Centuri

Centuri was the continuation of the amusement machine manufacturer Allied Leisure under new leadership. Allied Leisure had been through financial difficulties towards the end of the 1970's and were bought out by the Milton Koffman family in mid-1979. Centuri was something of an oddity in the American amusement machine business because of their location. Unlike most coin op businesses in the country, which were either located in Chicago (Midway, Williams, Stern) or on the West Coast (Atari, Sega/Gremlin, Exidy, Cinematronics) Centuri was located in Hialeah, Florida. By the time of the Koffman takeover Allied Leisure had barely released any games since 1976/77, and what had been released had been in very limited quantities. The new owners recruited a pair of coin-op veterans to head the newly reorganized company and change its focus – Ed Miller and Bill Olliges, president and vice president, respectively, of Taito America. Under Miller and Olliges, Centuri would largely change its focus to importing and manufacturing games from international developers. Though industry veterans today, this was among the first games by SNK, Konami and Tehkan (Tecmo) that were brought to American shores. This led to a very rapid turnaround in the company's financial situation beginning in 1981. Centuri's turnaround would, however, not be enough for the company to escape the downturn of the arcade industry in 1983-1984. Also, by the end of 1984 Centuri's most lucrative partner, Konami, was finally establishing their own US distribution. Deprived of the source of their most successful games, Centuri would close down its video game division in 1985. The company would continue in other fields, such as housing and seafood, for a few more years until completely shuttering in 1991.