Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 222

1 0 1932 Fort Worth Star-Telegram DECEMBER 19 1982 ARLINGTON EXTRA A Firm rockets into video market CLASSIFIED ADS IN YOUR ARLINGTON if JHAiT ft? 0 iffl It "'xvimebz I Published every Wednesday evening Thursday morning and Sunday Mail or bring in NO PHONE ORDERS! Deadline for WedThurs is NOON Monday Deadline for Sunday is 5 pm Thursday Vbur classified ad will run in both of the next WedThurs and Sunday issues No merchandise priced over $100 Ad must contain price Phone number counts as one word Str-TterwnNURI VALLBONA DAN OLIVER a partner in Venture Vision sits before a video game called Rescue Terra I that he designed for the Grand Prairie firm By ARTI BEXEDETTI SUr-Telegram Writer When video-game fanatics across the country are trying to get the sleek spaceships to blast the meteors dodge the space pirates or shoot the fish force fields chances are they won't know that the colorful images on their television screen are a result of creative thought patterns of a couple of men in a small office in Grand Prairie A year ago the three owners and the video-game programmer who comprise Venture Vision did not realize they would be designing and marketing Rescue Terra I a video-game cartridge that uses meteors pirates and force fields But a hunch that the video-game market had room for a lower-priced competitor pushed Danny Abshire and Bob Hesler into a partnership they thought might be prosperous Hesler believes the low cost of their product will keep the Grand Prairie company running despite competition from such video giants as Atari and Imagic RescueTerra I retails for $1995 while the other companies charge $2995 to $3795 for most video-game cartridges "We ha ve to compete with companies that are blasting away (advertising) on television every day" Hesler said "These othercompanies have almost an hour of commercials during Monday-night football" He said Venture Vision will not follow the pack The owners are spending little on advertising therefore they can charge thecustomer less for the game Venture Vision was incorporated in July Dan Oliver who has an art and computer background was made a third partner and assigned to design the games Robert Weatherby who is working on a master's degree in music composition was hired as a designer and programmer Despite the varied backgrounds of the foursome the main requirement for the job they are doing is creativity "We like to take ideas sit down and make decisions and go and do it" Abshire said "Bob is a video-game buff and we had been reading articles that talked about companies that were doing well with video games" Abshire and Hesler discontinued a cabinet construction company in Dallas and opened Venture Vision in the same building Three months ago they moved to an office in the Corpo PRIVATE PARTY NON-COMMERCIAL AD ONLY! ARLINGTON ZONE OFFICE 1619 West Division Suite 12 WORDS OR LESS 1 2 4 "We like to take ideas sit downandmake decisions and go and do it" Abshire 8 12 11 10 ADDRESS NAME PHONE NQ ZIP CITY Private party non-commercial only No help wanted or rental ads Private party ads accepted in Tarrant County only no merchandise over $100 Ad must contain price Phone number counts as one word such a small simple office is because they subcontract with local companies to manufacture the video cartridges that can be used only with an Atari 2600 home video-game unit The office in Grand Prairie functions as more of a think tank they said The fledgling corporation's first video game is in the process of being distributed nationally to small retailers discount retail stores and mail order companies "And it's selling" Hesler said enthusiastically Hesler said it takes one person about three to four months to devise one video game The manufacturing cycle uses about two months of the process Oliver and Weatherby are working on two more space games for release early next year After that they said they would like to get away from the space theme and try something else The men said they would like to release five to eight new video games next year and soon will look into the possibility of making cartridges that will fit into video-game systems other than the Atari 2600 rate Park in Grand Prairie Boasting a compatible six-year business partnership with Hesler Abshire said in addition to Venture Vision they own a re-pair service for apartment management companies Hesler president of the company said he and Abshire who is vice president do not have the capabilities to program a video game as do Oliver and Weatherby So they share the marketing advertising and manufacturing responsibilities of the business "Anyone of us can have input on a video game" Hesler said when asked who named the game The reason they can afford to have I Mail or Bring to FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM Classified Advertising Dept 400 West 7th St Fort Worth Tex 76102 Or Bring to ARLINGTON ZONE OFFICE 1619 West Division Suite Ads brought to zone offices must be received by 4 pm Friday for WedThurs publication or 4 pm Wednesday for Sunday publication TTor cCfc CX ri a a 0 rj Si 7 ri C1 '0 rs 0oo" A i- no I WW I i mI J'fi PLANO SKILLMAN SO ARUNGTON 2220 West Park Row Inviniu CARUTH Park Oaks Shopping Center 9100 Central Expressway 241 9 Airport Freeway No 202 3115 Parker ftoadl P'aza Rios Shopping Center Parkwav PI323 LtU at bkillman Road Village Shopping Center 8p7-8058' 340-0891 258-0355 1 691-1812 '060-1648.