manuals/manuals_Marketing_PDF_ME_newsletter_20May

5/2007

the

touch

Merit

5/2007

From the

Desk of the CEO

O p E r a t O r N E w s l E t t E r

coin a phr

ase:

“If all the

manufactures
in our industry
would be this

diligent in

protecting the

quality of their

products, we,
your customers,
would be

stronger and

able to buy

more new
product, which
in turn would

strengthen the

manufactures.”

Dave Winfrey

-Bullseye

amusemenTs

That’s our Promise:

from Merit to the indus-
try. It’s what drives the
people here every day.
It’s my “North Star” to
guide the company. And
it’s why Merit is gaining
momentum.

Putting the customer
first is not always easy.
Sometimes

customer

feedback  is  uncomfort-
able to hear. Sometimes
customer  requirements
conflict with each other.
Sometimes  we  do  not
have  time….  Regard-
less,  we  listen.  We  find
a  way  to  satisfy  needs.
We  make  the  time.  We
do  it  because  by  mak-
ing  our  customers  the
top  priority,  we  make
Merit better.

Customers tell us that
software quality is para-

mount;  bugs  create  ex-
pensive service calls. So
we invested to make sure
each  software  release
is  as  good  as  possible.
Customers  now  rave
about our 2007 release,
which has proven to be
rock-solid reliable.

Customers  tell  us  that
great  games,  devel-
oped  with  a  clear  un-
derstanding  of  player
interests,  is  the  core
driver  of  profitability.
So  we  invest  heavily  in
game  development  and

maintain  a  game  cata-
log  unmatched  in  the
industry. Six of our ten
most popular games are
new  or  enhanced  for
2007.  Fresh  content
keeps players interested
and increases coin drop.

Customers  tell  us  that
ease  of  service  and  re-
pair  are  critical.  So
we’ve designed our new
Aurora to have a slide-
out electronics tray, and
the ability to run 100%
of  the  system  with  the
electronics  exposed  for
service.  Plus  we’re  de-
livering  new  diagnostic
capabilities  that  will
greatly  enhance  trou-
bleshooting by our cus-
tomer service team.

We intend to continue
our industry leadership
by delivering inno-

Merit Momentum

Customers always come first. Listen to customer needs. Develop the
products that customers need. Deliver superior quality in everything
we do. Help customers make money.

Merit Customer Promise

thE MErit tOuCh

“Earnings have been way up for us with this software. This particular

location has had ups and downs, but with this software, earnings are up
50% and pretty sound.”

–

Roger Westmont, Modern Specialty

“From my perspective, the game content in the 2007 software looks

like it is shaping up to be the best release I have seen from Merit.”

–

Jason Rubin, AJ Amusement

“I have been really impressed with Merit’s commitment to getting

feedback from operators. I think the new release reflects our needs as
operators better than I’ve seen in years.”

–

Jeff Reed, BJ Novelty

talk

“From my perspective, the game content in the 2007 software looks like it is shaping up
to be the best release i have seen from Merit.”

–

Jason rubin, aJ

amusement

OpEratOr

CHOiCe

OPeraTOr

TO OPeraTOr

aDviCe

by Chris Vecchione
of apple Vending

. use yOur aDverTisinG

sCreens

they are FrEE and can be used to not
only advertise your business but also
endear you to the specific locations by
adding thEir ads.

. sWiTCH fOrCe’s OuT

WiTH neW iOns

if you can get better cost for game
pricing. it’s worth the shot.

3. reseT HiGH sCOres WeeKly

since  we  began  doing  this  as  a  rule,
our  collections  have  jumped  around
6%... not bad for no cost. we often run
into locations who resist this, but 90%
of the time it’s bartenders or wait staff
who  do  not  want  their  high  scores  to
be replaced. Just do it!

Bonnie Theard of Playmeter Magazine presents Merit’s VP Sales Bob Mills

& CEO Mike Maas with the 2007 Operator Choice award for Best Countertop.

5/2007

with Merit tech-expert

JOe Perry

) serial port or usB port:

•

No touch controller found.

•

Fatal error, cannot access i/O

board (2006 & 2007 software).

•

invalid key error.

) Primary iDe port: (Hard drive)

•

Disc boot failure or operating

system not found.

•

Bad Command or File Name:

hard drive related issue.

3) secondary iDe port:
(CD\DvD drive)

•

loading problem: CD\DVD

drive cannot be accessed.

Other:

•

No modem detected.

•

No sound.

tECh

TiPs

Possible CmOs errors:

vative high-quality products that provide strong return-
on-investment for Operators. Today, in every part of the
company-- Accounting, Sales, Manufacturing, Develop-
ment, Marketing, Service and Support - we are listening
and  responding  to  our  customers.  Sometimes  we  do  it
explicitly, like when we engage members of an Operator
Council for product feedback. But mostly it is through
many  small,  indirect,  but  super-important  day-to-day
moments  when  a  Merit  employee  stops  to  ask  “What
would be best for the customer?” and then acts on that

insight. Those moments add up quickly, and together are
driving new momentum at Merit.

Thank you for your continued business.

From the Desk of the CEO

continued from cover

Mike Maas
CEO

if fOrCe (eCs) motherboard:

  1 -  arrow over and down to lOaD Fail-saFE DEFaults.
  2 - press ENtEr. select Y for “Yes”.
  3 - arrow over and down to lOaD OptiMiZED DEFaults.
  4 - press ENtEr. press Y for “Yes”.
  5 - press ENtEr. press F10 and then press ENtEr.
  6 - Go to

Final Steps: 1-5

To correct CmOs for force and iOn motherboards

if iOn (eCs) motherboard:

  1 -  arrow over and down to lOaD
    OptiMiZED DEFaults.
  2 - press ENtEr. press Y for “Yes”.
  3 - press F10. press Y for “Yes”.
  4 - Go to

Final Steps: 1-5

final steps:

  1 - the game should reboot. unplug the keyboard.
  2 - shut down the game.
  3 - Flip Dip switch 8 to ON.
  4 - reboot machine to load any CMOs updates.
  5 - Be sure to flip Dip 8 to OFF after completing the process.

Operators and technicians: send me your questions and i’ll answer some in every issue of

The Merit Touch.

the correct CMOs for all the motherboards can be found at www.meritgames.com under suppOrt, under FaQ for latest tech 2007 notes (pDF file).

First, try booting with Dip switch 8 on. this forces a CMOs reset to the latest Merit settings. if the machine won’t boot, then try the following:
1 - plug keyboard into purple ps/2 connector on the motherboard.
2 - On power up, press the DEl key (for iON [asus]: hold the DEl key) to enter BiOs setup.

Did you know that corrupted CMOs configuration on the motherboard can cause various problems?

if iOn (asus) motherboard

  1 -  at the BiOs setup screen arrow over to EXit.
  2 - arrow down to lOaD sEtup DEFaults.
  3 - press ENtEr. select OK.
  4 - arrow up to EXit & saVE ChaNGEs
  5 - press ENtEr. select OK.
  6 - Go to

Final Steps: 1-5

thE MErit tOuCh

hard Drives and Flash Memory: which
is better?

One of the questions operators fre-
quently ask us is, “why do you guys use
hard drives?” sometimes they follow
with, “is flash memory better?”

it  all  depends  on  what  you  want.  For
high-speed  access  to  large  amounts  of
data and graphics, like in a Merit game,
the answer is clearly that hard drives are
the best option. where storage capacity,
number  of  write  cycles  before  failure,
and  data  transfer  speeds  don’t  matter,
flash may be better.

Flash  is  solid  state  technology  and
boasts  the  benefit  of  no  moving  parts.
Because  flash  memory  doesn’t  have  a
motor,  it  can  also  draw  less  power,  be
smaller, and weigh less than a hard drive.
so where weight or power requirements
are a principal concern, like in a camera
or a cell phone, flash memory is a great
solution.  that’s  why  Merit  uses  flash
memory  for  the  usB  storage  device
we  offer  to  clone  and  store  machine
configuration  settings.  we  want  you
to  be  able  to  carry  your  configuration
settings  in  your  pocket,  so  it’s  a  snap
to  pop  in  and  out  of  the  locations  on

your route and quickly standardize your
configurations.  But  flash  memory  has
several  important  limitations,  which
is    why  it’s  generally  not  used  outside
certain mobile applications.

the  most  important  limitation  of  flash
memory  is  how  much  information  it
can  store.  as  an  example,  Merit  cur-
rently  uses  a  40GB  hard  drive,  and
takes  advantage  of  most  of  that  space
with  constantly  updating  content  and
detailed  games,  complete  with  thou-
sands  of  trivia  questions,  vivid  video,
eye-popping  graphics,  and  rich  stereo
sound.  40GB  of  flash  memory  would
require  dozens  of  memory  sticks  and
cost  about  $1,000.  at  that  price,  we

would  not  be  able  to  include  the  free
1-minute install Quick-Click™ drive with
every  Megatouch  iON™  paid  software
update. For the money, hard drives hold
much,  much,  much  more  information.
More information means better games.

Flash memory also has a limited number
of write cycles before it wears out. a hard
drive can survive far more read and write
operations than flash memory. this does
not typically matter for file storage, but
for running an entire operating system,
this  can  become  a  problem.  what’s
more,  while  flash  is  faster  starting  up
and  locating  information,  it  is  slower
than  a  hard  drive  for  transferring  big
files, like those detailed games with the
vivid video and eye-popping graphics.

perhaps in the future, flash technology
will improve to the point where it is up to
the task of running our games, in which
case  we  would  reconsider.  For  now,  in
order for Merit to continue to push the
gaming envelope and deliver our graphi-
cally-stunning  games,  we’ll  stick  with
our hard drives. One thing is certain-  we
will  continue  to  bring  you  the  best  in
entertainment technology, luring players
from miles around to spend their money
on your Merit games.

HarD Drives

and

flasH memOry

meriT enTerTainmenT

2525 state road

Bensalem, pa 19020

800-523-2760

Fax: 215-639-5346

www.meritgames.com

“For high-speed

access to large

amounts of data

and graphics,

like in a Merit

game... hard

drives are the

best option.”