Play Meter

NEWS N 0 TES placed within 200 feet of a place of worship has been removed. v" LA. PROBE LOOKS AT VIDEO POKER AND LEGISLATURE An FBI investigation currently underway has allegedly turned up evidence that truck stop owners in Louisiana, who operate video poker machines, improperly influenced related legislation, The Times Picayune in New Orleans reported. Truck stops are allowed under state law to operate up to 50 video poker machines, but the Legislature introduced a measure during the last session that would have given communities local option on whether to reject current video poker operations around the state. Citing FBI affidavits and wiretap transcripts, the paper reported that one truck stop owner in Slidell, La., and a state senator who heads the committee overseeing the bill developed a scheme to influence key legislators to block the measure in return for campaign contributions, illegal gifts, and even secret, limited ownership in the video poker businesses. The bill died when no consensus had been reached by the two houses at the end of the session. At press time, federal authorities had not filed charges against any of the parties reportedly involved. v"SONY MAKES CHANGES As of Aug. 17, Sony Electronic Publishing Co. (creators of Sony PlayStation hardware and software) will be renamed Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. to more clearly define the company's strong entertainment focus. In addition, several divisions have been renamed and restructured : Sony Imagesoft's video game and computer software businesses have been renamed Sony Interactive Studios America and Sony Interactive PC Software America, respectively. Both are located in Foster City, Calif. Kelly Flock is the president of Studios America while Ray Sangster is general manager of PC Software America. Also, Sony Psygnosis, the company's United Kingdom-based entertainment software unit, has been renamed Sony Interactive Europe. v"NIGA OBJECTS TO CHANGES IN PROPOSED LEGISLATION The National Indian Gaming Association has expressed disappointment with the S.487 substitute bill and amendments reported in early August by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. It was hoped that the bill, as originally proposed, would have put an end t o litigation nationwide on Indian gaming. Instead, a key clause was removed and, according to the association, inadequate time allowed for consultation with Indian Nations and comments on the legislation. Tribal leaders and members of the NIGA National Congress of American Indian Task Force were scheduled to meet in late August to discuss the matter. Press reports indicate they may fight it in court. v1 ACTION AND ADVENTURE IN THE HOME Once a bastion of strategy and role-playing games , the personal computer may be shaping up to be the next platform for action games. According to a survey of600 computer game developers co-sponsored by the Computer Game Developers' Association and 3Dfx Interactive, almost half the respondents indicated they were working on action or "twitch" games. Said Ross Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for 3Dfx Interactive, "The results of the survey support what we have been saying all along-the PC is becoming the platform of choice for action and adventure games. When you add advanced 3-D graphics to the PC, consumers will have at their fingertips a game system superior to the new high-end home consoles with performance beyond premium arcade products." Added Ernest Adams, president of the CGDA, "The game industry, like other parts of the computer industry, is changing rapidly." Intel Corp.'s Claude Leglise said, "Consumers are demanding more power from their systems to take advantage of the latest achievements in 3-D game technology. The millions of Pentium processor-based multimedia PCs now in homes provide the ideal base platform for hosting the next generation of computer games." v"IN OTHER NEWS • Doug Shipley, national sales manager for Sega Enterprises Inc. USA, resigned his position with the company in mid-August. Shipley has joined Mattel Media in Chicago; he can be reached at (708) 537-0600. • Officials at Coin Concepts happily report that they are accepting back orders for the Triple Play redemption game, which will be among the company's product exhibited at major upcoming trade shows. Said CCI preside nt Art Warner, opera tors are "please d with the game's simple, straightforward play." • According to Japan's Game Machine magazine, Bill Gates , the chairman and CEO of computer software giant Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., and Masayoshi Son, president of Softbank Corp. of Tokyo, Japan, will "establish a joint ve nture , Gamebank , to make game software available for use on Microsoft's new Windows 95 operating system. " • Mark Robbins informs that he holds a U.S. patent on an air-cushion redemption game known as Puck Shoot (U.S . trademark registration has also been applied forl. Robbins can be reached at Ascension Sports, (312) 477-8188 or (303) 444-9164. • Members of the West Virginia Music and Vending Association will gather for the annual state show and convention Oct. 19-21 in Huntington, W. Va. For d e t a ils on the agenda and exhibits, contact Le oma Ballard, (304) 949-3289. In other WVMVA news, the association has a new mailing address: P.O. Drawer 4348, Charleston, WV 25364-4348 ...A. v" BROMLEY GAINS PATENT Redemption game manufacturer Bromley Inc. of Northbrook, Ill., informs that the U.S. Patent Department has issued a patent number for its popular Wheel 'M In game (#5,445,376), which will appear on all future games. Bromley officials state that any company trying to impose on the game will be prosecuted for patent infringement. v"LICENSING ACTION IN NEW YORK CITY On Aug. 17 the New York City Council passed a bill eliminating the licensing requirement for commonshow (amusement) games. This means that effective Jan. 16, 1996, locations with one to four games will no longer need a license. Games within 200 feet of a school are still prohibited; however, kiddie rides are allowed. Locations with over four games will still be required to have an arcade license. As a direct result of testimony from Scott Tartaglia of Shamrock Vending in Little Neck, N.Y., the proposed prohibition of games PLAY METER 3 SEPTEMBE R 1995