Play Meter

-STATE OF THE INDUSTRY to use the coin. This industry, along with other interested industries, is certain that the dollar coin will work this time . Business Operators continue to become more professional in handling their businesses. Last year 52 % said they were using computers in their businesses . This year that number rose to 64 %. Another 28 % said that they were not currently using a computer, but that they were considering it. This is quite a jump from two years ago when less than half of the operator population was on computer. Of those that are using a computer, 70 % are not using a program specifically designed for route management; 26% are using a route management program and are satisfied with it. The average operator has been in business nearly 18 years. Almost 29% have been in business more than 20 years, while 36 % have been in business nearly 10 years. Just over 37 % operate street locations only, 17 % operate arcades only, and 46% operate both. Operators have an average of 129 dedicated video games on their routes, 104 conversion kits, 39 pinball machines, 10 CD jukeboxes, and 13 cranes or rotaries. Operators have an average of 5 full-time employees and 2 technicians. About 43 % said they do most of their equipment buying in the fall, while 32 % noted that they do most of their buying in the spring. Just 13 % said they do most of their buying in the summer, 11 % in the winter. Operators still make location loans, but nearly 59% said they never make them . Just over 30% said they make location loans rare! y; 8 % make location loans regularly . The majority of operators use location contracts sometimes and 33 % never use contracts . Only 16% always use location contracts. Slightly over half of the operators reported that their competition had remained the same during the year, while 30 % said that competition had increased; 18 % claimed their competition had decreased . Last year 35% noted an increase in competition while just 10% reported a decrease. This year nearly 33 % reported that they had absorbed some of their competition. While 37 % stated that 12 PLAY METER 1990 Directory ANNUAL GROSS RECEIPTS (Billions) 10 9 8 7 6 - 8.9 - 6.4 5 4 - 4.5 4 .5 - 3 2 1 1982 1983 - 6.4 1984 1985 the local economy in their area had gotten worse, 19% said that the local economy had improved. Still 44 % said that it had not changed. The average operator uses 4 vehicles . The majority (85 %) said that their vehicles are company-owned. Just under 3 % said their vehicles are leased, but 12 % said they use employee-owned vehicles . Last year the issue of parallel games was still undecided in the courts. However, 19 % of the operators felt they were illegal and 54 % felt they were legal. This year, after two court rulings (one said they were not illegal and another said they were not illegal to sell but were illegal to operate) , 71 % of the operators feel that parallel games should be legal ; 28 % feel they should not be legal. ''Equipment prices are becoming prohibitive, plus we are being taxed to death by the state and local government. '' (N. Y.) Surprisingly, even though 71 % of the operators indicated that they were satisfied with their distributors, 66 % said that they would prefer to buy games direct from the manufacturers if given the opportunity . Only 30% declared that they were not satisfied with their distributors, and 34 % said they would not prefer to buy games - 4.0 1986 - 5.4 1987 1988 - 7.0 1989 direct from manufacturers even if given the opportunity. When asked what distributor services are important to them, nearly 40% cited parts, 36% answered service, 25 % noted advice, and 18% said that financing was important to them. Unfortunately, there are still 4 7 % that are not and never were members of the national operators association (AMOA), and 12 % that were members at one time but have dropped from the ranks . Just over 41 % of the operator population belongs to AMOA. The percentages are similar for state associations; 45 % are members of their local state association, 45 % are not or ever have been members, and 11 % are no longer members but were at one.time. Just 13 % said they are more confident in the industry than they were last year, 39 % said they were less confident, and 49% said they felt about the same. Video Games Video games still make up the majority of games in locations. Of the nearly 2 million games in 413,000 locations, 1.2 million of them are video games. Last year 49 % were dedicated video games while 17 % were kits. This year the percentage of dedicated games dropped to 39 % while the percentage of kits rose to 26 %. Video games, soon after their rise in popularity just 10 years ago, have become the focus of the coin-op industry. Usually when asked how the industry is doing, the answer depends on how video games are doing at the time. The weekly gross collections of video games more than doubled