Play Meter
Issue: 1989 March - Vol 15 Num 3 - Page 10
------
- -
--- -
FROl\rl THE EDITOR
Are you the one?
by Valerie Cognevich
O
ne of my favorite movies 1s a romantic love story
called ··somewhere in Time'' starring Christopher Reeve
and Jane Seymour. In the movie, Reeve -,ecs a photograph of a
beautiful girl taken a half century earlier and 1s obsessed with her.
He eventually limb a way 10 travel back in time. Of course, he
goes back to 1912 with the express intention of being with the girl
in the photograph, but she docsn 't know it yet. The first time he
secs her. she a'>ks him.·• Are you the one"" He replies. "Yes,
I am." She didn't really know him, but her agent had told her
that '>omeday • .,omeonc would come along and she would fall in
love.
fhe po1111 i-. that i.he was looking for that special someone in
just about every man she met. knowing that one of them was go-
ing to be the om'. She was simply trying to find -.omeone special
and didn't want to pa!-.s up any opportunity. But mall other caM!s.
the man wus11 't the one and that was dear very soon. However,
she que!-.lioned each one, just in case.
We 're all asking of each new game we sec on the show tloor,
" Arc you the one? '· We mean. of course. arc you the one that
will earn enough money IO pay for yourself? Arc you the one that
is something unique. something with a fresh theme and play ap-
peal? We 're desperately searching for a game that stands out in
a crowd
It's been too many times lately that the answer has been. "I
want 10 be hut no. I'm not the one." The games have been i·ery
mediocre and i't'f)'expensive. definitely not a wmning combina-
tion. One distributor recently said he had decided to pass on acer-
tain game from one ofh1s manufacturers. After the manufacturer
made him see the error of his ways (by convincing him he had
an obligation to buy a certain number of games), he iook two.
He still has them collecting dust in his warehouse mstead of
quarters out on location because he couldn't sell even those
measly two games! That's sad. isn't it?
Why couldn't he sell them? Because he said he couldn't lie to
hb customers, and they wouldn't have bought them anyway if
he told the truth about how bad they were. Some distributors of-
fer to take back games if earnings don't live up to expectat ions.
Unfortunately. when they do get games back for that reason,
they're virtually impossible to sell to other operators
Distributors can't ltc to their customers. At least not too many
times! If a distributor assures a cu.,tomer that a game is boa'>ting
high earnmg reports and recommends a game that turns out to
be a dog. that operator isn't going to be too keen on listening to
his distributor the next time. We often tout the responsibility of
the d"tributor, and advice good honest advice-is a key
element. But that leaves the dbtributor right smack in the mid-
dle of a pretty precarious situation. Whal I question j., why a
distributor should be forced to buy prodUl'l he docs not want to
buy ordoesn 't think he can sell. That's cra1.y. If a manufacturer
makes a game that sucks, then let him be the one to take the loss.
I would imagine that the next game would be a whole lot better.
It's tough out there but it's even tougher being in such a
vulnerable position.
Without a doubt. home games arc -.wcepmg the nation. The
technology gap between coin-op and home is closing just a lit-
tle too fast for us not lo worry. But it docsn 't have to be critical
if the coin-op manufacturers stay not one. but several steps ahead
of the consumer technology.
Manufacturers arc obligated to offer operators money-making
games. not rehashes of old game themes that happened to click
with players at one time. New ideas, new themes, new novelties
built into games, innovation. That's what we need. It's im-
perative that we get 1t.
The AMOA show this past November was disappointing.
There were no brand spanking new games . Instead there were
games that had already been out on location, and most were
rather blah clones of other rather blah clones .
I'm hoping to walk the ACME floor and be swept off my feet
by something really exciting. I want to sec lines at games with
operators straining to sec how to play, and then lining up to place
orders. I want to hear excitement in voices, like there always is
with superior games.
Will I be disappointed or pleased? I'm not a negative person,
and I'm especially not negative about the coin·op industry. I'm
betting on the manufacturers this time around. I know they can
dallle us with great games. They've done it too many times
before not to believe.
I'm going to walk the floor with an optimistic attitude and look
for the hits that should be there. If there's nothing too exciting
or not any more challenging than I can play at home, I know 1 ·11
sec excitement in the jukebox manufacturers' booths. foci Fried-
man of Rowe said that operators were looking for solid in-
vestments, and music may be one of very few places operators
arc gomg to be able to confidently spend their money.
a./;ub
'f
ftfxet'ut!.U
Valerie Cognev1ch
Editor
j
,
'
IO PLAYMtrER M an;h 1989
- -
--- -
FROl\rl THE EDITOR
Are you the one?
by Valerie Cognevich
O
ne of my favorite movies 1s a romantic love story
called ··somewhere in Time'' starring Christopher Reeve
and Jane Seymour. In the movie, Reeve -,ecs a photograph of a
beautiful girl taken a half century earlier and 1s obsessed with her.
He eventually limb a way 10 travel back in time. Of course, he
goes back to 1912 with the express intention of being with the girl
in the photograph, but she docsn 't know it yet. The first time he
secs her. she a'>ks him.·• Are you the one"" He replies. "Yes,
I am." She didn't really know him, but her agent had told her
that '>omeday • .,omeonc would come along and she would fall in
love.
fhe po1111 i-. that i.he was looking for that special someone in
just about every man she met. knowing that one of them was go-
ing to be the om'. She was simply trying to find -.omeone special
and didn't want to pa!-.s up any opportunity. But mall other caM!s.
the man wus11 't the one and that was dear very soon. However,
she que!-.lioned each one, just in case.
We 're all asking of each new game we sec on the show tloor,
" Arc you the one? '· We mean. of course. arc you the one that
will earn enough money IO pay for yourself? Arc you the one that
is something unique. something with a fresh theme and play ap-
peal? We 're desperately searching for a game that stands out in
a crowd
It's been too many times lately that the answer has been. "I
want 10 be hut no. I'm not the one." The games have been i·ery
mediocre and i't'f)'expensive. definitely not a wmning combina-
tion. One distributor recently said he had decided to pass on acer-
tain game from one ofh1s manufacturers. After the manufacturer
made him see the error of his ways (by convincing him he had
an obligation to buy a certain number of games), he iook two.
He still has them collecting dust in his warehouse mstead of
quarters out on location because he couldn't sell even those
measly two games! That's sad. isn't it?
Why couldn't he sell them? Because he said he couldn't lie to
hb customers, and they wouldn't have bought them anyway if
he told the truth about how bad they were. Some distributors of-
fer to take back games if earnings don't live up to expectat ions.
Unfortunately. when they do get games back for that reason,
they're virtually impossible to sell to other operators
Distributors can't ltc to their customers. At least not too many
times! If a distributor assures a cu.,tomer that a game is boa'>ting
high earnmg reports and recommends a game that turns out to
be a dog. that operator isn't going to be too keen on listening to
his distributor the next time. We often tout the responsibility of
the d"tributor, and advice good honest advice-is a key
element. But that leaves the dbtributor right smack in the mid-
dle of a pretty precarious situation. Whal I question j., why a
distributor should be forced to buy prodUl'l he docs not want to
buy ordoesn 't think he can sell. That's cra1.y. If a manufacturer
makes a game that sucks, then let him be the one to take the loss.
I would imagine that the next game would be a whole lot better.
It's tough out there but it's even tougher being in such a
vulnerable position.
Without a doubt. home games arc -.wcepmg the nation. The
technology gap between coin-op and home is closing just a lit-
tle too fast for us not lo worry. But it docsn 't have to be critical
if the coin-op manufacturers stay not one. but several steps ahead
of the consumer technology.
Manufacturers arc obligated to offer operators money-making
games. not rehashes of old game themes that happened to click
with players at one time. New ideas, new themes, new novelties
built into games, innovation. That's what we need. It's im-
perative that we get 1t.
The AMOA show this past November was disappointing.
There were no brand spanking new games . Instead there were
games that had already been out on location, and most were
rather blah clones of other rather blah clones .
I'm hoping to walk the ACME floor and be swept off my feet
by something really exciting. I want to sec lines at games with
operators straining to sec how to play, and then lining up to place
orders. I want to hear excitement in voices, like there always is
with superior games.
Will I be disappointed or pleased? I'm not a negative person,
and I'm especially not negative about the coin·op industry. I'm
betting on the manufacturers this time around. I know they can
dallle us with great games. They've done it too many times
before not to believe.
I'm going to walk the floor with an optimistic attitude and look
for the hits that should be there. If there's nothing too exciting
or not any more challenging than I can play at home, I know 1 ·11
sec excitement in the jukebox manufacturers' booths. foci Fried-
man of Rowe said that operators were looking for solid in-
vestments, and music may be one of very few places operators
arc gomg to be able to confidently spend their money.
a./;ub
'f
ftfxet'ut!.U
Valerie Cognev1ch
Editor
j
,
'
IO PLAYMtrER M an;h 1989
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).