Play Meter

man against
war birds
Phoenix, a dramatic space war game
that incorporates "exceptional
graphic impact and superb
software," is the latest release from
Centuri, Inc.
"Phoenix was initially introduced
in Europe and Japan where income
reports were outstanding," said Ed
Miller, president and chief executive
officer of the Hialeah, Florida
manufacturing firm. "Our extensive
field testing has not only supported
those findings, but has been even
more encouraging."
Armed with a missile, the player
launches a five-phase mission into
space. The first two frames feature
small dots that materialize into war
birds. The player scores points while
defending himself against the
attacking birds. Brilliantly colored
eggs that hatch into the violent
Phoenix war birds appear during
frames three and four. The final
frame introduces a huge pulsating
alien spacecraft protected by a flock
of war birds.
The player's success during the
first round determines whether he
will proceed to round two.
At all times during the game, the
player can find momentary shelter
from the onslaught by activating a
"protective barrier" button.
"We are extremely enthusiastic
about the introduction of several
significant advances in hardware
technology that Phoenix has to
offer," said William Olliges, Centuri
executive vice president. "Keeping
in mind player visibility, Centuri
engineers spent a great deal of
research time before the final
positioning of the monitor was
made."
"A game on location takes a great
deal of abuse," Olliges said. 'The
Phoenix cabinet is made of a unique
low pressure laminate that is
designed to take the wear and tear of
every day use . By installing an
extremely reliable low temperature
switcher-type power supply," Olliges
added, "we have greatly reduced the
chances of excessive heat build-up."
Centuri has the exclusive rights
for both upright and maxi models in
North, Central, and South America
under a licensing agreement with
Amstar Electronics Corporation.
PLAY METER, April, 1981
What if the chute
doesn't ooen?
Stern Electronics, Inc. has
announced plans for international
distribution of a new solid state four-
player pinball game, Freefal/.
Designed by pinball pioneer Harry
Williams, Freefall features multiple
ball play. A bonus feature picks up
and transports the ball across the
playfield by tramway, to an elevated
launch site. The ball accumulator is
activated following completion of the
Skydiver scoring sequence and can
launch as many as three balls
simultaneously onto the playfield.
Freefall's three-dimensional,
richly-colored backglass of azure
blues, deep purples, and other dawn-
to-dusk sky colors, emphasizes the
game's theme of celestial winged
nymphs free-floating under an
impressionistic, scripted logo.
Among scoring features are:
-"Lighted line selector changer,"
player-controlled option enables the
player, by depressing both flippers,
to change lighted line selector on
bonus multiplier scoring feature.
-Bonus multiplier increases point
value up to 14X; numerical drop
targets score 10,000 points or if
made in sequence score 50,000
points.
-Twenty-word vocabulary
signals game "Take Off," identifies
players 1, 2, 3, and 4, and alerts
player to completion of sequenced
scoring features.
Freefall's advanced solid state
electronic system was designed and
manufactured by Universal Re-
search Laboratories, Inc., a Stern
subsidiary.
93