Play Meter

An Open Letter
to the Industry
/\..., i.._'llll
knm1.·. Stern
ha~
just settled
dispute
with our union ( )n rl'Cl'iving our fi1Ml offer for a new
contf such ... trike could take TJictCL'. 1.\!t' locked out our
Th1s rhsputv WdS ultim<'ltely sl'ttled for
bdsil',dlv the -.arm-' offer WL' made originct!lv. c~lthough we
did h'illrilllUl' :-.onH: of the terms That offer. including
t>lnpll>l.,'l'L'"
frin~~<":>. ornounts to ulmo:-.1 $2 per hour, ovr?r two yL'a.rs.
\.,\le kel tho~t 1\w st•t!kTllL'nl rc<1clwd j..., d fair one, <1nd it is
COlll]hlrdhk· to the increases ~!iven by· our competitors.
At this lmH?. I fl:-'cl it is c~ppropritl.te to makl! a few
coJlllllCnts on UcliJH:' pricing and on cost factors which
hil.\'C'
nen• . ..,sitc~tcJ our price incrt:ascs
l hd\'L' compdn.>d thl' price of Metpor. uur current
~anw. to ,\'u!Jent. \l.:hich we nMnufcKiured one Vt.'ilr il~o
Tl-wH' hct" bven il price mcr~'dSl' of ks~ thim St'Ven
JH!ITL'Ill \\'hilc inflcttion in this country b running about
fourteen rercent this \''-'or_ /\nd Nuuent b nut comp,lrrlbl~·
tn tfw !Jdri\L'S Wl' rnuke Ioden/ We huve increClsed our
qcllll<.-".,· tncmnry capocitv. doublmg the number of ROM
,md RAM chip:-. We hc1ve added a rww. much more
-.,ophi-..tic.tted '>Ound sy·stem v,,hich is Slgnlfic,-mtly mon.>
<'Xpen-..iVL'. It requires a morL' expensive spec1kL'r. Thl.'se
inlprovt'mcnh requirl' d much morl! expensive trans
former
( )uJ ~~cm1es h. we mnre drop targets. burnpL'rs. und
1 1thL•r plrly·field penh. i111 of which requirt' more switches.
ll~jht~. etc (\~rtainly· mon• than hn.lf of our incwc1se i-.. dul-!
!11 the~e illl[)rovcments
Toc.L1y a gome without thl'se
irnprovcmenh 1.1.:ould not be mn.rkl:'tnbk
With the c~dvl'nt of solid :-.tate. d whole nl'I.-IJ horizon of
pi11holl cksis-!n h;1s been opl-!ned The ch-".;ignl'rs have>
h<'l'l\ lcarn1ng dw l apabilitics of solid ... taiL' ~md havl:'
llhHk Vd'->1 improvemL'nts in pinbdll tksi!:!n The g.mws
.:nl' tlltiH:' intervsting cmcl exciting. and offer nppeal to a
witlvr c~udic>ncc Then" is no going hackv . . ·ards
Nl.'xt the costs uf the porh going into pinh incn.'d:-.ed f<:-1stcr thon the fourtl'l'll pcrcc>nt infl<1tion raiL'.
A pi11b gone up rc1pidlv. due. export of /\mcricon lumber. Pl<~yficld wood has gonl' up
morL' than twenty percent. lnSICie the gami-!S are many
prvc1ous mild•· with silver ancl pbted with ~old And we all know
wllcll hc~s happenpd to th~, pricl.' of hoth gold cmJ silver.
rherl' has heen cont l't 111t<1in cupJwr. m the form of insuloted wirt>. coils. and
tronsforml'rs In the ln.st Y''h1T the bosl-' pricl-! of copper has
mflah'cl
45 pl'rcl-!nl
Too.
our
games
contain
nickel·silver switch hl;Kles. anotlwr high·cost metal.
l'hi!re arc mnny rwtroleum based plastic and nylon ports.
6
tlw co-.;h o! \vhich are sk~:/roCkL'ting And. of courw.
There is labor in our ganws As statc>cl <~bove. \Ve h entered 1nto n new contrc1ct with our union providing for
illmo:-.1 ~'2 per hour increase
Thcrl'forl'. our llldr~Jin ( 111 each game h,1s decrcd:-.L'd
qrv<~tl\· ( )f c1 Hn-..,l:'. incrL'dSl'd volunw h<1s lwlpL'd us to
some ••xknt. to mCikl:' compditiv•· g<~nle~. WL' must continue to "!Wild
d:-. much money (Jl\ enqirw~ring ltnprovellll:'llts as our
competitors. A-.., 1 wrote before. our industrv is designing
hl'lll'r diHllwttl'r ~FlllW,'> clue to incredscd cxpendituws on
kchnolom-·
Vv'e "\'lllp<~thi;:'-' with the operator. 1.v·ho ~uffcrs not only·
frfl!ll ilrcrl'dSt'cl gam<' Cll~ts. but also increased fuel co~ts,
hi~jlwr w.1geo.; { espcci indu~tn.' will not rome from lower game pricvs Cc~nw
pric~__·~ dF' going !11 C11ntinue to 1ncreose. even with qr~__•akr
e:-;p('ndrture-., for incr rc<~litl.: i11 our inflationary· eco!HJI\ly· To think othc>rw1w is
to burl.-' one\ he BcCiHJSi' v1rtuallv no operiltor cosh will be decrea~ing.
the onlv :-,,dv<~tion we see ic; in increa:-.ing l'drninS]:s for the
OJWrdlol This can come from better games. which WI!
fi:'l'l V./L' dH' making. But we need hetter pricing --2S cent
plily Vv\• nl'l'd the clollzu ('( 1in in thl' marketpi pc-~pcr doiL1r H'Ino\·ed Of course. we nt->ed thrL'l' b~1ll
pl;n; Hut most importantly·. v . :e lll'l'd d better srlit
lwi\Vl'l:'n tl1c locution <1nd tlw opl-!r.Jtor The locc1tion
IJ\1.,'11\.'l". for no illV>'StllH'nt. b seeing hi" e<1rnin~~~ ~o up
Ami these nn· going up purl.'ly e;...JWIISL'- the manufncturl!r, the distributor. and the
IJtJI'rd!Oi
! knov,' it is ensy' for a mdnufarturer to suggest that the
industry tndkl' changes and the opt'rator 1mprove the
-..,plit I knmv it is h,1rd to (\Ccomplish this. but it rc~n lw
dorw. ov0'r a period of time FveryonL'. including th,,
opcrdtor-..,. llltbt start now. by nMking one change ht!rl::'.
dl\lllhl'r tlww_ Little hy little. tlw changes can be made
B\· doing :-.1 1. I..'Vl'rvone will l:'a'lwht -tlw m.:-mufdcturcrs.
the di . . tributur:-.. dnd the opvr We hc~ve done wh<~t w<~s lll'Cessary· to presl!rvv our
finc~ncl ldbor co"ts_ And we ccrtilinlv h tlw "horl run In nrrler for 1~1nnufacturers to continu~: to
mc~nuL1ctun• the he:-.t po::-.~ible games. everyone in the
industrv must do \'-.:l1at is nL'CI'Ssdry to preservl' the
fin<1ncidl \'iiihllit\,-' of thl' inclustry c1s a whole
C;1.n: Ste111
Prl!-..idL•nt
Stern Flcctrlllli('c, li1c
PLAY METER,
March, 1980