DES MOINES, IA — Iowa has reached preliminary agreements with most of the 34 remaining plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit centered on the TouchPlay controversy. Word of the settlement came July 18 from the state attorney general's office. Official documents should be signed by July 25, according to local news sources.

The settlement will bring Iowa's total payments in the TouchPlay matter to $15.5 million; this sum includes last week's $2.9 million settlement with Greater America Distributing and operator Nebraska Technical Services, both based in Omaha, NE.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Ecast is promoting Geico this month on hundreds of touchscreen jukeboxes in bars and nightclubs throughout New Jersey and Connecticut. Geico is the third-largest private passenger auto insurer in the U.S.

In the promotion, consumers touch related banners on the monitor, then choose between disco and rock. Next comes a performance by Geico's dancing cavemen, the same characters featured in the company's long-running ad campaign for TV. A survey and suggested music playlists complete the promotion.

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ALBANY, NY — Gov. David Paterson has until July 23 to sign or veto Senate Bill 6401-A, which would require New York retailers to place rating labels on videogames and establish fines of up to $50,000 for single violations. The bill specifically targets consumer games, but the legal language includes rentals and thus could be interpreted as applying to coin-op games, too.

The bill mandates a "V-chip" type censorship interface for all videogames. It also would require the governor to establish a taxpayer-funded advisory council on interactive media and youth violence, to monitor and critique videogame ratings and pursue a vaguely outlined "investigation, education and intervention" agenda.

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IRVING, TX — Families spend nearly twice as much on games as they do on food during birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese's, according to an independent survey of CEC stores. The website istockanalyst.com reported that 62¢ of every party dollar spent at the FEC chain goes to games, while 38¢ is spent on food.

The poll said 29% of families spend less than $100 for a birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese's venue, and approximately 18% spend $100 to $150. Twenty-nine percent spend between $151 and $200, and the remaining 21% spend $225 to $300.

Half the locations polled said fewer than 50% of customers come to CEC for birthday parties, and 47% said between half and three-quarters of their customers are there for such events. The most popular menu item is pepperoni pizza, according to 56% of the polled locations.

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