Play Meter

-- THE LAST WORD Goodrich doesn't have a blimp I t's the day after New Year' s as I write this. I dread the torture that must now be inflicted upon my body to make my face once again look like the photo in the upper left-hand corner. Non-stop food and wine during the holidays, I've found, will make your face nice and round . Anyway , extra weight aside, the holidays are a good time to catch up with old friends and relatives, people you never see during the rest of the year. The conversations quickly tum into gossiping sessions . " Hi, Aunt Louise, how've you been? " "Fine, Chris. Say, what's this I hear about your brother and a 43-year-old hooker from Honduras?" "Well, boys will be boys. This carrot and beet casserole is delicious '' Friends you haven't seen in years keep you on guard as well . " How many years has it been, Chris? " "Oh, I guess about six or seven . You ' re looking good. " ''So are you, except for that extra chin you 're developing. Been hittin' the Fritos and onion dip pretty heavy, I see. Tell me, do you ever run into Paula Thibodeaux any more? I hear she really turned into a porker. Or how about Jimmy Freidrichs . I hear he " Inevitably, that tired subject we all dread takes center stage: What Are You Doing With Yourself These Days? Relative #1 : " Still in school, Chris? " "No. I've been out since ' 84 ." 144 PLAY METER/February 1991 Old Friend #1: ''I hear you 're working for a newspaper in Cajun country. ' ' "No. I left that job two-and-a-half years ago." Relative #2: "Where have you guys been? Chris has been working for a video game magazine. You know those Nintendo games that your kids beg for every Christmas? That's what he writes about.'' "Well, not exactly," I explain. "There are magazines for the home market, but ours is for the coin-operated amusement industry. We' re a trade publication for the video games you see in arcades, along with pinball machines, redemption equipment, jukeboxes, pool tables, electronic darts, and, more recently , legalized video poker machines." Old Friend #2: "Oh . So do you think you could get me some game cartridges for my son? He already has the Nintendo NES, but lately he's been asking for Sega' s Genesis. Which one's better, Chris?" "I wouldn't be a good judge . Like I said, my magazine covers-'' "Old Friend #3: "Oh, I know all about those home systems . Now ifl were a kid, I'd prefer " Knuckleheads . Nobody in the general public, it seems, wants to hear about the coin-op industry . Even people I see on a regular basis don't act particularly interested in the latest games on the market. Do I ever get asked, "Chris, what's the best new pinball at the arcade on Veterans Highway?" No . Or maybe, " How does Race Drivin 'compare to Hard Drivin '?' ' Never. But let me talk to a seven- or eight-yearold who thinks he knows what I do for a living. "Do you know where I can find The Wrath of Black Manta for my home system?" The point I'm making is that our industry is finishing second in a two-horse race with the home market. The product available for the home is fresh in the public's mind; ads for the games are all over the airwaves and in periodicals. It is my opinion that the coin-op industry, in its current state, is yesterday ' s news . Players aren't doing as much playing , operators aren't buying as many new games, and manufacturers appear to have hit creative bottom . Exceptions, of course, do exist. Operators of redemption equipment and CD jukeboxes, according to our "State of the Industry" survey, have met with success. Pool and darts still earn steadily . But the comments we've heard , in sum, amount to a cry for help , help to combat the home market. I need to get away and think about this some more. Maybe I can hitch a ride aboard the Goodrich blimp. D Christopher Caire News Editor