"This Moses Wants to Lead You to the Video Land"
By Bob Gritzinger
Wednesday, March 10,1982 - THE BRIGHTON ARGUS


Three years ago George Moses was playing Space Invaders on his home video 
arcade. Two years ago he learned how to write his own programs for the machine 
so he could keep tabs on everything from his biorhythms to his employees' 
hours. Today he writes music-- all on his home video game arcade.

"The reason I bought this (Bally "Professional Arcade") originally was to play 
games," said Moses. "But you get so good at one game that you take it out and 
buy another one. Now I don't play the games-- I'm busy writing programs."

Moses, who publishes two Brighton-based advertising magazines called the 
"Marketeer" and the "Parade of Homes," said he played the home video games for 
a few months, got tired of them, and put his computer game into storage.

A few months later, Moses hauled the game out of mothballs and started learning 
to write programs in Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC), a 
computer language that came on a cartridge with his arcade. But he didn't know 
quite what to do with his new-found knowledge.

So two years ago, with 23 game cartridges and his knowledge of BASIC computer 
language, Moses helped found the Bally Users Group (BUG) of Michigan. Seventeen 
people came to that first meeting. Now the organization has about 80 members 
from Michigan and Ohio.

At quarterly BUG meetings, Bally Arcade owners trade programs they have written 
on their game computers. The tapes include everything from home budget programs 
to facsimiles of the newest crop of commercial video games.

"I didn't know what a BASIC was before I bought this," said 39-year-old Moses. 
"Now I'm a national authority on something that not many people know about."

Moses said that visitors to his home often think his home video game is made by 
Atari, because Atari is the maker of home video games that people are most 
familiar with. But the Bally Arcade, unlike Atari and other machines, is 
designed for games but can also be programmed like a home computer.

But even better than a home computer, the Bally machine is capable of producing 
excellent graphic displays, colors, and sounds that normal home computers 
cannot produce, Moses said.

"It's the best kept secret in the world," said Moses, who originally purchased 
the computer game for $300.

With the addition of a few special gadgets, Moses was able to increase his 
computer's memory, store programs on cassette tapes, and type programs on a 
normal typewriter keyboard. By collecting program tapes from other BUG members, 
Moses now has about 100 games and programs for his Bally Arcade.

In addition to his role in BUG, Moses also works with the people who originally 
wrote such games as Space Invaders and Galaxian for Bally. He helped write a 
120-page booklet explaining how to use the BASIC language on the Bally 
computer.

Moses also receives home versions of popular commercial video games to help 
"debug" the games before they become available to other Bally Arcade owners.

Because of his ability to program in BASIC language on the Bally computer, 
Astrovision (the company which bought Bally's home computer game division) 
recently flew Moses (all expenses paid) to Las Vegas to demonstrate the 
multiple uses of the Bally unit at a consumer electronics show. Moses will 
demonstrate the computer at a similar convention in Chicago in June.

Moses and other Bally owners are learning to take advantage of the potential of 
the Bally unit. Recently, Moses began tapping the musical portion of the unit 
which had previously been used only to make game noises.

Now Moses is becoming nationally known for writing music into computer 
language. He said he buys sheet music, codes it into BASIC language, and 
programs it into the Bally computer. He's programmed everything from Bach to 
the MSU Fight Song. He also programmed a tape of 27 Christmas carols which he 
marketed for $9.50 apiece. He sold 200 copies.

"It's just like a juke box-- you buy the machine and then you buy records," 
Moses said. "It's not real lucrative, but it's paid for my computer-- just from 
selling music tapes."

Moses said he loves writing computer music and finds it very relaxing. Has he 
considered a job in the computer field?

"I don't want to work in it because I like to have fun with it as a hobby," 
Moses said.

People buy computers for many reasons: to play games, to "crunch numbers," and 
to keep records. George Moses makes music.