Allied's Name of the Game (photo from Arcade-History.com) |
I was going through some of the company's annual reports and
they acutally had a decent amount of information on the game.
Scott Cohen's Zap
claims that Allied introduced a home backgammon game in 1977 but the annual
reports don't mention it.
The early reports also listed production and release dates
for the company's early video and electromechanical games, but they stopped
doing that in 1974 (actually they may have done it in 1975 and 1976 - my
library only has 10Ks for those years, not Annual Reports).
Here is the info on Name
of the Game from the 1976 and 1977 annual reports/10Ks.
1976
"By July of 1976, because of continuing service
difficulties, orders for the pinball machines had been substantially curtailed.
At this point the Company determined to enter the home video game business.
Based on prototype models, the Company had tentatively accepted commitments for
approximately 60,000 home video units from several major customers. The Company
expected F.C.C. approval on its game in late September, however, the F.C.C. approval did not materialize until
early December. Because if its late approval, the Company suffered the
cancellation of many of these commitments.
In the meantime, the Company had given out substantial
requisitions to several suppliers to allow the manufacture of the home video
games. While the company had projected sales in excess of $1,500,000 from its
home video games during the Christmas season of 1976, the Company sold home
video games in December in the amount of approximately $350,000. The company,
as a consequence, was left with a substantial inventory of home video games,
for which the market is very soft."
1977
"Home Video Games
In June 1976, the Company decided to enter the consumer
market by the introduction of a home video game. It was contemplated that the
Company could complete its development program in time to participate in the
1976 Christmas season. Delays in deliveries on the part of a major component supplier,
plus additional delays in obtaining required F.C.C. approval, prevented the
Company from commencing production until December 1976. As a consequence, the
Company experienced cancellations on more than $3,000,000 of commitments.
The Company had committed itself for raw material for the
production of 25,000 units. Approximately 17,000 units were built, of which
approximately 4,000 finished units remained in inventory as of October 31,
1977. The market, beginning in early 1977 was very soft with increasing price
deterioration. During its fiscal year ended October 31, 1977, the Company
realized gross revenues of approximately $670,000 from the sale of home video
units. Since the end of its fiscal year the Company has sold all but 1,000
finished units, which were written down to, and sold at, a reduced price of $15
per unit
The Company’s home video games were marketed through
manufacturers' representatives to major discount houses, department stores and
other retail outlets. The Company made two models:
(1)
“Name of the Game I,” a four player model that
allowed the player a choice of four games (tennis, hockey, squash and
handball), plus two target games with an optional electronic gun. This game was
designed to sell at $67; (2) “Name of the Game II,” a two player model involving
the choice of the same four games, which was designed to sell at $45. The
Company is no longer in the business of manufacturing and selling home video
games and the remaining raw materials have been completely written off."
·
Paddle Battle: in production from March to
September of 1973.
·
Tennis Tourney: in production from June of 1973
to January of 1974
·
Super Soccer: in production from November of
1973 to January of 1974
·
Hesitation: in production from April to July of
1973
·
Ric-O-Chet: In production from September of 1973
to January of 1974
·
Deluxe Soccer (may not be a video game): In production from November of 1973 to
January of 1974
Ric-O-Chet and Deluxe Soccer were listed as "Export
Only"Ric-O-Chet may not be a video game either. They did have a video game of that name but it is usually listed as a 1975 game. It may have been that it was only available for export before 1975.