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MERIT ENTERTAINMENT Merit Ships New ION 2007 Software on Quick-Click™ Drive

Fast 1-minute Installation

Bensalem, PA – Merit Entertainment announced the release of its much-anticipated Megatouch ION 2007™ software today. Each copy ships pre-installed on a new Quick-Click™ hard drive for a fast 1-minute installation. The new release heralds a new era for Merit’s approach to software development, with unprecedented levels of player and operator involvement along the way. Earnings and play ranking tests during the extended 3-month beta test indicate that this is the strongest update that Merit has ever released, with 6 of the new games in the top 10 and an average 27% earnings boost. For the first time since Merit introduced touch-screen gaming to the coin-op world, every single game in the release placed among the top played games.

“Earnings have been way up for us with this software,” reports beta operator Roger Westmont of Modern Specialty, Madison, WI.  “This particular location has had ups and downs, but with this software, earnings are up 50% and pretty sound.”

“There are three elements we want operators to recognize stand out with the new ION 2007 release,” said Dave Logan, Merit’s President. “First, is the game content, which at this early stage appears to be the best earning and most played total suite of games we’ve ever released. Second is the extensive amount of quality control and testing that went into making this a trouble-free and worry-free release for our operators. Third, and the underlying reason for the success of the first two, is the overall philosophy of how we created the ION 2007 software, with massive operator and player involvement to ensure we have delivered what operators and players want.”

What’s in the release?

Merit’s Megatouch ION 2007 software, shipping pre-installed on a new Quick-Click hard drive, includes new games, enhanced versions of Force games, and refreshed player favorites. It also includes several new system features to improve reliability and was designed to attract new players.

The Games

Operators are applauding the new games on the ION 2007 release.

“My players and locations just love the new games. Luxor is a huge hit,” said operator Andy Shaffer of Shaffer Services, Columbus, OH.

Also speaking out in favor of the release, Roger Westmont of Modern Specialty said, “Location owners and players are talking about the software and love Chug Monkey and Office Bash! Customers are very happy.”

	Chug Monkey™ – Our friendly monkey had a bad day at the office and heads to the bar to forget about his troubles. Catch the drinks as they slide down the bar while keeping the monkey on the barstool. Try to get those flaming shots! This game features enhanced graphics and animation only available on the ION and can be played either by touch-screen or joystick.
	Coco Loco™ – The tropical vacation you always wanted to take, now on top of the bar. Coco Loco plays similarly to the Megatouch classic Q-Shot, but features additional twists and all new graphics and sound. This game features enhanced graphics and animation only available on the ION.
	Draggle Drop™ – Match the eggs, hatch the dinosaurs in this fast paced, fun game. Draggle Drop features enhanced graphics and animation only available on the ION.
	Hollywood Match™ – Test your knowledge of TV and movie trivia. A great game for groups of players.
	Luxor® – Licensed as the top-selling Internet game from Mumbo Jumbo, players travel across Egypt battling scarabs for over 88 levels. This game is highly addictive and features beautiful high-resolution graphics, stirring music, and vivid sound effects. Merit’s My Merit and Mega-Level feature provide the perfect way for players to save their progress. Players with a Player Key can save their current level to their personal Key and take it to any ION or use it to survive a system reset. This game also features enhanced graphics and animation only available on the ION and can be played either by touch-screen or joystick.
	Office Bash™ – Outraged at his boss, furious at office furniture, this monkey hurls everything he can out the window of his office to the cheers of co-workers and the dismay of the boss. After this day at work, you’ll want to play Chug Monkey for sure.
	Pack Rabbit™ – Driven by a strong work ethic and a desire to take care of his pushy wife, Pack Rabbit navigates the garden maze, faithfully bringing the carrots back to his wife while avoiding the hungry gophers. Play many mazes in dozens of levels in easy, medium, or hard mode. A great joystick-only game.
	Penthouse® Video Strip Poker™ – Win a hand at poker, watch one of many beautiful Penthouse girls perform a video striptease or dance for you. Enough said. An ION exclusive.
	Texas Hold’Em 3 – The Megatouch hit, revamped with new player tells and artificial intelligence and now the ability to Mega-Link and play head to head against other players.
	Tuxedo Run™ – Steer your penguin across the seal-infested water, past furious avalanches, while avoiding dangerous hunters, to retrieve the fish and bring them home. Tuxedo Run features 14 carefully designed levels, each tougher than the one before. Players will take a long time to master this one. Tuxedo Run is a joystick-only ION game.
	UNO® – Licensed from Mattel, this is the classic card game we all played as kids. Merit has brought it to life with wonderful animations. Mega-Link and up to four people can play head to head.

New joystick-enhanced games include Breakin’ Bricks, Chip Away, Lookout, and Vinci Ball. Merit has also redone the graphics on the player-favorites Great Solitaire, Power Solitaire, Tri-Towers, and Trivia Whiz.
      
All the trivia and picture content has been updated. All erotic games include new Penthouse and Chippendales models.

With instant and automatic wireless Mega-Linking, just set two or more ION’s in the same location, turn them on, and they will automatically Mega-Link for group play of Texas Hold’Em 3, UNO, and several other linked games.

Jason Rubin of AJ Video & Amusements, Baltimore, MD, commented on the release, “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.”

System Features

There are hundreds of system updates and enhancements in the new ION 2007 software. Some of the highlights include:

Quick-Click 1-Minute Upgrade – All ION 2007 Software ships pre-installed on the new Quick-Click ruggedized hard drives. Open the case, remove a screw, pop out the old drive, pop in the new, replace the screw. Done. That’s it for the entire software upgrade. Keep the old drive in case there are ever any problems. Plus, each drive also comes with a new 30-month warranty.

Save Configuration to USB Pen Drive – To further enhance upgrading, you can now configure one ION and copy the configuration to all the IONs on your route. Simply copy the configuration to a Merit USB pen drive through Operator Setup, and then carry the pen drive along during the upgrade.

Enhanced Menu and Idle – New players can now touch the idle and directly play the game they see running on the demo. For players intimidated by the 170 games on the Megatouch, this helps ease them into the experience. Players can also see a mini-demo for every game in the menu simply by touching its icon.

System Diagnostics – If you ever need to reinstall from DVD, or just want to perform a system check-up, you can now review the detailed hard drive diagnostics. You can also investigate other system features through the improved Operator Setup interface.

Internal error logging is more robust, giving Merit better feedback on field issues for further future improvements and to provide better customer support.

Dozens of improvements in hardware-software communication, greatly reducing those rare but recurring problems experienced by small pockets of operators.

Jukebox Support

The ION 2007 software continues Merit’s strong jukebox support. The new release enhances linking capability with Rowe, Merit’s MoD BoX™, and TouchTunes®.

The New Culture of Quality at Merit

Merit has undertaken several changes to its internal processes to ensure the highest possible quality in the 2007 release. Some of these advances include:

Enhanced Development and Testing Process

1. Started development process earlier relative to release
2. More extensive internal peer review of software under development
3. Improved inter-departmental communication
4. Cultural change to put quality, creativity, and customer ROI at the forefront
5. Every employee encouraged to catch, report, and stop any problems

New and Improved Quality Control

1. Expanded test plans
2. Larger Quality Assurance testing staff
3. Tighter integration between testing and development throughout the development cycle
4. Expanded test configurations/test cases
5. Expanded simultaneous testing to greatly increase total tests run per week
6. Reboot testing to simulate years of field use
7. Extended burn-in testing
8. Final re-test before shipping

The New Merit Philosophy and Customer Promise

Underlying the new games, system features, and quality changes is the new Merit Customer Promise, first announced at the AMOA show by Merit Chairman, Jeff Martin.

1. Focus on Customer Needs
2. Offer the Best Products
3. Deliver High Quality
4. Improve the Customer's Total Return On Investment

“If all the manufacturers in our industry would be this diligent in protecting the quality of their products, we […] would be stronger and able to buy more new product, which in turn would strengthen the manufacturers,” said Dave Winfrey of Bullseye Amusements, Spokane, WA.

At the heart of this Customer Promise is a focus on putting the customer first. Three examples of Merit’s new customer-focused development process:

1. Extended Beta Testing

Dozens of participating operators tested the 2007 software on 100 systems for 3 months in the 2007 Beta test. Merit made changes based on these tests, and then conducted 2 further follow-up tests.

1. Operator Advisory Council

Merit performed the development and testing of this software in close cooperation with its new Operator Advisory Council, a group of 10 operators from across the country. Merit empowered this council to demand changes and share responsibility for the quality of the release.

1. Outside Input

Detailed surveys of over 1,000 players and dozens of operators were used to direct the development of this software.

“I have been really impressed with Merit’s commitment to getting feedback from operators,” said Jeff Reed of BJ Novelty, Covington, KY. “I think the new release reflects our needs as operators better than I’ve seen in years.”

For more than 27 years, Merit has ensured long-term return on investment for operators by providing continually high-earning equipment along with updates and upgrades for its products. With an installed base of over 250,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.6 billion plays per year, Merit Entertainment is the worldwide leader in touch-screen entertainment devices. Merit Entertainment products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at www.meritgames.com.