Jorge Mochkovsky, born on July 29th, 1947 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and raised in Mar del Plata,

Argentina, has been, in part thanks to his technological developments, a pioneer in the

entertainment and amusement industries for the last 60 years and counting. Jorge’s love of

electronics goes back to when he was just 10 years old, when his father, Mauricio, gifted him the

book Hobby de la Radio (“Radio Hobby”). The book taught Jorge all about radios and their inner

workings, and thus began a love of electronics that is just as strong today as when it started,

evidenced by his extensive collection of antique radios at his home in Mar del Plata. So captivated

by radios, Jorge, a self described “radio aficionado,” once helped a young man in São Paulo, Brazil

connect with his mother in Mar del Plata via radio (a distance of almost 1,200 miles!). The mother

was so touched by this, she gifted Jorge a beautiful box of chocolates that he kept for several

decades after the fact.

Jorge’s genius doesn’t stop at radios. From 1959 to 1962, most of Jorge and Mauricio’s income came

from Bally Bingo machines, but starting in 1963, those machines began to be prohibited all around

Argentina. In 1967, to supplement their lost income, they decided to focus on their jukebox

business. There was, however, one big issue: the importation of jukeboxes in Argentina was heavily

restricted, meaning there was not enough supply to meet the ever-growing demand. As a response,

Jorge came up with an ingenious idea: he decided to enlist the help of telephone line workers

around Mar del Plata to string up lines connecting a source jukebox with wallboxes and speakers set

up at nearby bars. The result was that one jukebox could take selections, collect money, and

provide entertainment to multiple locations.

From 1970 to 1975, Jorge designed several, very popular games for his Sacoa locations, including

Indianapolis, a racing game, and, one year after that, Nautilus. Based on Sea Raider, Nautilus was

a game with the aim of hitting boats with torpedoes launched from a submarine. What was unique

about Nautilus was a mechanism, also designed by Jorge, that, using a servo, allowed for the

missile to be guided by the player after it was launched. This proved to be a massively successful

and popular addition to an already highly-entertaining game. In 1975, Jorge came across an ad for

an Altair 8800 “minicomputer” kit in an edition of the Popular Electronics magazine. He purchased

the computer, had it sent to his good friend, Myron Sugerman in Newark, New Jersey, picked it up,

and brought it back to Argentina in his suitcase (it was very heavy, as he recalls), where he

assembled the kit. Jorge then used this computer to track sales at his Sacoa locations, as well as

tracking the popularity of all games, allowing for the removal of less popular games and the

maximum efficiency of floorspace use. This all happened when computers were unheard in most of the

world. In fact, so rare was this feat, Jorge’s innovation was published by Cashbox magazine. In

1991, Jorge used a compression algorithm, designed by Oscar Bonello, to create the first digital

jukebox. The frame of the jukebox was designed after the Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox and housed a

computer and a high-quality stereo audio system. This came before the invention of the “.mp3”

format, and was so innovative that it, too, was featured in a well-known and respected magazine:

RePlay Magazine.

Then, in 1992, facing up to 2,000% year-over-year hyperinflation, forcing the weekly

change of prices, Jorge decided to develop a card system for his Sacoa Entertainment FECs.

After seeing the immediate and overwhelming success this had on his business, he decided to offer

his new developments to other FEC operators. Within one year, Jorge presented his PlayCard system

to the largest operator in Brazil: Marcelo Gugtlas, and in the following 12 months, Gugtlas

converted all his locations to PlayCard. Just one year after that, Jorge’s team began to install

the system in their first U.S. location: Dave & Buster’s flagship FEC in Dallas, Texas. Now, after

more than three decades, Sacoa Cashless System has thousands of customers in more than 70

countries, and they are growing at an exponential rate.

After the initial iteration of PlayCard, Jorge’s innovations continued onwards, pioneering

technologies and services such as NFC-powered PlayCards and Readers, TimeCards, HyperPassports,

Sacoa’s white-label app, Zodiac, QRPlay, and much more.

Even after all his successes, Jorge always maintained a “giving” mindset, offering free puppet

shows to the less-privileged children of Mar del Plata, a source of entertainment that quickly

became very popular, especially for birthdays. In the mornings, Sacoa would open its doors, free of

charge, to school kids of all ages and allowed them to play to their hearts’ content. It was these

decisions that made “Sacoa” a household name, all throughout Argentina.

Jorge and his wife, Marta, who married on June 9th, 1968, have had three children - Sebastian, Pol,

and Andy, all born and raised in Mar del Plata - and four grandchildren - Martina, Ezequiel,

Victoria, and Mila.

Over the last 60+ years, Jorge Mochkovsky has been the driving force behind many of the

entertainment and amusement industry’s biggest innovations, achievements, and continued growth. His

genius continues to shine brightly across all aspects of said industries, and his

impacts and contributions will be felt for several decades to come.

AAMA INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME

Nomination Details

2024 INDUCTEES

Al Alcorn

Rick Kirby

Lou Nicastro

Golden Tee

Bill Cravens

Clarence Mabe

Ed Pellegrini

Pong

Dick Hawkins

Millie McCarthy

Frank Seninsky

Don Hesch

Jorge Leonardo Mochkovsky

Mike Stroll

CLASS OF 2023

Eddie Adlum

Ralph Coppola

Lynn Durant

Eugene Jarvis

Chuck Milhem

Bill O'Donnel Sr.

Hank Ross

Sam Stern

Pac-Man

Wurlitzer 1015

Bert Betti

Buster Corley

Earl Feddick

Joe Kaminkow

George Miller

Joe Robbins

JP Seeburg

Harry Williams

Skee Ball

Martin Bromley

Dave Corriveau

David Gottlieb

Michael Kogan

Jules Millman

David Rockola

Malcom Steinberg

Marcine Wolverton

Space Invaders

Nolan Bushnell

Richard Ditton

Elaine Hodgson

Raymond Maloney

Masaya Nakamura

David Rosen

Gary Stern

Donkey Kong

Touchtunes Juke Box

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