Play Meter

UPDATE EDITION
October 1, 1979
Vol. 5, No. 18
Ramtek bows out
VIdeo competition geHing too tough
In an effort to eliminate the low
profit aspect of its business, Ramtek
has decided to exit the field of
electronic games production . Citing
the increased level of competition in
the arcade / video game business
over recent years , Ramtek's Mel
McEwan , general manager of the
recreational products division of the
company , said : "We decided not to
make the bigger commitment it
would take to compete in today's
video game market. "
Ramtek entered the video field in
1972 , on the heels of Nolan
Bushnell's Pong . At that time they
produced Volley , a game designed
as a refinement of Bushnell's big hit.
The company's participation in the
video game industry was seen then
as a natural extension of its central
effort , the construction of computer
graphic display systems .
Essentially , the groundwork for
the departure from the games
industry was laid in November,
1978, when Ramtek became a public
corporation . Stockholders
were
quick to realize that although the
recreational division had provided a
cash flow boost to Ramtek in its early
days , the market had grown so
competitive that the current Ramtek
effort left it as somewhat of an
also -ran in the field . So they have
influenced the company to convert
its total effort to display systems ,
which have shown success of late
through their use in conjunction with
contemporary X-ray equipment.
The recreational division of Ram -
tek employed thirty workers , ap-
proximately one-tenth of employees
of the entire company. Of those
thirty workers , five have already
been transferred to other Ramtek
positions, but the twenty-five who
remain within the recreational prod-
ucts division will continue to produce
the company's current effort Boom
Ball, at least in the near furture .
Ramtek's first three years in the
business , from 1972 to 1975 , were its
most successful , but it is interesting
that as it makes its departure from the
field of games manufacturing Ramtek
has a hit on its hands with Boom
Ball .
Ramtek has named Electronic
Amusement Service of San Francis-
co to assume the handling of parts
and service for existing Ramtek
games . E.A.S . is a six year old firm
which boasts of total industry re-
spectability . Under the able direction
of Bill Bolton , E.A.S . repairs and
tests boards for every major manu -
facturer . They have also from time to
time been requisitioned to do
production testing for protype mod -
els .
World Pool··
an American flop
Whatever happened to the World
Pool Tournament?
The Billiard Congress of Ameri-
ca - to pool what the PGA is to
golf- apparently was able to squash
the questionable contest before it got
any hold at all on American
operators or players .
It was an ambitious scheme of
Michael Farley's, pitting winners from
the U.S ., Canada , England , and
Australia against each other, that
would lead to a championship battle
in Hong Kong to decide the finest
8-Ball player in the' world.
But Farley's plans snagged when
the B.C .A. questioned his financial
maneuverings. Farley intended to
take investors at $11 ;000 apiece into
his scheme as regional tournament
directors. Perhaps one of the basic
reasons for the failure of Farley's
attempts was that it was never quite
clear how the investor might amass a
sizeable return on his investment.
"Besides ," says Bob Goodwin of
the B.C .A., "we could never find out
exactly what he was doing, or going
to do , with the money involved ."
No American investors , apparent-
ly , were ever ensnared by Farley ,
and so no one here has much to
complain about , but several pro-
moters in London reportedly were
burned , some .for up to more than
$100,000 , sponsoring an event that
never reached its conclusion there .
(PLAY METER , October 15 , 1978,
p . 15-16) .
The American finals were sche-
duled to have been played in Las
Vegas in mid -summer 1979, but the
world will have to await a more
successful organizer .