Games Inc. ?

[mctuerk]

Do someone know this company? I bought an old electromechanical slot in the netherlands with this brand. I found nothing about that company. The hopperunit is incomplete - i changed this part with a modern one from moneycontrols. Do someone know where to get an original part?

[Op-Bell]

Clarence Schuyler's company. Schuyler was the engineer who designed the famous "Pace's Races" horse race machine. When the H.C.Evans Co went bust in 1955 he acquired all the drawings and tooling. Evans made electromechanical console games with a horse racing theme. Schuyler kept the Evans line going for a while, under the name of Games Inc. Then he had a bright idea and repackaged an Evans game "Saddle and Turf", which originally looked like a short pinball machine, into an upright cabinet, thus inventing the upright "flasher" machine. Games was the leader in this kind of game until the mid 1960s when they were beaten out by the much more sophisticated Keeney flashers. When the British market opened up they made a lot of games for export. Since supply couldn't keep up with demand numerous old machines were rounded up and sent to England, consequently there aren't that many left in the US, but they show up occasionally on Ebay where they fetch in the $50-$100 range.  Mickey Wichinsky bought the company around 1967 and transferred it to Las Vegas as "Games of Nevada", which survived until this year when it was bought out by Cantor Gaming.

Here's the Evans "Saddle and Turf"

Attached, a couple of Games Inc photos. The Casino is mine.

Mickey mentioned to me recently that he has some Games Inc manuals and drawings, but he has no parts.

[tacman]

Op-Bell, you never cease to amaze me! You have a plethora of information.      K+

 Dan (tacman)

[Op-Bell]

Electromechanicals are my special interest, plus I collect as much history as I can - it takes up less room than the machines 

I should have mentioned that Games Inc was a Chicago company, like all the other slot companies at that time.

[mctuerk]

these machines look like they are only for amusement - there's no money tray - no arm to start?

[Op-Bell]

The Double Play is an "amusement only" game, though that's in name only, because the idea was that the location owner made a payoff for your credits if he was sure you weren't a cop. The same principle applied to Bingo pinballs, where you could win hundreds of "replays" and the location paid you off in cash.

The other two games have a payout cup, lower right It's bigger than it looks and can hold a couple of hundred small coins. With the Big Ben, credits pay off to the mechanical counter and can either be played off or cashed out. The Casino doesn't have a credit counter and pays everything out right away. The metal object in the center is the start handle.

Can we see a picture of your Games machine?

[mctuerk]

that must be the reason to make the hopper non-working

[Op-Bell]

That is remarkable - I learn something new every day. I have never heard of a Games Inc machine with moving reels and a handle before, but the coin entry is identical to mine, and you can't argue with the big Games Inc disk on the front. My guess is that was an export model made specially for the European market, 1966-68. Reels are driven by an electric motor, I presume - I can see the contact boards through the window. I'll show the picture to Mickey Wichinsky next week and see if he recognizes it - it might even be a Games of Nevada.