Alpha-Omega Amusements

At that time my small operating company was operating hundreds of electro-mechanical pinball machines (along with foosballs and air hockeys) in university center game rooms during the academic year and then we’d move the games to dozens of New Jersey Shore arcades for the short 13-week summer season.

The route employees consisted of me, my brother Richard, as many part-time relatives as I could recruit from my wife’s family, and a part-time college kid named Joe Camarota. That year Joe made the decision to join Alpha full time and has now been with Alpha for 30 years (becoming a partner several years later). Another coincidence? I think not.

HOW IT ALL STARTED
Jump fonward to the Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA) Expo in 1980 in Chicago, Ill. For a few months prior to that show, I had met several times with Roger Sharpe. who wrote his ‘Critic’s Corner” column for Play Meter that reviewed pinball machines as they were introduced into the market. In those days Roger got to write a lot of columns because pinball machines were the most popular game in the industry.

Roger was also an editor of Gentlemen’s Quarterly magazine and was as well known as an avid pinball player as he was a brilliant writer. I asked Roger what he thought about me writing a technical column about video games, not only to rank them by play appeal but by how well they were built, how well they functioned under route
conditions, how to repair them, and “tell it exactly like it is.”
Roger encouraged me to pursue this idea and suggested I talk with the Editor of Play Meter, Ralph Lally, as well as to the other trade magazines to get a good feel for the acceptance of this game critique concept.

It didn’t Lake me long to have my idea completely shot down by the industry “gurus” of the time who demanded editorial control. But that was before I spoke to one more person: Ralph Lally. At the AMOA Expo, I asked Ralph if he had a few minutes over the next few days to talk with mc about a column idea.

I’ll never forget Ralph’s reply: “How about we talk now.” After explaining what I had in mind, I saw immediately that Ralph liked the idea. Then I hit him with what had been the deal killer for others: Would he agree to publish each article exactly as I wrote it without editing out the “tell it exactly like it is” part? Ralph stood silent for a few seconds and replied something like this: “OK, as long as you don’t use foul language and you make Play Meter’s deadlines, I will Support you no matter what happens.
We shook hands, he said my first deadline was a few weeks after the expo, and I needed to come up with a column name and logo. With that he walked away leaving me speechless. Little did I understand at that moment what he meant by “I will sLipport you no matter what happens.”

The first of more than 150 “Frank’s Cranks” columns appeared in the Feb. 1981 issue and was titled ‘A technical view of new games from the operator’s standpoint” Pac-Man, Space Encounters, Spectar. BatUezone, Flight 2000, and Xenon were reviewed. Immediately, letters began to flow into the magazine with many addressed simply to Frank the Crank since my last name is hard to spell or even remember. The nickname stuck and after all these years I’m often still referred to as Frank the Crank!

After the first few columns it became evident that the game manufacturers did not take kindly to having their games ranked and their shortcomings constructively criticized in a public forum. However, operators loved the column and Ralph was “always for the operator.” Several manufacturers pulled their advertising from Play Meter because of it. But Ralph didn’t flinch and said he would honor his commitment to me to keep publishing Frank’s Cranks” as long as I wanted to keep writing ii And he

RALPH’S VISION
Ralph also had a vision for our industry and that vision was the operator. During Play Meter’s early years. the AMOA Expo, always held in the fall, was the largest industry trade show and the center attraction event each year.
Ralph was convinced that the opportunity was ripe for another trade show to spring up (so to speak). lie knew the industry was certainly large enough to SUPIXWt two annual trade shows: the A.IOA in the fall and another in the spring. I don’t know all of the details but my intuition tells nie that Ralph ran into a manufacturer brick wall with this idea hut decided to create a trade show focusing on seminars, which were sorely lacking in those days. It was called the
Amusement Operators Expo (AOE) and it was indeed a success. Shortly thereafter, the manufacturer’s asso(iation saw that the AOL was Filling a need in the industry and decided to start its own competing show just weeks after AOL, calling it the Amusement Showcase International (ASI).

Shortly after Ralph’s death in a car accident, his wife signed an agreement to become partners with the association. Play Meter’s AOE and the manufacturers’ ASI were combined and Play Meter and AAMA co-sponsored the first American Coin Machine Expo (ACME) in March 1986. After the agreement expired AAMA owned the ACME show and reverted back to its original show name, ASI, which it is still called today.

Ralph’s death was a sad loss for our industry. His wife Carol took over the reins of Play Meter, depending on the experience of Editor Valerie Cognevich, who had worked with Ralph for nearly 10 years, and Renec Pierson, who had also worked with Ralph for many years when her husband David was with the magazine, She also brought on board some wonderful new people Bonnie Theard, Carol Lea LeBell, Jane Nisbet, and Ralph and Carol’s daughter Carol Ann.

Writing the “Franks Cranks” column for Play Meter was one of the most important things I accomplished in this industry. Having a twice monthly(yes. Play Meter was published twice a month dunng the hey day of video game) platform for many years, and having a continuously running column for 15 years, gave me the Opportunity to
help thousands of fellow operators with service tips It helped me push forward the concept of industry standardization of locks, bulbs, meters, coin mechs, coin doors, etc. that have saved operators millions of dollars in pverhead and generated millions in revenue from reduced downtime.

With out Play Meter none of this could have been possible. I am also quite positive that after a rocky start with game manufacturers, they came to the realization that constructive criticism has been good for their products, for operators, and for the industry. They have accepted Play Meter as a major part of the fabric that holds this industry together. On the operator side, I needed all the support to climb tip the ladder to AMOA presidency.
Yes, Play Meter was with us for the 15-year ride we call the video boom. This boom, the third industry boom of the past 120 years, started in 1981 with gaines like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Galaxian, and more space games and then cute games like Pacman, which did moor to put the industry on the map than any game before it. The cycle ran through 1995 when home games began to take center stage.

Play Meter was with us as our industry introduced personal computers to the public in a 1friendly way and perhaps the only way that this could have been accomplished. Play Meter was with us a our industry led the world in introducing many new technologies. For this we are all very proud to be a part of this great industry. We are all honored to go along for the ride knowing that Play Meter, and perhaps even Ralph Lally is still leading the way. Thank you, Play Meter.