Star Tech Journal

"I'd Rather Fix Them Than Play Them.)!
By Dari E. Davidson
Vice President of Operations
Data East USA, Inc.
As a 10-year participant in the coin-op marketplace, it's been fascinating to witness the light-
speed evolution of game technology. Every season that goes by brings forth bigger and
bolder products for the ever-fickle game players that are our industry's life-blood.
Naturally, there is a downside to the non-stop technology advances: Keeping all these new
super-duper-whiz-hangs up and rnnning has become increasingly difficult-and crucial to
the financial stability of our industry. Remember that a machine out-of-order take up floor-
The Data East Technical Support Hotline is 800-6)4 7270.
space without contributing anything toward the bottom line. As a result, today's coin-op
manufacturer must provide their customers· field repair technicians with immediate and
direct access to a dedicated technical-support network.
At Data East, our company policy is clear: We will not release a product until our technical-
support department has thoroughly examined every possible area of repair-primarily those
systems bound to degrade over time due to usage and wear-and has established a clear-
cut chain of support for that product.
For example, we recently shipped Cosmogang, a highly successful redemption product that
on first sight can prove quite intimidating: Light-gun technology and countless moving parts
packed into a 10-foot long cabinet. That's why we must do every thing in our power to help
repair technicians unfamiliar with this type of game feel comfortable and confident about the
task at hand. Data East accomplishes this through a three-phase support process:
•
Resilient Game Design
Before Cosmogang even went on the assembly line, we had already gone through
numerous prototypes to determine the sturdiest, most reliable way to construct the unit.
•
Technical Support 800-Hotline
Data East manages one of the industry's highest-regarded technical-support
Hotlines- staffed by highly qualified support personnel trained to handle any
We've Got It All.
manner of request. The Data East Technical Support Hotline is 800-634-7270.
So if you see ·'Data East"' on the machine, remember that we're there whenever you need us-
for whatever you need us.