Play Meter

NEWS BULLETIN .,.. VIDEO POKER SCARE IN LOUISIANA ... A legislative ses- .,.. HALF CENTURY CLUB UPDATE ... Steve Kordek and Jim sion gone bonkers over casino gambling came to a close at midnight, June 22, but not without putting a last-minute scare into the hearts of video poker operators, distributors, and manufacturers. An uproar over the June 18 passage of a casino bill, long an item on the private agenda of Gov. Edwin Edwards, seemed to put everyone over-the-top and into an anti-gambling mode. One local newscaster summed it up this way: "Legislators had a choice of riding the steamroller (driven by Edwards) or being in front of it." Apparently to combat fears of gambling proliferation, and as an appeasement to anti-gambling forces, an amendment passed the House on June 20 to limit the casino to one in New Orleans, while also repealing the 1991 video poker law. The ball next went to the Senate's court. Edwards has always maintained that he would not have signed the video poker law, which passed during the term of his predecessor, Buddy Roemer. The result was a day of panic in the state as operators geared up for the July 1 start of the legal pokers. Legislators fed up with discussing gambling proposals tabled the amendment less than three hours before the session ended . Chief among the reasons to table the amendment was the $44 million counted into the state budget from video poker proceeds. The Senate had already decided to take $5.4 million in anticipated video poker revenues to fund raises to state district attorneys and assistants. Also getting the ax in the session's final hours: extended dockside gaming hours for riverboats and a push for unlimited video poker games at riverboat terminals. Sen . John Hainkel (A-New Orleans) said, " It's been the session from hell ... No leadership, no interest in anything but casino gambling." McNeely, president and vice president respectively, of the Half Century Club, have announced that they are working on a luncheon featuring a guest speaker. It will be held during the AMOA show in Nashville on Friday, Oct. 2. It will be on a grander scale than previous meetings. All those interested in being a part of it should forward a $20 check made out to H.C.C.I. to Steve at 3401 North California Ave., Chicago, IL 60618. If you have been in this industry over 40 years, please don't let another meeting go by without sharing with the others a few of your memories. .,.. WISCONSIN LAWMAKERS FACE SPECIAL SESSION ... Gambling is the subject of yet another special legislative session called for June 30. It's not enough that a referendum about gambling will appear on the April 1993 ballot (see " News" pg. 27). Gov. Thompson wants legislators to consider an amendment to the state constitution to limit the expansion of gambling right now; then it would be up for a statewide vote. The last special session made it clear that casino-style card games and video poker games are illegal on non-Indian land. As expected , Indian tribes are concerned about this move, even though the Winnebagos, the last of 11 tribes to negotiate compacts with the state, have reached an agreement. The Winnebagos had proposed a $20 million casino in Blooming Grove, which is near the capital city of Madison. They have settled for gaming on tribal lands in Lake Delton , Black River Falls, Nekoosa, and a fourth , undecided location. Indian compacts are negotiated for a period of seven years, with automatic renewals of five years until one side or the other fails to renew. VGA NAMES BOARD ... The Video Gaming Alliance (VGA), formed to preserve operator participation in video skills and gaming activities, has named its first board of directors. They are Phil Benson of Montana Music Rentals, Wally Bohrer of Hastings Distributing, Peter Feuer of Merit Industries, John Nicastro of Williams Electronic Gaming, Bill Treger of Betson , Gene Urso of Madison Coin Machine (current AMOA president), and Bill Ward of Arachnid. Paul Corey, executive director of the Ohio Coin Machine Association, will serve as state associations executive liaison. Bernd Donalies of Stella International in Germany will be the international liaison. .,.. JACK SALUTES THE LADIES ... Jack Rodios, in his May issue of Cashbox Australia, paid a warm tribute to some of the women in the coin-op industry. The women here at Play Meter were honored to be mentioned in his story. Others were Atari 's Elaine Shirley, Mary Fujihara, and Anne Hayes; operator and AMOA board member Tami Norberg-Paulsen; Century's Sue Monday; ReP/ay's Key Snodgrass and Tippy Adlum ; EuroSlot's Christine Butterworth; Data East's Shelley Sax; Williams' Lenore Sayers; Leland's Debbie Austin; and Taito's Natalie Kulig. He said that Australia was "dragging the chain as far as women in prominent positions,'' but did mention NSW AMOA's Juliette Harper, Associated Leisure wives Rosemary Solomon and Mary Rose Umishev, and Christine Sebastyan as a few who are hard workers. .,.. SOUTHLAND CHANGES . .. Robert Huckabee, president of Southland Distributing in Wilmington, N.C., announced the promotion of Joe Allen to sales manager and the appointment of Joe Gumney (formerly of Peach State Distributing Co.) to the Southland staff. NEWS FROM HOME ... The home video game industry, that is. Sega has filed a lawsuit against Accolade for trademark infringement and copyright violation . Sega contends that Accolade purposefully and willfully broke the software security codes of Sega's Genesis system in order to copy the program's contents and sell the games under the Accolade name. Although any wrongdoing by Accolade has yet to be proven, a temporary injunction was handed down prohibiting Accolade from manufacturing and marketing its Genesis-compatible software. If the court's decision goes against Accolade, the injunction may become a permanent order. In other home game news, a new player will soon join the group. Matsushita, an Osaka, Japan-based home electronics appliance manufacturer better known over here as Panasonic and Technics, has announced plans to break into the home market. In the American market, Matsushita has teamed with Electronic Arts, a San Mateo, Calif.-based software and hardware company. EA will design a totally new hardware system for the home market to be sold by Matsushita. Sega and Nintendo currently hold the largest shares of the home and family video game market. And speaking of Nintendo, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that Galoob Toys' Game Genie video game enhancement device does not infringe on Nintendo copyrights for its game cartridges. The Game Gen ie lets players alter up to three features of a Nintendo game. The court ru led that it does not infringe because no independent derivative work was created by the device. .,.. NATIONAL LOTTERY PROPOSAL IN ENGLAND ... The United States is not alone with lottery fever. In England, Bass Leisure plans to bid for the contract to run a national lottery. The company proposes to run the lottery from pubs using instant lottery machines. The lottery will be recreational wagering in the same family as amusement machines, and operators are scheduled to be included. GOODBYE, JOANNE . .. All of us who have come to know Joanne Anderson , director of marketing for Namco, are saddened to see her resign her position at the video game company. Joanne is returning to her own company, Mindseed Corp. , which has been in the capable hands of her husband Ed . Joanne said, "Although I am leaving Namco after two happy years, our relationship will continue as it has over the last 12 years." Joanne and Ed were original employees of Namco America when it first opened its doors in the United States in 1980. .,.. NINTENDO UP AT BAT . .. American and National League owners approved the sale of the Seattle Mariners to the Baseball Club of Seattle, led by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi and son-in-law Minoru Arakawa, president of Nintendo America, look at the purchase of the team as a community service. Said Yamauchi in a USA Today article, "This offer is not undertaken as business, but rather as a form of community service." He went on to give the United States credit for Japan's miraculous post-war recovery and economic growth. "I owe a great debt to the United States, and I want to do everything in my power to pay it back," he added . PLAY METER MAGAZINE, July 1992, Volume 18, No. 8. Copyright 1992 by Skybird Publishing Company. PLAY METER MAGAZINE (UPS 358-350) is published monthly, except for the two issues in Jan uary. 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. Subscription rates : U.S. and Canada-$60. Advertising rates are available upon request. NO PART OF THE MAGAZINE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. The editors are not responsible for unsol icited 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 JULY 1992