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NEWS BULLETIN
....... The Department of Business Regulatio n in Flo rida has sent the Florida Amusement-Vend ing Association (FA VA) itS
newly-proposed guidelines for the operation of crane games in the state. These guidelines were not fi nal as we went to press;
operators were being allowed to submit suggested revisions by June 19 . A grace period to comply with the final guidelines is
expected, according to FA VA attorney Marie Mattox. According to the proposed guidelines, "Cases will be made against
alcoholic beverage licensees and machines found on licensed premises upon the finding of o ne or more of the following
situations:
I.
2.
3.
4.
Prizes are worth more than 75 cents .
Prizes consist of any amount of coin or currency, whethe r attached to other prizes or not.
Prizes consist of o r have Florida lottery tic kets attached .
Prizes consist of or have lottery tickets attached to them, even if such tickets are or purport to be for charitabl e purposes.
This is true even if the tickets may be available on the premises at no charge.
5. Prizes are placed in areas whe re it is mechanically imposs ible for the m to be extracted by the claw.
6. T he claw d rops rando mly, i. e . , not as the result of a player' s decision or the expiration of a certain period of time .
7. The playing time is not revealed to the player.
8. The c law pressure is so weak that prizes encompassed withi n the claws arc pulled free by the force of gravity when the
claw mechanism is elevated .
9. T he claw is designed so that prizes e ncompassed within its claw are pulled free by the force of gravity when the claw
mechanism is elevated.
10. Prizes arc packed so tightly that the claw cannot g rasp any prize.
11. Prizes are too heavy fo r the claw to pick up.
12. Prizes are below the level that the claw will descend .
13. Prizes are of such a he ight that the claw falls off to one s ide, precluding the possibility of winning that prize.
14. One prize is attainable but is attached to anothe r imbedded and unattainable prize.
No individual machine should be certified as being legal , because subsequently that machine's operation may be changed by
the operator. Penny-fall machines (coin pushers), where any prize may be won, whether cash o r merchand ise, arc strictly
games of chance and therefore illegal. "
....... Sha rp Image Electro nics, manu facture rs of the largest video monitors in the industry (27 inches), has a new address:
9834 G lenoaks Blvd. , Sun Valley , CA 9 1352 .
.. .. .. . On May 25 in San Francisco , U .S. District Court Judge Fern Smith denied a motion by Nintcndo to tempo rari ly restrain
Tcngcn Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ata ri Games Corp. , from d istributing its independently-manufactu red, Nintcndo-
compatible version of the video game Tetris . The game has been the object of an ongoing legal battle between the companies
over who ow ns the exclusive rig hts to d istribute it fo r play o n the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) .
.. .. ... Frank Bund ra, who recently res ig ned from Konami , has officially formed a new company with his brother Joe and
brothers Ron and Dave Siller. The company, Ameri Corporatio n, will be devoted to " the R&D and marketing of first video
and later electro-mechanical games. They' ll be good clean fun and will make lots of money for operato rs," Bundra said .
Amcri Corp.'s first game, Ameri Darts, will be out in the beginning of September. The company's address is 3955 Suffolk,
Hoffman Estates, Ill. 60195. The phone number is (3 12) 934-066 1; the FAX is (3 12) 934-0555 .
....... Ai r hockey safety shield manufact urer The Puck Stops Here has moved to a new, larger fac ility, located at 500 N. Hwy.
77, Suite 900, Waxahach ie, TX 75 164 .
.. .. .. . Arcades, and the coin-op industry as a who le, will get a well-deserved boost by being the focus of a new feature fi lm
starring Fred Savage of the TV comedy "The Wonder Years." Savage started shooting the movie- titled "The Wizard"-
d uring the first week of June. It 's set in actual arcades throughout the western United States, fi nally ending up in Los
Angeles. Word from Pipeline Productions is that the nick is scheduled for release on Dec. 15 by Un iversal Studios. Over
1,000 theatres nationwide are expected to premier " The Wizard" o n that date .
.... . .. In o ur June issue sto ry o n fa ther/son businesses, o ne of the captions identified Lenny F iel's wife as C indy Fiel. In fact,
her name is Adele, and it is through the combination of their two first names thai the company's name was born: Lendell
Vending and Amusement Machine Co. Also, the pho ne number in Inter-Space Video Sales' classified ad was incorrect; their
number is (9 16) 386-02 14 .
....... Coin Data Inc . has moved to a new locatio n. The address is 3026 O wens Dr., Su ite 106, Ant ioch, TN 370 13. This
move does not affect Micro Manufacturing, which is still in the same location .
. . . . . . . During the week of May 26, the Royal Canadian Mo unted Po lice in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario, seized 35 counterfe it
video games from fi ve different arcades, accord ing to Bill Kidwell , AAM A's director of investigations. These games, seized
under the authority of the Canadian Copyright Act, were manufactured by Data East, Taito, Scga, and Capcom. The
investigation is continuing and charges are pend ing, Kidwell said .
...... . To help promote its newest pin , Black Knight 2000, Will iams is selling black T-shirts with a likeness of the Black
Knight o n the front. T hey cost $ 14.95 apiece. Call your local distributo r or Williams directly at (800) 347-5300 for more
information .
....... Tekbilt Inc. has a new address: Huntingdon Valley Industrial Center, 3979 Mann Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.
T heir new pho ne numbers arc (800) 666-7776 and (2 15) 322-3232; the FAX number is (215) 322-3238.