Play Meter

NEWS BULLETIN unveiled his proposal for the June special session to the Senate Judiciary B Committee in mid-May. Video poker machines, legal in the state since July 1992, are allowed in truck stops, race tracks, OTBs, and Class A liquorlicensed establishments such as restaurants, bars, and lounges, but the law only loosely describes what constitutes a truck stop. For more on Louisiana's situation, turn to "Louisiana Gaming" on page 72. ATARI GAMES MERGES, CHANGES NAME Atari Games and its wholly owned consumer game subsidiary, Tengen, will integrate their operations with Time Warner Interactive Group, a leading publisher of CD-ROM titles. The three companies will operate under the common name Time Warner Interactive. "By combining the resources of these three operating units, we bring together an enormous pool of talent, experience, and content to serve the interactive market," said Geoff Holmes , chairman of Time Warner Interactive. "This move positions Time Warner for the future and establishes a worldwide network of technology and marketing skills to best serve consumers. This is an exciting time for Time Warner to take the leading position in the field of interactive entertainment." Atari Games and Tengen will retain their development and manufacturing facilities in Milpitas, Calif. Atari Games will continue to focus on developing and marketing creative coin-op products. With operations in California, New York, London, Paris, Tipperary, and Tokyo, the new company is ensured of having a strong distribution presence, which will allow for maximum market penetration, Holmes believes. "Our coin-op group has a h eritage of over 20 years in video game technology, going back to Pong, the first electronic coinoperated video game ," he said. "This year we are extremely confident in our new arcade titles, as we will be releasing TMEK, Primal Rage, and Metal Maniax for the summer. " In addition, Time Warner Interactive will be premiering 40 cartridge and CD-ROM titles this year. They will range across eight platforms, including MPC, DOS, Mac CD-ROM, Sega Genesis, Mega Drive and Game Gear, and Super Nintendo. TOAPLAN OUT OF BUSINESS The Tokyo video game manufacturer Toaplan Co. Ltd. and its affiliate, Comet Co. Ltd., went bankrupt on March 31. The debt was 1,500 million yen for Toaplan and 500 million yen for Comet (a computer appliances sales company). The foreign companies will likely be liquidated. Toaplan was established as a video game manufacturer in 1982. Games developed under the Toaplan name include Twin Cobra, Sky Shark, Truxton, Fire Shark, and most recently, Grind Stormer. DREW'S DISTRIBUTING GAINS LICENSE Drew's Distributing Co. of Spartanburg, S.C. , has received its first gaming license. The license was issued by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety under the authority of299L.07. The company has an agreement with a major casino to begin testing the Treasure Chest Respin 8 video slot machine with three internal progressive jackpots. NEW SONY GAME SYSTEM Sony Computer Entertainment of America has been created to market the hardware and software for a new Sony CD-based home video game system, the PlayStation. The company will also be responsible for third-party video game software licensing in the U.S. Steven Race has been named executive vice president and general manager of the new company. The PlayStation uses advanced parallel processing by a 32bit CPU together with multiple processors for different functions, such as graphics and sound. Sony's architecture allows for a dramatic increase in processing speed , enabling the PlayStation to offer a real-time combination of lifelike 3-D images using "texture mapping," multiple two-dimensional "sprites," and full-motion video. The PlayStation is scheduled to be released in Japan by the end of 1994 and in the U.S. in 1995. ALG OFFERS FREE UPDATE KIT American Laser Games is providing operators with a free update kit for Shoot Out at Old Tucson, the industry's first CDROM-based game. The package includes a new CD-ROM program disc, new plastic game guns, new instruction decals, and speaker grills. "Since this new CD-ROM system has been out in the field, we've discovered several aspects that can be changed to make the game more player-friendly and profitable for the operator," said Stan Jarocki, ALG's vice president of marketing. "This free update kit will address the concerns that we've heard about." All of the above-mentioned parts are being made available at no charge, but operators are requested to return the original orange CD-ROM disc and metal guns to ALG distributors. Operators should contact the distributor they purchased the game from to take advantage of this offer. In other ALG news, it has fil ed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to a proposed initial public offering of 2.1 million shares of common stock. Of the shares to be offered, 1.85 million are to be sold by the company. The remaining 250,000 shares are to be sold by certain selling stockholders. In addition, the company and certain selling stockholders will grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 315,000 shares of common stock to cover any over-allotments. The initial offering price of the common stock is expected to be between $10 and $12 per share. A copy of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from Cowen & Co. , One Financial Square, New York, NY 10005; Attention: Syndicate Dept. QUICK SILVER TO REPRESENT AMUTEC Quick Silver Development Co., the California-based redemption game designer and manufacturer, will represent Amutec Kiddie Rides in the U.S. , Canada, and Mexico. Amutec offers a full range of models, from a three-horse carousel to a fire engine and a train. All rides feature self-colored fiberglass, steel frames, industrial bearings, a quality gear box, and a unique security system. WMS GAMING JOINS WITH PRIMETECH WMS Gaming Inc. , a subsidiary of Williams Bally/Midway, has joined Canada's leading supplier of electronic components to manufacture 3,000 video lottery machines for Societe des Loteries Video du Quebec, the division of Loto Quebec in charge of implementing a province-wide, 9,000 unit video lottery network. In the agreement, Williams will utilize the expertise and facilities of Quebec-based Primetech Electronics Inc., to quickly get video lottery machines up and running in the province . Primetech manufactures specialty electronic products for the mass transit, rail, telecommunications, aerospace, defense, and computer industries. Richard H. Currie, president of WMS Gaming, said that the agreement with Primetech will likely reach beyond Quebec into other international markets. WMS video gaming machines already are in play in Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as the U.S. jurisdictions where video gaming is legal, including Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. CAPCOM APPOINTS BALLOUZ Joe Morici, senior vice president of Capcom, clarified rumors about internal changes at the company when he announced on May 19 the appointment of Frank Ballouz to the post of senior vice president of all coin-op functions. Included are departments covering marketing, sales, and Capcom's route business. Ballouz, an industry veteran, was formerly head ofFabtek Inc. in Redmond, Wash. Morici will focus his attention on Capcom 's consumer business. CLASSIFIED GOES GREEN You'll notice a new look in our Classified section this month-a shift in color from the traditional "yellow pages " to the new green "money pages. " Readers will do a double-take and that's a bonus for every advertiser. Partake of the green and capitalize on this distinctive change. LOUISIANA TO TIGHTEN POKER RULES Lawmakers will soon consider a proposal to redefine a truck stop, which would effectively curb the expansion of such facilities into roadside casinos. Sen. Larry Bankston lD-Port Hudson) PLAY METER 3 JUNE 1994