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NEWS BULLETIN .,.. WEST VIRGINIA AND VLTS ... By unanimous vote (7-0) , the .,.. AWi RELOCATES ... Automated Wagering International (AWi), West Virginia Lottery Commission has endorsed the expansion of video lottery from its existing status at Montaineer Park in Chester, W.Va. , to Class A liquor and beer-licensed establishments around the state. Gov. Gaston Caperton supports the decision, citing the move as " preferable to raising taxes." Proceeds from the program will be used for education, tourism , and senior citizens. a wholly owned subsidiary of Video Lottery Technologies (VLT), will relocate its divisional headquarters to Hackensack , N.J., from its current location in New York City. AWi provides on-line wagering systems and services to eight states. Another VLT subsidiary, Video Lottery Consultants (VLC), provides video lottery terminals and central computer systems to a number of states and Canada. It appears that coin machine operators will be included in the program ; it is uncertain whether a single manufacturer will be awarded the contract for the central computer system and granted the right to sell machines. A final decision on this point is expected by midJanuary. Machines (up to 10 per location) could be up and running by March . The move has already affected regular amusement games sales. "Operators are pulling back on their spending because they will need big dollars to buy VLTs ," said one distributor. .,.. HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH? .. . If you are selling or buying used equipment, this should interest you. There's a new quarterly publication called Amusement Research . It lists fruit machines, video card games and kits, redemption games, cranes, etc. According to the company, extensive research is involved to keep operators informed and current on "as-is" and reconditioned equipment values. For more information on subscribing, call (615) 355-9614. .,.. NAMCO LOOKS TO BUY ALADDIN 'S CASTLE . .. Namco .,.. O 'DONNELL UNDER GOES SURGERY ... Bill O'Donnell, a announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the stock and debt of Baily 's Aladdin 's Castle Inc. , which operates nearly 275 amusement arcades in the United States. Completion of the purchase, subject to certain conditions , is expected to be finalized this month . legend in the coin-op industry, recently underwent a major operation . O 'Donnell created the bigger-than-life image of Bally in the early days and is always mentioned when talking about those who made this industry great. He was named "Man of the Year" by the American Amusement Machine Charitable Foundation in 1988. We join with the rest of Mr. O 'Donnell 's industry friends in wishing him a speedy recovery. .,.. AMERICAN SAMMY IN CHICAGO ... American Sammy, a division of Sammy Corp. in Tokyo, Japan , has opened an office in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. Sammy Corp. , one of the largest manufacturers of the pachinko slot machine, is now undertaking new challenges for future growth with game development. American Sammy also will be serving the Canadian , Mexican , South American , and European markets. The Chicago location will strengthen American Sammy's position in consumer as well as coin-op. The Chicago office will serve as an overseas commercial center active in importing and licensing . All operations will be transferred from the California office. Key personnel include Yoshi Suzuki (president) , Rick Rochetti (executive vice president/sales) , James Miskell (executive vice president/administration) , David Cane (national sales manager), Emilio Cabrera (international sales manager) , Natalie Kulig (sales and marketing manager) , Bob Sherman (controller), and Dave Kuh rt (warehouse manager). Here's the new address and phone numbers: 901 Cambridge Dr., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007; (708) 364-9787 and FAX (708) 364-9831. .,.. GAMES SEIZED IN NEBRASKA ... Several pieces of certain types of redemption games were seized in Omaha in mid-December. The state police action was at the request of the district attorney in Omaha, where questions about the legality of specific redemption pieces arose. According to the law, most of what happens while playing a redemption game must involve skill . Roll downs, Bundra's Neck n' Neck , and Skee-Ball 's Skee-Ball were not affected ; these games are considered OK. The confiscated games have been authorized to be returned to their owners if they promise to remove those games. from the city of Omaha. No appeal of the action is expected. .,.. SEGA HAPPENINGS ... Diane Fiorina has been named to the position of marketing coordinator for Sega Enterprises. She will report to director of sales and marketing Ken Anderson . Fiorina will be responsible for advertising , trade shows, and public relations for both the coin-op and gaming divisions. Susan Barber has been named to the position of sales administrator for coin-op. She will be under the leadership of Ken Anderson and responsible for generating sales and marketing reports as well as tracking inventory for the coin-op division. Sega has also combined its coin-op and consumer divisions under one roof . .,.. CAPCOM INTERCEPTS COPY BOARDS . .. Capcom attorney Ian Rose told us that Capcom has intercepted 2,000 counterfeit boards in Mexico. The boards were being sent to Mexico from Korea and Taiwan . Rose calls this the first big step in eliminating copied boards in Mexico. Names of the culprits were not available at press time. We will keep you posted on the details as they become available. If you have been following the speed-up kit controversy, you may have heard that Capcom had decided against selling its own speedup kit for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. Not so, says Rose : " Capcom U.S.A . will introduce a speed-up kit in its own market within the United States." .,.. LEPRECHAUN SELLS BICEP BUSTER GAME ... Leprechaun will be the representative for International Vending Machine's Bicep Buster, a one- to four-player competitive arm wrestling game. Leprechaun's Bill and Todd Cravens most recently featured the game at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) show in Dallas. You can call Leprechaun at (206) 869-6400. .,.. COMPANY ANNOUNC EMENTS ... Incredible Technologies has moved into larger facilities . Here's the new address and phone numbers: 4010 Winnetka Ave. , Rolling Meadows, IL 60008; (708) 870-7027; FAX (708) 870-0120. Alvin G. & Co. has named JB Music and Video as its distributor for the state of California . JB 's address and phone number: 8026 Lorraine Ave., Suite 215, Stockton , CA 95201; (209) 476-8705. Stebelton Music Distributing will handle the Wurlitzer line in Ohio. Stebelton 's address and phone numbers : 902 W. Fifth Ave., Lancaster, OH 43130; (614) 654-3155 and FAX (614) 653-7777. Beaver State Electronic Corp. has moved from Hawthorne Avenue to 960 Laurel Ave. in Reedsport , Ore. The new mailing address is P.O. Box 162, Reedsport , OR 97467. Namco has outgrown its Santa Clara facility and has moved to bigger quarters. The new address and phone numbers: 150 Charcot Ave., San Jose, CA 95131 ; (mailing address) P.O. Box 641630, San Jose, CA 95164; (408) 383-3900 and FAX (408) 383-0130. .,.. LAZER-TRON EXPANDS ... Lazer-Tron of Pleasanton, Calif, has added an additional 13,000 square feet of manufacturing space adjacent to its current headquarters. Lazer-Tron is the designer of Spin-to-Win, Hop-A-Tic-Tac-Toe, Bank-It , and Super Bank-It. LazerTron recently introduced a miniature interactive batting game called Sluggers Alley and is bringing out a kiddie version of its roll down Spin-To-Win called Jungle Rama . .,.. TOLISANO NAMED TO IFPA BOARD ... Ed Tolisano of TBI Games in Loves Park , 111. , will complete the unexpired term of Ed Velasquez of Velasquez Automatic Music on the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) committee. Velasquez resigned to devote his full energies to his company 's music promotion effort, which is tied into his family-owned radio station. .,.. A NEW MANISCALCO ... Drew Maniscalco called with some great news. He and wife Donna are the proud parents of Tyler Frank, born on Oct. 23. He was named after Fabtek 's Frank Ballouz , who Drew worked with for several years . Tyler has an older brother, Andrew McCartney. Drew, who recently joined Data East as Eastern regional sales manager, has opened an office in New Jersey at 34 Sycamore Ave., Bldg . #2, Little Silver, NJ 07739; (908) 530-9668 and FAX (908) 530-9717. PLAY METER MAGAZINE , January 1993, Volume 19, No. 1. Copyright 1992 by Skybird Publishing Company. PLAY METER MAGAZINE (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. Subscription rates: U.S and Canada-$60. Advert1s1ng 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 mail ing offices. POSTMASTER Send Form 3579 to Play Meter, P.O. Box 24970, New Orleans, LA 70184. PLAY METER 3 JANUARY 1993