1985 · East Bloc Arcade Machine · Work 919 of 1,871
A youth club in Karl-Marx-Stadt in winter, against brown patterned wallpaper a tall narrow arcade cabinet of pale oak-grain wood, at its top a black light box glowing plain red, below a dark recess with a row of small coloured squares from yellow to violet above a slanted screen glowing with a blue and white maze, at its right a plain white side panel, a black control board with a silver joystick, two teenagers in a pale denim jacket and a quilted anorak seen from directly behind with faces turned fully away, one at the joystick, the other waiting with a coin in his hand, a stack of wooden chairs.
What it was used for
The Poly-Play was the only arcade machine series-built in the GDR, made by VEB Polytechnik Karl-Marx-Stadt, whose main business was teaching aids for schools. According to robotrontechnik.de it was installed above all in holiday homes, youth clubs, hotels and restaurants; arcade-history.com names FDGB trade-union holiday homes and youth hostels. Installing one required approval from the GDR State Circus, department of gaming, and for public operation a gaming permit from the district council. One game cost a 50-pfennig coin; tokens issued by the FDGB trade union could be used instead, and the operator could switch the machine to free play. The base machine without games cost 21,950 Mark, the games 400 to 750 Mark each.
What was new
Technically the Poly-Play broke no ground: K1520 bus system, 8-bit U880 processor at 2.4576 MHz, a converted Colormat colour television as the screen, and several games that followed Western models - according to robotrontechnik.de "Hase und Wolf" was modelled on Pac-Man and named after a Soviet cartoon series. It was assembled from parts of other product lines: the key electronics were the channel memory of a television receiver, the coin box came from the Mü69 payphone, the coin counter was built as a telephone call meter. Build 4 from 1989 got its own processor card, chiefly because Robotron planned to stop making K1520 boards; only then were 10 games selectable instead of 8. Every game had to pass a content review: "UFO" was refused approval and replaced by "Hagelnde Wolken".
What the sources leave open: The number built is an estimate: robotrontechnik.de gives just over 2000 in 6 years and says the exact figure is not available; arcade-history.com estimates 1000 to 1500 and names 1492 as the highest known serial number, while robotrontechnik.de lists machines numbered 2005 and 2010. On price robotrontechnik.de gives 21,950 Mark for the base machine, the Computerspielemuseum 35,000 Mark; no source explains the gap.