Viza Manufacturing
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1 Introduction
Viza Manufacturing was a short-lived manufacturing company best known for its 1978 Viza War 2-player head-to-head cocktail table. Viza Manufacturing was contracted to build games by Allied Leisure.
2 Games
2.1 Fabulous 50's
Unfortunately, not much is known about this game.
2.2 War
This game is often referred to as "Viza War", rather than just "War".
It is a 2-player head-to-head cocktail pinball machine.
The playfield artwork is taken from a portion of Frank Frazetta's painting "The Berserker"
This game appears to include a few game-specific parts as well as parts from other manufacturers, such as Allied Leisure, Brunswick, and Wico.
It is speculated that there were around 100-200 games manufactured.
This game went through a few playfield and cabinet variations during production.
Early games used an EM-style system and relays to operate the game, with small PCBs for the digital displays, and also used chimes for sound. Later games used just two boards--an MPU and power supply board, as well as digital displays and electronic sounds. Both games used digit LED segment displays. It is one of the first, if not the first example of LED digit segment displays being used instead of high-voltage glass segment displays. GamePlan Used LED digit segment displays in their first game, Sharpshooter, the following year.
Paperwork, manuals, and schematics have not surfaced for either variant of this game.
3 Technical Info
3.1 Boardset
3.1.1 EM Games
3.1.2 Solid State Games
3.1.2.1 MPU
The MPU controls the game logic, switch inputs, sound, feature lamps, solenoids (including all 8 flippers), and scoring data.
Two interesting features that weren't seen again for at least a decade were computer-controlled flippers and indicator lights for fuses.
A good portion of the PCB is used by flipper controls. The 8 large tube-shaped resistors, 16 transistors, and a dozen ICs connected in some way to driving the transistors for the flippers. The flippers are controlled entirely by the MPU, so there are no end-of-stroke switches on the flipper assemblies. There is also a game feature where the opposite player's flippers can be disabled for a short period of time by hitting a specific target, which explains the need for some of the additional logic for controlling the flippers.
The MPU has four potentiometers installed on the board, which each control tone and volume.
MPU (Front)
MPU (Back)
MPU Factory Modification (Back) for 10-ball play
Some MPUs have a factory modification on the back of the board on the 7445 chip which enables 10-ball play. 10 balls per game extended the game time, but since there were only 5 LEDs to indicate the number of balls, this is sometimes misidentified as a game malfunction. The modification can be reversed by reconnecting the cut traces, and it will re-enable 5-ball play.
3.1.2.2 Power Supply
The power supply is fairly straight-forward. It takes the voltages from the transformer, rectifies them, and filters them, before being supplied to the rest of the game.
One interesting feature that wasn't seen again for at least a decade was the indicator lights for fuses.
Power Supply (Front)
Power Supply (Back)
3.1.2.3 Regulator
LM323K 3A 5V regulator.
Regulator (Front)
Regulator (Back)
3.1.2.4 Score Display
The score display has 6 digits, but only four of those digits ever actually change. The ones and tens place digits are permanently set as zeros.
Score Display (Front)
Score Display (Back)
Factory Modification (Back)
3.2 Game Theory & Operation
3.2.1 Solid State Games
The solid state games were configured for 2-player head-to-head gameplay only, with player 1 (side 1) being on the side with the coin door, and player 2 (side 2) being on the opposite side.
3.2.2 EM Games
The EM games were configured for either 1-player or 2-player gameplay (selectable using a toggle switch near the coin door), and with player 1 (side 1) being on the side with the coin door, and player 2 (side 2) being on the opposite side.
3.3 Playfield Variations
This game appears to include a few game-specific parts as well as parts from other manufacturers, such as Allied Leisure, Brunswick, and Wico. With the later playfields, the Allied Leisure parts appeared to be substituted for parts from other manufacturers because Viza may have run out of Allied Leisure assemblies to use.
| Assembly | Early Playfield | Most Playfields | Later Playfield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saucer Kickout Assembly | Brunswick (2) | n/a | n/a |
| Slingshot Assembly | Brunswick (2) | Brunswick (4) | Brunswick (4) |
| Pop Bumper Assembly | Allied Leisure (2) | Brunswick (2) | Brunswick (2) |
| Flipper Assembly | Wico (8) | Wico (8) | Wico (8) |
| Outhole kickout Assembly | Allied Leisure (2) | Allied Leisure (2) | Wico (2), hole covered, Wico linear coil assembly substituted |
| Shooter Lane Linear Coil Assembly | Wico (2) | Wico (2) | Wico (2) |
| Flipper Kill Area Switches | ? (2), wire lever & stacked switch | Allied Leisure (2), rollover buttons | ? (2) |
4 Problems & Fixes
4.1 Volume & Sound Adjustments
There are four potentiometers on the MPU of Viza War that are used to adjust sound.
One potentiometer is used to adjust the pitch/tone of the 1000 point scoring sound, and another is used for the 100 point scoring sound. A third is used for adjusting the volume of the point scoring sounds. Lastly, the fourth potentiometer is used to adjust the volume of the remaining noises and sound effects.
If any adjustments result in scratching sounds from the speaker, that usually means the potentiometers (10K ohm) are dirty and may need to be replaced.
4.2 More than 5 balls per game
Some MPUs have a factory modification on the back of the board on the 7445 chip which enables 10-ball play. 10 balls per game extended the game time, but since there were only 5 LEDs to indicate the number of balls, this is sometimes misidentified as a game malfunction. The modification can be reversed by reconnecting the cut traces on the 7447 chip, and also a cut trace between the 74C90 and 7432 chips. This will re-enable 5-ball play.
4.3 Playfield Solenoids Not Working
After ruling out connector problems, wiring problems, and transistor problems, check the two 7404 chips in the lower left hand corner of the MPU. If one or both of those chips are bad, some or all of the playfield solenoids may not fire.
5 Restoration & Disassembly
5.1 Outhole Kicker Disassembly
Because this game uses plastic parts, it is necessary to be extra careful when disassembling assemblies, especially the outhole kicker assembly. Improper disassembly may result in this:
Read through the following steps first before attempting disassembly.
- Unscrew the 3 screws that hold the metal coil bracket to the plastic base plate. Do *NOT* attempt to remove the coil bracket from the base plate. Many base plates have likely been broken and shattered by people attempting this. Note that there is still the end of a screw poking up through the foot of the coil bracket. This is screwed in from the underside of the base plate.
- Unscrew the four screws holding the base plate to the playfield.
- Flip the base plate over, and unscrew the phillips screw holding the coil bracket to the plastic base plate.
- Unscrew the two screws holding the switch to the base plate.
- If it's necessary to remove the kicker arm, use needle nose pliers to remove the E-clips, and carefully push the small end of plastic pins out.
- To re-assemble, simply perform all the disassembly steps in reverse order. However, note that the compression spring on the plunger needs to be oriented so the end of the spring is flush against the plastic link, or the plunger will bind up when it fires.
Outhole Kicker Assembly
Step 1, remove screws
Step 3, Remove Screw
Step 6, Compression Spring Position
6 Parts Substitutions & Replacements
6.1 Electronics
6.1.1 Chips
- 5408 chips can be replaced by 7408 chips, but it is recommended to use 7408 or 74F08 chips, not 74LS08 since the input and output voltage tolerances are too low on the LS variant of the chip.
7 Recommended Modifications
8 Documentation
Paperwork, manuals, and schematics have not surfaced for either the early or later variant of this game.
Datasheets are available from a variety of sources for the active electronics components.
The following custom documentation was created/assembled to be as accurate as possible, but they may be incomplete or contain errors since they were not based on any known available/official manufacturer documentation.
Viza War MPU Layout & Pinout diagrams - LibreOffice Source File