Play Meter

continued from page 19
"Manufacturers have to recognize that we can't
continue to produce machines as quickly
.
.
as we've been doing and expect to sell them"
PLA Y METER: What can be done to improve the
quality of workmanship that goes into the games?
STERN: Workmanship I don't think will ever be
improved. I don't think the American workman has
the desire and interest that he once had. But the
workmanship is not the fault of any manufacturer.
It's the situation that everybody is in today,
whether he's making pinball games or TV sets.
Now, we still have some improvements to make on
the games. There's going to come a time when we
get farther down the road with solid state that
you're going to find we're making improvements on
the manufacture of the games.
PLAY METER: How do you assess the public's
attitude toward pinball today?
STERN: I think they're accepting it more than they
ever have before. It's just been a matter of time. It
was just a matter of time before people got to the
point where they would rather spend time on
pinball machines instead of on a more expensive
entertainment. And pinball is a cheap form of
entertainment. In addition, there are a lot of home
games built by Brunswick and Bally and a bunch of
other companies, and that I think has created a
demand for the game. The people want to play the
game at home. They want it for their children, and
they want it for themselves. They just love to play
the game.
PLAY METER: Then you feel that the home
market has created more of a demand to play the
game on the commercial market?
STERN: No question about it. When I was a
distributor in Philadelphia, for instance, there was
a little cafeteria where a top executive would have a
pinball machine reserved for himself at lunchtime.
He would come in at about 11:30, and no one could
get near that machine. He said it relaxed him, and I
think that's why the game is popular today. It's a
relaxing form of entertainment.
PLA Y METER: Do you foresee Stern at a later
date getting into home games?
STERN: I doubt that very much.
PLAY METER: You mentioned earlier that
~anufacturers are Dushing' out games too fast for
operators to absorb them. Do you think this
overproduction will continue?
STERN: I think everybody, including all the
manufacturers, · recognizes the fact that there are
only so many machines that can be sold. The
operator, first of all, will always need variety. He
can't make it buying all one manufacturer's games,
nor can he buy all one game. He's going to need
variety; so he's going to have to buy different types
of games from different manufacturers. Now,
manufacturers have to recognize that we can't
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continue to produce machines as quickly as we've
been tiloing and expect to sell them. Every pinball
manufacturer produces four, five, or six models a
year; so you're talking about 25 or 30 new models a
year. I think you'll find a trend starting where the
production runs for pinball machines will come
down and average out at around seven or eight
thousand per model because right now there are too
many being produced. There was a reason for the
overproduction. When solid state first came out,
the manufacturers had to fill the pipeline. There
was a void that had to be filled. But now that solid
state is in, you have to get down to the point where
you're realistic, get down to the production figures
you used to have with the electro-mechanicals.
PLAY METER: Is there any play incentive, other
than add-a-ball and free play, that we can expect to
see coming out?
STERN: No, but I think you'll find that the
add-a-ball-type game will begin to disappear. I
think the free play will be recognized as a legal item
across the world. What I don't understand is that
you can take two fellows and, though they went to
the same colleges and had the sa11!e teachers, when
they come out judges, one will say one thing and the
other will say the opposite. One will say a free play
is legal, and the other will say a free play is not
legal. One of them will say that it is not a thing of
value, and the other one will say that it is. But I
think eventually you'll find that free play will be
legalized nationwide. I think the only way games
will be built in the future will be on straight free
play games. Novelty and add-a-ball games will
disappear because there's no question that a free
play game takes in more money than an add-a-ball
game. People like to win free plays. They like to
play again for free.
PLA Y METER: As someone who has devoted a
lifetime to pinball, give us your observations as to
where you think the game is headed.
STERN: I think the amusement business is getting
stronger and ~tronger. The games with the best
play appeal will always be the ones that do the most
business. I see the industry as growing continually,
not the way it did when solid state first came in, but
I think it will have a continual growth pattern for a
long time. As for the operators, I think they should
keep their routes up to date with the newest
equipment, the latest equipment. That way they'll
have their top earnings all the time. After all,
there's no question but that when you put a new
game on location, your earnings go up. So I think
operators should replace a certain percentage of
their games every time a new game comes out, and
in that way they can keep their routes up to date,
and they'll get their top earnings.
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PLAY METER , September, 1978