Music and Amusement Machines Exposition (1973)
The Music and Amusement Machines Exposition was a coin-operated machine trade show held at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois between the dates of November 9th and November 11th in 1973. The show was sponsored by the Music Operators of America, the main trade organization of the coin-operated amusement industry, and was colloquially known as the MOA Show (which had been the actual name in prior years).
The 1973 show is notable for having the first major presence of video games on the show floor. Both the prior years of 1971 and 1972 had showcased models from Nutting Associates, but 1973 featured over one dozen companies providing coin-operated video games for sale. In totality, the majority of these games were based on Pong which had been released by Atari Inc. the previous year. Atari stole the limelight at the show with several new products and a strong marketing presence.
Promotion[edit]
Ad for the upcoming show. (1973)
Show Photos, Video Games[edit]
Close-in on Atari's booth with their game Gotcha. (1973)
Allied Leisure booth, showing their games Paddle Battle, Tennis Tourney, and Super Soccer. (1973)
The display from Amutronics with their game TV Hockey. (1973)
Crew from PMC Electroncis and others centering around their game Wham Bam. (1973)
Featuring Brunswick's Astrohockey at the expo. (1973)
Expo stand for For-Play with the game Sports Center. (1973)
Wimbledon at Nutting Associate's space. (1973)
Expo spot for B.A.C Electronics and their game Tele-Soccer. (1973)
A cabinet of Winner IV on site at Midway's booth. (1973)
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Video Games Showcased[edit]
| Company | Game | Booth |
|---|---|---|
| A.C.A Sales & Service | Sports Center | P-8, P-16, P-17 |
| Allied Leisure | Paddle Battle | P-14, P-15 |
| Allied Leisure | Tennis Tourney | P-14, P-15 |
| Allied Leisure | Super Soccer | P-14, P-15 |
| Amutronics | T.V Hockey | N-6, N-7 |
| Atari | Gotcha | N-3, N-4, N-5 |
| B.A.C Electronics | Tele-Soccer | ? |
| Brunswick | Astrohockey | P-1, P-2 |
| Chicago Coin | Olympic TC Hockey | 139-145 |
| Kee Games | ? | N-11 |
| Midway | Winner IV | 151-153 |
| Nutting Associates | Wimbledon | 119-120 |
| PMC Electronics | Wham Bam | P-12 |
| Ramtek | ? | N-17 |
| U.S Billiards | TV Tennis | 169-171, 180-182 |
| Williams | Pro Tennis | 166-168, 183-185 |
Talks[edit]
A seminar on electronic games during the first day of the show.
Crowd for the electronic games seminar.
