Kotaku: pachinko

iPhone: Sho Chiku Bai Pachinko (with music by MGS series composer)

tim rogers — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:00 MST

Did you realize there's a pachinko game on the iPhone? Did you realize that you should care that there's a pachinko game on the iPhone?

Sho Chiku Bai is a pachinko simulator for the iPhone. That's not all, however — it just so happens to be developed by some Western peoples residing in Japan, and is all the while cuter than a two-year-old girl in a sun-hat hugging a kitten.

Let's let the developers speak for themselves re: the game's features. Block quote ahoy:

Features:
Japanese anime-style art and animation, with a theme based on Japanese culture.
Authentic pachinko gameplay, with a realistic physics engine and true pachinko rules.
Features the original J-Pop song "Sho Chiku Bai" by Norihiko Hibino of Metal Gear Solid fame.
Unlockable character art, board designs, and more!
Presented in the original Japanese with English menus and instructions.

Focus on feature #3 for a second: yes, this game contains an uber-poppy theme song by Norihiko Hibino, who has lent his musical talents to the Metal Gear Solid franchise since the year 2000. And why, look, they've got a promotional video on YouTube for that song, and I've embedded it right beneath this paragraph:

If your heart is not simply leaping out of your chest with adoration right now, you might want to call a doctor.

The game's official site proudly states that

Our goal in creating Sho Chiku Bai was to bring an authentic pachinko experience to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, and also to bring this experience to the entire world. If you have an interest in Japanese culture, you've probably wondered what the whole pachinko thing is all about. Sho Chiku Bai is your chance to find out; without the costly trip to Japan, smoky pachinko halls, and the risk of losing money.

In order to preserve the unique Japanese feel of pachinko, the game's animations and voices are presented in the original Japanese.

This is all very admirable. Why would you want to actually play pachinko in real life? The Eurobeat blasting over the PAs in pachinko parlors is deafening — even from the street. The nigh-opaque curtain of cigarette smoke is lung-blackening even to pedestrians walking six feet away from the malfunctioning epileptic automatic doors. On a rainy day, clouds of smoke jet out of pachinko parlors and stop dead in the air, becoming accidental meals for passers by.

Of course, it's possible to win real money by playing real pachinko, though the investment of time and money it takes to get good at any particular pachinko machine is a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially for newcomers. This is why pachinko-based videogames sell — some people approach them like mandatory job training.

I personally knew a guy, a couple years ago, who earned around 500,000 yen a month simply by playing pachinko. He ultimately gave up because of a lung condition (also because of Too Much Money in his bank account). Back in the US, he'd loved pinball, though you can't find pinball anywhere around Tokyo. The long-running conspiracy theory is that pachinko machine manufacturers bought up and dismantled pinball machines one-by-one. That theory seems pretty sound. Why let people hone their reflexes on pinball, when they could be paying to hone their reflexes on pachinko machines or officially licensed pachinko machine games?

If you can crack the Pachinko Code as expressed by this game's "realistic physics engine", you might just have what it takes to fly to Japan and become a full-time professional pachinko player. Don't you want to learn at least that much about yourself — and have fun doing it?

It costs 600 Japanese yen or four-point-nine-nine US Dollars.

For even more information on pachinko, see chapter six of Brian Ashcraft's book!

[via Mission One]

Chun-Li Gets Her Own Game! Oh, It's Pachislot

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:40:00 MDT

Street Fighter mainstay Chun-Li is getting her own pachislot game, courtesy of manufacturer Enterrise and it's... well, it's pachislot, so I'm genetically incapable of being excited about the prospect of such a thing. The game looks to feature Chun-Li in various mission-based situations, presumably all of which can be resolved by kicking fast or faster. Guest appearances from Rose, Cammy, Zangief, Guile and the car from Street Fighter III will be included in the cel-shaded slot machine that we're presuming is Japan only for now.

The very existence of pachislot may fly right over your heads, even with a Chun-Li starring role. At the very least, Enterrise got a bunch of spokesmodels perfectly lined up for the event, so we consider it a great success.

Chun-Li Pachislot Press Briefing [Pachinko Vista via Majoria's News]

Sega Loses Big At Pachinko

Mike Fahey — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:20:00 MDT

Sega has reported their financial results for the first quarter of the 2009 financial year, and while the video games segment of their business saw sales growth of 90.6%, the company is still reporting a $963 million loss. The problem? Those pesky Pachinko machines. With an operating income loss of $29 million and an overall sales drop of 21.8%, Pachinko is making the consumer side of Sega look bad. As stated, the consumer side of the coin is shiny, rising from $1.4 billion last year to $2.7 billion, with 87% of sales coming from North America and Europe.

Sega's biggest sellers for the quarter were its line up of six Xbox 360 titles with 890,000 units sold, followed by the Nintendo DS with 850,000.

If you ask me, it might be time to bail on the whole Pachinko business. Perhaps EA will pick it up?

Sega reports $963m loss [Games Industry]

Resident Evil Pachinko Shows More Than Jill Sandwiches

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:00:00 MDT

In Japan, it's pretty common for video games to have pachinko machines. Heck! Movies, anime and manga character even get pachinko machines based on them. It's not just spinning metal balls! New pachinko machines even feature large LCD-type displays to keep players engaged. Pachinko maker Yamasa's Resident Evil machine puts poor Jill Valentine through the standard series of scares and shootings — if only for suggestive glances!

BioHazard [Yamaza via Hatimaki]

Square Enix Crushes Final Fantasy XIII Pachinko Rumors

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:00:00 MDT

In Japan, lots of video games get turned into pachinko or pachislot machines. No biggie! SNK, Sega and Konami have all spun off selected titles into pachinko parlors across the country. So when a rumor popped up that Square Enix was doing the same for Final Fantasy XIII, it did seem possible that, yes, Japan would be getting a FFXIII pachinko machine. No way! says Square Enix. In an official statement, the company says:

That is completely false information. Regarding FF, our company works very hard every day so that everyone can enjoy it as a game. There is currently no development being made [to bring FF to pachinko/pachi-slot machines].

Good, because Square Enix needs to focus on FFXIII and not other stuff.

『FFXIII』がパチンコ、パチスロに？” [Famitsu]

The Other Atari

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:00:00 MDT

Corporate confusions! When Harvest Moon developer Natsume decided to found a pachinko company a few years back, it could've picked any name for the new company. Natsume didn't and instead gave the pachinko company a corporate game moniker we all know: Atari. Here's what the CEO of Atari Inc. says about the company's name on its English page:

When naming our new company, we desire to maintain these objectives. We also thought of a Japanese word, "atari", used in the expression such as: A World of Hit business is counted by "How much you earn if you hit atari"; Pachinko is a game to aim "atari"; and thus in such a world by working hard We want to come up with big atari (big hit) machine!!. So, summing all up, we decided a company name, "Atari Inc."
Participating in all the business areas and projects, our top rated development staffs are aiming to reach literally the Biggest Atari by collecting all their wisdoms and ideas.

I know the 2600 was never big in Japan, but don't these guys know? Or Care? Maybe that's a good conversation starter. "No, we're the other Atari."

Greetings [ATARI Inc via Insert Credit]

Drink Up The Evangelion Maids!

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:40:46 MST

How can Neon Genesis Evangelion coffee be improved? You guessed it, maids! Japanese beverage company UCC first released an Evangelion coffee way back in 1997 and did a follow-up last year. This time around, the cans feature characters Rei and Asuka, Evangelion's main female pilots, in maid outfits. Though! These cans will only be sold at pachinko parlors (and probably only at pachinko parlors with Evangelion pachinko machines). Branding at it's best — or worse, depending on how you look at it. Just take it as proof that, yes, maids really do make everything better.
UCC Coffee [Techinsight Japan via Anime News Network]

Simple 2000: The Japanese Software Chart

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:40:24 MDT

The thrill of watching hundreds of metal balls fall from the top to the bottom of a pachinko machine is now being recreated, digitally, in the homes of tens of thousands of Japanese citizens, but with the added bonus of Neon Genesis Evangelion licensing. What a party.

Here are the top ten games sold in Japan courtesy of Media Create for the week of June 4th to the 10th.

01. Hisshou Pachinko * Pachislot Capture Series Vol. 10 CR - Neon Genesis Evangelion (PS2) - 80,586 / NEW
02. DS Observation Training (DS) - 62,537 / 157,371
03. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road (PSP) - 44,337 / NEW
04. Final Fantasy II (PSP) - 36,637 / NEW
05. Wii Sports (Wii) - 29,570 / 1,687,388
06. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (DS) - 26,078 / 139,988
07. Harvest Moon: The Tree of Peace (Wii) - 21,866 / NEW
08. More Brain Age (DS) - 21,680 / 4,349,623
09. Wii Play (Wii) - 20,897 / 1,376,899
10. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) - 19,715 / 4,519,879

Hey! Ouendan 2 is hangin' in there. Some new additions to the list are after the jump, but they're extremely unexciting history games for the Nintendo DS.

11. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition (Wii)
12. English Training (DS)
13. Mario Kart DS (DS)
14. Momotarou Dentetsu DS Tokyo & Japan (DS)
15. Brain Age (DS)
16. Kurikin: Nano Island Story (DS)
17. Professor Layton & The Mysterious Village (DS)
18. English Training (DS)
19. Yoshi's Island DS (DS)
20. Animal Crossing Wild World (DS)
21. Super Paper Mario (Wii)
22. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War (PSP)
23. Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kounin: KanKen DS (DS)
24. Yamakawa Shuppansha: Japanese History B Detailed Training (DS)
25. Stock Trader Shun (DS)
26. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii)
27. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (DS)
28. Kekkaishi: Karasumori Ayakashi Kidan (DS)
29. Common Sense Training (DS)
30. Yamakawa Shuppansha: World History B Detailed Training (DS)

What do you know, Mark Wilson was right—history is cool! Michael McWhertor

Media Create Weekly Software Sales

DS and PSP Game for Gambling Addicts

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:22:01 MDT

Sega Sammy's unveiled two upcoming pachinko slot games for the Nintendo DS and the PSP. Both games will make use of WiFi in their play function. No matter how hard players press the buttons or rub the touch pad, sliver pachinko balls will not spurt outta their handhelds.

PSP software pic after the jump.

PachiSro Game for Portables [Famitsu]