Play Meter

PLAY METER: Since you're in the rather curious
position at this time of being the only manufacturer
who produces pinballs, video games, and phono-
graphs- we'd like to get your feelings about the state
of the industry. How would you assess the health of
the industry right now?
STERN: I think the industry is very strong right now.
I think those of us who are making pinball machines
were worried for awhile about how strong the indus-
try was; but, now that we're also into video games, we
can see that the industry is very strong indeed. The
distributor is selling a lot of video games, ·and the
operator in most cases is doing very well because of
the video machines.
But I must say there will always be a place for
pinball machines. We have a pinball machine right
now that we are testing,Flight 2000, that, from all our
tests, shows it earns the kind of money video games
bring. The point is the operator needs all types of
equipment on his route. He needs the jukeboxes on
certain locations. Videos, of course, are very strong.
And pin balls are necessary. I think what we'll be
seeing now is that a pinball can be made that'll make
the kind of money an operator is used to making.
PLAY METER: What special types of problems are
you anticipating in the near future?
STERN: Let's start with pinball machines. The
challenges are to make a pinball machine that will take
advantage of the new technology and earn sub-
stantially better,like the video games. With the use of
the microprocessor there are a lot of things that can
and will be done in the future to make those games
more interesting. So we'll have to be able to think of
these things in a new way , as to what'll keep the
players' interest.
The other problem with pinball is a marketing
problem. The operator has become, and rightfully so,
more inclined to buy video than pinball. And he has
hurt himself, especially with the kind of pinball we're
beginning to see. We have to see the operator
re-educate himself into buying pinball machines.
When one person sees the next person isn't buying
pinball, he thinks maybe he shouldn't buy pinball
either. So I think the pinball market is over-
depressed , but we'll see it coming back soon.
The video game, of course, is another area we're
working hard on. We have our own ideas, and we also
have some concepts which we buy from Japan. The
challenge here will be to get the best concepts,
whether they be our own or are licensed from other
manufacturers. We're not going to be limited to the
"invented here only" philosophy. There are going to
be more video game manufacturers. People who
haven't been in that field are going to try to get into
that field . So it's going to be very competitive. Only
the best games will sell. The days of selling a fair game
ended a long time ago. I think instead of seeing banks
of filler games in the arcade, we're going to see banks
of the same game all next to each other in the arcade.
In music, certainly the challenge is great. We have
a completely new production facility to get started.
We have what we are convinced is the "Cadillac" of
the jukeboxes. We will be producing it shortly. And
we have some ideas as far as changing that product.
Actually the jukebox hasn't changed since stereo was
10
added in 1962-1963. So there are a lot of things that
can be done. The microproces or offers a lot that can
be added to the phonograph that hasn't been done yet .
PLAY METER: Okay, now focusing on the first of
these three general topics, would you say that the soft
pinball market was created by video games?
STERN: I wouldn't ay it's just because of video
games. Certainly video games are strong, and that has
hurt the use of pinball machines. All operators are
aware of this, and many operators have changed the
percentage of pin balls and videos on their routes, thus
increasing their percentage of videos. But part of the
problem is that the pinball manufactw·ers have not
come up with enough new ideas. A pinball machine can
be made which will earn as well as a video game, I
believe that. The pinball manufacturers are going to
work very hard in order to come up with these new
ideas. It's probably a little more difficult to come up
with these ideas now, but it can be done.
I al o think the panic non-buying of pinball machines
has been somewhat overdone, to the point that
operators and distributor have been almost afraid of
buying pinball machines because they're buying so
many video machines. So things have gotten
omewhat out of proportion, and I hope this doesn't
hurt the operators when they find out they have too
many videos and not enough pinballs on their routes.
Certainly he's going to need the pins in there.
PLAY METER: You mentioned a little while ago
that operators need a re-education as far as pinball
machines. What exactly are you talking about here?
STERN: I think the only way, as a manufacturer, that
we can attack that problem is by building great
games. I think we're doing that right now. As
operator will see, pins will earn the kind of money he
is u ed to making now. That will be the re-education. I
don't know if there is any campaign that can or should
be done by the factories to re-educate people to buy
pinballs. I think perhaps the way we should speak to
the operators is in the cashboxes of our games.
PLAY METER: Would you say this turn-around from
pinballs to video was a sudden thing, or did you see
indicators of thi turn-around?
STERN: I'd say it was very fast. Maybe as we look
back, we should have seen it happening a little more
quickly. But I think it was very fast .
PLAY METER: What indicators, would you say,
would have shown pinball was headed for a downturn?
STERN: I think there was over-production and
discounting, and a general reduction in demand. But
you've got to remember this is a business of peaks and
valleys. We're in a style business; so it's not unusual
for one item to become more popular than another.
We've seen video games become very popular before,
when they first came out. But there is only so much
money to be spent on games, and only so many spots
on a route to fil l.
When videos were strong before, we saw pinballs
suffer. This is a style business, and so by its nature,
it's going to have those peaks and valleys.
PLAY METER: Is this why you got into video game
PLAY METER , November, 1980