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Video $weei By Danny Powell Staff Wrttsr Suddenly your deltawinged space craft appears in the deep blackness of space. And quickly you are surrounded by asteroids; a collision with one would mean instant destruction of you and your craft. With quick reflexes, you rotate your craft to greet each astral boulder with a series of torpedoes, breaking them up into smaller and more hazardous obstacles. But being the gallant space warrior that you are, you hit your thrusters and go on the offensive, on a seek-anddestroy mission for the asteroids. Just as you are getting the asteroids under control, another peril of deep space appears in the form of an alien saucer that fires its own missiles. Thinking fast, you quickly dispose of the alien craft with a quick series of torpedoes. Unfortunately, your attention was taken away from the primary target, and while you were feeling smug about the destruction of the alien ship, a small asteroid rams you from behind and terminates your command. OF COURSE, this encounter does not "really" happen. It is one of the various Video Games that are sweeping the country, giving pleasure and entertainment to the customer, and wealth to the owners and Operators. "Asteroids," one of the most popular games on the market, is just one of several video games that can be found just about everywhere you look these days. They can be found in bars, arcades, gamerooms, eating establishments, theater lobbies: just about anywhere. "Space Invaders was the start," Bill Gillam, general manager of Howe International, a game distributor in Columbia said. "We've had video games for a long time, but the manufacturer finally got smart and made the games become progressively miici uciiiuiuu uniu. nc saiu that games will begin to pop up in places one never expected to see them. "FOR THE NEXT two years, there will be more game rooms popping up all harder," Gillam said. VIDEO GAMES are replacing pinball games up to a point, as a major source of gameroom entertainment, Gillam said. There will always be a "cult" following for pinball machines, he said, especially since games are becoming more difficult and more interesting. "There will always be a market for pinball," Gillam pr>:>] I ? 4 1 1il aaiu. in un; /us mere was a surge of pinball games, he said, and people had pinball games "shoved down their throats." Video games are now making the same type of surge, he said. "Most of the ideas for video games are coming from Japan, because that is where the manufacturers are," he said. "Video is great now, and 1 see it getting even better as the manufacturers try to get more competitive." Gillam said South Carolina is in tune with the national trend of video game interest, which he said is really an >mach 0 court 1 over the place. He said the rooms could all diffpr#?nt because of the large selection of games to choose from, both with the ones on the market now and the ones that will be released soon. To prove what good money makers video games can be, Gillam stated some figures ; on "Asteroids" which he said were very conservative. He said each of the approximately 40,000 "Asteroids" games make about $200 a week, which makes a total of $8 million for all the machines. In a year, the 40,000 machines pull in $4.16 billion. "A good video game in a good location can bring in about $200 to $400 a week." Gillam said. One such machine is "Pacman," which Gillam said is the most popular game on the market right now. This game involves a small yellow 'Pac-maV that gobbles up dots in a maze. While the cutomer directs the 'Pac-man' there are four other 'eaters' in the maze after the "Pac-man*. If the 'Pac-man' eats an energizer, then he can in turn eat the other characters, who turn purple for a few seconds and allow themselves to be eaten. But if they catch you, then your 'Pac-man' dissolves into nothing. A LOCAL merchant who has found success and profit from video games is Sandy Sanderson, proprietor of Sandy's Hot Dogs on Sumter Street. "Ail of the machines are Ir " = [ Tbm Di & TheD< Competi On sale now thro " SKCOI JRe< Dutch Square / [>mercunt) lines i try doing better than the ones we had before," Sanderson. "It's a heck of a monev maker." The. video games in Sanderson's small game room are usually being used during most of the day, he said, and if anyone wants to play a certain game, they usually have to wait. But the waiting does not apparently discourage the many customers his machines have. "I just wish I had more space," for machines and seating, Sanderson said. "THEY (THE GAMES) give "the place a certain atmosphere," he said, that is very pleasing to people who use them, which are generally USC students. "I think we do more hot dog business because of the machines," he said. "It's a gooa comDinauon. Sanderson said many students use the machines for study breaks because the machines, are "good relaxing therapy." Once you begin playing the machines, you just seem to forget about everything else, he said. Another reason he thinks the machines do so well is that people are content on trying to master the machines. He said he keeps the best machines on the market, which are usually the hardest, because some people never give up until they can win, and that usually means a lot of business. THE FIVE BEST mnnhinAc nrnfit.tnica f nr uviiiiivu, V11V ntov, 1U1 _ n iv& p.Ljp Tom Dickie and th< playing for keeps *sires in the rogue's galle j|(Q|-| roll are meeting th< ahead on With their debut al Competition, Tom Desires prove ther Hear Eighties street "Downtown Talk' , and the title cut C Meet the competit Dickie and the Des new album Comp< ugn April b now (it the Record IDS ft TAPES ;ord Bai ;OUNDS DKLICHOVSf" : Mall/Columbia Mall < k ;<$&&% i i 1 ^?| %>^ ';^*?"% Video game fans frantic? machines in the back of I $4. 16 billion nationally. (I Sanderson are "Asteroids," "Pac-man," "Berserk (a robot shoot-out)," "Phoenix (an astral bird shoot-out)," and "Rally X (a road race through a maze)." He said as soon as a machine begins to lose money, he replaces it. So, if you are ever in the mood to fight robots, dodge asteroids, out-smart pursuers or travel the galaxy in search of adventure, the answer to your wishes may _ lie in video games. * <.n? lit. 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