Star Tech Journal

STAR•TECH JOURNAL/MAY 1982
4
AOE '82 SHOW REPORT* WILLIAMS "HYPERBALL" LOCATION NOTES
WILLIAMS "HYPERBALL" HANDLES* RESPONSE TO ROWE LETTER
By Todd Erickson, Summit Amusement, St. Paul, MN
AOE '82 Show Report
Attending the Amusement Operators Expo
for the first time this year, I received a pleasant
surprise. I expected a small show with a few
people. What I found was a large show packed
with participants. Thursday was an early bird
session - the manufacturers faced the firing
·Jine. The main concern at this session was the
manufacturers supplying a conversion kit for a
poor game. (Most of the people there had been
in the industry for only a short time.) If we
could buy kits for all of our games, this would
be a successful business for only a short time.
The locations would find this out and we
wouldn't be operators anymore. The manu-
facturers would no longer have the necessary
money for research and development and the
quality of the games would drop. There are
only a few games that earn big money.
The next three days were filled with
activity. There were two sessions of seminars
each day. I attended a few of them. The
comment I heard from many people was that
they considered the sessions very good to
excellent. The seminars that received the best
comments were put on by Randy Fromm,
Robert Stone, and Frank Seninsky. Comments
on these seminars varied, depending upon the
experience of the individual participants. Many
people felt the way this show is growing, it
could rival the AMOA for the top show.
Sending key employees to the AMOA is about
the same as sending them to the local distri-
butor's showroom. Sending them to the AOE
gives them an opportunity to learn some valuable
skills for the business. The AOE faculty gives
their years of experience and opinions on ways
to improve where they went wrong. These facts
could save you thousands of dollars.
The hit of the show had to be "Robotron"
by Williams. This is a high technology action
game, robot vs. man. "Zaxxon" by Segal
Gremlin is a new flying game with unbelievable
graphics. Cinematronics appears to have a
giant hit on their hands with "Jack the Giantkiller''.
This is the first color raster-scan game by these
people. Exidy showed their product, "Victory".
This is a much refined version of what they
showed at the AMOA. Their hardware package
is one of the best in the industry. The book-
keeping is excellent. This has to be their best
game to date. Gottlieb was one of the surprises
of the show. Their "Reactor" is a new concept
game. I feel that this is going to be an excellent
players' game. This game will be the first step
for Gottlieb to establish itself as a top video
company. Midway's main game was "Ms.
Pac-Man". With the success of this game, they
will probably be making it for the next six
months or longer. Stem's new game, "Frenzy",
looks very good. It is a high technology
"Berzerk".
Williams "Hyperball" Location Notes
Williams spent a tremendous amount of time
engineering this game. So far, my games have
worked better than most pin games I have
purchased in the last few years. With any new
game, the operator must learn all about it.
"Hyperball" is a dark game and must be in
some light. The game should not be elevated in
the back. Most important is that the players
must be helped to learn the game. Either have
the instructions up by the game or have the
location know about the game.
The only parts I feel should be stocked are:
I. Damper washer for plunger 03-7725
2. Spring shooter 10-370
3. Stop plate A-9215
4. Coil SD-245-1588 and sleeve
5. Optical interruptor assembly B-9093
6. Trigger micro 5647-09633
With the action of the game, the only
part that showed any wear is the shrink tubing
going into the cannon. The 110 volts for the
cannon has to be protected. Only a few games
have the shrink tubing. Later games have
nylon. If you have shrink tubing, order the
nylon part from Williams. The handles on the
game must move freely from right to left. If it
binds in the center of the movement, the drive
arm that makes contact with the cannon was
probably inadvertantly bent. One last caution
is to cover the playfield when moving the game.
Because the playfield is black, the sun may
cause the playfield to warp. When the game is
on location, keep it out of the sun.
Williams "Hyperball" Handles
Handles on "Hyperball" have two small holes
drilled into them for roll pins. The center one is
for the trigger, the other one holds the handle to
the drive shaft. On a few early models of
"Hyperball", the roll pin holding the drive
shaft may be too short.
If the pin makes contact on one side
only, it will eventually break. When this happens
the trigger will then break also. I recommend
checking this roll pin, and verify it is a 3/ 32" x
I". This will eliminate trigger breaking problems
and the resultant Joss of control complaints.
Response to Rowe Letter
(S•TJ, April 1982)
The articles I write are about items that are
causing problems in the industry. Many times
this may be a small problem (i.e. an interlock
switch in a high production game) rather than a
major problem with a particular game of which
only a few hundred were made. The reason I
continue to write about Rowe changers is
because I feel they are the standard of the
industry. In my area, over 95% of all bill
changers are Rowe. I have the majority of my
route on Rowe $1/$5 changers.
Any time an operator is in jeopardy of
losing a large amount of money because of a
simple problem, I feel something must be done.
I contacted my local distributor with the problem
of changers being tipped over. They, in tum,
contacted Rowe, who felt this was a minor
problem. When I spoke to a Rowe representa-
tive myself, he didn't care to obtain the name of
the operator this happened to so they could
possibly look into the matter further and/or
determine the extent of his loss.
I agree with Rowe that all changers
should be bolted down. But there are locations
that are old and the buildings are made of
wood. If there is no way of getting behind the
wall or floor, large screws or lag bolts could be
used to hold the changer down. If, however, the
customers know that they can tip the changer
over and get the money out easily, it is more
likely to occur. It doesn't take much to rip a
screwed-in changer out of a plaster wall or
wooden floor. I don't know of any person who
is able to tip a big food vendor over. For that
matter, all ofmy games have covers on the cash
box. This would keep the money in the box if
the game was tipped over.
I am certain Rowe is always willing to
listen to suggestions for improvements. This is
reflected in the annual Star..-Tech Journal
Reader Survey. Whatl published was a problem
and then a cure for it. I would not write
something like this for any publication that the
general public might see.
Furthermore, the only protection Rowe
presently has to keep scraps of paper out of
their changer is a kit they supply from the
drawings I made for them.
*****