Play Meter
Issue: 1984 May 15 - Vol 10 Num 9 - Page 76
nEWS BRIEFS
Atari plans to move some of its operations from California and Puerto Rico to El Paso, Texas,
according to the April 9 Wall Street journal. The move will affect about 550 workers (250 in California and
300 in Puerto Rico) . It is not known how many jobs the move will create in El Paso. At press time, Atari
officials were not available for comment. (More information will appear in a future issue of Play Meter.)
--·--
Pizza Time Theatre's " application" to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to sell Sente assets to Bally reveals
Bally money has supported the Pizza Time effort of late. Prior to Pizza Time's filing for bankruptcy under
Chapter 11 status (the company can continue doing business, to reorganize while creditors are held at bay),
Bally had loaned the company $500 ,000 .
The application also reveals Bally and Pizza Time had "entered into an agreement" for the sale of
Sente assets prior to the filing. The so-called Asset Acquisition Agreement includes employment contracts
for Nolan Bushnell ; for engineering personnel Howard Delman , Roger Hector, and Edward Rotberg ; and
for Sente President Bob Lundquist. The agreement specifies Pizza Time will be granted a license to market
home versions of Bushnell ' s game creations.
--·--
--·--
--·--
Mylstar filed a lawsuit against Bally Distributing for refusing to accept " a substantial number" of
games it had ordered. Several Mylstar distributors have balked at taking more M.A.C.H. 3s, but Bally is the
first to be sued. In conjunction with filing the suit, Mylstar announced it has " severed " its relationship with
Bally Distributing and that Bally " will no longer be a distributor of Mylstar products. "
Nebraska legislators gave final approval to LB 744 which halts expansion of the Nebraska video lottery
into any more cities and forces the closure of existing video lottery games by January 1, 1985. Governor Bob
Kerrey recently signed the bill, and lottery cities can add or subtract games during the remaining months of
the video lottery.
The Ohio Music & Amusement Association ' s 10th Anniversary Exposition, May 4-5 at the Hyatt
Regency in Columbus, will focus on what association President Richard E. George calls the " creeping crisis
of video lottery machines.
" Operators, distributors, and suppliers are now beginning to realize the overwhelming impact video
lottery machines will have on the total industry," George said. " As a consequence, Ohio' s operators and
distributors, as they have so often in the historical past, are taking the lead in working to develop a
cohesive plan to cope with this latest-and potentially most devastating-threat to their businesses. "
--·--
--·--
Williams' Ron Crouse, marketing and engineering director, has left the company . Meanwhile, Ken
Fedensa has returned to Williams to assume control of the engineering department (he is hiring " new
blood "), while joseph Dillon , Nancy Goodwin , and Lou Wilson are sharing marketing responsibilities.
78
P1.A Y METER. May 15, 1984
Atari plans to move some of its operations from California and Puerto Rico to El Paso, Texas,
according to the April 9 Wall Street journal. The move will affect about 550 workers (250 in California and
300 in Puerto Rico) . It is not known how many jobs the move will create in El Paso. At press time, Atari
officials were not available for comment. (More information will appear in a future issue of Play Meter.)
--·--
Pizza Time Theatre's " application" to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to sell Sente assets to Bally reveals
Bally money has supported the Pizza Time effort of late. Prior to Pizza Time's filing for bankruptcy under
Chapter 11 status (the company can continue doing business, to reorganize while creditors are held at bay),
Bally had loaned the company $500 ,000 .
The application also reveals Bally and Pizza Time had "entered into an agreement" for the sale of
Sente assets prior to the filing. The so-called Asset Acquisition Agreement includes employment contracts
for Nolan Bushnell ; for engineering personnel Howard Delman , Roger Hector, and Edward Rotberg ; and
for Sente President Bob Lundquist. The agreement specifies Pizza Time will be granted a license to market
home versions of Bushnell ' s game creations.
--·--
--·--
--·--
Mylstar filed a lawsuit against Bally Distributing for refusing to accept " a substantial number" of
games it had ordered. Several Mylstar distributors have balked at taking more M.A.C.H. 3s, but Bally is the
first to be sued. In conjunction with filing the suit, Mylstar announced it has " severed " its relationship with
Bally Distributing and that Bally " will no longer be a distributor of Mylstar products. "
Nebraska legislators gave final approval to LB 744 which halts expansion of the Nebraska video lottery
into any more cities and forces the closure of existing video lottery games by January 1, 1985. Governor Bob
Kerrey recently signed the bill, and lottery cities can add or subtract games during the remaining months of
the video lottery.
The Ohio Music & Amusement Association ' s 10th Anniversary Exposition, May 4-5 at the Hyatt
Regency in Columbus, will focus on what association President Richard E. George calls the " creeping crisis
of video lottery machines.
" Operators, distributors, and suppliers are now beginning to realize the overwhelming impact video
lottery machines will have on the total industry," George said. " As a consequence, Ohio' s operators and
distributors, as they have so often in the historical past, are taking the lead in working to develop a
cohesive plan to cope with this latest-and potentially most devastating-threat to their businesses. "
--·--
--·--
Williams' Ron Crouse, marketing and engineering director, has left the company . Meanwhile, Ken
Fedensa has returned to Williams to assume control of the engineering department (he is hiring " new
blood "), while joseph Dillon , Nancy Goodwin , and Lou Wilson are sharing marketing responsibilities.
78
P1.A Y METER. May 15, 1984
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).