ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) _ Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., the company that made take-home movies a nationwide phenomenon, has developed an attraction it hopes will get people off their sofas and out of the house.

The company was set today to open its first ''Blockbuster Block Party,'' an indoor entertainment complex with high-tech games for adults.

Blockbuster officials say the complex will be aimed at the 18- to 45-year- old market, an age group for which few high-tech attractions have been designed. The complex cost $5 million to $8 million to build, the same price as a second prototype to open next month in Indianapolis.

The concept was born last year with Bill Burns and Fred Brooks, president and vice president, respectively, of Blockbuster's entertainment center division. Veterans of Walt Disney Co., they figured huge theme parks couldn't survive in mid-size cities with populations of 250,000 to 1 million.

''There aren't many markets with the population base, tourists and climate that let you do a major theme park,'' Brooks said. ''But there are always secondary and tertiary markets that have enough population to do something.''

In Albuquerque, that something is the Block Party.

The complex is housed in a 40,000-square-foot building, and once you enter it looks like a city street at dusk. On one side, there's a fake manhole cover with steam pouring out. Part of the other side looks like a fire station with simulated flames shooting out the windows.

Among its high-tech attractions are a motion-simulator ride in which participants strap themselves to chairs that move, following the bumps and twists of an action film shown on a multi-level screen.

There's also a virtual reality section, a high-tech maze patterned after an amusement park fun house and a game room designed to make players feel like they're inside a huge pinball machine. Also, there's a restaurant, a room for private parties and a gift shop.

Adults looking for more traditional activities like bowling, miniature golf and swimming won't find them here.

''If you bore people in a local market and don't give them a reason to come back, you're in trouble,'' Brooks said. ''That's why we stayed away from conventional things.''

In keeping with its high-tech orientation, customers won't pay for rides and games with cash. They'll buy ''fun cards'' for any dollar amount they wish, then slide the card through a machine that will automatically tally purchases in an electronic account.

Prices start at around 50 cents for video games and go up to $4 for other activities.

Two weeks ago, Blockbuster's parent company, Viacom Inc., canceled plans to build Blockbuster Park, a $1 billion entertainment and sports complex on the eastern edge of the Florida Everglades. But with its cheaper development cost, Brooks says the Block Party is a far less risky proposition.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1994/Blockbuster-Aiming-for-Adults-with-its-Block-Party-/id-b3e752b1fb5cd382dfbea94475490126

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