Play Meter

Endangered
Earthlings
Tubular olnball
Bally Pinball Division has released
Xenon, "the most extraordinary
pinball package ever. ... Xenon is
loaded with unique features and fast
action skill shots," said Tom
Nieman, vice president of marketing
for the division .
Xenon has a multi-ball playfield
and a unique skill shot, the transport
tube . This elevated tube with
programmed running lights leads the
way to the exit chamber saucer
which awards from 50,000 to 90,000
points and special, advances the exit
value and resets the backglass
infinity lighting effects and Xenon
background sounds. The exit
chamber saucer also holds the
captive ball if multi-ball systems are
"go."
Multi-ball is earned by the top
Xenon saucer, which awards an X
for each entry. The first completion
of three X's qualifies the tube for
multi-ball. The second completion
releases the balls.
Playing Xenon becomes even
more exciting as players knock
down the right drop targets, either
by the top playfield rollovers or by
direct ball contact for points and to
qualify the 2X & 4X bonus
multipliers, 25,000 points, extra ball,
and special. There is also an Xenon
bonus that can be advanced 3 ways
as players spell XENON . A Xenon
Super Bonus of 20,000 and 40,000
points are held in memory after
20,000 bonus points are earned.
Xenon also contains Bally's most
sophisticated voice package and is
the first game to utilize a female
voice . Players will hear the
instructions and information uttered
by the Xenon girl. She is
complimented by the strobescopic
infinity back box effects and intensity
building background sounds that
made Bally's Space Invaders a
winning package.
106
Williams Electronics, Inc . has
created Defender, "the most ad-
vanced video game ever created."
The action begins with the player
piloting the ship Defender into outer-
space alien territory. The mission: to
protect stranded humanoids on the
planet's surface from the alien
abductors. He maneuvers the ship
across the planet with the thrust
control button, also utilizing the joy-
stick for vertical movement.
If a player is fast enough with his
rocket button, he can destroy the
aliens before they pick up his
humanoids. Once they have been
kidnapped, the duty is twofold-he
must destroy the enemy and return
the humanoids to the planet. Should
he fail to destroy the enemy and the
aliens absorb the humanoids, they
will mutate, becoming a permanent
part of the alien force, revitalizing
them and enabling them to mass a
more deadly assault on the ship De-
fender. If he shoots the aliens and
misses the pick-up, the humanoids
drop to their death. Should De-
dender lose all the humanoids during
play, then the whole world explodes!
Challenge increases as action pro·
gresses through each attack wave .
Among the deadliest of the enemy
task force are the mother ships. A
direct hit smashes the mother ship,
but she explodes into a swarming
mass of mini-ships that then must be
wiped out.
To add interest, a player has two
escape options: a limited number of
"smart bombs" which blow up all
enemies in sight, and Hyperspace,
which removes his ship from the
present time and space and puts it in
another frame . The use of
Hyperspace is unlimited, but the
area of space the ship goes to could
possibly be more dangerous .
Defender offers the highest
resolution of color images ever
achieved, said Williams Electronics.
The images are comprised of more
than 80,000 individually controlled
video elements, each element being
one of a possible 256 different colors.
The Williams-designed video
electronic system also includes the
most complete system of diagnostics
ever programmed into a video game,
said the manufacturer.
PLAY METER . J anuary, 1981