Amusement Machirte indus 845358/00005 as
2 — SS recy Bl , Bag 43 hie EY C coh iS Hi fe BUSEY L-
Height with Light Box Folded: 55” (140 cm) Width: 27” (69 cm) Depth: 52” (132 cm) Weight: 282 lbs.(128 kg
Contact Your Authorized Premier Technology Distributor today or call:(708)350-0400 FAX (708)350-1097
759 Industrial Drive Bensenville, Illinois 60106
FOR TECHNICAL SERVICE Call: 1-800-444-0761
cient far FOR MORE INFORMATION: )
Licensed by Electronic Arts
Shag and Shaq Logo
are trademarks of Mine O’Mine, Inc.
©1994 Premier Technology. All rights reserved.
PERFORMER WALL
7 | GEORGE CAMPBELL & CO. Co x aw s Unit 19, Rocklea Junction A= 1645 Ipswich Road, Rocklea 4106 AUSTRALIA
PHONE: (07) 274 4666
METIUL LE yey (dC at de ae ma wa :
,
SOLID GOLD,
NOSTALGIA GOLD,
PERFORMER CLASSIC,
and PERFORMER WALL
the Juke Box range geared for success.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
JAPAN
CONSUMER MARKET TO HAVE BIG BEARING ON JAPANESE .
Financial analysts and in- dustry watchers in Japan, ex- pect the huge losses in actual profit, and the even larger losses in estimated profits, experienced by Japanese game manufactur- ers this year, to be the catalyst for a big shake up in several of the companies affected as the poor results and reasons behind them are studied in detail.
Causing most concern by far is the consumer market with all the biggest losses being at- tributed to the high value of the yen and year long, consumer resistance that has left huge in- ventories of both hardware and software, sitting on shelves,
Coin-op, while not strong, has not caused anywhere near the problems of home games, but the bigger companies, with the exception of Namco, are so highly geared towards the con- sumer market that if it sneezes, the companies can end up with a bad case of the flu.
AUSTRALIA
GAME MAKERS VIABILITY IN 1995
This is shown clearly in the break up of revenue for the ma- jor companies. For ex- ample, Sega which we look at as a huge com- pany in coin-op game manufacture and op- erations, derives two thirds of it's total rev- enue from the con- sumer game division.
Other companies like Cap- com and Konami are similarly geared and all are looking down the barrel of a very tough 1995.
What is of most concern to the number crunchers, how- ever, isnot the downgraded prof- its for the current fiscal year, but the big inventories of home games that are on company books at cost, when with all the new systems hitting the market this year, those inventories of ‘old' games and systems, haven't got a snowflakes chance in hell of realising their book value.
These people know that the reluctance of the manufac- turers to write off the obvious losses will come back to haunt them at some stage, and hinder future development.
The problem for this in- dustry lies in the paradox that sees the troubled companies as major suppliers to coin-op, while coin-op revenue is anow a minor part of the huge inter- national operation they have built around consumer games.
There will be some inter- esting boardroom meetings in downtown Tokyo this year.
DAYTONA TWINS KEEP COMING IN REGARDLESS
Cash Box Magazine
With production tempo- rarily stopped in Sega plants and the threat of legal action from the ‘exclusive’ distributor of the game, it was thought that the import of Daytona Twins
into Australia would slow
considerably over the Christ-
mas period, but the demand
has remained so high, im-
porters have had to tum to
sourcing used machines from Japan and other countries to sat- isfy their customers..
January, 1995
Though the Sega game has done well all over the world, it's really hit a chord with Austral- ian players and more Daytona Twins have been brought into the country than any other big dedicated game, ever.
This has had an enormous effect on the market as at $35K a pop (before the distributor whacked the price up around $4K to almost $40,000) the Day- tona's are sopping up most of the country's buying dollars.
WORLD CUP SURPLUS
Reports keep circulating of there being a huge stockpile of Bally World Cup Pinballs around the world, totalling up to 2000 pieces. One big dis- tributor is said to have had 7 unopened containers sitting around as late as November.
Though sales of Pinballs are generally down, the World Cup problem appears to stem from over production.
4 BIG RALLY GAME
The Daytona Twin is ap- parently back in production af- ter a break while Virtua Cop and Virtua Fighter II were on the Sega production lines.
Orders are still strong for this excellent game, but the word is that Sega's new driving game, tentatively named Pacific Rally, is red hot and could easily up- stage Daytona.
@ PINBALL LEAGUES
We don't hear much about Pinball Leagues these days? They were one of the most talked about subjects in the industry, this time last year, but it ap- pears operators have lost a lot of enthusiasm for them.
¢ FRANKENSTEIN
The movie has opened strong and the word is that the Pinball, Frankenstein, themed on the movie, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, is a beauty.
Made by the former Data East Pinball, Frankenstein is the first game that will carry the Sega brand name on the back- glass and it appears that the company has gone all out to make it a winner.
Page 5
Datebook International
Lnsite Col...
WORLD NEWS Page 5 LATE NEWS 31 1995 CRYSTAL BALL CORNER 93 | eee LEISURE EXPO Orlando, USA
CBI RED SEAL SPECIALS 34 Senet a a f COVER STORY 42
JANUARY 24TH -26TH ROCK-OLA'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY 45 ATEI'95 —_ London, England UNITED DISTRIBUTIN G CO 48 Phone: +44 71 713 0302 Fax: +44 71 713 0446
JANUARY 25TH - 28TH HOME GAMES SHAKEOUT 90 IMA '95 Frankfurt, Germany. AUSI VIRTUAL RE ALITY '94 52 Ph: +49 211 90191 33/34 Fax: +49 211 90191 27 VIRTUAL REALITY - Edison Bros 58 FEBRUARY 8TH - 12TH PINBALL EXPO '94 62 rake aide FLUFFY DUCKS 66 Fax: +886 2746 6875 MADE IN ENGLAND- BARCREST 68 FEBRUARY 22ND - 23RD
AOU EXPO '95 Tokyo Japan FEC'S ARE NOT NEW 72 Fax: +81 3 3253 5688 REDEMPTION GAMES 74 | lige ee EUROPEAN ROUND-UP 76 GULF LEISURE, PARKS & FUN CENTRE SHOW Dubai, United Arab Emirates
NEW GAMES AND PRODUCTS 84 Phone: +44 (0)905 613 256 Fax:+44 (0)905 724 768 CASH BOX RATINGS 91 Marcu 157TH - 17TH
1995 ASIA PACIFIC FEC CONFERENCE Singapore Phone: +65 222 8550 Fax:+65 226 3264
TILL NEXT MONTH
MARCH 23RD - 25TH ACME '95 Reno, Nevada, USA William T Glasgow Inc Phone: +1 708 333 9292 Fax: +1 708 333 4086
FACT:
No single coin-op magazine distributes as many copies in the developing regions of Asia, South East Asia, South America, South Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand as Cash Box International
Magazine oS “Se bee Internatio Magazine
Let CBI Magazine introduce your products to the big buyers of coin-op equipment in the world today
Phone me (Jane) on +612 545 0010 or Fax: +612 521 1437
JUNE 7TH -8TH
ASIAN AMUSEMENT EXPO _ Hong Kong William T Glasgow Inc
Phone: +1 708 333 9292 Fax: +1 708 333 4086
JUNE 8TH -9TH CAAO EXPO '95 ~==Melbourne, Australia Phone: (03)763 0960 or (03) 471 0410
SEPTEMBER 21ST - 23RD AMOA EXPO '95 New Orleans, USA Phone: +1 312 245 1021 Fax:+1 312 245 1085
Page 6 Cash Box International January, 1995
AMERICAN MADE
‘ | } if! j / ——
“win Bonus! ™ Travel 100 miles —_ OS _ onds remaining! -
with 20 or more $e
FES as “
reek Eee
69 1/8"
COASTAL 601 Prospect Street, Lak d, NJ 08701 AMUSEMENTS INC. 908°90506662 ° FAX 908-905°6815
Manufactured under agreement with Upper East Tennessee Distribution Inc. ©1994 Coastal Amusements Inc.
PAPA 5 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
New York is the venue for the PAPA 5 Pinball Champion- ships to be held on February 3rd - Sth at the Park Central Hotel on 7th Avenue.
Over 1000 players includ- ing National champions from 11 countries will compete in 9 divisions for a purse of over $30,000 in cash and prizes plus the sought after title of "Worlds Greatest Pinball Player"
For more information con- tact Sharon Kahn or Susan Jacobs on USA 212 647 1850
ae
Phone: (o/ Fax: (O02)
Page 8
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AUSTRALIA
SEGA START THEIR MOVE ON THE PUBS OF AUSTRALIA
iatnduiiaisOH le
In what could be the start of an assault on the pub operators of the world, Japan's Sega Corp, through their Australian subsidiary Sega
Ozi-Soft, have secured several pub loca- tions in Sydney and Melbourne, at the expense of established operators, and are installing equipment as we write. Their earlier stated 'good inten- tions’ (if they were for real) of sharing the sites with existing operators have apparently gone where most good in- tentions go, as it's been reported to us that they are taking over the whole loca-
tions (yep, Pool tables too)
The way we understand it, Sega-Ozi Soft are providing the big machines and videos, while the Pool tables and Pinballs etc are being supplied by an associate company, Total Enter- tainment Systems Pty Ltd. The Jukeboxes are
apparently being
installed by Pioneer.
There does remain how- ever, Some interesting ques- tions on the viability of the locations to support the quan- tity of equipment Sega and their associates are installing.
For example, at one lo- cation, the Ermington Hotel, in a western suburb of Syd- ney, they are replacing 2 Pool tables and one Pinball machine with a Twin Daytona, 2 player Stadium Cross, a simulated driving game (probably Vir- tua Racing), 3 upright videos, 8 Pool Tables, 3 Pinballs, a Soccer Table and a Juke Box.
At least 90% of this equipment will be placed in an upstairs area, away from the bar, which has been tried with Pool tables before and failed miserably.
At another site, the Smithfield Inn, they are said to be replacing one Pinball, one upright video and 4 Pool tables with two Daytona Twins, 3 Pinballs, 6 upright video games and 5 Pool ta- bles, with promises of bigger things like the R-360 to come for special promotions.
IT THE WORLD?
Ca
Knowing the quantity of beer consumed by Oz pub goers and their habits when "blissed", we wouldn't want to be around them when Sega pull them out of an R-360
It's very hard for this writer to believe that the original opera- tors of these sites whom we have known for along time and who are very successful operators, can be that far out of touch with the in- dustry that they've been running a fraction of the equipment they could have operated.
What Sega- Ozi Soft have done with these sites is seen as the "ultimate overkill", in most op- erators eyes.
They (operators) know that at the end of the day, all these truckloads of equipment, have to earn their keep for an extended period and on talking to the previ- Ous operators at Smithfield, we were told that the Pool Tables did well, the video average, and the Pinball good, but there was noth- ing to suggest the location could support the amount of equipment that Sega were installing.
Needless to say, the loca- tions will be watched with great interest by Sydney operators.
Most of the locations that Sega have so far secured (five to our knowledge) are owned by Aust Hotels Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the New Zealand owned Lion Natham Breweries who apparently gave them two pubs in Sydney and two in Melbourne to try out..
Cash Box International January, 1995
HE REAL WURLITZER
iy oh ae ee EEE opto sy ™ i! ants jf soma |! a al 4
mT
Wuriilzen Se aed
WURLITZER (Australia) Pty Ltd 77 Allingham Street, Bankstown NSW 2200 PH: (02) 791 0922 FAX: (02) 791 0683 CONTACT: Charles Cook
Cash Box International January, 1995
oN gt
4 - ~ Lb 4 | 30 F PER, aft YY HAY ee AS | Wu ciZer
gut
combines classical looks with laser sound technology to give you
of Music Power.
WURLITZER PTY LTD (New Zealand Branch) Unit 1, 83 Springs Rd, East Tanaki, Auckland PH: +64 9 274 6010 FAX: +64 9 274 4888 CONTACT: George Birch
ee a enanpennnaill
‘TEISUR MRGHINES MAD TU MEASURE Selva nial
MAYGAY AND
Maygay and Deith Leisure can supply machines for any country in the World.
And some of the most exciting designs you've ever seen. We can supply them in standard form, or we can adapt them to meet your local regulations.
And we back them up with the fastest parts service in the business.
We're already supplying custom made machines to the UK, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic,
Hungary, France and Germany. So
\ come to the Deith Leisure stand )) CE1/CF1 or the Maygay stand AB52 at ATE! and we'll show you how to
make money - and stay within the law!
a
7, Leisure
A MEMBER OF THE SEGA GRouP
HEAD OFFICE - EXPORT - SALES - SERVICE Ce AOC. g Unit 2, Industrial Estate, Leigh Close, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3NL ATE INTERNATIONAL Tel: 081 336 1222 Fax: 081 336 1487.
ni na?
. SSS 4 = Ss SONS
.
\ a Mk MMe
Nite
A MEMBER OF THE 2&4 GROUP
HEAD OFFICE ¢ EXPORT © SALES ¢ SERVICE Unit 2, Industrial Estate, Leigh Close, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3NL. United Kingdom. DL 033 Tel: 44 (0) 81 336 1222 Fax: 44 (0) 81 336 1487
Al
Cash Box International Magazine is published monthly by Printrod Pty Ltd of Suite 23, 16 Waratah St, Kirrawee. NSW Australia
Company Secretary Barbara Rodios
Editor& Publisher: Jack Rodios
Features Editor: Sidah Russell
Advertising Manager: Jane Rodios
Postal Address; PO Box 480, Sutherland NSW 2232 Australia
Tel: +612 545 0010 Fax: + 612 521 1437
Agents & Correspondents
Europe: Martin Dempsey Ph. +353 45 21190 Fax: +353 45 21438
Japan: — Sumio Oka (IMR) Ph: +813 3502 0656 Fax: +813 5706 7349
China: — Fred Milner Ph: +852 487 9089 Fax: +852 428 1533 South America: Joao Ghani Ph. +55 242 420782
Editorial Contributors Douglas King John Liikala
Cash Box International Magazine
is printed by Boswell Printing Pty
Ltd of 49 Fitzroy St, Marrickville. NSW Australia
The magazine is distributed into _ the Coin-operated Amusement Machine Industry and associated industries, throughout the world by DHL International Couriers
Copyright No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher
Page 12
Jack Rodios I don't know about you, but I get really exasperated
Nothing seems to bring out the merchants of doom and gloom better than Christmas and the thought of a new year. Ihave no idea why, but these pessimistic pains
in the neck always appear to be at their very best, (or worst) come Christmas.
Just when normal people want to forget about their problems for a while and enjoy the simple fact that they are still here and able to spend a bit of time with families and friends, the ‘doomers' insist on putting a downer on everything coin-op.
A good old fashioned pox on them, no breed of being bugs me more than a ‘doomer'.
with guys who try and talk down this industry which has got so very much going for it.
In the 18 odd years I've been in this business, I do not know of one solitary, genuine operator who has gone broke from operating amusement machines.
I know several operators who have gone bust dabbling in other things outside of their operations, using their coin- op dollars, and a few fools who got sucked in by sharks in the early 80's, who done their money, but no genuine, full time operators.
If you doubt that, search your own memory and see how many you come up with, I know guys with 30 years in the industry who, like me, don't know any.
And there's been much tougher periods in days gone by than we are experiencing now. The operators in many of the tough times this industry has weathered, didn't have Neo Geo, Daytona USA, redemption games like the Flintstones or Pinballs like Freddy Krueger to work with, but they still made it through, and most of them have prospered.
So enough of this doom and gloom crap, we've got a whole new year starting and it's a year that will see this great industry expand even more, don't listen to the ‘doomers' whatever you do, if they start on you, stroke them firmly down the forehead with a chunk of 2 x 4 hardwood and then go out there and make sure you get your share of the available spoils.
That way you'll have the great New Year that everyone at Cash Box wishes you.
™ Y | THESE EARNINGS 1 WILL MAKE bee wn OA
»<
NEW FROM LAZER-TRON
Get on board with one of the most popular cartoons of all time! Kids will have a Yabba-Dabba-Doo™ time playing with the ; lovable Flintstone characters in this exciting two-player ball toss game. The faster and more accurately you throw your balls in your bucket, the faster Fred ana Barney move up the track. For even more fun, you can make the other player run oe ain La aN backward by tossing their balls in the middle bucket. The eae Sey graphics will make you feel like you are taking a journey to Bedrock™ with the whole Flintstones clan!
COLOR RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
Lazer—Tron created the color recognition device (CRD) which allows The Flintstones game to determine the color of the balls thrown into the targets. This technology allows the players to sharpen their acuracy, speed and handa-to-eye coordination skills which adds a whole new dimension to ball throwing games.
BY FAILLIONS <i
joke PEOPLE —
_ORLE iW AY % tai ae
INNOVATORS IN REDEMPTION ! THE FLINTSTONES FEATURES: The Flintstones Bedrock Games™ is brought to Q Linkable game for 2, 4, Q Size: 43"W x 72"D x 67"T you by Lazer-Tron, creators of the following hit 6 or more players! ah games: Ribbit Racin™, Spin-To-Win™, Aftershock”, O Super aes and sheila ne Jungle Rama™, Shake, Rattle & Roll”, graphics! Q Color recognition Super Bank-It II" and Wild Thing™. © Completely operator recananegy | Experience the difference! adjustable! QO UL listed Call Lazer—Tron today for the distributor nearest you. yl y | FER - = ROY Progr — HOW Oa Patents Pending LIGHT YEARS AHEAD! Pleasanton, CA 94588 a tet Hate Productions, Inc. Phone: (510) 460-0873 | | Fax: (510) 460-0365
®e a * a * a“ »_ a=
Nada mejor que las Navidades y la cercania de un afto nuevo para sacar a los comerciantes de su marasmo. No sé por qué, pero estos espasmos pesimistas parecen alcanzar su punto culminate y empeorar después de las Navidades.
Justamente cuando las personas normales y corrientes quieren olvidar sus problemas por un rato y disfrutar de algo tan sencillo como estar aqui todavia y, poder compartir su tiempo con familiares y amigos, los fatalistas insisten en desprestigiar todo lo que se opera con monedas.
Ningun bicho viviente me molesta mds que un pesimista, es una maldicién valedera que pesa sobre ellos.
No sé como piensa Ud., pero a mi realmente me exasp-eran esos tipos que tratan de desprestigiar esta industria que tiene tanto que ofrecer.
Approximadamente, en los 18 afios que llevo en este negocio, so he conocido nia un solo agente verdadero que se haya fundido por operar en el ramo de las mdquinas de juegos.
Conozco varios adentes que han reventado at tratar otras lineas, usando los dolares que hicieron gracias a las mdquinas operadas con monedas, y a unos pocos tontos que fueron devorados por los
Nichts scheint die Verkuender von Untergang und Hoffnungslosigkeit schneller zutage zu bringen als Weihnachten und der Gedanke an ein neues Jahr. Ich weiss absolut nicht, warum-aber diese pessimistischen, auf die Nerven gehenden, Menschen Scheinen besonders gut (oder schlecht) zu sein, wenn die Weihnach-tszeit bevorsteht.
Gerade, wenn normale Menschen ihre Problems fuer eine Weile vergessen wollen und die einfache Tatsache, dass sie noch immer mit dabei sind und ein bisschen Zeit mit ihrer Familie und ihren Freunden verbringen koennen, geniesses wollen, bestehen die "Untergaengler" darauf, einen Daempfer auf alles, was mit Automaten zu tun hat, zu setzen.
Soll sie ein ganz altmo-discher Teufel holen-kein Wesen treibt mich so auf die Palme wie ein "Untergaengler”.
Ich weiss nicht, was Sie davon halten, aber Leute, die diese Industrie, die so viel zu bieten hat, runtermachen wollen, machen mich wuetend.
In den ungefaehr 18 Jahren, die ich im Gaeschaeft bin, kenne ich keinen einzigen echten Betreiber, der durch das Betreiben von Vergnuegungs-automaten Pleite gegangen ist.
Ichkenne mehrere Betreiber, die kaputt gegangen sind, weil sie mit anderen Dingen ausserhalb ihres
tiburones al comienzo de los 80, que perdieron su dinero, pero no a agentes verdaderos dedicados a ésto po completo.
Si lo duda, hurgue en su memoria, a ver a cuantos puede encontrar. Sé de compaferos que llevan 30 afios enel ramo y que como yo no saben de ningun caso.
Anteriormente, hemos atravesado tiempos mds dificiles que los que estamos viviendo ahora. En muchos de estos periodos tuvimos que capear el temporal y, los agentes no contaban para trabajar con Neo Geo, Daytona USA, con juegos salvadores como los Flinstones, o como Freddy Krueger, pero pasaron el rio y muchos de ellos prosperaron.
Basta ya de tanta basura fatalista y catastrofica, tenemos antes nosotros todo un ajfio nuevo €n Sus Comienzos y, serd un nuevo afio que verd crecer esta industria atin mds. No preste atencion a estos pesimistas, haga lo que haga, sila cogen con Ud., delen un golpe fuerte por debajo de las cejas con un pedazo de madera dura de 2 x 4 y, entonces salga a afuera y asegtrese de obtenar su parte del botin.
Asi tendrd gran Afio Nuevo que todos le deseamos en Cash Box.
die Anfang der 80er Jahre durch Gauner ausgenommen worden sind und ihr Geld verloren haben, aber keine echten, voll arbeitenden Betreiber.
Wenn Sie das bezweifeln, suchen Sie in ihrem eigenen Gedaechtnis nach und sehen Sie, wieviele Sie dort finden. Ich kenne Leute, die seit 30 Jahren in der Industrie sind, und wie ich von keinem wissen.
Und es hat schon viel schlimmere Zeiten in der Vergangenheit gegeben als wir sie jetzt durchmachen. Die Betreiber in jenen schlimmen Zeiten, die diese Industrie ueberstanden hat, hatten meist kein Neo Geo, Daytona USA, keine Spiele wie die Flinstones oder Spielautmaten wie Freddy Kreueger, mit denen sie arbeiten konnten, aber sie kamen durch, und die meisten von ihnen waren erfolgreich.
Deshalb - genug vom Quatsch von Untergang und Hoffnungslosigkeit - wir haben ein ganzes neues Jahr, das gerade beginnt, und es ist ein Jahr, indem wir sehen werden, wie diese grosse Industrie sich noch mehr enfaltet. Hoeren Sie nicht auf die “untergaengler”; was immer Sie auch tun moegen, wenn sie bei Ihnen anfangen, streicheln Sie sie fest an der Stirnrunter mit einem dicken Stueck Hartholz, und dann gehen Sie raus und sorgen dafuer, dass Sie Thren Anteil an der vorhandenen Beute erhalten.
Auf diese weise wird das neue Jahr so grossartig
Betriebes unter Gebrauch der Automaten-Dollar fuer Sie, wie alle bei Cash Box es Ihnen wuenschen.
herumgefummelt haben und einige Dummkoepfe,
COMING SOON from Mitchell Corporation...
Fue! By
Great Sequel to PANG and SUPER PANG
PARTYTIME
Super Sequel to LADY KILLER 5 eakse Building 2, Phone: +81 3 3220 2647
749 .pan 466 Fax: +813 3220 2607
Cash Box International January, 1995 Pagel5
UNITED KINGDOM
BELL'S "RISE OF ROBOTS" TO GET INTERNATIONAL JUDGEMENT AT ATEI
UK operators have
Don't be surprised if
Shown theirenthusiasmfor Rise of the Robots turns out Bell Fruit's new fighting avery handy game
game, Rise of the Ro- bots already, but the big test for the game will be it's showing at ATEI this month when it will come under the eyes of a huge interna- tional group of buyers for the first time.
Free play or coin operated
A unique profit center that brings kids ack time after time
% Paintn’ Puzzle @ can become an entirely new profit center for any business with a children’s clientele.
Impressive touch-screen technology.
Here’s How It Works!
Paint n’ Puzzle offers kids two exciting electronic activities:
* Electronic Coloring Book Brilliant color graphics explode on the screen as kids pick color after color to complete the cartoon.
<a ee Electronic uzzle
As the cartoon image breaks up into blocks, kids
(and parents) are challenged to unscramble the picture... all on the touch-screen monitor!
Adults love it too Two modes of play Non-violent/competitive Made for retail businesses Unique attraction
Profit Center
13458 S. Western Avenue Gardena, CA 90249 310/532-2351°Fax 310/ 532-2355
PUERTO RICO MONDIAL OPEN HOUSE HOSTS ONE OF ISLAND'S BEST PARTIES
Mondial Inter- national's brand new branch office in Puerto Rico was the site of one of the is- land's best parties this year when over 150 Operators helped welcome the big distributor to it's new store.
The big crowd of operators enjoyed a lavish buffet and open bar while checking out the latest coin-op equipment with Mondi- al's Fernando Galeb and Branch Manager Ivonne Rivera. Operator interest, plus the very liberal sup- ply of food and drink, kept the party hopping well past midnight.
Richard Sarkisan, Mondial's Executive VP, flew in from New York to cut the ribbon of the new branch building and
PUERTO RICO
Joel Friedman and Phil Cole were en- thusiastically wel- comed in Puerto Rico when they visited distribu- tors and operators of the company's products. Open Houses and train- ing workshops were held at Funny & Fun, James Industries and Mondial International. ‘Operator attendance was very heavy at all three func- tions, and Phil Cole's edu- cational seminars were at- tended by well over 100 operators that came from every region in Puerto Rico.
Cash Box International
7 7 <7 ‘ . = * 5s - 4" Sp? 7 $ a %e > a ’ = a ’ 7 rs ; r an = : é 4 st me ‘2 ‘ : e or: . ' , * ’ rm — a . 2 co ; ; P is ss oe ~ _ ?. * , : . - — ed . Se a a =. ez S «a erie, : ¢ C me, ] te . « 2 > ~) ;
Rowe AMi's _ =
Premier's LJ Greene and Taito's Carlos Laguardia give Freddy Krueger a work- out at the Mondial Open House.
said that though he expected a good turnout for the opening, the crowd present was much bigger than what was hoped for. Appreciating how much it can benefit them, Puerto Rican opera- tors were very enthusiastic about Mondial's opening of the sales and Support facility on the island
ROWE AMi VISIT PR DISTRIBUTORS AND
OPERATORS
Rowe's Phil Cole takes Puerto Rico operators through the LaserStar Diamente CD at his Funny & Fun seminar
Joel Friedman joined Carlos Riveraof Funny & Fun in the grand opening of the new Funny & Fun distribution operation and also at- tended the opening of Mondial's new Puerto Rican facility.
Joel also visited many loca- tions on the island where the Rowe AMi Jukebox line has been very well accepted by operators
January, 1995
HONG KONG
While America dithers over
a $1 coin, other countries are moving more and more to coins of higher value with the newest being Hong Kong's $10 coin which is worth a touch over US$2. Operators in Hong Kong believe the new $10 coin will <<”) give the industry a big lift and are ——}. moving quickly to install coin <=" mechanisms that will accommo-
FUN FOR ALL AGES
FULLY METERED
$e OOO
ss fittis eR a iets, ire
Wee a, PTL Y [a bien Mi Me Utsass,
Cash Box International January, 1995
NEW $10 COIN SEEN AS A BOON FOR COIN-OP
FUN & EXCITEMENT FOR ALL AGES AMUSEMENT SKILL GAME OPTIONAL TICKET DISPENSATION ADJUSTABLE TICKET AWARDS MULTI COIN ACCEPTOR
GREAT SOUND EFFECTS
date the coin as some of the bigger dedicated games are now on $10 play and though the price has met little resistance, the feeding of sev- eral coins has.
The new coin will probably see electronic multi coin mecha- nisms also take off in the colony as they have in other countries where higher valued coinage has been introduced.
SHOOT OUT
@ Test your Soccer skills by kicking a full sized Soccer ball into the goal, but watch out, the Goalie might save it Strong Metal Cage Frame Reinforced Safety Padding Adjustable Gameplay Timer Electronic Score & Timer Display Optional Ticket Dispenser
Multi Coin Acceptor
Realistic Sound Effects
¢e oe O %
remusement Machine Manufacturers & Dietruibutors
Harry Li evy
famusement Contractor Ltd.
Units 1 - 4 Patricia Way, Pysons Road Industrial Estate Broadstairs, Kent CT10 2LF England
Telephone: +44 1843 866 464 Fax: +44 1843 860 144
@ AGERESTRICTIONS
The major trade associa- tion in Taiwan, the China Ht- Tech Amusement Machine As- sociation, is endeavouring to draw up a new Set of pro- posals relating to the Tai- wanese coin machine laws, that will be acceptable to the Government.
Though no one seems to be able to make up their minds on an actual age, it seems certain that the main plank of the associations proposals will be centred around age limitations for children playing amuse- ment games.
The Government is coming under increasing pressure from the mediaand parent groups over young children having easy access to such games.
@ CRANES BANNED
The operation of coin- op cranes in Indonesia has been at least temporarily banned by the Government after many machines were found to be illegally loaded with cigarettes.
Over 2200 machines have been pulled out of the market at this stage with still more to come from some of the islands. Some of the country’s more re- sponsible operators have made overtures to the Gov- ernment to rescind the over- all ban in favour of institut- ing heavy penalties for op- erators using the machines illegally, and they believe this move could be success- ful, and reasonably quickly.
Page 17
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Page 18 Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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TE HE oo
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FULL hntaning FRENZY Il
Since Day 1, beats all other sport games and always in the top 10 out
of 80 redemption games.
Always in the top 5 of redemption, that’s a fact
After 21 months still earns over $200 every week.
Page 19
@ LITTLE KIDS TARGETED
Every little kid on the planet may as well be walking around with a big bull’s-eye tattooed on his forehead, so surely are they the prime tar- get of the amusement industry.
This follows an enormous rise ininterest for Kiddie Rides, Soft Play units and the type of fun attractions that enable the little guys to play with the big- ger guys.
TMC JAPAN Co., Ltd.
UNITED STATES
Major Trade Show organisers and many of the big manufacturers are getting a bit concerned over the number of exhibitions
TALK OF TRADE SHOW "GRAND PRIX" AS CALENDAR STRETCHES TO UNWORKABLE LEVELS
that are on the calendar, and there is even talk jiu
in some circles of a Trade Show "Grand Prix", or a select round of major events where the major manufacturers will exhibit and a 'B' grade circuit which will be left to regional distributors and local manufacturers.
The "Grand Prix" concept would see six major international Trade shows being devel- oped, London's ATEI, possibly the two US
Shows, AMOA Expo and ACME, Japan's AM _ America, probably SALEX. (IMA in Ger- Show, one event in South East Asia, probably in many would also come under consideration if
Hong Kong or Singapore and one in South
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Page 20
it was held at a different time of the year)
The select circuit idea sees the six or seven major events being split up into two show periods with manufacturers exhibits be- ing shipped direct from one show to the next for the 3 or 4 events in the particular period.
There's obviously a few holes in the draft proposal, (they seem to have ignored IAAPA and Fun Expo) but there probably is some merit in the general idea as it's getting a very costly exercise to have a presence at the major- ity of events.
The scenario sees the worlds major ex- hibitors having a proposal along these lines put to them this year, in time for it to be put into place by 1997, if (and it's a real big "if") agreement can be struck.
CHINA
GALLOPING INFLATION SLOWS ECONOMIC REFORM
China's economic growth which has averaged 13% in the past two years is being savagely undermined by an inflation rate that's reached as high as 27% in 35 major cities. The high inflation rate has forced many loss making, state owned enterprises to face the spectre of bankruptcy and is now starting to seriously affect foreign investment which is a key factor in the plans for economic reform.
After a flurry of activity by sectors of the international coin-op industry to have a pres- ence in China, both investment and enthusi- asm have dropped off considerably and it's unlikely that there will be any change in that position until the Chinese Government find a way to handle the inflation without stalling economic growth.
Cash Box International January, 1995
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Page 22
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TAIWAN
TAM BRINGS 'HARD GAMING' LINK TO AMUSEMENT GAMES ISSUE OUT INTO OPEN
The mixing of 'Hard Gaming’ with bona fide amusement games at Trade Shows and in magazines, appears likely to become a major issue in the industry as Many coin-op manufacturers believe the mixing of the two genres is prejudi- cial to the amusement machine business.
SNK voiced their disapproval at
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TAM, the Taiwan Amusement Machine Exhibition late last year, saying that the Taiwanese market was big enough to sup- port separate shows for 'hard' gaming and amusements and it appears that many other companies, though silent to date, agree with these sentiments. The issue seems certain tonowcome Out into the open as it becomes clear that amusement machine exhibitors are becoming increasingly fed up with the exhibition organisers and maga- zines, that are intent on linking ‘hard’ gaming with genuine amusements.
They see the desire of these people to tap the obvious wealth of the gaming industry, as doing the bona fide amusement industry a great disservice.
The vague link that exists be- tween the two industries is seen as being ideally catered for in London each year where a separate gaming exhibition is held at the same time, and adjacent to ATEI.
AUSTRALIA
LUNA PARK LOCKED IN CONTROVERSY
Those waiting for the famed inner city fun park, Luna Park to reopen had better not hold their breath as the project remains locked in con- troversy over a five storey high Roiler Coaster that is currently being built on the site.
Residents of nearby apartments have instigated legal proceedings on at least three fronts to stop the opera- tion of the Roller Coaster which the new operators of the park say is essential to it's financial viability.
Built at Milsons Point, on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, Luna Park is situated on one of the highest priced pieces of real estate in the country and has been idle for over five years after fire and accidents forced it's closure.
Late news suggests Sega are looking to get involved with the park.
Cash Box International January, 1995
HUGE TAX ON AMUSEMENT MACHINES SENDS SHOCKWAVES AROUND COIN-OP INDUSTRY
The new Amusement License Duty im- posed on the UK industry in the recent budget has sent shockwaves through the coin-op in- dustry and seems certain to devastate at least the video and Pinball markets.
All is not yet clear however, as there seems to be a few conundrums in the new tax of £250.00 per machine which is to come into force next November.
On videos for example, the tax appears to apply to each playing station which would completely destroy the PCB market in 2, 3 and 4 player games.
Pinballs are a flat £250.00 and though it was first thought that the new tax covered items like Juke Boxes, Pool Tables, etc, it now seems that they and 5p SWP's that payout up to £6 are exempt.
There's also some confusion on our re- ports, regarding AWP’s, but though the AWP situation is a bit fuzzy at time of writing, the doubt is not over whether they have incurred
; a MD a.
a | y
THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR GAMES
more tax, but simply how much more they have been hit with.
This Government grab for revenue has come on top of the recent introduction of a National Lottery which is already having discomforting affects on the AWP market and would appear to have effectively wiped out all the progress made by the industry in Britain over the last few years, leaving many operators, big and small, pondering the vi- ability of their businesses.
BACTA, the British association is pre- paring to fight the new tax and will be making strong representations to the Gov- ernment before it's passed into Law, point- ing out the economics of the tax which though raising some £60 million for the Government, could cost as many as 15,000 jobs and many millions in lost VAT when machines are inevitably removed from op- eration. BACTA members are also being asked to write to their local members .
@ JALECO DOWN TOO
Jaleco Ltd are the latest Japanese manufacturer to re- port a drastically revised fis- cal forecast for the financial year ending March 1995. They now predict a loss of ¥800 mil- lion for the year.
The company blames a deterioration in the coin-op games market, plus much lower than expected demand for home games and will now cut their losses on the huge, home game inventory they are holding and dispose of them in lesser mar- kets around the world.
aS
recepHone: +44 1704 537853 fax: +44 1704 530100 21a CEMETERY ROAD, SOUTHPORT PR8 6RH, ENGLAND
f
Cash Box International January, 1995
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Page 24 Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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Page 26
HOME GAMES WAR
The first blood was let in the looming home game system war when Sega slashed the do- mestic price of their long awaited Saturn system by US$50 to $445, and the Tokyo Stock Ex- change reacted by ripping a quick 6% off the value of Sega shares.
It's believed the price of $445 will leave very little mar- gin in the hardware for Sega and the US$3.40 drop in the compa- ny's share value, with the pun- dits predicting further falls in the New Year, indicates just how much stockholders feel, is hinging on the Saturn system being successful in the consumer market.
BKK KKK KK KKK KKK
Still on home games and the giant, Japanese entertain- ment company Sony have en- tered the arena and released their 32 bit "Play Station" system at US$395. This system will take Ridge Racer and other top line Namco and Konami games into the homes, giving both Sega and Nintendo something more to contend with in their quest for market dominance.
26 2K 26 ok 2 ok 3 2k 2k 2 ok ok OK OK
CAPCOM vs DATA EAST
Capcom and Data East have settled their copyright dif- ferences over similarities be- tween Fighters History and SFII. The cases in both Japan and the USA have been terminated with each party agreeing to pay their Own costs.
2 2K 2k ok 2k 2k ok 2K OK KK ok OK KK
CHARTS
Hardly surprising when SNK's Samurai Shodown II slipped straight into the top spot on Japanese conversion game charts. The very good Neo Geo
Cash Box International
game has a clear margin over Virtua Fighter which continues to hold favour, and King of Fighters '94 which is also hold- ing up well. Apart from Samu- rai Shodown II, other newcom- ers to do well initially are Tai- to's Bubble Symphony and Cap- com's Armoured Warriors at#'s 4 and 6 respectively.
In dedicated games, Sega's Sports Fishing is a clear #1 from Virtua Cop and Daytona Twin. Namco's gun game, Point Blank made it's debut at #4.
Pinball takings are way down with Royal Rumble hold- ing onto the top spot from Le- thal Weapon3 and Jurassic Park
2K 2K OK ok KK Kk OK OK KKK
ECONOMY
Even many of the big Japa- nese amusement centres are ex- periencing a downturn on last years winter figures as the Japa- nese economy marks time with the unheard of threat of unem- ployment hanging over it.
The high value of the yen, once the country's major asset is now a handicap to the manu- facturing industries whose ex- ports have slumped alarmingly.
January, 1995
ATEI - Another international attraction in
Bi3)
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ATE INTERNATIONAL
A Org F LONDON . JANUARY 24 25 26 1995 YD, we Ce
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International visitors free entry. UK visitors £10/person (payable to ATE Ltd).
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995 Page 27
UNITED STATES
DYNAMO RECEIVES AMERICA'S TOP EXPORT HONOUR
Dynamo Ltd, the pool, soccer and air hockey table AUSTRALIA manufacturer, has been
awarded the President's "E"
N EW P RESI DENT F OR NAMOA Award for Excellence in Ex-
The NAMOA (National Amusement Machine Op- porting. The announcement erators Association) seems certain now to appoint Frank WS made by US Secretary Sebastyan of Adelaide as of Commerce Ron Brown, the new President follow- and the award was presented to Dynamo by US Congress-
ing George Campbell stand- ing down in November. man Joe Bar fou Sebastyan has had ex- The President's "E
Award, created in 1961, rec- : ep 6 ognises firms and organisa- . 2 J] PA Aa tions for their competitive : | achievements in world mar-
tensive association experi- ence having presided over the very successful South Australian association for
Kets, as well as the benefits pares naan Bil Rickett (centre) and US cai . than 20 pears and fill- of their success to the US Congressman Joe Barton prepare to hoist the ing an active position on the President's “E" Award flag over Dynamo Board of the NAMOA con- : ara: ae . headquarters in dallas currently. Frank Sebastyan "This is a fantastic
tribute to all of us at Dynamo," Today Dynamo Ltd's annual
said Bill Ricket, founder of the _ sales are in excess of $30 million.
company. "Our employees take Since 1991, Dynamo has experi- We Carry Everything great pride in their work. To be enced double digit increases each i Need Tc
honoured by the Presidentandrec- year in both domestic and export ognised as one of the nation's most sales and the company is export- dynamic companies heightens the ing its products to 35 countries enthusiasm in all of us," he added. throughout the world.
UNITED STATES Capsules, FORMER NSM WIZ TO ROCK-OLA Eggs, AA/Rock-Ola President, Glenn Streeter has announced the Toys, Gum, appointment of Mike Jablonski, Candy, Nuts, (the long time technical wiz at Machines NSM) as Director of Technical : Services at the company's ever Parts and expanding Rosemont, Illinois fa- More! cility.
Mike left NSM in Septem- ber to work with his brother man-
WN A&A Company aging a chain of Sluggers Sports AX. Mike Jablonski
Parkway Machine Barsin Chicago, but Streeter, who Corporation was firmly of the belief that Mike Jablonski is delighted to : enn hig! Adtindes: PG. Pix 377. Jablonski was too young to retire be involved with Rock-Ola's Ameri-
ra | 12 ° Mailing MD 21094. 0277 U. S.A. from the Jukebox industry, se- can made Jukeboxes, now celebr at- Street Address: 2301 York Road, cured him for Rock-Ola where ing their 60th anniversary, and will Timonium, MD 21093 U.S.A. his duties will include technical/ _ take up his position after a training Phone: (410) 252-1020 © 1-800-638-6000 ineeri rt, training and and familiarisation stint at both the Fax: (410) 252-7137 © 1-800-800-1110 SnBIIPe MNS SHPPOr, alle schools. Torrance and Rosemont plants.
Page 28 Cash Box International January, 1995
ie SS SAAD Ane da anh A ane
ey SR NS gt es as ee ‘he 5 s ‘ ns wt . , Swe q y, ° te * 7 ‘ 2 ‘ Ww 4 ‘ DS. ” L a 4 . 2 " <M, “ BS, 7 ‘ ~N = r r % oN 3 * “4 ‘
:) cz onoooes Teri)
L St D | [ Introducing asel al ldmMdn C lf you think the Rowe/AMi LaserStar series got atten- erRow a JW SE
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“Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
& ICE HAVE NEW REDEMPTION "KILLER"
Seldom has a company head been so enthused over a new product as Ralph Coppola of ICE is about the company's new redemption game that is now going into production.
No details at this point, but in the bosses words,
"Tests have been unbeliev- able, basically the neatest, best looking, and most fun to play ticket splitter in the business"
From a company that's produced the good games ICE have, that's a fair wrap.
e SHAQ ATTACKS
Premier's new Pinball, Shaq Attag has generated un- precedented pre delivery orders inAustraliajustonsight. Local distributor, Mothers Imports is having trouble accommodating prospective buyers out of the first shipment and is trying des- perately to get the second ship- ment brought forward as we go to print.
*& BALL-TIMER TO
SPREAD OUT OF EUROPE
With the spread of new style Pool Lounges and increase in popularity, Heinrich Dolp of Ball Timer Systems is confident that countries outside Europe, where the Ball-Timer is very widely used, will soon embrace the timed play concept which has proven many times over that Pool and Billiard tables equipped with the electronic tim- ing device can generate much higher revenue while cutting operating costs.
Page 30
THE PHILLIPINES
Fred Milner of Bondeal, Hong Kong, to- gether with his partners, Fun Corp of the Phil- ippines have opened their latest "Time Out" family fun centre at the Ever Gotesco Com- monwealth Shopping Mall in Quezon City, a suburb of Metro Manilla.
AUSTRALIA SA AMOA IN NEW INITIATIVE
The South Australian AMOA, always striving for ways to develop a harmonious rela- tionship between member operators have come up with another new initiative that is an Aus- tralian ‘first
The association is organising a Family Fun Day Picnic at the beautiful Belair National Park on Sunday 19th February where members and other operators can bring staff, associates, friends and most importantly their families for a fun day of sporting and other activities. And it's totally FREE! (except for alcohol) The cost of the day will be borne by the association through sponsorship from within the industry.
Those attending should book with Mike Parsons on (08) 364 0500 or Fax, (08) 364 0845
The organising committee of the Fun Day.From left: Andrew Le, Gerald Morgam, Mike Parsons, Chris Hamono
NEW "TIME OUT" CENTRE FOR QUEZON CITY
The mall is built in the style of a Euro- pean castle, making it an impressive sight from afar.
The new 850 sq. metre "Time Out" continues with the sports theme used in all the Time Outcentres throughout South East Asia. This particular one has many large, comic- style sportsmen hanging from the ceiling, for visual effect.
Another feature in the centre is a tower erected in the middle of the play area. There are games on the tower itself and the redemp- tion counters are located under it.
In addition to dedicated and upright video games, the centre has the Time Out chain's first soft play area which Milner be- lieves have an enormous future in Family Centres and which will be incorporated in all Time Out centres in the foreseeable future
SPAIN SKEE-BALL TO SUPPLY MIDWAY GAMES
Skee-Ball has recently been contracted to supply a full scale American style midway game program to Port Aventura, a major theme park under construction in Salou, Spain scheduled to open in several months.
Skee-Ball's European operations man- ager, Jeff Hudson, worked with park officials to assist in designing the games area and selecting the types of games which will be featured. Among the games selected were favourites such as Basketball, Milk Can, Cat Rack, Water Race group games and the new Skee-Ball Lightning game introduced in Sep- tember of last year.
In addition to manufacturing the equip- ment, Skee-Ball will provide a cash control and management system and installation serv- ices. The project is expected to be completed in February of 1995.
Skee-Ball was selected for the project because of their experience in introducing American-style midway games to Europe. The company has already completed projects for the UK's Thorpe Park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Chessington World of Adventures and Germany's Holiday Park, among others.
Cash Box International January, 1995
Sega Enterprises Ltd of Japan, in conjunction with Australian distributor Leisure & Allied Industries (LAI) who claim exclusive distribution have filed a Statement of Claim against operator/ distributor, Galaxy Electronics Pty Ltd for infringing on Sega's Copyright, by operating and exhibiting a genuine, Sega made machine.
This is the opening gambit in a game of extremely high stakes as the ensuing litigation will have far reach- ing effects on everyone involved in the coin-op industry in Australia and many from other countries.
The Australian coin-op industry was quick to realize this with the Na- tional operators association (NAMOA) moving within 24 hours of the claim being served, to take over the coordina- tion of the defence to the claim, and every distributor of note in the country contacted by CBI, pledging strong fi- nancial support.
The technical side of the claim and background to this extraordinary move by Sega, (though fully expected from LAI) will be printed next month,
LATE NEWS 2
NEW REDEMPTION GAME TESTS OVER THE MOON
The new redemption game from ICE Inc, mentioned elsewhere in this issue has now been identified as Cyclone, a game which recent testing has shown, is capable of incredible earnings, comfortably ‘knocking off big dedicated video games like Daytona (which costs 4 times as much) in one large arcade.
The game is a three player piece with progressive Jackpot that has no moving parts (except the players constantly groping for their wallets) and will start shipping this month
Mark this one down as a game you must check out at ATEIT or wher- ever it is shown, it's hot!
Though Virtua Cop is the game mentioned in the claim, the catalyst for this litigation was surely the earlier Sega game, Daytona USA, of which some 300
SEGA CLAIMING COPYRIGHT BREACH IN EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS LITIGATION
of a total of approximately 400 pieces, came into the country as parallel imports while LAI claimed "exclusive distribu- tion" of the product. It is believed that if Sega/LAI are successful the outcome will not only make parallel imports of dedicated games illegal, but also = overturn the 1991 = Mothers Imports
but the support of the NA- MOA and Australia's dis- tributors has quickly changed this case from being Segaand LAI vs Gal- axy Electronics, to Sega
and LAI vs the entire Australian decision that freed Coin-op Industry. And that's going the parallel im- to be a Hell of a fight. port of PCB's
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Cash Box International January, 1995 Page 31
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Page 32
Pi
The Electronic Virtua Crystal Ball 33
KILLER INSTINCT
Question: What's the future hol for Killer Instinct, VCB 33?
VCB33: I told you all there is to know about Killer Instinct in that video interview. I told you that good games would come out of places other than Japan and that the price of video games was going to skyrocket.
Killer Instinct was designed in the UK, made in the USA, and it costs an armandaleg. What more do youwant to know?
Question: Is it worth the money asked, can it bring players back to video games and what sort of life can we expect from it.
VCB33: No, No and so-so.
Question: Would you like to elabo- rate?
VCB33: There's nothing really to elaborate on, though to be fair, before the answer to whether it's worth the price or not is answered, the question of will it bring players back must be addressed, because if it's not strong enough to bring players back, it ain't worth the money.
I can't see it bringing players back in big numbers, it's a fighting game, a pretty one, but also one that's full of violence, don't you humans read the bloody newspapers? Everyone jump- ing up and down over violence, So you make more violent games. Anyway, the game play is quite good, but once again, hardly different or innovative
To sum up, the fact that it's built on Nintendo's new 64 bit system and has brilliant graphics are plus factors, but what else has it got that countless other fighting games haven't got? Not a lot, certainly not enough to make it the huge hit or guaranteed winner that a lot of people would have you believe it's going to be.
Killer Instinct with full blood and guts is a good game, but not a super
Cash Box International
ens) cones
d joystick fighting game.
January, 1995
COIN-OP IN 1995
Question: What's in store for the coin- op industry in 1995
VCB 33: You hardly need a high tech crystal ball like me for this, but since you asked; (a) Indedicated video, bigger games, bigger prices, bigger earnings, (b) Pinball takings steady, but some big surprises in this sector, (c) Severe pain for some coin- op manufacturers that are deep into home video games, (d) The move to Redemption on the street to accelerate, (e) In conver- sion games, Taito to rise from video Limbo on back of F3 System, but Neo Geo to still hold all the Aces, (f) "F" is for FEC's, Future profit and the Fun you will have in 1995 when the cash boxes will be consider- ably Fuller.
duper game and it's very expensive for a
It will take some good money, particu- larly in the USA, but will not reach the dizzy heights that the hype surrounding it suggests it's capable of, and will find it very hardin some areas to justify it's price
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Page 33
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Page 34
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NEO GEO #1
It's very easy here in 1995 to embrace Neo Geo and applaud SNK for the way they have continued to Support and develop the system, but it would have to be right to say that in May 1990 when the Neo Geo System was released, many more operators doubted it's worth than re- ally appreciated it for what it was.
And it would also be right to say that of those who did appreciate the technology of the system, a large percentage were sceptical of SNK Supporting it with the number of games they pledged to make.
To be fair, most operators had good reason to be a bit sceptical as prior to Neo Geo the industry had been bombarded with systems and promises of game support by several manufacturers, and nothing of much note had come from it.
When SNK's system was looked into
however, it could be seen that Neo Geo was not like any other system, and SNK's ap- proach to it was not like any other company.
They didn't just add the Neo Geo to their range of prod- ucts which in- Cluded at the time, dedicated games like Beast Buster and PCB games, they completely
stopped production of any other video products and put all their eggs into the Neo Geo basket.
It didn't take long for that con- fidence in the new product to bear fruit, Neo Geo in the next few years became an industry staple and has continued to hold operators favour to this day.
With more than 50 Neo Geo games produced since the introduc- tion of the system, the cynicism has gone and Neo Geo is in fact seen by many operators around the world as the only feasible way to operate video games in the current industry envi- ronment.
The more recentbatch of games is collectively the best yet produced, King of Fighters, '94, Samurai Shodown II from SNK, Street Hoop from Data East, plus the older Super Sidekicks 2 and Aero Fighter 2 make an imposing line up and one that operators all round the world are flocking to. And there's likely to be more new releases at this months ATEI in London.
Operators preferences of the best way to operate the Neo Geo system differ in different countries, many basically stick to the single game concept on the JAMMA com- patible MV-1FZ mother board, oth- ers go for the two, four or six game board, all successfully so there's no Single rule for operation.
It has been found however that it's basically wasted to have more than one of the current ‘hot’ games in a multi game machine and the nor- mal set up of asuch a machine would see one of the best current games installed with the remaining holes being filled with older games.
Cash Box International
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The configuration is something that the location will decide for you, many locations with mixed type of player base do much better with a multi game system, while others are Clearly suited best by single game machines running the latest games.
The other thing to be aware of with Neo Geo is the capability of a lot of the games to take real good money on a return trip, some of the older games which did suffer a bit from short site life can go back toa location, three, six or twelve months later and take top money for at least a few weeks. Used this way rather than trading them in, the older games can comfortably earn a couple of hundred dollars more than you'd ever get as a trade in price.
Neo Geo is a great product, particularly for street operators and the good part is that with over 30 outside game making companies now developing games for the system eres Tre it can only get better
January, 1995
ARCADE PIECE
Ace Driver De Luxe
It was very difficult not to have some reservations about Namco's Ace Driver De Luxe when it was released in September at the AM Show in Tokyo, even though it was obviously a piece of quality equipment.
The price mentioned was enough to make people start looking for excuses not to buy it, and the same happened at AMOA Expo, but high prices for quality games is something we're all going to have to get used to, they're here to stay, and that makes it more important today than ever before that operators look past the price and buy for ROI (return on investment)
Ace Driver, particularly the De Luxe model is not a machine for every arcade by any means, but itis a machine that will provide a great ROI, in high volume arcades and other quality locations.
The game is F1 driving at it's very best and the brilliant cabinet with the swinging simulator seats is the best twin screen cabinet yet made.
The texture mapped graphics are superb, providing a realism that can only make you wonder what Virtual Reality can do that Namco can't already do with polygons.
The players control of the cars is also superb, we thought the previous Namco game, Ridge Racer was the ulti- mate in this regard, but somehow the company engineers have made handling of the Fl's even better again, and the whole package is backed up with big Bose speakers that envelop the player in all the sounds of a Grand Prix race track.
Ace Driver is a machine of rare quality, and if it performs like we be- lieve it will, the price will be of second- ary importance, we see this game not only earning big, big dollars for a long time, but acting as a magnet in drawing people into the select locations that it's placed in.
Cash Box International
January, 1995
"COOL IT GANG, THINK OF ALL THE MONEY WE'RE MAKING"
"EH SCARFACE I'M TIRED OF
BEING SHOT
OVER HERE"
"YOU SHOULD WORRY, EVERY TIME | GET HIT I
HAVE TO KICK
oe iA é ; 2 r eee fd P ) oR oe an pe N / ‘ S&S é * . fags SA sort +e “ 55 i . ‘ - ‘ fe
THIS BUCKET"
If the superbly animated characters in our electronic shooting galleries could talk they would tell you the tricks they perform when hit, how they shoot back water and how they need no full time attendant. Best of all they would boast about all the money they make on your behalf!
Gangster is our new theme. The success of Pirate, Hillbilly and smaller Gopher speaks for itself.
Contact Judith Whittaker now:-
e Fax: +44 (0)61 627 5357. = Tel: + 44 (0)61 652 8092.
Pan Amusements, Austerlands Mill, Huddersfield Road, Oldham,
AMUSEMENTS ELLOS SEIS, England, OL4 3QB.
ELECTRONIC SHOOTING GALLERIES (
Page 35
REDEMPTION GAME
okeeBall Lightning
Skee-Ball Inc have taken the roll up game of Skee Ball by the throat and shaken the daylights out of it with their new model, SkeeBall Lightning and we expect it to be one of the best new products of this type, released for some time.
Though it's retained it's popular- ity for many years, Skee Ball as a game has still needed to be brought up anotch to compete on a level footing with the technology and glitz of the 90's, and Skee Ball Lightning does just that.
The game has a host of new fea- tures including tricolour Dot Matrix display which adds graphics and
Page 36
messaging to the game play, special black lighting of a fluorescent target board, "Double Flash" an optional play feature which enables players to pick up double points in set circumstances, and a whole lot more that are all de- signed to keep the player at the game.
Sound and lighting effects are superb and blend in brilliantly with the game play and the stylish decor of the game to complete a great package.
You'll go a long way to see a better update of a game than what's on view with Skee Ball Lightning and play- ers must like it too as testing has shown that it is capable of earnings well in excess of conventional models.
Ideal multi piece for arcades, FEC's and any large location with mixed clientele as it attracts players of all ages and either sex.
SkeeBall Lightning may never be the star attraction, but it will earn sol- idly and consistently for many years.
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Cash Box International January, 1995
FEC ATTRACTION
With all the brilliant new tech-
nology at work in this industry it'sa ~~ =" Sd ce.
cause of some amazement that most good games and attractions stem from age old concepts.
Pan Amusements Shooting Galleries from the UK are such a beast, though they employ the latest technologies, the conceptis as old as Mathuzla, and the games just keep
on earning. ogee , a
The company has been manu- facturing Shooting Galleries for 15 years and to the best of their knowledge every gallery they have made is still working and earning money. Those galleries, some now 15 years old were built to the best possible standards of the day, but natural manufacturing evolution and development dic- tates that the products Pan are building today are far superior.
So what sort of life are we looking at for the Pan Shooting Galleries being built now, 30 years? 50 years? It's quite feasible, and that would have to provide the sort of ROI that gets Bank managers and accountants dancing in the streets, as most galleries pay for themselves inside a year.
I get a kick out of watching people in arcades and fun centres, particularly around the shooting gallery. The dad in a family group will invariably try to edge the group over to the shooting gallery without being too obvious.
When junior finally sights it and drags the family over for a go, dad "reluctantly" agrees, drops the coins and goes through all the motions of teaching the little guy how to aim and shoot.
You see, some 99% of dads consider they are crack shots with a rifle, they love to show off their prowess to their kids and wives, and though the majority are basically hopeless, dad will always walk away from a Shooting Gallery, a winner.
The carrying on by sections of the public about guns, slowed a lot of shooting galleries down for a while, but Pan's water spray, a fun system where the player can get a light shower from the target when he misses, took any hint of gun violence away from their products.
Who could look at kids and adults playing a target shooting game as anything but good, old fashioned fun when the target stands up, tells the player it was a crook shot and then sprays him with water amidst howls of laughter from all concerned.
Pan Shooting Galleries are fully electronic, they do not need an attendant and can be built to any size or be adapted to any unusual shape in available floor space.
Age old favourites they may be, but the Pan Shooting Galleries are as up to date technologically as any amusement
Cash Box International January, 1995
Shooting lor
FEC Profits
agi aaah B TS a \
—
See ox Os
~ ened
Gangster Alley
attraction on the market today, They are just as attractive to players now as they have always been and represent a solid and secure investment for any type of entertainment location that caters to the family.
A unique profit center that brings kids ack time after time 4 %
Paintn’ Puzzle @ can become an entirely new profit center for any business with a children’s clientele.
Impressive touch-screen technology.
Here’s How It Works!
Paint n’ Puzzle offers kids two exciting electronic activities:
¢Electronic Coloring Book Brilliant color graphics explode on the screen as
kids pick color after color to complete the cartoon.
¢ Challenging Electronic Puzzle As the cartoon image breaks up into blocks, kids (and parents) are challenged to unscramble the picture... all on the touch-screen monitor!
Adults love it too Two modes of play Non-violent/competitive Made for retail businesses Unique attraction
Profit Center
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Page 37
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Page 38 Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
"GET SMART" IN REDEMPTION
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1 a Page 39
13 FUN STORIES TO TELL! Discovery Zone, USA Galleria Fun Country, USA Sportopia, USA Wonder Eggs, Japan Timezone, Australia Seacon Square, Thailand The Fantasia Lagoon, Thailand Leoland, Thailand Wywy Wonderspace, Singapore Ken-Air Funworld, Singapore Funworld in motion, Malaysia Gilco’s great Adventures, Philippines Funworld, Indonesia Entropy, Taiwan
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Registration Fee: US$1,795 + GST US$53.85 = US$1,848.85; or S$2, 872 + GST S$86.16 = §$2,958.16 for 3-day conference. Fee includes lunch, refreshment and full conference documentation.
Early Bird Discount: Save US$100 for registrations with payment received before 15 February 1995.
Group Discount: For three (3) or more persons from the same organisation, a 10% discount applies.
Method of Payment: GST is not applicable to delegates from outside Singapore. Crossed cheque or bank draft payable to AIC Conferences. Payment is required with registration. Cancellations and Transfers: Documentation and 50% refund will be given for cancellation received in writing one week before the event. Full refund will be made for written cancellations received two weeks prior to the event. AIC reserves the right to alter this programme. _|
DON’T MISS THE FUN & PROFITS! CALL AIC NOW ON (+65) 222 8550
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COASTAL AMUSEMENTS
STRONG TEAM AT COASTAL KEEP BRINGING ON THE GOOD GAMES
The successful partnership between Coastal Amusements Inc. owners, Lenny Dean and Sal Mirando, have produced yet another fine example of why the name Coastal Amusements is synonymous with quality redemption products.
Their latest release, Fred Flinstone’'s Memory Match, is bound to be another winner. Licensed from Hanna-Barbera, itis aconcentration/memory type game which features "Fred" with his family and friends in a concept that is sure to have huge appeal.
The Lakewood, New Jersey based firm is a com- pany that in recent years has received two first-place awards, aS well as an honourable mention, from the International Association of Amusement Parks and At- tractions (IAAPA) for having the Most Outstanding Exhibit Display for Coin-op Redemption Games.
Several years ago, Sal and Lenny decided to com- bine their talents to design and manufacture a complete line of quality redemption games. This partnership has proven to be extremely successful - you only have to look at the many Coastal games appearing at the top of most equipment popularity charts.
With a growing product line spanning the range
from adult to children's games, Costal has expanded its production space by more than double to accommodate the market demand for its products.
Coastal's personnel are dedicated to producing the finest games available on the market and to helping operators get the most out of redemption. Robert Keelyn, a sales representative has been with the company since its inception and Joe Tunney, an operating veteran of many years, joins Bob in forming a forceful sales team. Bob and Joe travel the country in support of distribution and conduct teaching seminars to bring redemption to the frontline of the coin-op industry.
Coastal is proud of its employee dedication devel- oped over the years and encourages a total team effort. The long and painstaking task of product development is handled with care by Dan Bennett, Alan Kalb and Keith Eaton.
While the company designs its products to require minimum service, the technical service department is only a phone call away. The experienced people in this department include Merideth Trimel, Jim Hughes, Jeff Fisher, and Rich Jackson.
Plant management is supervised by Joe Linglebach whose motto is "No problem, we can handle it!" Cus- tomer service is under the direction of Angela Henke, purchasing and inventory control are shared by Peggy Harries and Jan Orrok. Complementing the various departments is a capable office staff managed by Amy Meyer-Swindell with assistance from Julia Campfield, Jenny Shaw and Christina Albino, the "voice" of Coastal.
What is Coastal's secret to success? If you ask Lenny or Sal, they will immediately answer, "There is no secret. There is only hard work, resulting in a solid business - but a little bit of luck doesn't hurt either."
Coastal believes their products are a "combination
of what has been appealing in the past, with a new
twist or turn that appeals to all ages, and maybe just a little magic."
And magic is what Coastal has plenty of for the future of our industry.
Coastal Amusements products will be on display at the ATEI Exhibition in London this month, as well as the ACME Exhibition in Reno, Nevada in March.
For more information contact your local distribu- tor. For areferral or a product directory, contact Coast- al's sales teamon: Phone +1 (908) 905 6662 or Fax +1 (908) 905 6815.
Cash Box International January, 1995
MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFITS
when you install a NEO-GEO
Samurai Shodown LIL 1 slot conversion kit.
“ox ber NN a Pero Ww 4 : ' Ni . 4 Vr, yA My M4 \d v z [ Hf O\e-— Pr Hh ,
CL/
. == | ————— SS SS = investment, you will
have everything you
need to convert any
cabinet into a
"fast earning” Samurai Shodown Il Neo-Geo Unit.
Every Samurai Showdown II Kit includes:
] - One slot PCB 1 - Samurai Shodown II Control Panel Overlay
1- Samurai Shodown II Cartridge 2 - Samurai Shodown II kit Size Side Graphics
1] - Samurai Shodown I! Full Size Logo Plex 1 Set each of buttons, joysticks, decals and manual 1 - Samurai Shodown II Monitor Bezel
" SNK CORPORATION OF AMERICA 20603 EARL STREET © TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA 90503 TEL (310) 371-7100 FAX (310) 371-0969
Call your authorized SNK Corporation of America Distributor for more details.
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ACME '95 is the only industry event, positioned for you to super-charge your business in time for the busy spring and summer season. It's the most powertul display of coin-op products under one roof! Video games, pinball, table games, dart games, jukeboxes, skill and redemption games, kiddie rides, plush and novelties — plus cabinets, coin- mechanisms, monitors, parts & supplies and services — all featured in more than 1000 booths!
The leading suppliers of coin-operated equipment send their top executives and technical support staff to meet you and show you their newest products. They are ready to discuss promotional ideas and business strategies that will pack in the players and pump up the profits in your location.
Knowledge gives you the power to succeed — and ACME '95 will be packed with powerful sessions for location owners and operators. Technical topics, issues and answers, new technologies and location tours will give you the coin-op know how you need to send your business soaring.
They're all here. Manufacturers and distributors. Technicians. Location owners and street operators. The major players with the biggest buying power know ACME is their one stop shopping source for the season's hottest hits and newest Dicks.
; cr i y para
Lt tik FUWEON! Plan NOW to attend ACME "95 in Reno if you own or operate a family fun/entertainment center, arcade, amusement/theme park, waterpark, restaurant, bar or nightclub, skating rink, bowling center miniature golf center, hotel or resort, movie theatre or convenience store. Join thousands of distributors and operators worldwide in their quest for the power of coin-op!
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Sponsored By: AAMA - American Amusement Machine Association
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Cash Box Magazine January,
The Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation celebrates it's 60th year in the Jukebox manufacturing industry this year. It's two years since the death of company founder, David Rockola, but wherever he ts at this point of time, he has good reason to be very proud of what he
achieved.
Cash Box International
January, 1995
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If you had a kid of 14 who told you today that he was leaving school and going out to make his fortune, you'd probably give him a clip under the ear, tell him to stop romancing and get back into the homework, but when David Rockola decided to do just that in 1911, he went out into the world and did it.
Along the way he created a company that was to have products that carried his name, operating in every corner of the world, products that would write the name "Rock- Ola" indelibly in the history of the coin operated music industry.
David Rockola, of course didn't know any of this at the time,
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he worked for a few years doing anything he could and without any real direction, but he still managed to own his own food processing and cooler manufacturing business by the time he was 20.
By this time he'd attained con- siderable interest in the coin oper- ated machine industry and after tir- ing of the food processing, took a position with a leading coin-op manufacturer, then in 1924, still only 27 years old, Rockola became a dis- tributor of vending machines and scales. Whilst earning a dollar at distributing he invented and patented anew scales mechanism which saw him establish the Rock-Ola Scale
Page 45
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The Birth of a Legend
ROCK-OLA ENTERS PHONO FIELD with 12 PLAY "MULTI-SELECTOR"
Features Simple, Silent, No-Jam Mechanical Changer Mechanism and 2 Ounce Pick-Up
CHICAGO, January 1935.... Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation today announced their introduction into the coin operated phonograph business with a 12 selection automatic phono- graph to be knownas the Rock-Ola Multi- Selector.
Designed by one of America's leading industrial designers, the cabinet reflects beauty and a sweeping, graceful decor. Rock-Ola Multi-Selector fea- tures rich grained Walnut veneers and inlaid French Striped Rosewood.
It's multi coin shute accepts five and ten cent coins, playing one record for each five cents played. It's record chamber holds 12 records, easily acces- sible through the front door.
Page 46
Rock-Ola advises that through an exclusive design, they have been able to reduce the weight of the pick-up to 2 ounces, (half the customary weight) It is felt that this will do away with costly record replacement due to scratched and damaged records.
The new unit is reported to be the first automatic phonograph to offer an isolated tone chamber......tone dif- fuser.... full wave crystal pick- up.......high fidelity amplifier.......new types of tubes and a super power, high fidelity speaker.
The unit is in production now, and the company is accepting orders. It is estimated that shipments will start within 30 days.
193 - 1995
Co. in 1927 and it was through this company that the move to Jukeboxes was made.
The always astute Rockola bought up a stack of patents from the John Gabel Co, one of the earliest manufacturers of coin operated phonographs, and set about going into production of Rock-Ola Jukeboxes.
Even at that early stage of his career, the young tyro was respected in manufacturing as was shown when Homer Capehart, the driving force behind Wurl- itzer, flew to Chicago to try and talk him out of starting in Jukeboxes, saying that there was only room for one major company and Rockola would do his money. (bear in mind that in those early days of commercial aviation, businessmen didn't fly anywhere unless they were desperate or tired of living)
Capeharts trip however, only served to convince Rockola that he was onto something good and he immediately started work on the new project. The first Rock-Ola jukeboxes were completed in 1934 and put into locations. As can be seen in the box at bottom of page, in January 1935, David Rockola was ready to announce the production of Jukeboxes for sale to the coin-op industry.
He'd created what was to become a legend
Though it would have been much more difficult for David Rockola to do today what he did in the 20's and 30's, it must be remembered that he did it without any formal education in engineering, manufacturing or business management and always had the full respect of his peers.
Many consider that Rockola's_ greatest assets were his basic common sense and his acute business sense. He was to demonstrate both to the Jukebox industry a very short time after entering it.
Realizing that as acomparative latecomer to Juke- box manufacture he had a bit of catching up to do, Rockola didn't try to out do the longer established manufacturers in innovation.
Where others concentrated on technology and ascetics he was content to work on refining existing technologies, building in reliability, and good old fash- ioned marketing. His experience in coin-op scales, pintables and novelty games told him this was the way to go and it proved dead right when his methods cata- pulted the Rock-Ola brand to the forefront of the coin operated music industry in 1936, and except for a brief lull in the late 80's, prior to it being sold to Glenn Streeter's AA, the company has stayed there.
There's a myriad of stories that can be told about David Rockola and his early days in the Jukebox indus- try like the time he turned a single order for a single machine into the means to market 100's of machines.
Cash Box International January, 1995
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It goes like this; . In 1936 David scored 5 a major coup in providing = a Rock-Ola Multi Selector ee Jukebox to the new Cunnard luxury liner, the Queen Mary. The com- pany word was that Cunnard ordered it, but it's a good bet that Rockola gave it to them (possibly even paid them to take it)
Whatever the case, he had to deliver it on short notice as the ship was due to sail. Quick to seize any opportunity, he organised the Jukebox to be raced through New York on the back of a I taxi cab, a police escort and a Rock-Ola & employed, squad of private detectives cleared the way through the huge crowds that had gathered to see the liner off and the Rock- Ola Jukebox was hoisted aboard just as it was about to leave.
Every newspaper of any note carried the story, most with pictures of the Jukebox being loaded or on the back of the cab and at the end of the day, ‘Rock-Ola Jukebox’ was a house- hold phrase.
Rock-Ola went on to build a very successful advertising campaign responsible for 100's of sales around that "sale" to the Queen Mary, with slogans like ".......and the Queen shall have music wherever she goes”
Unashamedly milking the Queen Mary episode to the full, the company even manufactured a Pintable titled Queen Mary which met with reasonable suc- cess, but not enough to entice Rockola into switching more of his resources over to Pinballs.
The company did open a vending machine divi- sion later on and dabbled in other areas, but the Jukebox always remained the main line.
In 1992 the company was still in the Rockola family's hands, but with David's (then 95) health failing and the company in danger of losing it's direction, the Rock-Ola Jukebox division was sold to Glenn Streeter's Antique Apparatus Co and moved to California.
It's fitting that Glenn Streeter will now take the Rock-Ola name into the next millennium, he started in a garage himself, and he has great respect for the
January, 1995
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Cash Box International
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Rock-Ola heritage he has inherited, and the late David Rockola as a person.
With the release of the Rocket range, the magnifi- cent Legend and the Bubbler, the Rock-Ola Manufac- turing Co is now back in it's rightful place with the leaders in Jukebox manufacture and we'd be very sur- prised if Streeter doesn't have a special anniversary model Rock-Ola up his sleeve to celebrate the 60th year of the great brand name.
60 years of manufac- ture is a fine achievement, Cash Box congratulates all those of the old and new Rock-Ola Co's, who have made it possible.
Above; David C Rockola as he appeared on the cover of RePlay in November 1987
Pic courtesy of RePlay
Left: Glenn Streeter, whose company, Antique Apparatus Co, bought the Rock- Ola Jukebox division in 1992 and below is the current model Rock-Ola CD, "The "Legend.
Above right: Mark and Derek
Horwood Below: One of UDC's succeessful imports last year, a table top air hockey game called
"“Caramball"
Page 48
England's United Distributing Company celebrated its 10th birth- day last year and the anniversary marked a solid decade of quiet achievement for the father and son team. Derek and Mark Horwood, both equal partners, established the company in 1984 and it took off almost immediately because they identified a growth market and at- tacked.
Back then it was quality AWP conversions that operators were screaming out for and, by concen- trating on this sector, they experi- enced great success. Within 18 months UDC had to find bigger premises and subsequently moved to Park Avenue in London's now famous NW 10 district.
The Horwoods were the first coin-op people to move into Park Avenue which, along with Brent Crescent, forms what is now known as the United Kingdom's "Coin Ma-
VED DISTRITO
DAG /
chine Village". Other companies on the block include Brent Leisure, Deith Lei- sure, Electrocoin, Ja- leco and Suzo. And each year in June, UDC joins the other factories in throwing open their doors for the NW 10 Open Day which has become quite a significant lit- tle exhibition.
Unlike some of their larger distributor neighbours, UDC is not tied to any particular manufacturer - and that's the way they like. Accord- ing to Derek Horwood it gives the company the ability to be a lot more flexible.
"We're not choked with all the Atari line or all the Sega line,” he told AB Europe last year. "We're not constricted. We can duck and dive as the market changes, we're versa- tile. That's the way we operate." These days United Distribut-
ing Company is still into se AWP machine conversions YA and they handle products from JPM, Barcrest, Ace, Project Coin and BFM. They also custom build machines for foreign markets, taking note of the special requirements of a par- ticular country. UK AWP machines are converted for markets in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Rus- sia, Hungary, Greece, France, Latvia, Romania and more...
Cash Box International
i
However, in the years since 1984 , UDC have also branched out into other types of amusement equip- ment, including pinball, video, air hockey and table football. An rela- tively new piece which did well for them last year was the "Caramball" table-top air hockey game but they also deal in all the major lines - from Sega to Namco, Williams/Bally, Midway, Jaleco and Taito to Pre- mier Technology.
It may sound like an awful lot of product but, being an untied dis- tributor, UDC chooses its games and machines carefully. They can react quickly to market changes and when a particular game or equip- ment is hot, UDC will quickly pick it up. It's the way they've always operated and probably the secret to their success.
The company has long been involved in the supply of second- hand simulator style games, a niche they pin pointed within the general video market.
January, 1995
~
: a SSE oe a —<o ? Providing good quality, second- building is devoted solely to back-up sii: hand simulators is one of the things and technical support on all video that UDC is known for and they refur- games and redemption machines, bish all the machines in-house. while the other concentrates on pay- Another area in which the Out machines and pinball. Horwoods were quick to identify a As well as a dedicated spare growth market was pinball. They pre- parts department, there is a full diag- dicted the UK's pinball boombeforeit nostic workshop complete with test started and positioned themselves for rigs for Bally/Williams pins, some very healthy sales. Now things Barcrest, BFM, JPM and Ace MPUs have slowed downa bit they aredoing and TV monitor boards. some good business selling second- The one thing that UDC really hand pinballs to foreign markets. pride themselves on is refurbishing Derek has been in the industry and servicing second hand machines for 35 years and his son for 15 years so they appear as new as possible. and it's obvious that experience has And it's not just UK customers that helped their company immensely. are appreciating this bit of extra ef- By watching the market closely fort - export sales have increased UDC has been able to keep uptodate solidly in recent years and now ac- with and take advantage of various count for around 23% of the compa- market developments. So far thishigh ny’s total sales. level of flexibility has worked and "Yes, allinall the first ten years UDC has continued to grow in size. have been both hectic and enjoy- The company's Park Avenue lo- able," says Derek Horwood. "The cation is made up of two buildings and “ext ten years pr omise to be even totals over 23,000 sq. ft in area, one more so.”
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Cash Box International January, 1995 Page 49
Hard-pressed home video game manufacturers are facing an even more difficult 1995. After drastic revisions in their income forecasts for the current fi- nancial year, both Sega and Nintendo will also have to compete for their dominant market positions.
Japan's consumer electronics firms are getting in on the action - Matsushita released its 3DO system last year and Sony, NEC, JVC and Sanyo are all set to follow suit. And then there's Atari, trying to make a comeback.
This all happening against a back- drop of falling profits for the two big guns. In the year to March, Nintendo's pre-tax profit fell by 45% and another fall of 25% is predicted over the present financial year. Sega is also doing badly: its first-half prof- its fell by almost 43% and the company's sales are down 25%. Both domestic and foreign sales are falling and it has been estimated that Sega and Nintendo each have unsold foreign inventories worth ¥50 billion.
So far the battle has been fought with increasingly powerful machines. Nin- tendo made its name with the so-called 8- bit machine, Sega came out on top when it introduced its 16-bit system and all the new challengers have 32-bit systems.
Sega has responded with its own 32- bit machine, the Saturn, but Nintendo is sticking with its 16-bit system for the mo- ment. Last November Nintendo announced
Page 50
details of Virtual Boy, a 32-bit device virtual re- ality capabilities, which it hopes to release in several months. How- ever reports are that the prototype is less than impressive.
Nintendo's real answer will come with Christmas 1995 when they hope to release a powerful 64-bit ma- chine. Their only com- petition will be Atari with its Jaguar system which will have a VR headset by the end of '95, although there is talk that 3DO is also 64-bit bound. Nin- tendo hopes its Ultra 64 will be cheap enough to walk all over its 32-bit rivals.
Of course the most powerful system in the world will not be a success if it doesn't have good software to go with it. And this is where Sega and Nintendo have the advantage.
These two companies have built their empires by controlling the production of the cartridges (and now, compact discs) that fit into their games machines, even when the games themselves are designed by independent software houses. This lets them sell their machines cheaply but to charge large royalties on the cartridges. Nintendo, for example, makes around 80% of its profit on software sales
Many software houses are unwilling to spend the time and money to develop a game unless they can be sure of selling a substantial amount of units. While there is no doubt that the 3D0 Real is a more sophisticated machine, its American sales amounted to only a disappointing 50,000 units. This is because the system is suffer- ing from a shortage of good games.
Sony's PlayStation is coming out with only 23 titles to back it up, and NEC's PC-FX has fewer than 20. By contrast, in the last financial year 130 new, independ- ently designed games were launched for Sega's 16-bit Genesis (or Mega Drive) machine.
CURUDATTT NHAAGVY L
An ace up Sony's sleeve is having Namco, one of the all time great game makers, developing games for their system and the brilliant Ridge Racer is already converted and will be available with the first Play Stations shipped.
With all the new systems coming out, it will be a true battle for market share. Not only will they have to compete with each other, they will have to convince Current game machine owners to update. This shake down of the industry has made some question whether the future of home video games even lies with a hardware/ Cartridge system.
It's possible that the 32-bit and 64- bit machines presently being developed will be the last hurrah of the stand-alone games machine. When you think about it, these games machines are just computers, but computers that have been designed to do only one thing.
Around 30% of American homes contain a personal computer, which means they have a similar level of penetration as games machines. A recent survey showed that 71% of Americans use their PCs for entertainment and it has been estimated that next year's PC game sales will reach US$2.8 billion. This is beginning to ap- proach the US$3.6 billion that will be spent on traditional video games.
The shift from stand-alone machines to game-playing PCs could eventually de- stroy Sega and Nintendo's monopoly on games systems hardware, especially if games are fed to them along fibre or from satellite.
Sega and Nintendo obviously take this possibility seriously. Nintendo has purchased a failing Japanese satellite com- pany to service the 8 million Japanese households with satellite dishes. Sega, on the other hand, is concentrating on cable television and have already tested their Sega Channel in America.
Whatever the outcome, the home video market is in for an interesting but bumpy ride over the next few years. Who will be left standing at the end, and how it will subsequently affect the coin-op indus- try, remains to be seen.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1995 Page 51
CONSOMIDDTEDUEISUPEL TSLOD 3
VIRTUAL REALITY CONFERENCE
Australia’s first Virtual
Reality Conter- ence opened up a lot of good discussion on the subject and attendees were able to get a much better idea of where Virtual Reality was heading.
The Conference will become an annual event.
Page 52
AUSI VR '94, Australia's first international virtual reality conference was held at the World Congress Centre in Melbourne late last year Hosted by Integra Australia, the conference and exhibition aimed to "demystify" virtual reality and indicate the uses for VR in all areas of industry, including medicine, design, architecture, defence, comput- ing and, of course, entertainment.
As a VR company, conference hosts and sponsors, Integra Australia, saw the need to pro- mote virtual reality in Australia .
"As the host of the conference we wanted to establish VR as a viable and credible tool for a large number of industries," said Integra's Alan Yates. "Australia is a little behind countries like America and Japan in the development and accept- ance of virtual reality, mainly because of our small population.
"It's a very new thing and that's what the conference was about, we wanted to wake people up to the opportunities provided by virtual reality."
Integra haven't tapped into the entertainment sector as yet but have plans to do so in the near future. They distribute a wide range of VR products from various compa- nies anduntil recently, one of these distribu- tor agreements stopped them from pursuing VR systems for the amusement in- dustry.
This situation has now changed and as Integra have been doing extensive R&D into virtual reality ap- plications anyway, they will also be look- ing into developing machines for amuse- ment purposes.
‘ Conference or- ganisers, Impulse Pro- motions, estimated that around 40% of the exhibits at AUSI '94 were in some way in-
AUS!
VR
volved with the entertainment sector, although there were only a few products aimed directly at amuse- ment centres.
Virtual Reality Corporation were there with their Virtuality machines and it was the first Aus- tralian showing of the Series 2000 sit down version. They also had Buggy Ball on display, anew game for the 2000 SD which is still under development.
Buggy ball is probably best described as cross between a dodgem car and a giant beach ball in a virtual world!
Martin Blackmore from Virtual Reality Corp describes the gameplay in more detail: "Jmagine you are driving in a virtual environment with up to three other players also in cars. The vehicles are like beach buggies and you're driving in an oval, banked track and there's a giant beach ball which you get points for knocking out of the track.
"Al the same time you can run into other vehicles and they'll tip over or tip you over. The sound effects are great and their are two different viewpoints like in Virtua Racing."
The game should be ready sometime this month and, according to Martin, was well received at the conference.
Virtual World Creations, a company associ- ated with Virtual Reality Corp, also had an interest- ing product on display called Virtual Guitar. It's a multimedia game, using a replica guitar which plugs into the back of an IBM computer, and a CD ROM.
There are songs to play and interactive scenes where crowds will boo you if you play badly. The band and audience scenes are all real time video. Difficulty levels range from beginner to virtuoso so everyone can have a go.
On the beginners lever there is a graph at the bottom of the screen which marks the chord changes and the player only has to strum the guitar at the correct time as the actual chords have been pre- programmed. Distortion, feedback and other ef- fects can be added and as the player gets better, they can move up to the lead or stunt levels and actually play the notes of the music.
"The game starts with a bedroom scene," explains Martin Blackmore. "There's a knock on the door anda kid comes inand says he's heard you playing outside and would you play asong for him?
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
"Tf you make the grade, he invites you to jam with their garage band. If you do any good in that scene, you're discovered by a Sleazy agent and you geta gig inaclub, and so on..." Virtual Guitar is really aimed at the retail market and the guitar will be available for Christmas this year for $299. However, Martin believes they will be producing a ver- sion of the game for LBEs and it is currently running at Disney's EPCOT Centre in Florida.
This is where Disney previews a lot of new technology, including their new Alladin virtual reality game/ride where players take a ride on Alladin's magic carpet and control it by moving two bits of material which represent the two front corners of the carpet.
"I think Virtual Guitar will also do well as a promotional tool in night clubs and pubs -'guitar-oke’ if you like. It's a lot of fun," says Martin.
A company who are developing a prod- uctspecifically for arcades is Melbourne-based HITek Cybernetics. They had a developmen- tal model on display at AUSI '94 and the final version should be released soon.
It's aracing simulator/VR game where players are seated in a proper driving cabinet with steering wheel, accelerator etc and wear ahead mounted display. The machine has been entirely developed in Australia and it is HITek Cybernetic's first major product after two year's research.
Some of the features of the system in- clude stereoscopic vision (which gives depth to the graphics so they appear three dimen- sional) and vectored, distance graded sound. This means the sound effects are louder or softer depending on whether an ear is facing the source and diminish with distance so play- ers can place objects around them by ear.
Realism of the sound effects is also increased by the doppler effect. Sounds of objects increase in frequency when moving towards the player and decrease in frequency when moving away just as they do in real life.
Control of the accelerator, brake and steering are all scaled to give players greater sensitivity and control over their vehicles and HITek Cybernetic's optical system allows a small degree of peripheral vision. The com- pany also claims their head motion tracking system is faster than any other on the market.
The exact capabilities of the finished product are still being kept under wraps and George Iliades from HITek Cybernetics stressed that the model on display at AUSI'94 didn'treally give a good idea of what their final machine will be capable of.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
The company also plans to release anew game every three months and are by no means limiting themselves to driv- ing games. In the long term, this will mean there will be three or four different cabinet types available.
Once their system hits the market, the guys form HITek Cybernetics are confident that the public will take to it in a big way.
Says George Iliades: "Jf you came to a bridge in one of the games and looked up, it really does feel like you are looking up into a bridge. With the full stereoscopic and vectored sound, proper motion tracking, it will be a completely
CRS ro ehy ON Rere ee
Also available from CD Jukebox Party Hire are CD Conversion Kits for NSM, Rowe/AMI & RockOla Jukeboxes. Turn vinyl Jukeboxes into CD
Jukeboxes, coin operated or
different feeling of disembodiment - that's what we're trying to do."
Next year the machines will be available to buy, rent (at $350 per day) or profit share. In the case of profit sharing, HITek Cybernetics provide and service the machine for 60% of the take while the amusement centre or FEC owner pro- vides the location and receives 40% of the earnings.
Another Australian produced item at AUSI '94 was "The Bird", a virtual joystick developed by Sydney company VIR Systems. The Bird had its world premiere at the VR conference and while it is currently being targeted for the con-
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Page 53
AUS! VR "94
Sumer market, the company assures us that a Coin-Op version will be available soon.
The joystick is chordless and has no base. Ithas a pistol grip which sits comfort- ably in the player's hand, letting him con- trol the video game with a lot more free- dom than is offered by a normal joystick.
VIR Systems have developed what they call Attitude Sensing Technology which senses all the movements the player makes. As you react to the game, The Bird Captures the attitudes you adopt and the game character moves accordingly.
With The Bird itis actually possible, although probably not practical, to play the game from anywhere in the room, thanks to the special non-directional, infra-red tracking system. It doesn't require align- ment or line of sight and has a very wide angle infra-red transmission.
The Bird was ergonomically de- signed to eliminate the muscle strain which can be caused by existing joysticks and it can be used in either hand. VIR Systems have patents pending on their product and say The Bird's Attitude Sensing Technol- ogy is highly adaptable to other platforms, applications and designs.
While there were not that many prod- ucts targeting the coin-op industry, some
Julie Martin of Electronic Theatre on "Virtua Stage"
which allows live manipulation of virtual objects,
of the technology on display definitely had entertainment potential. There were acouple of computer graphics simula- tor rides, including one themed on the Robo Cop movies.
A joint venture between Evans & Sutherland, Sense 8 and Sun Microsystems has produced an interesting VR experi- ence called Midnight Manor. It's a "vir- tual" walk through of a haunted house where you have work your way through the mansion by opening doors and walking up stairs and corridors. Axes, ghosts and other spooky things fly at you and the immersive quality of the experience is enhanced by a head mounted display and sound effects.
Another machine which could have entertainment applications is the impres- Sive driving simulator developed by In- Mar-Tech for the Victorian Transport Ac- cident Commission. The Victorian gov- ermment spent $2.5 million dollars in de- veloping the system to be used for driver training.
Working on the same principal as Namco's full scale Ridge Racer, the In- Mar-Tech system uses a real car. Instead of just a big screen in front however, the car also has screens on both sides to make the experience of driving more realistic.
Of course, the entertainment sector was only one of many industries repre- sented at AUSI '94 and the three days of seminar presentations covered every con-
=
story board and test imagein live interactionwith LCD Data projection.
Page 54
"The Bird" from VIR Systems uses "Attitude Sensing Technology"
ceivable virtual reality angle. Papers were given on dentistry, architecture, medicine, building and project design as well as a whole host of technical and ethical issues. All attendees and exhibitors agreed that the speakers at AUSI VR '94 were of the highest calibre, making it a very impres- Sive seminar program.
One of the most interesting exhibits was a virtual reality theatre project called "Sorcery in Cyberspace". Performed and produced by Julie Martin, a multi media artistic director and producer, the perform- ance involves the live manipulation of virtual objects. Three dimensional compu- ter graphics are controlled by the move- ment of the body.
Sorcery in Cyberspace is currently being funded by the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council (a government funded body). And promoting virtual real- ity as an artistic endeavour was one of the main objectives of AUSI VR '94.
The conference chairman, Dr Walter Greenleaf, said: "Funding must be pro- vided for Australian VR companies to de- velop export markets and to spread the message that virtual reality is a creative industry offering major benefits to the arts, including entertainment graphics, exhibi- tion design, set design architecture, thea- tre, music, film and so forth."
He believes VR will be a multi- million dollar industry for Australia, just as it is in the United States. And one product which many at the exhibition felt had great export potential was a3D radiog- raphy tool which enables doctors to show their patients exactly what is wrong with them.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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Sandy Clark felt that this particular piece of equipment created the most inter- est but she said there was no one show stopper. This was because of the varied nature of the exhibition and each delegate came specifically for the displays in their particular industry.
Trade delegations were invited from relevant industries and the exhibitors them- selves gave the conference organisers lists of potential customers.
"Each exhibitor invited 20 to 40 trade delegates each," said Sandy Clark. "In addition, we selected some of the larger companies like Optus, Telecom and BHP who brought through quite big numbers of people.
"As aresult, Iwouldn'tsay there was any one ‘crowd pleaser’. Mostof the stands were well attended because delegates had specialist interests."
The relatively small number of visi- tors attending AUSI VR '94 was a bit disappointing for most exhibitors but they still considered it a worthwhile experi- ence.
"The conference was very interest- ing although not many people turned up," said George Iliades from HITek Cybernet- ics. "J still think it will be worth our time to attend again next year and Iam sure it will be better next year."
Virtual Reality Corp's Martin Blackmore agreed: "We were a little disap- pointed in the lack of delegates but we weren't disappointed in the public partici- pation. There is a big awareness of VR and our view iS that as afirst-up conference, it was good."
While Martin said the conference resulted in quite a bit of business for his company's financial software programs, he still feels that a virtual reality confer- ence is a strange concept.
"VR is one of those things that Idon't think should stand on its own. It's part of the general graphics industry, or the com- puter industry, or part of the entertainment industry..."
According to Sandy Clark, AUSI VR'94 was a "quality, not quantity" event.
"It's very early days for virtual real- ity,” she explained. "J think overall exhibi-
Page 56
tors would have liked more potential buyers but we had to start somewhere and the whole event was very professional, it was avery good start."
As the sponsors of the event, Integra Australia were pleased with AUSI VR '94 and have committed them- selves to a similar conference in 1995. At this stage, no dates or venues have been released but most of the exhibitors spoken to said they would be there.
"Since the conference we have re- ceived a lot of phone calls and letters from speakers and exhibitors who all raved about it," said Integra's Alan Yates.
DEFCON EXTREME READY FOR COIN-OP MARKET
After three years of development, the Australian designed and manufac- tured Virtual Reality game Defcon Ex- treme is now ready for operation in the coin-op market.
Applied VR Pty Ltd principals, Jeff and Keith Kershaw who have oper- ated amusement machines for over 17 years are confident that in Defcon Ex- treme, they have produced a VR game of
"Most people are unaware of the many applications VR has and the confer- ence gave developers in different areas of VR an opportunity to both learn and in- form. Once we connect with the super highway, VR is going to really take off because people will be using interactive, 3D multimedia systems and networks. They will be communicating in a cyber space.
"I think the conference and the re- sulting media coverage of it went some way to introducing people to some of these concepts. I certainly believe it was suc- cessful, we achieved everything we wanted to in this, the first year, and we expect rapid growth over the next few years."
enormous earning potential and one that will also serve as a major attraction for arcades and similar type locations.
The game was first shown at Queenslands Convention '94 in Novem- ber and impressed local operators with it's Operator designed simplicity and player comfort. | Those who hadn't previously had any experience of VR games and were expecting visuals in the
__._ headset of Daytona like quality were critical of the graphics, but soon came to understand that _ VRisa very different species of entertainment to a video game.
Defcon Extreme is a basic ~ ‘search and destroy’ war game
that provides a good introduc-
tion to VR, but with the system now operating as the Kershaw brothers envisaged it, the em- phasis is all on software and the company are currently working
- on several new games that they believe will bring Virtual Real- ity to the next level.
The game units are quite reasonably priced on both VR and coin-op machine standards and the makers feel sure the price will get even better as they move into larger scale production and further develop their manufac- turing facility.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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.«s0040Ne Company's Experience
Edison Bros, the $1.5 billion retailer who entered the amusement industry several years ago, have been one of the leading operators of virtual reality. Being in the enviable financial position of "money's no obstacle", they embarked on what can only be de- scribed as a VR experiment.
Edison Bros approached the amusement industry in exactly same way they handled their successful re- tail business. In fact Edison chairman, Andy Newman, if famous for saying that arcades "were just another mall retail space that reflects changing fash- ions”.
While most operators like to be Situated in shopping malls because of the good traffic flow, the Edison Bros believe their Exhilirama FECs actu- ally draw customers to the shopping centres.
"We had an interest in re- inforcing the role of the regional shop- ping centre as a community destina- tion,” Andy Halliday, president of
"oad ALI y.
Edison's mall en- tertainment divi- | sion, told RePlay 12 months ago. "That's because our other retail di- visions - clothing and footwear - have such an in- vestment in these centres.”
Most shop- ping centres have an "anchor", something to draw shop- pers to that particular centre. This is usually a major department store but in the case of the Edison Bros malls, Exhilirama centres are the anchor.
At atime when the FEC concept was relatively new, Edison Bros de- veloped their Exhilirama centres with all the latest machines, rollercoasters and other large rides, dedicated chil- dren's play areas, laser tag... and vir- tual reality.
The centres were presented and
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marketed as a brand new concept in family entertainment and VR really be- came part of the marketing strategy. It was something new and exciting that very few venues had. But as a new technology, untried in the marker place, it was also a risky move.
Edison Bros formed a working relationship with England's Virtuality Group (then known as W. Industries) and later became their US distributor for a while. As it turned out, most of the Virtuality units were bought by Edison Bros for their own operation.
Other amusement operators ei- ther considered the units too expensive, the technology too new and risky or had qualms about purchasing equipment from a major competitor. And most of these operators would say that they made the right decision.
Four years down the track, Edison Bros have learnt some lessons about VR, which they shared with delegates during a seminar at last year's Fun Expo.
"When I first walked in here, the first few people I saw asked if I was going totalk about the ‘doomand gloom' of virtual reality," said Jeff Herman, marketing director for Edison Bros mall entertainment division.
"But I'm not going to do that... In reality, as you probably know, one of the things about virtual reality is the excitement it creates. It's not necessar- ily how much money it puts into your
Pictured are views of Edison Bros, Exhilarama. At left is the Virtuality area and at top right, the entrance to the very classy entertainment complex
Pics courtesy of RePlay
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
centre, it's also how much money it brings in to all your other attrac- tions."
Virtual reality was, and still is, an exciting concept that appeals to most people's imaginations. Edison Bros decided to get in on the ground floor to capitalise on this.
Four years ago, commercial VR was almost unheard of and by installing Virtuality units in their centres, Edison Bros were provid- ing a truly unique attraction for their customers.
"You can't judge how much media publicity you get out of VR. We have received just so much cov- erage in print , radio and television - beyond what we could have imag- ined. It's money we didn't have to spend in promotion," said Jeff Herman.
But with all the priceless pub- licity came the problems with oper- ating new technology. There were some minor reliability difficulties and the software library was ex- tremely small because there were not many units out in operation.
During his presentation at Fun Expo, Jeff Herman outlined the per- formance of a VR machine in an average Edison Bros location. While an excellent centre can earn any- where from US$170 to $220 per day, a typical location only earns about $100.
However the costs of operat- ing the machine are about $63 - this includes attendants, depreciation, rent, parts and service and promo- tional costs.
"Essentially what you end up with is about a $30 cash profit per day," he said. "The nine month break down is a little over $8,000. I think most operators look to nine months to get their money back - but were’ obviously not talking about Mortal Kombat here. You're not going to get your money back in nine months."
However, in their better loca- tions, the VR machines are earning more, while the operational costs remain almost the same. If a ma- chine can take $175 per day, the profit after nine months is around $20,000 - which means it has almost paid for itself.
Cash Box Magazine
Perhaps in a few years time, when the prices of VR units come down further, operators will be able to look at virtual reality as just an- other video game. While in 1991 Edison Bros were paying US$75,000 for a Virtuality Series 1000, the company's executives hope they will only be paying around the $20,000 mark for a Series 2000 unit in 1996.
"But keep this in mind," con- tinued Jeff Herman, " it's not just the money that you take in from the virtual reality game itself, it's the extra money you make on all the other attractions when people who wouldn't normally come visit your site.”
Edison Bros have conducted their own internal surveys and some of the results are quite interesting. Visitors to Edison Bros locations who didn't play virtual reality spent an average of $7 to $9, while people who were using the VR machines were spending over $20 per visit.
About one third of the visitors at the Exhilirama centres came only to play the VR machines and 43% of the Virtuality play- ers played in groups.
"We have, for example, in our St Louis location a group of ten people who come down eve- ryday at 12 o'clock to play vir- tual reality. Down in Houston we have a regular group from the local IBM office," said Jeff Herman.
"We believe we get peo- ple who wouldn't normally come into our centres coming in to play virtual reality. And our research tells us that they're Staying around to spend addi- tional monies."
Edison Bros admit that VR hasn't been the phenomenal success that they had initially thought it would be. But they are Satisfied with the small profit they have made and consider the venture a success because of the important, extra business it has attracted to their locations.
And they are optimistic about the technology's future:
"The software just isn't where we want it to be - yet. But
January, 1995
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the software is getting better and the prices are coming down. It's going to make it easier of everyone to make some money with virtual real- ity,” concluded Mr Herman.
Per
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1995 Page 61
A bunch of pinball enthusiasts who have been coming to Pinball Expo since it was established 10 years ago. Holding the Expo jacket is Steve Kordek, designer of countless classic pins of the 40's and 50's. Seated to the immediate right of Steve are Rob Berk and Mike Pacek, the Expo organisers
Pinball Expo 4
Delano Reiss, of Australia's Bumper Action Amusements, is a Pinball enthusiast and coin-op machine collector of renown, he dropped in on Pinball Expo ‘94 while in the USA and filed this report for Cash Box.
eS eS
Pinball Expo '94 was the 10th anniversary of the event and no ex- pense was spared to make this a great show and a great experience for all who attended. Chicago, home of the Pinball was a fitting venue and Pin- ball lovers from around the world gathered from November 10 to 13 for a smorgasbord of Pinball play, Pinball talk, and Pinball fun..
In all, around 600 lovers of the silver ball from Australia, Japan, Germany, Holland, England and the USA attended and were greeted with the vision of 230,000 sq ft hall, full of pinball machines and parts. Ma- chines ranged from early one ball machines with no flippers to the very latest Freddy Krueger, Maverick. and Road Show.
I arrived Wednesday night just as the registration table was being set up. Soon after Bob Berk arrived and it was on for young and old. There was excitement in the air as everyone talked pin- ball and more pin- ball. [thought I was an enthusiast but when these Ameri- cans get going, they take apower of beat- ing.
Late night or not all were up bright and early on the Thursday morn- ing for the tour of the Electrical Windings factory.
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In Pinball Heaven, Del Reiss (right) talks to former Bally designer of the 60's & 70's, Jerry Kelly who's holding one of his backglass designs
Below: Just some of the Pinball books, etc that was at the Expo
Cash Box International
You might think this sounds dull, but it was quite the contrary.
This factory produces all the coils, transformers and other parts for all the pinball factories and has been doing so since 1937. It had a wonderful, well worn, old world feel about it. The present owner Donal Murphy has one of the best pinball collections in the world and it was an experience to see brand new ma- chines from the 40's, 50's, 60's all in line, one after another, ready to play.
Next stop was to Sega Pinball to see Maverick in full production with Frankenstein test models on the
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January, 1995
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From left: ‘Ace Gottlieb designer Jon Norris, Del Reiss and former Grand Wizard of Pinball, Rick Stretta
side lines. We got the full tour, front to back, with cup cakes, a cup of tea and a Maverick poster thrown in. Sonic the Hedgehog had already found his way onto the board room door and I'm wondering what Sega will do with their pinball pro- duction next, you'd have to think that their beloved Sonic will soon find his way onto a Pinball back- glass.
I also got a tour of the Pre- mier Gottlieb factory. This was also very impressive, the quality of their product really showed and unlike Sega Pinball which is basi- cally an assembly plant, Premier make the majority of their compo- nents themselves at the Bensenville plant.. Freddy Kreuger was on its 6th production run and has been really good for the company. Shaq Attaq, the next on line, was being tested and looks another winner.
Then it was back to Pinball Expo '94 for a seminar on "How to play Pinball" by Richard Shapero, barrister and Pinball fanatic. You never realised what was possible till you saw this guy.
The doors opened to the show at 6 o'clock and the place burst into action as 250 pinballs started at once. What happened next could
there were numerous seminars such as "How did they build... ?", “Shop- ping for your pinball properly", "Reading and understanding schemat- ics", "Designing a pinball machine", and "Cows, Dohos and Leprechauns - dot matrix animation in pinball”. At night you had the option of playing pinball, (the machines were available 24 hours aday), or going to pinball movies like "Tommy" or "Tilt". There was also a fireside chat up in Bob Berk's penthouse for in depth questions with designers, peo- ple such as Wayne Neyes, Python Angelo, Norm Clark, Steve Kirk, Pat Lawlor, Jon Norris, Jim Patla, and the list goes on It was incredibly inter-
esting and an absolutely unforgetta- ble experience.
Saturday heralded the pinball auction with about 260 machines for sale. Things weren't that cheap as a lot of the public turned up, but there were a lot of games there you would never find elsewhere.
That night there was the banquet with some 350 people attending for the awards, quizzes and other enter- tainment. All the major manufactur- ers were there and they donated some great prizes for the raffle.
Allin all, four days at the Pinball Expo was quite exhausting............. my feet were swollen but my heart was PIOWING.........eseceeeee I'll be back.
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only be described as a feeding frenzy as 600 odd people indulged in their favourite pastime. There were machine parts, books, big sil- ver balls and, of course, the pinball competition.
This was taken very seriously with players in their special clothes and a small towel on their belt to dry sweaty fingers. The competi- tion went for four days, finally emerging with a new Grand Wiz- ard and a few lesser wizards who all got huge pinball trophies.
During the next three days
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Barcrest Ltd
From its small beginnings in 1968 as a private company, Barcrest has now emerged as one of the lead- ing players in the international amusement and leisure industries. They are now the largest manufac- turers of AWPs in the United King- dom for pubs and jackpot machines for clubs. They have impressive ex- port sales across Europe, north and south America and Australasia.
Barcrestis asubsidiary of Bass PLC, one of the UK's largest brewers and one of the world's largest hotel- iers with its "Holiday Inn" brand.
paleo! Among its other leisure interests, produced the B haine oF balioe ch
Limelight Video = Owns Chains O etling Snops, Jukebox in bingo clubs, and bowling alleys, as conjunction with well as BLMS, a large, UKoperator sister operating of gaming andamusement machines. company BLMS The operating experience of
BLMS has often helped _Barcrest finetune its machines and identify market trends. The two sis- ter companies jointly developed the suc- cessful Limelight video jukebox, a product which ena- bles music to be up- dated by satellite. Other Barcrest products, aside from the gaming devices
that they're famous for, include a fantasy photo booth and a data re- trieval system. The Photo-Star booth takes both conventional portraits and ones where the person's image is super-imposed over a fantasy back- ground. The scenes include tropical islands, famous landmarks and gor- geous members of the opposite sex.
The Datapak electronic data retrieval system was designed to collect data from coin-operated ma- chines for security and management purposes. They now have over 50,000 of the units in operation.
However, it is their many and varied gaming devices that Barcrest are famous for. They have been one of the key players in this sector of the industry and have pioneered some major innovations like the introduc- tion of processor based machines.
Barcrest have made a substan- tial investment in their Ashton-un- der-Lyne facility - it is completely computerised and much of the pro- duction is automated. Covering 100,000 sq. feet and employing over 300 people, the factory has enor- mous design and manufacturing ca- pabilities.
With their latest range of ma- chines, Barcrest have introduced a lot of new ideas. The emphasis is on fun, innovation and providing a high level of entertainment for players.
This has meant the development of totally new games as well as fresh approaches to old themes.
Barcrest's extensive library of easily inserted games includes Poker, Joker Poker, Deuces, Blackjack, Keno, Bingo, Spinning Reels and many more. There are AWPs, Club machines, Bingo and Arcade games and SWPs (Skill with Prize games). In 1990 the company won the awards for the best SWP and Club machines.
Games can be presented in a multi game format or as a dedicated single game. There are multi-func- tion touch screens which probably offer the most player involvement and flexibility for the operator, or button formats which suit dedicated games because of their simplicity and ability for rapid play.
Barcrest games have been ap- proved in most major jurisdictions and machines are constantly being tailored to meet the requirements of new jurisdictions and customers.
From the very beginning Barcrest has committed itself to over- seas expansion and over the years have developed a solid bank of knowledge on legislative require- ments as well as patterns of play around the world. Specific games are tailored to specific countries and this probably played a large part in the company being awarded the Queens Award for Export.
Barcrestalsotake pride in their service department which provides support, fast turnaround in spares and con- tinuous access to product in- formation. At the heart of the department is the Barcrest Bulletin Board which gives Customers access to the Barcrest computer 24 hours a Ze%: day, every day.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
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Cash Box Magazine
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January, 1995
Unit 1512-17, 15F, Metroplaza Tower 1,
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| ee. : lan Bunker Smith Brian Storelli © bandtankn: Fred Milner Page 71
The ‘buzz’ today is all about FEC's, Family Entertainment Cen- tres, or some call them FFC's, Fam- ily Fun Centres, but what is so differ- ent about them.
Why, almost overnight are FEC's so different to what's been available for many years.
I myself entered the industry with an establishment that had in- door mini Golf, a Slot Car track, table games, novelty games, the lat- est in coin-op video and pinball, a party area and fast food.
It was titled the Engadine Fam- ily Leisure Centre, and it was opened in 1978.
Apart from having to deal with a mongrel Municipal Council that were living in the dark ages and convinced by the do gooders within, that I was out to completely destroy the moral fibre of the areas youth, and a landlord who was positive that we were making at least a million bucks a week, the centre was very successful.
As far as the industry went, the EFLC was no big deal, there were many similar type establishments and where mine went where all good places with hungry landlords end up
going, (Chinese Restaurants) many have continued to operate and are still in business.
Yet here we are, 15 odd years down the track and all anyone wants to talk about is FEC’s, as if they are something new and exciting.
Looking at the situation just on the surface, there's probably good reason to wonder what it's all about, but when you look below the surface of today's FEC's, it can be seen that though they are similar to the type of establishment I describe above, they are also very different, and there's little doubt that FEC’s are the future of this industry.
Though most of the success FEC's are enjoying is the result of the professional way they are being es- tablished and managed, they have been assisted by several other fac- tors and when these are all put to- gether, it becomes easier to under- stand why family centres are going to continue their rise in popularity, and why they are so important to the future of coin-op.
For a Start, the teenage patrons of the arcades and Leisure Centres of the late 70's and early 80's are now joining the ranks of parents and un- like their parents, they are partial, in varying degrees to spending time in amusement centres.
They know that most of the garbage written about "Pinball Parlours", that brain- washed their parents was incorrect, but they also know that there were some establish- ments where things went on that they'd
Cash Box International
C's Are Not New
Bul they do represent a new erg in coln-op
Jack Rodios
rather their kids didn't come into contact with.
So the concept of large urban amusement centres where they can satisfy their kid's love of the glitzy games and attractions, their own in many cases, and their wife's desire of "family togetherness", relatively cheaply, holds a lot of appeal.
To get the type of entertain- ment that today's good FEC's pro- vide, it was once acase of waiting till a carnival or such, visited town, but now with the centres being set up in and around malls, which have be- come the community meeting places, carnival type fun is readily available on an everyday shopping trip.
There is no waiting involved, nor is there any extra travel, the peo- ple were going to the mall anyway and the FEC is becoming a familiar part of accepted, everyday life.
Unlike the straight, coin-op ar- cades that made their way into the ‘hard to rent’ areas of malls in many countries, the FEC's, many of them built around a popular theme, are getting prominent positions and are being promoted as attractions by mall managements, along with the key retail outlets, cinemas, and food halls,
Another aspect, and one that may not go down too well with a lot of early 80's style operators is that a large number of new people have come into the industry toopen FEC's, and they have brought with them a degree of professionalism that has benefited the whole industry.
Make no mistake, the FEC's of today with a good mix of attractions, arcade games, redemption, food, drink and predominantly fun, have a huge future and will be the key to this industry's development into the next millennium.
January, 1995
A view of just a small part of the
IAAPA show floor.
It is an enormous exhibition with over 800 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors.
Cash Box International
HIGH TECHNOLOGY PIECES STEAL THE SHOW AT IAAPA
At the '94 IAAPA in Miami last November, seminars and work- shops were presented on the first day in Spanish, Portuguese, Ger- man, Japanese and English. There were some 40 seminars during the course of the show on almost every subject relating to theme parks and FECs - PR promotion, design and management, waterparks, mini golf courses, rides, food services, financ- ing, laws and regulations, etc; semi- nars were held in English only after the first day but interpretation in four languages were available in most cases. Food service 2000 got the award for best seminar presenta- tion.
The show kicked off with the "What's New Theatre" held at the Jackie Gleason Theatre adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center. Although originally intended
January, 1995
From Shirley Fang - Taiwan Amusement Express
~*~
to inform the audience on develop- ments based on the "What's New Around the World" program, the show was presented in such a way that it appeared as if each speaker was doing an ad campaign for his own product.
The Count showed slides of his park, Duinrell in Holland; and Doug Trumball, of course, promoted
Orbitrons are doing good business in parks. This two seater machine is particulary suited for "family" use.
the Luxor project Las Vegas. I don't think the "What's New" idea was generated clearly to the audience but nonetheless, the production was entertaining as live performances by the Honeymooners were inserted throughout the "show and tell".
The Convention Center it- self was a two-storey complex with conference rooms on the main and second floor.
The main exhibition hall which encompassed four halls (ABCD) housed 2500 booths and booths 2501-2940 were located in two separate alcoves off Con- course C and D (a little unfortu- nate for these exhibitors). The back of the convention centre led out to Sunshine Plaza where outdoor exhibitions were held.
Exact figures and break- dowm of visitors were unavail- able attime of printing but as of the morning of November 5, 20,000 people were monitored as to have visited the show.
Over page please
Page 73
Greystone's Mercury units, a unique form of "face down VR". The machines are mounted on a full motion base but don't come cheap.
a : ” 5 a4 y ' mee: gS $ 7 ” at MSP = ae . Wee 4 ue y A eo Pe OO a PB : 5 Pe Zs ’ F SO A oo / Toye Y 1S ‘A fi “ = ZA Z a, - A ££ a } 4 4 = 4
Most exhibitors ex- pressed that the show this year was quieter and there were more South Ameri- can visitors than usual. This is most likely due to the geographical location, not unsimilar to this year's AMOA.
Undoubtedly, the fo- cus this year was on virtual reality games and VR simulation rides. Virtuality had four standing and four sitting units. Software was still mainly concentrated on combat themes but there was also a billiards game.
Greystone had twoof their Mercury units on dis- play which looked similar to sleek Sea-Doo's set on a full motion base. The unit runs to about half a million dollars so a profit sharing arrangement would prob- ably be the obvious choice. Orbotron had an X-O- TRON VR on display. The advantage of the game is that it uses no AC power but is battery operated. The player can rotate 360 de- grees and use his hands and/or body movement for directional control. The headset is also much lighter in weight.
IMAX was pushing their Ridefilm 18-passen-
ger modular design which was completed in Septem- ber. This compact unit is supposed to be more cost effective and allow opera- tors to generate faster re- turns. It can be used as a single unit or can be linked to other units and the prod- uct is geared for operators with space limitations such as FECs. A mock-up was displayed at the show but without the software or the motion base. IMAX will have three 4-minute films ready by the end of Febru- ary next year and six by the end of 1995.
Iwerks came out the big winner in this years IAAPA: they took out the Best Major Ride/Attraction Exhibit and their products won the Show Production and Entertainment, and Technology Applied to Amusements categories. A mock-up of their Loch Ness Expedition was set up in one corner while across the booth, a simula- tion ride was always in progress with a constant queue of at least 20 people. It was certainly one of the busiest booths at the show. During IAAPA's summer meeting next year in Hong Kong Iwerks plans to
launch
Park.
new unit at Hong Kong's Ocean
ICE Associates and Aslan Technologies had an outdoor #70! panel”. exhibition in Sunshine Plaza where they placed their SU- 1000 unit which some people may remember from ACME ‘94. Aslan Technologies de- scribe the unit as "a two pas- senger unit consisting of two single-seat pneumatically po- sitioned pods mounted on a ro-
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q_ the bravest person - or make them sick! tating platform. Each pod contains a
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Cash Box International
audio system, and an interactive con-
The ride lasts just under four minutes - I lasted three and hit the STOP button. The ride gives a maxi- mum rotation speed of 48rpm but inside the pod, you actually feel as if you're taking off in a fighter plane. The skin on my face was pulled back and sweat broke out all over. Abso- lutely nauseating experience!
January, 1995
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1995 Page 75
LIC
ITALY WAITING FOR CHANGE
The political instability in Italy is mirrored right through Italian in- dustry, including the coin machine industry. Italy itself, and the industry are waiting for change.
Whether the latest proposals to the authorities from SAPAR - the Public Leisure Attractions Equip- ment section of AGIS, the General Italian Entertainments Association, will be the beginning of anew era for the industry remains to be seen, as do so many other things in Italian life
The current legislation does not allow any form of gaming ma- chine, something which the industry hopes to change. However, the out- come of what people in the amuse- ment sector describe as a Crisis, is a matter for conjecture. In spite of this, the Italian amusement trade contin- ues to advance and develop in the difficult situation that exists and have lodged a new set of proposals for gaming machines.
THE HAVE NOTS
Other EU countries currently making similar proposals to their gov- ernments include France and Ireland. In the case of France the proposal is being put up against a lottery pro- posal and in Ireland it comes ata time when the government is considering the introduction of casinos.
These three EU countries - Ireland, Italy and France - are the leaders of the group of "have nots”. Although the circumstances in all three countries are different, the prob- lem is the same - convincing the authorities that low level gaming holds no threat to the community, government sponsored lotteries or any other existing institution.
They have a difficult task and the presence of "suspect" or "grey area" machines, where they exist,
Page 76
makes that task even more difficult. However, it must be time for the authorities in these countries to ac- knowledge that the coin machine in- dustry should be treated in the same way aS existing businesses such as betting, lotteries, casinos etc.
The playing field must be lev- elled, giving all participants an equal chance to pursue their business ac- tivities, under strict but fair regula- tions. There is little doubt that the EU will eventually insist on this, buthow much better it would be to have agree- ment without costly court proceed- ings, which would certainly give many in the media another opportu- nity to dig up their biassed views on the subject.
DETAILS
Maurizio Maneschi, secretary of SAPAR, editor of Automat, and organiser of ENADA said that the current proposals to the authorities suggested the use of a game in which the player could win up to 30 tokens, for which he could receive redemp- tion tickets, replays or a refund.
Also included in the proposals is the idea of "instituting a Profes- sional Register to provide official guidelines for operators and define codes of practice and membership".
Sindaut, another trade asso- ciation are making similar, but not identical proposals and it has been agreed that it would be much better if both organisations work together. One meeting between both sides has already taken place with another planned.
It is hoped that the issue be discussed in parliament soon but the financial and other problems facing Italy are likely to delay this. The proposals could mean that at least twonew machines would be installed in 100.000 locations, creating much
Reports by Martin Dempsey of
The family fun of "Bakoom" from Banpresto attracted young and old at ENADA
“Coin-op News".
needed jobs and boosting commer- Cial activity and exports.
Around 45,000 machines are installed throughout Italy, including 300,000 video games, 5,000 pinballs, 10,000 jukeboxes and 90,000 soccer games, pool tables and kiddie rides.
ENADA
The attendance at ENADA late last year was slightly up on the previ- ous year, even though the general strike on the first day kept some visitors away. More than 90 exhibi- tors filled 3,500 square metres of exhibition space - the biggest turnout in recent years.
Asis usual with ENADA, there was a lot of the same product on the
To page 78 please
Cash Box Magazine
January, 1995
Amusement Machine Distributors, Manufacturers, Parts and Service » 39 Sandgate Road, Albion, Queensland 4010
Phone: (07) 262 1033 = Fax: (07) 262 7251 +~—_—iToll Free: 008 777 688 (Sales Only)
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Cash Box Magazine January, 1995 Page 77
stands of different distributors. Many stands showed Midway's Cruisin’ USA, current PCB games in a vari- ety of different video cabinets, and all the latest pins along with some older ones.
Most attendees were im- pressed with the equipment on dis- play and despite their problems were reasonably optimistic for the future of coin-op in Italy.
PARK SHOW INTERNATIONAL LIVES UP TO ITS NAME
The 4th Park Show Interna- tional held at the Rimini Fair, Italy caters for the manufacturers and distributors of equipment for amuse- ment and water parks, fair grounds and travelling shows.
It was supported by ANESV (The National Association of Trav- elling Show Owners), ANCASVI (The National Association of Show Equipment Manufacturers) and Union Parchi (The Association rep- resenting Permanent Parks). Repre- sentatives of European travelling show associations and trade delega- tions from a number of countries attended.
The success of the first three shows, which were attended by over 12,000 visitors from 35 countries created a lot of interest in Park Show ‘94, The event is held every two years and at- tracts many interna- tional visitors. It was no- ticeable this year that the attendance included many visitors from Cen- tral and Eastern Europe.
EXPANDING
Amusement parks and travelling shows continue to be
Page 78
rapidly developing sectors, not only in Italy but nght across Europe and Park Show is there to help owners and managers of these businesses, offering all the latest products anda selection of relevant seminars and conferences, as a comprehensive package for those in the trade.
One hundred and fifty exhibi- tors occupied three large hall witha total area of over 20,000 square metres. They offered everything necessary for equipping amusement parks and travelling shows, includ- ing playground, fair ground and wa- ter park equipment.
Also on offer were consulta- tion and design services for parks; visitor transport systems; electrical and electro-mechanical compo- nents; special effects, safety and fire fighting equipment. The show was also held in an area outside the halls. Large merry-go-rounds and attractions were set up outdoors.
SEMINARS
A number of debates, meet- ings, seminars and press conferences were held during Park Show. These gave members of the trade many opportunities to gather data and ex- press their views abouta whole range of issues affecting the development
of the industry.
Park Show International in Rimini, Italy
Safety, the disabled, juvenile matters, problem areas, marketing, performing rights, staff manage- ment, and social activity in parks were amongst the issues discussed.
Other fringe events included an International Harley Davidson gathering, a Sicilian puppet show, a three dimensional art school show and an exhibition of antique amuse- ment machines.
VIRTUAL ENCOUNTERS
A separate show devoted to virtual reality products was held alongside Park Show. It presented the latest virtual reality technology and products for amusement parks and showed many exciting possi- bilities this new form of entertain- ment has to offer.
Technological theme parks are already operating around the world and it is likely that this sector has much growth and development ahead, as the new technology un- veils new and exciting possibilities.
The event was divided into sections, including an exhibition of existing equipment; showings of films made with special effects; a preview of Walt Disney's latest film, "The Lion King"; computer ani- mated special effects for amuse- ment parks and a conference on "Interactive virtual parks". There were examples of virtual reality used in major US amusement parks and an in-depth look at how to set up innovative parks.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
PARK EQUIPMENT
The selection of park equip- ment on show was attractively pre- sented by manufacturers and cov- ered the whole area of parks and travelling shows. Italian visitors and those from overseas were given an array of equipment to choose from that left them in no doubt as to the importance of this show.
A now familiar sight at major trade shows, the Thomson Enter- tainment Systems (formerly Hughes Rediffusion) Venturer attracted a constant stream of visitors. Bertazzon showed their spectacular carousel which is available in dif- ferent sizes ranging from 5 to 15 metres in diameter and Zamperla's latest attraction was the RotoShake ride that loops 82 ft into the air.
Other attractions being offered included Venture River from Euro Jumping, a water ride featuring ca- noes and an Indian wigwam, a range of road and rail trains from Dotto and Tschu-Tschu and Soli Bumper Cars from I E Park.
COIN-OP EQUIPMENT
In spite of the fact that this was a park show, coin-operated amusement games were much in evidence. Most popular were kiddie rides, video games, pin tables and a wide variety of novelty games.
There were many pushers, card games, fruit machines, bingos and all sorts of gambling and grey area machines. Many of these car- ried "For Export" signs as they are not permitted in the Italian market.
Cash Box Magazine
Paul Johnston, sales and marketing director of Bell Fruit Manufacturing with their new video game Rise of the Robots
SBF's Balloon Wheel at Park Show International
January, 1995
Ea eae pe pens sauiemeneeesse. OL THe =a) Pepsi! |
UNITED KINGDOM
UK COMPANIES PRODUCE SOME INNOVATIVE GAMES
If the UK amusement indus- try needs innovation to improve sales and earnings, then AL Pre- view '95 was a happy event for those involved in the trade, and much of the innovation was from within, rather than outside the UK.
The stars of the AL Preview last year were the UK products - Spida Strika from Sound Leisure and Rise of the Robots from Bell Fruit.
This shot in the arm for the UK industry could not have come at a better time as it coincides with the build up this months ATEI and at- tempts by BACTA to promote UK manufactured products at ATEI
AND THERE'S MORE...
In addition to these two items there were further innovations, in- cluding an Italian manufactured Santa and Reindeer kiddie ride, shown by SB machines of Porthcawl. This attractive piece caught the eye of all involved in operating kiddie rides and many others, some of whom are now con- sidering KR operating on the per- ceived strength of this one piece.
Also new were Point Blank from Namco which had its Euro- pean launch at the AL Preview and Killer Instinct from Nintendo/Mid- way, shown on the Deith Leisure stand. This was one of the most played games at the show.
Most of the video games and pinballs on show at AL Preview had been shown the previous week at AmusExpo in Paris. In fact, there were a number of games that ap- peared in Paris which were not shown at AL Preview.
VISITORS
The number of exhibitors at AL Preview was around the same as last year but the number of visitors was down. Although the first day was busy enough, there was an ob- vious lack of visitors on the second day. In spite of this, most exhibitors seemed content with reaction to their products.
The general opinion amongst both exhibitors and visitors was that the UK industry was beginning to stabilise. In view of the inaccuracy of previous predictions about re- coveries, no one was being any more optimistic than that.
AL Preview '95 coincided with an Oktoberfest promotion of German food, beer and wine in the Novotel, and this added to the good humoured atmosphere. All the vari- ous categories of both amusement and gaming equipment were well represented, with the latest models on show.
SPIDA STRIKA
Spida Strika is a brand new concept and was one of the major hits at the recent AMOA show in San Antonio, Texas. It is a very attractive and colourful game, de- scribed by manufacturers, Sound Leisure, as the “ultimate amuse- ment prize vendor".
Page 79
It is a six player crane-type game where the player manoeuvres and eventually releases a spider to strike several different sized metal buttons to release a prize, including items like jewellery and soft toys.
The combination of revolv- ing prizes and the opportunity to discover how skilful a player you are attracts both young and not-so- young customers. It has a lot of player appeal and is a visually excit- ing game that combines movement and colour with music to the great- est possible advantage.
Spida Strika is manufactured by Sound Leisure and is available throughout the UK and Europe from Sound Leisure and Deith Leisure. It
Page 80
has been licensed to Atari/Time Warner for the United States.
RISE OF THE ROBOTS
Two years ago Bell Fruit embarked on a program to use their existing game development capa- bility to break into the video games market. That program is now 90% complete and the result is Rise of the Robots.
The international launch will be at ATEI this month
"Rise of the Robots is the de- but product from BFM's multi-me- dia development division and boasts superior sound effects, gameplay and graphics,” said Paul Johnston, Bell Fruit's marketing director.
re BASIC RULESR
t
Leon Deith and
Andy Oritis from
Deith Leisure with Sega's Star Wars and Daytona USA
Des Burnes of MHG Services, Joanne Needham and Alan Black of Sound Leisure, Alex Hook of Bell Fruit and Clive Birdsall of Sound Leisure with their latest novelty game, Spida Strika
Mike Nevin and Shane Breaks with Namco's gun game Point Blank.
The game features droids at the Electrocorp HQ taken on by a human volunteer housed in the ECO35-2 Cyborg chassis. It is the player's task to take the Cyborg into the Electrocorp building, battle against the renegade droids and de- feat The Supervisor.
Other characters in the game include The Loader, The Builder, The Crusher, The Exterminator and The Sentry, all of whom have unique combat skills/ The game uses music by Bryan May - legendary former guitarist from Queen and comes in a specially designed BFM cabinet.
OTHER GAMES
At AL Preview, Deith Lei- sure showed Primal Rage from Atari; Midway's Cruisin’ USA in sit down, sit in and upright formats; Desert Tank, Virtua Cop and Star Wars from Sega; and on the pinball front, Corvette and Roadshow.
Brent Leisure launched Nam- co's Gun Bullet and showed exist- ing games including Ridge Racer 2, Suzuka 8 Hours 2, Final Lap R and Gottlieb's Rescue 911
Electrocoin had a variety of games including Data East's Tattoo Assassins, Konami's Racin’ Force, operation Wolf 3 and Real Puncher from Taito, and Data East's Maver- ick pinball.
DMD presented the Freddy - A Nightmare on Elm Street pinball from Gottlieb as they were recently appointed Gottlieb distributors.
Cash Box Magazine January, 1995
MOTHERS IMPORTS
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Cash Box International January, 1995 Page 81
FursopS
THE NETHERLANDS
VAN EXPO SEES OFF "PIEK" MACHINES
VAN Expo, which was held in the RAI Exhibition Centre, Am- sterdam from Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th November, 1994 was the second such exhibition this year in The Netherlands. The first was in January - the traditional time for the show and it was he:d in Maastricht.
The holding ofa second show in the same year was made neces- sary by the introduction of regula- tions that demand the removal of certain types of gaming machines from locations by the end of