Play Meter

fROM THE EDITOR Imagination and technology: a love story I n a recent television commercial by AT&T, several poignant questions are asked: Have you ever paid a toll without slowing down? A man is shown sliding a credit card into a slot on his on-board computer as he whizzes through the toll gate. Have you ever bought concert tickets at a cash booth? Several teenagers are viewing a map of the concert hall, while choosing their tickets at the machine. Have you ever tucked your baby in bed over the phone? A woman rushes over to a pay phone at the airport. After dialing her home number a video picture of her baby is shown crawling over to where it can see a similar photo of mom. All these questions are answered with a thought-provoking two words: you will! "Beyond 2000" is a television program that gives us insight into inventions and technology far into the future - cars that run on alternate fuels , houses heated by solar power, cameras able to take and FAX a photo immediately, test tube babies, and computers that do things you can't even begin to imagine. All these things are on the horizon, but seem so unbelievable . We are inundated with glimp- ses into the future . At the same time, we are fascinated with programs detailing events like the Wright Brothers' first flight. It puts a perspective on what we take for granted. It's hard to comprehend that airplanes , cars, calculators, computers, telephones, phonographs, even radios and televisions are products of our lifetime. These things were at one time unbelievable fantasies for the future. So here we are living in that future and it seems so ... normal! While our ancestors could only dream of flying, we can be in New York for breakfast, California for lunch, and back in New York that night. Pioneers who suffered unbearable hardships to get across the United States could never have imagined traveling like we do today. Today we are pioneers in the coin-op entertainment industry, standing in awe of glimpses into the future. We have seen video games evolve from primitive blips popping back and forth on a screen to holographic characters. And this evolution has taken a mere 20 years! Technology is moving so fast that it's hard for our imaginations to catch up. Virtual reality is fast becom- PLAY METER 10 AUGUST 1993 ing the new industry buzz word. Instead of simply playing a game, we are seeing ways to play in a game. In the movie "Total Recall" Arnold Schwarzenegger was lost in a world of virtual reality. His environment was man-made. I'm overwhelmed when trying to envision what our industry will be by the year 2000. There's so many roads opening up our imaginations are lagging behind. While those in the coin machine industry have always wondered what lay ahead, it seems in the early days imagination had limits. Where we're going there are no limits. While video games have come a long way, we're constantly poised for the next big advance. We want it, we crave it, and we expect it. 0 Valerie Cognevich Editor