Play Meter
Issue: 1981 December 15 - Vol 7 Num 23 - Page 9
'The year the industry found itself'
Reviewing the
coin-op year 1981
r
a temp tion dmong th ,
new m dia at y M's end to wr 1p
thing
up in a n at bundle. by
ummarizing the year's e nt · Ill cl
nut h II. they say b fore shipping
th whol d mn thmg out to some
archives for
hi tor y d p rtm nt
b c urity purpo s. M aybe it's d
f ling by m dia p opl tha t. aft r
r p rting the vent s ally ar long. it' ·
their re ponsibility to mak e ome
of it all.
silly, of co ur e. Pr sump tuous
is th word. But it 's a t mptation
non thel s . Sob it with Play Meter.
100.
But what' that.yousay') Jt 's not
the yea r 's end yet'? This y ar's got
over a month's lif still in it body')
You'r
I king
t th
wro ng
lendar.
Look at tlv i · su date of this
mag zin you'r rea ding . Surpn ·et
D c mb r 15. 19 I, the ids! of 19 I.
Your next is ue, in a lit !I , ov r two
w e k · tim . will bear th futuristic
date of 19 2 on it. And there's ,,
reason for it, you mu 1 re li ze.
A s indu tr y vet ran will qui ckly
a tt e · t, th
coi n op amu · m nt
indu try g nerc lly look s upon its
y ar s beginnmg and ending with
th AMOA Show in Chi cago.
it wds m ant for th t~
M yb
industry to b stx o r eight weeb
h ad of its time. T red dthe pres~
c lipping th at have b n writ! >nand
·pok n about us thi pa · t y 'ar. 11
must be co nc lud d that the com op
mu m nt indu tr y i ind eed dhead
ofi t tim . Or. asso meotherswou lcl
cont nd, it tim has finally come.
And what do th y mean by th 1?
Simply thi : Alth ough pasty ar s ma y
h v produ ced gr a t r tec hnological
advan
than 198 1. th r e i ·
probably no y r that ca n mat c h
1981 as f r
thi s indu tr y t ·
on rn d . 19 I was truly th y ar
th industry found it If. It's they M
the indu try b c m
aware of
xactly how big it wa . It was I th
10
Dauid Rosen explained
onuerr A Game ys t m to dis/rib
yec1r th e indu str y b 'Cd m e dwar
the chdlle ng • · ~md res ponsi bilit e
th d t com with being suc h a giant.
Co n e rtibl e ga m es
Tlw co::.! of tle\V eq uir m e nt
con tinu ' to escdldt . The game ·
th em~elve~. forth most pdrl. prov
10 be mtrdcl > worker~ n tting
coil >c tto ns that
re unh >ard of JUSt
"coup! > of Y'M ' c1go. But still the
II Kred~ing co 1 o f Pqu ipm en t
coup! •d wtth theclos out r du c tion
011 un aleable 11 em~
hds cr ated cl
d~ PP ~>a t d s u · pi ton among
ope rator · tha t gu me mdnufactur rs
MP "gougmg " th > o perator.
But tt wd · more thdn just this
· u 1 teton th a t spawn d th
emergenc of conve rt ibl game in
the mdustry. Ad ' p - · clt d fe r has
al ognpp dtodLly'soperator , a far
of how fM cd n >co nomi c rea lity b
stretch •d')
At the st•tond annual Amu s m ent
Op >ra tors Expo in
w Orl ea ns this
post spring. Ra y H ib
" W h 1 we're r ally · !ling is air."
By " ai r. " H ibarger said he m ant
th re was nothing t ngible the player
took away from th game , other than
th
nJ ym nt of h ving pi yed th
gam .
But with y ste rda y's vid o
wond rs qui kly b coming today's
dogs, oper tor ar feeling mor nd
mor that th ey reoperating " air" as
well. Their investments ar h re
tod y, gon tomorrow. Because the
games they p y so dearly for ar .
wi thin
v ry hort tim , worth no
more than ye t rd y ' s news ·
paper
op raters hav start d to
look for ways to prot ct th ir huge
inv tm nt by owning something
that r t in it valu aft r th gam
has lost its comm r ial appeal.
For mall busin ssmen who ar
trying to build their individual
finan c ial
mpire , this qui c k
ubsolescen e of gam
n b v ry
un ttling . T hat's why op raters
have tart d looking for "br ick "
whi h will last long r th n just the
duration of th single gam .
And conv rtibl games appear to
m ny op raters to off r that
opportunity . Convert y sterday's
game to tod y ' hit in ju t a matter of
minut s! A ft r II, thes op raters
r ason, why should I have to buy th
ca binet and th monitor each time?
D co, a Japan e gam manu ·
tur r, through its U .S. marketing
arm, Data East , was th first to try
th
onv rtibl gam wat rs . Data
East sta rt d offering the industry this
pa t spring a cass tt system with
in t rchang abl gam ca rtridges. It
did r ate a ripple of c uriosity but
didn 't
xactly rock the coin -op
indu tr y. A ft r all, industry veterans
d, it's not surpri ing that a
company, trying to make
n imp c t on the A merican mark t ,
would try marketing a conv rtible
game packag to carve out its place
on thi
id of the Pacific.
But then ca m the bombshell.
Gr mlin l ndustrie - another
ompany with Japanes roots , but
JCon11unued on page 151
Reviewing the
coin-op year 1981
r
a temp tion dmong th ,
new m dia at y M's end to wr 1p
thing
up in a n at bundle. by
ummarizing the year's e nt · Ill cl
nut h II. they say b fore shipping
th whol d mn thmg out to some
archives for
hi tor y d p rtm nt
b c urity purpo s. M aybe it's d
f ling by m dia p opl tha t. aft r
r p rting the vent s ally ar long. it' ·
their re ponsibility to mak e ome
of it all.
silly, of co ur e. Pr sump tuous
is th word. But it 's a t mptation
non thel s . Sob it with Play Meter.
100.
But what' that.yousay') Jt 's not
the yea r 's end yet'? This y ar's got
over a month's lif still in it body')
You'r
I king
t th
wro ng
lendar.
Look at tlv i · su date of this
mag zin you'r rea ding . Surpn ·et
D c mb r 15. 19 I, the ids! of 19 I.
Your next is ue, in a lit !I , ov r two
w e k · tim . will bear th futuristic
date of 19 2 on it. And there's ,,
reason for it, you mu 1 re li ze.
A s indu tr y vet ran will qui ckly
a tt e · t, th
coi n op amu · m nt
indu try g nerc lly look s upon its
y ar s beginnmg and ending with
th AMOA Show in Chi cago.
it wds m ant for th t~
M yb
industry to b stx o r eight weeb
h ad of its time. T red dthe pres~
c lipping th at have b n writ! >nand
·pok n about us thi pa · t y 'ar. 11
must be co nc lud d that the com op
mu m nt indu tr y i ind eed dhead
ofi t tim . Or. asso meotherswou lcl
cont nd, it tim has finally come.
And what do th y mean by th 1?
Simply thi : Alth ough pasty ar s ma y
h v produ ced gr a t r tec hnological
advan
than 198 1. th r e i ·
probably no y r that ca n mat c h
1981 as f r
thi s indu tr y t ·
on rn d . 19 I was truly th y ar
th industry found it If. It's they M
the indu try b c m
aware of
xactly how big it wa . It was I th
10
Dauid Rosen explained
onuerr A Game ys t m to dis/rib
yec1r th e indu str y b 'Cd m e dwar
the chdlle ng • · ~md res ponsi bilit e
th d t com with being suc h a giant.
Co n e rtibl e ga m es
Tlw co::.! of tle\V eq uir m e nt
con tinu ' to escdldt . The game ·
th em~elve~. forth most pdrl. prov
10 be mtrdcl > worker~ n tting
coil >c tto ns that
re unh >ard of JUSt
"coup! > of Y'M ' c1go. But still the
II Kred~ing co 1 o f Pqu ipm en t
coup! •d wtth theclos out r du c tion
011 un aleable 11 em~
hds cr ated cl
d~ PP ~>a t d s u · pi ton among
ope rator · tha t gu me mdnufactur rs
MP "gougmg " th > o perator.
But tt wd · more thdn just this
· u 1 teton th a t spawn d th
emergenc of conve rt ibl game in
the mdustry. Ad ' p - · clt d fe r has
al ognpp dtodLly'soperator , a far
of how fM cd n >co nomi c rea lity b
stretch •d')
At the st•tond annual Amu s m ent
Op >ra tors Expo in
w Orl ea ns this
post spring. Ra y H ib
" W h 1 we're r ally · !ling is air."
By " ai r. " H ibarger said he m ant
th re was nothing t ngible the player
took away from th game , other than
th
nJ ym nt of h ving pi yed th
gam .
But with y ste rda y's vid o
wond rs qui kly b coming today's
dogs, oper tor ar feeling mor nd
mor that th ey reoperating " air" as
well. Their investments ar h re
tod y, gon tomorrow. Because the
games they p y so dearly for ar .
wi thin
v ry hort tim , worth no
more than ye t rd y ' s news ·
paper
op raters hav start d to
look for ways to prot ct th ir huge
inv tm nt by owning something
that r t in it valu aft r th gam
has lost its comm r ial appeal.
For mall busin ssmen who ar
trying to build their individual
finan c ial
mpire , this qui c k
ubsolescen e of gam
n b v ry
un ttling . T hat's why op raters
have tart d looking for "br ick "
whi h will last long r th n just the
duration of th single gam .
And conv rtibl games appear to
m ny op raters to off r that
opportunity . Convert y sterday's
game to tod y ' hit in ju t a matter of
minut s! A ft r II, thes op raters
r ason, why should I have to buy th
ca binet and th monitor each time?
D co, a Japan e gam manu ·
tur r, through its U .S. marketing
arm, Data East , was th first to try
th
onv rtibl gam wat rs . Data
East sta rt d offering the industry this
pa t spring a cass tt system with
in t rchang abl gam ca rtridges. It
did r ate a ripple of c uriosity but
didn 't
xactly rock the coin -op
indu tr y. A ft r all, industry veterans
d, it's not surpri ing that a
company, trying to make
n imp c t on the A merican mark t ,
would try marketing a conv rtible
game packag to carve out its place
on thi
id of the Pacific.
But then ca m the bombshell.
Gr mlin l ndustrie - another
ompany with Japanes roots , but
JCon11unued on page 151
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).