card which can be used when a player has to leave a game (maybe go home for dinner) but wants to pick back up where he left off afterward.

SNK America's Operations Manager Neal Zook described this card thusly: "Let's say a player got up to level 5 on one of our games but had to split. He plugs the memory card into the cabinet and hours or days later, he can return to any Neo•Geo cabinet, plug the card back in and pick right up where he left off. That goes for the golf game where you left off at a certain hole and the others."

At ACME, Zook and staff presented a brand new card for operator use. This is used by pushing it into the cabinet slot up front. All earnings information is encoded (downloaded) citing number of plays, amount of money and the rest (but not the scores). When the serviceman returns to the shop, he can plug the card into any IBM PC compatible computer using the Lotus 123 software and immediately run that information up on the screen.

Use it once and you'll get the idea immediately (many operators have PCs capable of using this helpful bookkeeping device). But you need an extra "black box" to wire in, so check your SNK distributor if you didn't drink it all in at ACME.

Neo•Geo has been a good thing for the video game operator and the firm that brought it forth isn't resting on its laurels. As the front cover of this magazine infers, SNK's dealt the industry a winner ... a winner

this industry can surely use.

AL   11

by Bob Rondeau

ver the 25-plus years that I personally ran distribution offices, I

never met an operator who was bashful. Specifically, I never did business with one who used any finesse, was afraid of hurting my feelings or was particular about the language he used if he thought I charged too much, favored his competitor, sold him the wrong machine, didn't have the part he needed or charged him for certain repairs he felt were unjustified.

So why doesn't this guy ... this guy who supports his local, state and national associations ... face off with his competitor who doesn't belong and say: "Hey, buster! I'm sick and tired of supporting you! Everytime I write a check for the

organization and spend time and money to go to meetings that affect our mutual business, you're getting a free ride on my money! Here's the application blank. Join and support them like I do!"

I've heard some pretty harsh words from the mouths of operators when they've been mad and "think" they're right. They are right as rain if they're angry about competitors who don't belong to the organizations. Okay, perhaps some non-members have never been asked to join the group whose efforts help put bread and butter on their tables. So ask! Maybe the non-members are embarrassed to come to meetings for one reason or another. So ask twice!

Look. Coin operators don't have to "love" their competitors, but there really is power in numbers. They all fight the same things, from city hall to the hypocrites to the prejudiced people out there. How much better it is to do this in an organization. So, get mad, end your frustration and pay a visit or a phone call to those competitors your association dues are supporting. Even if it doesn't do any good, at least you'll get the anger out of your system.

If they don't join after your pitch, go ahead and call them names. You have got a clear conscience knowing you tried. Bitterness, prejudice and distrust are pretty strong words but they shouldn't stand in the way of industry defense and industry progress. The ability to communicate is the greatest gift given to man. If man freely used this gift by sharing his knowledge with others, we'd all live to be 250 at least. There wouldn't be any disease, war and who knows, Utopia could be around the corner.

If there was ever a time for this industry to work together, it's now! But we need the ideas (and the money) from everyone who makes his or her living from this business. Call the free riders and tell it like it is. Make out you just got overcharged from your distributor and you just want to straighten things out. Now you've got the motivation!

RIDING FREE

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