Play Meter

UPDATE EDITION
February 1, 1981
Volume 7, N umber 2
Sega presents tech wages study
Sega Centers of Redondo Beach ,
California has recently completed a
national wage survey for technical
service personnel in the coin-
operated game industry. Eric W .
!vary, director of operations for
Sega , initiated the survey when he
discovered that no industry-wide
guidelines existed, on which to base
periodic merit increases.
General wage informa tion has
been a vailable through the U.S .
Department of La bor, newspaper
employment surveys , and from the
California State Personnel Board, he
said, but none of this information
applied specifically to the particular
job descriptions and job experiences
of the people in the coin-op industry
who repair the equipment. Thus, in
an attempt to establish some
meaningful minimum/ maximum
wage ranges , the survey was
undertaken .
!vary mailed 162 letters to various
amusement and music machine
manufa c tur e rs , operators , and
distributors throughout the United
States and parts of Canada . The
letters explained the object of the
survey- to gather current infor-
mation regarding pay ranges for
te c hni cal service personnel- and
included three different , basic job
descriptions outlined by Ron
Goodheart , Service Manager for the
Sega Centers:
A- Tec hnical trainee (mechanic):
Someone relatively new to the field
and learning the job or having some
mechanical ra ther than electronic
experience .
1) High school graduate
2) Good mechanic aptitude
3) Basic understanding of electricity
4) Some knowledge of components,
capacitors , resistors
5) Knowledge of use of hand tools
6) Completion of basic electronics
course in school is desirable .
B- Senior technician (working in
the field) : Someone with industry
experience and some electronics
background .
1) Experience in game industry or
other electronic-type machines
2) Must be able to read and
understand wiring diagrams
3) Have good mechanical aptitude
4) Must be able to use a volt ohm
meter and understand basic elec-
tricity
5) Should be able to identify
electronic components and know
their names
6) Must be able to use proficiently all
hand tools and be able to solder.
C-
Electronic technician (bench
continued on page 5
Rock-0/a to market Vector games
By RAY E. TILLEY
Rock -Oia Manufacturing Corp. has
announced that it will break into the
video games market through a long-
term agreement to license the
Vector monitor system owned by
Cinematronics, Inc. a nd to market
the new game Star Castle outside
the United States.
The El Cajon , California video
maker and the Chicago phonograph
producer were mutually impressed
with each other's capacities . Penning
their licensing pact left Cinematronics
with Star Castle rights in the
U.S .A. - and Rock -Oia will pursue
other options for marketing in the
video field . As announced in a
September distributors meeting,
Rock -Oia will look to in -house
development of its own games as
well as acquisition of other games
producers .
Star Castle: Object of a 'marriage '
between Cinematronics and Rock-0/a
Officers of both companies stated
that Cinematronics could not
presently meet production demands
for its games overseas. The bond
with Rock -Oia came about, said an
officer there, because "they (Cinema-
tronics) are doing an outstanding job
right now, they can't produce
enough, and they have knowledge
and expertise pe rtinent to the
Vector monitor."
David R. Rockola , senior vice
president , said negotiations between
his company and Cinematronics
were successfully concluded , for
Rock -O ia to manufacture and
market S tar Castle under their
agreement.
"This covers the exclusive sales,
and marketing rights for Europe and
Canada, with non-exclusive right for
all other export markets," said Dr.
continued on page 2