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EMT Kiddie rides enter u.s market COIN-OP NEWS Capcom sues Data East over Street Fighter II According to Japan's Game Ma chine maga- zine, Capcom Co. Ltd . (Osaka) has brought a civil lawsuit against Data East Corp. Tokyo) for alleged copyright violation of Street Fighter II. The suit was filed in Japan and in the United States (Capcom USA vs. Data East USA). Capcom claims that Data East's Fighter 's History violates the copyright embodied in Street Fighter II and SF II: Champion Edition. Data East counters that it has violated neither audiovisual works nor computer software works that are protected by copyright law. Capcom seeks a prohibition order on the manufacture and distribution of Fighter's History, plus 623 million yen in damages. According to Capcom, Fighter's History closely resembles SF II in basic story, characters and their motions , screen image composition, attack moves, etc., to the point where its copyright is be ing violated. Data East asserts that its game is in no way a copy of SF II and says that, as far as fighting games are concerned, its Karate Champ was the first in the genre. "Ideas do not become an object of the copyright protection," said Data East in a statement. "All similarities asserted PLAY METER by Capcom are those which can be usually seen in other fighting games. Thus, Capcom's charges are excessive and represent a menace to the future of the video game industry." Capcom presid ent Kenzo Tsujimoto told Game Machine: "If a video game is the same as another in terms of game action and differs only in characters, background, colors, etc., and there is no prosecution, it will leave the door open for unauthorized copies. "It is possible to technically analyze a video game through reverse engineering and make a video game which is essentially the same; it's only superficially different. Capcom intends to prove the processes whereby Data East came to make a counterfeit called Fighter's History." In response, Data East president Tetsuo Fukuda said, "Since both companies have the same strong attitude toward copyright protection, there was certainly room to discuss the problem. However, Capcom has brought this suit, unilaterally casting Data East in the role of 'bad guy.' This must never be permitted. Capcom has brought the current charges simply in order to monopolize the market. " 16 Elekt ra Mobiltechnik EMT) of Raubach, Germany, has been making top-quality kiddie rides for some 20 years , and now those rides are headed for the U.S. market. NSM-America will handle distribution through its national network of NSM distributors. Operators can go to any of the approximate 40 participating NSM distributor offices for product, parts, and service. NSM-America vice president John Margold will head the new effort, in addition to his jukebox sales and marketing duties . Jim Chapman will serve as EMT sales manager. NSM - Americ a ' s Chicago headquarters also doubles as the EMT national service center. Ten thousand square feet of warehouse space has been devoted to EMT inventory. Coin-op service veteran Tony Lantz has been appointed EMT service manager. In addition, EMT has named Miami-based FunTecnic Inc. to handle national accounts and to help develop sales into traditional operator routes. National accounts are typically high-volume, factory-direct buyers: store chains, arcades, family fun centers, amusement parks, and the like. What makes EMT kiddie rides different from the others? EMT president Ulli Kunnecke says they're created based on principles known to appeal to children, then street tested before ever placed on the marke t. "We may design a dozen rides to end up with one that meets our earnings criteria," he said. "And then it must meet our reliability and durability criteria. Creating good kiddie rides is no easy task." EMT kiddie rides are priced higher than ordinary rides, b ut Kunnecke stressed that the up-front purchase price is only one factor in det e rmin in g what a ride really costs. "You have to compare service frequency, replacement fre quency, versatility, and very importa n tly, ride appeal, " he said. "In the end, kiddie ride operators will find EMT kiddie rides actually cost them far less-and earn th em far more." All EMT k iddie rides are indoor/ outdoor certified. They're made with non-flammab le, nontoxic , non-conductive fiberglass and have overload protectors , adjustable sound and ridetime controls , non-skid entranc e mats, and other standard features. Al s o , t h e fiberglass shells (the part the kids ride in) are interchangeable within a model series . Operators can updat e t h eir rides (switch the shells) without buying entirely n ew units. "Kiddie ride operators have never seen quality like this, " Margold said. "At first you 'll think they 're overbuilt , but after 10 years or so on the stree t yo u understand why they have to be built so well." JANUARY 1994