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Editor | Tim Meyer, editor |
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Former editors | Editors Bonnie Theard, Valerie Cognevich, Steve White, Chris Caire, David Pierson, Ralph C. Lally II |
Staff writers | James Sebastien, asst. editor |
Categories | Arcade game industry |
Frequency | monthly |
Circulation | 3000 [1] |
Publisher | Carol P. Lally |
Founder | Ralph C. Lally II |
Founded | 1974 |
First issue | December 1974 |
Final issue | June 2018 |
Company | Skybird Publishing [1] |
Country | U.S. |
Based in | New Orleans |
Language | English |
Website | http://www.playmeter.com |
ISSN | 1529-8736 |
Play Meter (initially Coin Industry Play Meter) was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C. Lally II and it is published in physical form by Skybird Publishing on a monthly basis. Together with rival publication RePlay (founded 1975) it chronicled the arcade industry from its nascency, through market fluctuations like the video game crashes of 1977 and 1983, and the rebirth and maturation of the medium through the 1980s. [2] It is the earliest example of video game journalism, [3] [4] [5] establishing such practices as individual video game reviews [6] [7] and the ten-point assessment scale for video game reviews. [8]
Play Meter served as the parent organization of the first coin-op-oriented spring trade show (forerunner to North America's annual Amusement Expo). It published several bi-monthly and annual special issues throughout its history and it maintains a website where online content is also published monthly.
The magazine shut down after publishing the June 2018 issue, coinciding with publisher Carol Lally's retirement. [9]
Play Meter released a number of special issues. [19]
The Neo Geo, stylized as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a ROM cartridge-based arcade system board and fourth-generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990, by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in SNK's Neo Geo family.
Pole Position is an arcade racing simulation video game released by Namco in 1982 and licensed to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution, running on the Namco Pole Position arcade system board. It is considered one of the most important titles from the golden age of arcade video games. Pole Position was an evolution of Namco's earlier arcade racing electro-mechanical games, notably F-1 (1976), whose designer Sho Osugi worked on the development of Pole Position.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is a 2D fighting game developed by Capcom and originally released for arcades in 1991. It is the second installment in the Street Fighter series and the sequel to 1987's Street Fighter. It is Capcom's fourteenth game to use the CP System arcade system board. Street Fighter II vastly improved many of the concepts introduced in the first game, including the use of special command-based moves, a combo system, a six-button configuration, and a wider selection of playable characters, each with a unique fighting style.
The Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo.
Ikari Warriors, known as Ikari in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished Ikari Warriors were rotary joysticks and a two-player cooperative mode. The rotary joystick controls were in turn based on SNK's earlier TNK III (1985). Ikari was originally intended to be an official licensed adaptation of the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), but SNK were initially unable to acquire the rights to the film.
The Nintendo VS. System is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). As Nintendo was planning to release the NES in North America, they were aware of the video game crash of 1983 and its effects on the home console market. However by March 1984 the arcade industry recovered enough for a plan to introduce NES titles there, with the VS. System later being a presentation to players who did not yet own the console. It became the first version of the Famicom hardware to debut in North America.
The Simpsons is an arcade beat 'em up developed and published by Konami released in 1991. It was the first video game based on the Simpsons franchise to be released in North America. The game allows up to four players to control members of the Simpson family as they fight various enemies to rescue the kidnapped Maggie. It was a commercial success in the United States, where it was one of the top three best-selling arcade video game machines of 1991, The game also features the television shows's voice actors; Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith reprising their respective roles as the Simpsons family.
Virtua Racing or V.R. for short, is a Formula One racing video game developed by Sega AM2 and released for arcades in 1992. Virtua Racing was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D graphics platform under development, the "Model 1". The results were so encouraging that Virtua Racing was fully developed into a standalone arcade title.
1995 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Quest VI, Mega Man 7, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Tekken 2, along with new titles such as Mario's Picross, Battle Arena Toshinden, Chrono Trigger, Rayman, Soul Edge, Twisted Metal, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Destruction Derby, Wipeout and Jumping Flash!
1993 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, Mortal Kombat II, Secret of Mana, and Super Street Fighter II, alongside new titles such as Star Fox, FIFA International Soccer, Doom, Gunstar Heroes, Myst, Samurai Shodown, Ridge Racer, NBA Jam, Disney's Aladdin, and Virtua Fighter.
1985 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. and Kung Fu, along with new titles such as Commando, Duck Hunt, Gauntlet, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Gradius, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Tetris and The Way of the Exploding Fist. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On and Karate Champ in the United States, and Commando in the United Kingdom. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the second year in a row, while the year's best‑selling home video game was Super Mario Bros.
OutRunners is a racing video game developed by Sega AM1 and released in Japan, Europe, and North America in 1993. It constitutes the third release in the arcade OutRun series and was ported to the Mega Drive in 1994.
Final Lap 2 is an racing simulation game released by Namco for arcades in 1990. It is the arcade sequel to Final Lap and runs on Namco System 2 hardware.
Blockade is an arcade video game developed by Lane Hauck for Gremlin and released in November 1976. It is a two-player game where each player controls the direction of an arrow on the screen which creates a trail behind it. The object is the avoid any walls surrounding the playfield or created by each player for a select amount of turns. Blockade spawned many clones which came to be known as snake games.
Aliens is a 1990 run and gun video game developed and published for arcades by Konami. It is based on the 1986 film of the same title. Two players can play the game cooperatively in addition to single-player.
Amusement Expo is an annual convention featuring and showcasing vendors, developers and businesses having to do with coin activated amusements such as video arcade machines, electro-mechanical games, ticket/redemption skill and chance games, and jukeboxes. The show is held annually in March at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, released as Street Fighter II Dash in Japan, is a fighting game released by Capcom in 1992. It was launched for arcades and converted to several video game consoles. It is the first of several updated versions of Street Fighter II, and part of the Street Fighter series. The main changes are the addition of the four grand masters as playable characters and mirror matches. The fighting techniques of the eight main characters from the original game were further balanced for competitive play.
Periscope is an electro-mechanical arcade shooting submarine simulator. Two companies developed similar games with the name. The first, initially called Torpedo Launcher, was designed by Nakamura Manufacturing Co. and released in Japan in 1965, as the first arcade game Masaya Nakamura built. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. also built and released Periscope in Japan in 1966, as one of its first produced arcade games.
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers.