bad. So we have to guide our
customers a little bit, the same as we guide
manufacturers on many occasions. We tell factories
that are not selling in certain countries that there is
a possibility of doing business in those countries,
and that we could try to sell it for them.
PLAY METER: Do you handle new eqqipment?
NAHUM: We handle new equipment direct from
factories if we are selling it to areas where the
factories are not represented. We also handle new
equipment if our customer who is ordering ten or
fifteen used machines asks us to throw in two or
three new machines. Also, sometimes when there
is an overproduction of a model, a manufacturer will
call us and ask if we can handle them, and they give
us a special price.
PLAY METER: What is the most popular type of
game going right now?
NAHUM: The pinball machine is the king. There is
nothing like the pinball machine. But there is a
trend for arcades now, arcade locations. This is
catching on all over the world. So all types of
arcade games are in demand now because the price
is right, servicing is easy, and they fit in together
with pinball machines. This is good because I do not
believe in an arcade having nothing but pinball
machines. I have seen set-ups like that, with
nothing but pinball machines lined up one next to
the other.
PLAY METER: How have they taken to solid state
equipment?
Particularly the video games?
NAHUM: Solid state is good but what makes a
solid state game is the service. This is advice to all
manufacturers who are in the export market. If
you want to sell your video games, deal with very
reliable distributors overseas. I have seen too
many times where the most advanced, most
beautiful video games were left in a corner by an
operator in Europe because he was not able to fix
the thing. He's too far from the distributor, and as
a result he's got a sour taste. The solid state has a
58
PLAY METER: What abouffoosball in Europe. Is
that very popular over there?
NAHUM: Foosball is an inexpensive money-
maker. I guess it will always be popular because
the return is always tremendous. Foosballs are
manufactured all over the world so there are no
duties involved. A local foosball table is worth
about $200; so a foosball machine that makes
$100-$150 a month on a $200 investment is a good
thing. They will always put them on location. And
you've got to remember, it doesn't need electrical
current. So you can put it any place you want.
Most of the government agencies that regulate coin
machines look at foosball machines with a positive
eye, not as a gambling machine. In fact, there are
countries where everything else is prohibited but
foosball machines.
PL~Y METER: Do some types of machines go
better in some countries than in others?
NAHUM: Yes, we have countries that, due to the
cultural background, are not at all suited for
jukeboxes, simply because boys and girls don't go
out together. In Italy, for example, there is a
tremendous amount of pinball machines, and
jukeboxes came into popularity there only recently.
A jukebox was not part of their culture. And we
have countries where this is still the way it is,
where the jukebox is still not accepted. They will
go crazy over the pinball machines, but the jukebox
doesn't work. And we have the opposite too; there
are countries where the jukeboxes are accepted but
not the pinball machines.
They play more
when they have
the right change ...
More change . .. more play . .. more
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Series 6502B
$1 Bill & Coin Changer
September, 1977, PLA Y METER