Play Meter

NEWS BULLETIN ~ DYNAMO ACQUIRES RIGHTS FROM FOXTRONIX .. .Dynamo has acquired all video lottery rights, including software and game design, from Foxtronix. Its video lottery games have passed the testing requirements in South Dakota, Montana, and New Brunswick, Canada. Mark Struhs, Dynamo's vice president of sales and marketing, will head up the company's newly formed video lottery division . He says Dynamo plans to market its games through traditional coin-op distribution channels. The video lottery products will be produced and shipped from Dynamo's facility in Richland Hills, Texas, with shipment planned to begin in September. ... AAMA ELECTS NEW BOARD .. .Speaking of Dynamo, company president Bill Rickett was elected president of the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) during its annual meeting in Washington , D.C., on May 8. " I am pleased to be AAMA's new president and am very much willing to work for the betterment of the industry,'' he said . "I would like to see further strides made in foreign business development and will do what I can to expand AAMA's program ." Also elected to the executive committee were Tony Yula Jr. of Mondial Distributing, vice president; Aus Strahan of NSM-America, secretary; Al Stone of Nintendo of America , treasurer; Rick Kirby of New England Coin-Op, assistant secretary; and Frank Gumma Jr. of American Vending Sales, assistant treasurer. Others elected to the AAMA board of directors were Rich Babich of Colorado Game Exchange, David Patterson of Sun Belt Distributing, and Alan Schafer of Valley Recreation Products. Members remaining include Strahan , Gil Pollock of Premier Technology, Frank Ballouz of Fabtek, Shane Breaks of Atari Games, Bill Cravens of Leprechaun, Rubin Franco of Franco Distributing, and Ray Galante of MusicVend/Dunis Distributing . AAMA held its 1991 Legislative Conference during this time. Association members met with over 75 senators, congressmen , and congressional aides to lobby for the One Dollar Coin Act of 1991 . Their efforts resulted in nine more co-sponsors for the legislation-five in the House, four in the Senate-bringing the totals to 78 in the former, 20 in the latter. AAMA expects several more legislators to sign on in the near future as a result of the meetings. Look for more coverage of the AAMA Legislative Conference next month. ... VIDEO LOTTERY UPDATE .. .The status of video lottery in each of the following states changes daily. Here's the latest at press time: Kansas: Though Substitute Senate Bill 449 appeared unable to pass during the regular legislative session, it survived into a veto session, only to fail after passing the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs. The Kansas Lottery supported the bill and would have administered the program. Amusement operators say they plan to continue their efforts. Oregon: Legislation has been proposed to eliminate gray area games in the state by Oct. 1. At that time the Oregon Lottery would like to implement a video lottery program with operators, based on the South Dakota model. Louisiana: House Bill 283 has passed the House and is headed for the Senate, where it died last year. For more state information , turn to " Video Gaming Outlook" on pg. 79. ..,. AMOA, VH-1 TEAM UP FOR JUKEBOX PROMOAMOA and the VH-1 (Video Hits One) cable network will join forces to conduct a highly visible ' Jukebox Madness" promotion later this summer. The promotion , set to run from approximately July 20 to Aug. 18, revolves around a VH-1 on-air contest. Ten jukeboxes-five nostalgia and five new CD units-will be given away to consumers. VH-1, which has nearly 40 million subscribers, will also include special jukebox segments in its regular programming . Contest entries can be made by either calling a special VH-1 900number, in which the caller answers a "jukebox trivia question" to qualify, or by returning an entry form on display at participating jukebox locations. AMOA operators will lend additional promotional assistance by placing wall posters, easel-backed posters with entry forms, and special title strips promoting 45 rpm records and CDs. Among the artists tied-in with this video/jukebox promotion are The Eurythmics, Rick Astley, The Texas Tornados, and Vanessa Williams. We'll have the finalized list of songs next month . In other jukebox news, Randy Chilton has replaced Tami Norberg-Paulsen as chairman of the AMOA Jukebox Promotion Committee. He will officially take over at AMOA Expo '91. ..,. VANDERHOOF JOINS CAPCOM ...Ctipcom USA has named Jim Vanderhoof to the position of regional sales manager for the Midwestern region . His territory will encompass 12 states and Canada. Vanderhoof has previously worked in sales for Sega Enterprises. ..,. AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN NAMCO, DYNAMO ... Two games currently being shipped by Namco-America, Final Lap 2 and Steel Gunner, are manufactured by Dynamo Corp. at its plant in Richland Hills, Texas. "Dynamo's capacity to engineer, manufacture, test, and ship directly to customers across North America is a big plus for Namco-America," said Kevin Hayes, Namco's coin-0p division vice president. "Dynamo's automated production process has allowed the economical addition of value-added features, such as cleated plywood cabinets and diamond-pattern aluminum floor plate for the U.S. product. Dynamo is even able to provide custom color T-edge, molded plastics, and color-coordinated manual-a Namco trademark." ..,. MOVING THOSE USED GAMES .. .Is there much operator interest in acquiring games from auctions? Ask the folks at U.S. Amusement Auctions. They had a record-setting day on April 27, auctioning off over 700 games in 14 hours! It was the largest and longest auction in the company's nine-year history. ..,. RSI RUNNING JUKEBOX PROMO .. .seven-inch vinyl supplier Record Source International is trying to create interest in jukeboxes by implementing a point-Of-purchase promotional campaign. Locations will receive " Battle of the Sexes" posters that ask customers to choose their favorite selection. The choice is between " Men" by the Forrester Sisters or "Women" by the Bandit Brothers. RSI recommends that the poster be placed on the wall next to the jukebox. " It will allow the route perimn to read the number of plays for each record and post the popularit)i numbers on the poster,'' said RSl's Dock Ringo. For more information on the promotion , contact RSI at (817) 325-8752. The FAX is (817) 325-6431 . ..,. TWO INDUSTRY FIGURES PASS AWAY .. :rhe coin-0p industry lost two veterans in May with the passing of Nicky "Mary Jane" O'Donnell and Thomas Dawson . Mrs. O'Donnell, the wife of former Bally president/CEO Bill O'Donnell, died May 12 outside of Chicago. She was 67. Mrs. O'Donnell had been battling a lengthy illness. Mr. Dawson, co-founder and chairman of the board of Acme Premium Supply Corp., died May 7 in St. Louis after fighting cancer for the past year. He was 74. Mr. Dawson founded the company in 1938 and was working on a money-management machine before his death . ... NSM ADDS IRIZARRY ...Jorge Irizarry has been hired by jukebox manufacturer NSM-America to fi ll the position of chief engineer. An electronics engineer, Irizarry says he's excited about putting his college degree to work at NSM . " NSM is, quite honestly, at the cutting edge of computer science technology," he said . " Their product shows it. I've also seen the kind of flexibility they've built into the product. It leaves all kinds of room for me to apply my electronic and engineering skills." PLAY METER MAGAZINE, June 1991, Volume 17, No. 7. Copyright 1991 by Skybird Publishing Company. PLAY METER MAGAZINE (ISSN 1048-8243)(UPS 358-350) is published monthly, except for the two issues in January. Publishing office: 6600 Fleur de Lis, New Orleans, LA 70124. MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 24970, New Orleans, LA 70184, USA. Phone: 504/488~7003 ; FAX: 504/488-7083. For subscriptions: 504/488-7003. Subscription rates: U.S. and Canada-$50. Advertising rates are available upon request. NO PART OF THE MAGAZINE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION . The editors are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. PLAY METER MAGAZINE buys ALL RIGHTS, unless otherwise specified, to accepted manuscripts, cartoons, art work, and photographs. Second-class postage paid at New Orleans, LA 70113 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER Send Form 3579 to Play Meter, P.O. Box 24970, New Orleans, LA 70184. PLAY METER 3 JUNE1991