Play Meter

Critic's Corner
~~~------------------------------
By Roger C. Sharpe
'In the swim'
of the new pingames tide
I have often in the past talked
about "lead time" which in the
magazine business means that copy
must be written far in advance of the
actual date when you're reading this.
Frequently it's a problem. I recently
had a conversation with someone
who stated that I was doing games
well in advance of when they
appeared in his neighborhood
arcade, while others have com-
mented that the games appear too
far after the fact of their production
run.
Unfortunately, there's no clear cut
solution to the dilemma, although I
do try to ration out the equipment at
hand in a reasonable order of when
they should be hitting the streets.
But the reason I bring this subject
up is that, although for me now it's the
end of August, by the time you're
reading these words I should be
celebrating (God willing) the birth of
my second child and it's difficult to
disassociate these two events and
keep them in perspective. Some-
how, the feeling is like being in limbo
and my concern is whether I'll even
be able to attend this year's AMOA
convention at the end of October, or
play daddy and miss my first AMOA
in seven years. However, as the
saying goes, time will tell.
More important is the fact that
pinball continues to gear up and
there should be a number of
surprises in store as we get closer to
the end of yet another year that has
proved quite interesting. Although
video has enjoyed its sustained
success, pinball has seemingly
forged its own following that
continues to build with each
succeeding game, with even many in
the industry expressing the view that
the games today are probably more
inventive and exciting than at any
other time in the history of the
business. And a look at recent efforts
tends to support this view.
We've witnessed an integration of
ideas and concepts not only with
basic playfield design but also in
terms of programming and the
additional impac t and influence of
graphics and sound. The total effect
has been nothing s hort of
remarkable when you look at how
quickly the changes have come. In
many ways much the credit must go
to video which has forced this new
direction and increased attention to
detail, but then this has always been
the nature of the business and
probably always will be.
In fact, pinball has been driven to
expand its limitations and horizons
as to what can be accomplished
within the existing space and how
can that space be best utilized. So
the end result is that, although there
may be fewer models to choose
from, compared with recent years,
they are of a highe r quality just in
terms of what they are now offering
the player. And, I think increasingly,
the player is noticing this and
responding to it when given the
chance to have access to the
machines.
The efforts you'll see at the show
or hear about if you can't attend in
person, will undoubtedly confirm
this since even at this point there is
much s peculation as to what will be
on display and whether pinball will
indeed pull some tricks from up the
manufacturer's collective sleeves.
For this writer, I tend to believe
that we are on the brink of some
exciting developments that may
even complement the traditional
machines as we know them as well as
fu rther establish their place in the
market.
One of the most active companies
this year has been Bally, which has
Bally's FATHOM
48
PLAY METER,
November 1, 1981
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