Star Tech Journal

Aprill988
•
ACME '88: The Show In Review
Frank 'The Crank" Seninsky
Alpha-Omega Sales & Service
Edison, New Jersey
The recently held American Coin Machine
Expo (ACME) in Reno, Nevada, March 10th
through the 13th at Baily's Reno Hotel and
Casino was a bit disappointing. True, there
was lots of product there, but no hits or
anything even remotely new or superior to
what we've seen already. So, with that off my
chest, let me tell you that I have no hit pick
for this show. But what I do have, is my Best
OJThe Rest game listings.
-
REDEMPTION/MERCHANDISING
Lotto Fun by Betson is really the only new
piece that I can recommend. Atari's Pop Shot
novelty gun game is too big and too boring.
PINS
I liked Premier's Diamond Lady because it
appears to be a players game with skill
needed to play well. Also, the unreleased TX-
Sector looks good by Premier. Williams has a
good effort in Cyclone, even though it might
be a bit too "cutesy".
VIDEO/KITS
Silkwonn by Tecmo has nice features,
mainly the option presented to the players of
simultaneous two-player cooperative com-
petition against the computer. This was the
only new kit I saw at the show.
.
VIDEO/DEDICATED
Romstar's Ninja Warrior is a very large ar-
cade piece and very expensive ($5K). Noth-
ing much else impressed me. Sega's Thun-
derblade is not as good as a driving game
(which traditionally outeams and outlasts a
helicopter game). I also believe that Sega's
timing on this couldn't be worse; it's release
is right on the heels of their Afterburner.
SYSTEMS
Leland· s Viper is a conversion for the Danger
Zone system only, but it's good and it's cheap
at only half the price of a top notch game.
NOVELTY
All the big guns didn't impress me in the
least. I'd only consider them if I had a
gigantic arcade that could accommodate the
space. One novelty that I did notice (this may
be a sleeper) was Print 'UR Own Stickers. It
needs a little work, but it is unique and could
be decent in a high traffic area at $1 per play.
SHOW SITE
Reno is a nice city, but try traveling there
from the East or Midwest; it's near impos-
sible to arrange a convenient schedule or fly
direct. Reno also has quite a few distrac-
tions; people who should have been on the
Show floor were on the Casino floor instead.
The only company that was guaranteed to
make money at this show was Bally, but
that's business, I guess.
CONCLUSION
I found the show/ city to be different enough
to warrant a one-time Expo, but mostly I
thought it was too sectional. The majority of
attendees were from the Western states, as
you might imagine, which was nice because
they don't go to the Eastern or Southern
shows. A Spring show.though, should be
accessible to the majority if possible, maybe
even move it around the country. The rumor
is though, that next year's show has been
tentatively scheduled for ... Reno.
***