Play Meter

Letters Unsettling trends Amen to Art Warner's letter in the October issue. We've learned the hard way. Now when we look at a redemption piece we ask ourselves if the player would be willing to play it even if it gave no tickets. Plain and simple, that means it has to have entertainment value. When buying any game, we look at the relatively long-term life of a game. We don't want a game that pays big for six months and dies. We do not have any fighting games and have had compliments from mothers because of it. We've had our best year in a decade without that blood money. We are still operating machines over 75 years old. They will outgross any pinball and most videos (not including sit-downs) and do it year after year. That's a good return on investment. Redemption, in spite of the rush-to-the-marketbefore-it's-ready attitude of some manufacturers, is a good return on investment. What I haven't seen mentioned in the trade press is anything on the growing resentment towards redemption. Some parents, mainly mothers, hate it when it's time to turn in the tickets. "If I would have known you were going to get tickets, I wouldn't have let you play," is a typical comment we've heard them say to their kids. We've had mothers drag their kids out rather than subject themselves to the redemption counter. It seems like the less tickets the kids have the longer they take to choose a prize. Recently, we've noticed a surprising trend : mothers are going outside while the little ones make their selections. I PLAY METER sure would like to see some articles on this seemingly impossible situation. There's another trend we are uncomfortable with is the growing attitude by the parents that the games have no value ; that the merchandise they receive is the total value of the money spent. We're losing the "fun factor." Lest the reader think our ticket prices are high, we regularly get compliments from mothers on our prices compared to the chain locations. Dennis R. Atkinson President Memory Lane Arcade Frankenmuth, Mich. [Dennis, I was surprised to hear your comments on some unwelcome trends involving redemption. Since redemption has been growing so rapidly, it's not impossible that problems will begin to surface. I invite other readers to give us their insight and thoughts on this subject. Please tell us if you are seeing any unwelcome problems with redemption. I'd also like to hear any com ments on Dennis ' letter. - V C.} No big deal I am writing in response to a number of problems that came up at the AMOA Expo in New Orleans. I feel that the story should be told from our standpoint rather than listening to the rumors and innuendo that were being spread around. After we set up our stand and ran out to pick up the usual last minute items needed to be ready for opening, we found a note asking us to come to the AMOA headquarters office. There we were told that there were concerns about our equipment and its resemblance to "slot machines." 10 After a brief explanation, I was told that someone would be down to the booth to discuss this in more detail. In short order, five AMOA representatives came to see and discuss our machines. Marian Griffin was most gracious while she showed me a copy of a letter from the Louisiana State Police and told me of the concerns. I explained our equipment and pointed out why they were not slot machines but redemption equipment with redemption token or ticket payouts. Our brochures and company information explains this. Our other equipment was "amusement with prize" (AWP) or "skill with prize" (SWP) and was not in question at the time. I was informed that AMOA would discuss the matter with its attorney and call me the next morning. When that call came it was to inform me that it was OK to show our equipment with the understanding that we may still have to meet with the Louisiana State Police for a final resolution. The first day of the show we did, in fact, meet with Officer Lopez, and after a discussion of the machines, an explanation of how they worked, and a physical exam, he agreed that they were undoubtedly redemption or prize machines and there was no problem with showing them. I'm certain that everyone has heard about the Friday meetings with the police and the pulling of all machines with cards (especially video). We were checked again at that time and because we had no cards on our machines were again told to continue to show. My point is to stop a lot of finger pointing about AMOA's lack of planning and forethought. We felt DECEMBER 1995