Play Meter
Issue: 1981 July 01 - Vol 7 Num 12 - Page 59
Critic's Corne
By Roger C. Sharpe
LIGHTNING is viewed
The dollars and sense
of free play on pin
In the past few issues I've tried to
offer some input as to the problems
and solu ions regarding pinball . And
with the strong games that have
bee n turned ou recently it is
probably rime to ge to th e major
thing holding bac he earnings of
pinball versus video s ince so many
of you are compariso buying and
selecting equipmen on he basis of
what the cash box is going o show.
First off, you ha e :o reali ze that
pinball is n't tha bad o .. Things have
stablilized somewha: in erms of
design , and machi es s uch as Eight
Ball Deluxe ha ·e ;xo ·e ·hat you
don't need all he ran ·azz all the
c :;:> a\;i ng game .
time to produce a
And the inno a ·a , s ·
the poten "aJs o
deliver "thin i p::-ese
a drasr ic deparrcre ·
going to be
Stern's LIGHTNING
60
ga mes
started thinking about o t e:
alternatives.
One direction the talks a .=.
speculation turned to was "time" a -
Gottlieb even produced a ga e.
James Bond that was based on ti
Other games have also incorpora ec
this concept into the pla y o:
particular machines, and maybe ·-:.
the long run this will be t
framework for pinball rather than c.
set number of balls per game. Bu •
don't think this is going to be t e
answer.
Beyond these couple of changes.
the other option manufacturers ha
attempted, less than successful! .
has been an increase in pricing.
which at this point in time, given the
nature of the economy and the fac
that the games in general have n'·
been knocking them dead at the box
office, this solution hasn't been the
best of ideas. Somewhere down the
line it probably will be more valid ,
although my solution to the dilemma
might just solve this and allow the
games to remain at a quarter than
fifty cents or any of the other
combinations that have popped up .
Simply stated, the thing that's
holding pinball back has been the
free play . Video hasn't done it. You
get extra time , another space ship,
more bullets, or whatever, but not an
entirely fresh game to play for free .
That's the adjustment pinball is going
to have to make, along with
operators and the players. You just
can't make top bucks if you're losing
twenty-five cents or fifty cents every
few games or however you're
percentaging your machines. That's
what's taking the money out of your
cash box, probably more than
anything else.
Think of a game on extra ball play
PLAY METER,
July 1,1981
By Roger C. Sharpe
LIGHTNING is viewed
The dollars and sense
of free play on pin
In the past few issues I've tried to
offer some input as to the problems
and solu ions regarding pinball . And
with the strong games that have
bee n turned ou recently it is
probably rime to ge to th e major
thing holding bac he earnings of
pinball versus video s ince so many
of you are compariso buying and
selecting equipmen on he basis of
what the cash box is going o show.
First off, you ha e :o reali ze that
pinball is n't tha bad o .. Things have
stablilized somewha: in erms of
design , and machi es s uch as Eight
Ball Deluxe ha ·e ;xo ·e ·hat you
don't need all he ran ·azz all the
c :;:> a\;i ng game .
time to produce a
And the inno a ·a , s ·
the poten "aJs o
deliver "thin i p::-ese
a drasr ic deparrcre ·
going to be
Stern's LIGHTNING
60
ga mes
started thinking about o t e:
alternatives.
One direction the talks a .=.
speculation turned to was "time" a -
Gottlieb even produced a ga e.
James Bond that was based on ti
Other games have also incorpora ec
this concept into the pla y o:
particular machines, and maybe ·-:.
the long run this will be t
framework for pinball rather than c.
set number of balls per game. Bu •
don't think this is going to be t e
answer.
Beyond these couple of changes.
the other option manufacturers ha
attempted, less than successful! .
has been an increase in pricing.
which at this point in time, given the
nature of the economy and the fac
that the games in general have n'·
been knocking them dead at the box
office, this solution hasn't been the
best of ideas. Somewhere down the
line it probably will be more valid ,
although my solution to the dilemma
might just solve this and allow the
games to remain at a quarter than
fifty cents or any of the other
combinations that have popped up .
Simply stated, the thing that's
holding pinball back has been the
free play . Video hasn't done it. You
get extra time , another space ship,
more bullets, or whatever, but not an
entirely fresh game to play for free .
That's the adjustment pinball is going
to have to make, along with
operators and the players. You just
can't make top bucks if you're losing
twenty-five cents or fifty cents every
few games or however you're
percentaging your machines. That's
what's taking the money out of your
cash box, probably more than
anything else.
Think of a game on extra ball play
PLAY METER,
July 1,1981
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).