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Games Entertainment

Sega Merges With Pachinko Company Sammy 239

Posted by timothy from the such-nice-names dept.
conform writes "The New York Times reported today that Sega Corporation (the Japanese parent company) has merged with Sammy Corp, a vendor of pachinko machines. The Sammy side of things are expected to dominate post-merger operations, and will likely shift Sega operational focuses back to the arcade market. Also, the end of the article notes in passing that SquareSoft has been aquired by rival RPG manufacturer Enix."
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Sega Merges With Pachinko Company Sammy More

Sega Merges With Pachinko Company Sammy

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  • I thought EA owned Square, or do they just publish Square's titles, or what?
    • And I wasn't aware they distributed their games, either. I thought SCEA distributed Square games. Though I don't have a box handy to check that with.

      Jon Acheson

    • Re:EA? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Osty ( 16825 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:41PM (#5296059)

      I thought EA owned Square, or do they just publish Square's titles, or what?

      EA and SquareSoft have a publishing deal, and that's all (that I know of -- EA very likely owns some stock in Square, but certainly not enough for a controlling interest). Sony owns a minority interest in the company, after bailing them out from the Final Fantasy Movie failure (sad, really, because the movie had much promise but didn't deliver). And now Enix and Square merged, with Enix likely to be the dominant side of the merger. However, this is a dupe [slashdot.org] in a way, though it would've better been noted as an item in Slashdback. "Hey, remember that article about Enix and Square merging? Well, they've done it!" Or something like that.

  • Seriously, I know news is slow, but ummm... This article simply doesn't offer a whole lot to comment on

  • Nice! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Maybe we'll see a Dragon Warrior vs Final Fantasy RPG. That would be awesome.

  • Not just Pachinko (Score:5, Informative)

    by EvilJello ( 577315 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:32PM (#5295988)
    Sammy has done a bit more than just Pachinko, notably the very fun shooter, Viewpoint : Some sammy games emulated in mame [www.mame.dk]
    • Pachinko Sexy Reaction [www.mame.dk]

      Nice game titles from that company ;-)

      --sex [slashdot.org]

      • That is an absolutly baffling game! (The fact that I don't speak Japanese adds to the confusion). Download it and play it, and you'll marvel at how it even made it as an arcade.
        • me and some friends really got obsessed with playing that game on my mame cabinet [mcgill.ca]. think three red-eyed young men furiously tapping one button for a good 3 hours (we started around midnight).

          yes, on that fateful evening we finished Pachinko Sexy Reaction.

          -Mani
          • Actually, I'd really like to know what you did to build that, I was thinking of building one myself. What kind of machine are you using, how well does it run? Ect. ect.

            • Re:Not just Pachinko (sexy) (Score:5, Informative)

              by x mani x ( 21412 ) <{mghase} {at} {cs.mcgill.ca}> on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:33PM (#5296434) Homepage
              hey,

              i built it using an mk2 cab i purchased off a friend for $300, a pc w/ a duron 1300, 512mb ram, and a trident blade t64 video card. interfacing between the pc's ps2 port and vga out with the joysticks, buttons, and arcade monitor done largely with the help of andy warne's j-pac [ultimarc.com].

              all games run perfectly, with the exception of newer 3d additions to mame, such as cruis'n world. i've done a/b comparisons between mk2 running off the actual game board and emulated with MAME, and i cannot tell the difference.

              it took a lot of work to get it right, but it was definately a labour of love. the hardest part was getting my video card to output at low horizontal refresh rates and resolutions that are compatible with both the monitor and various games - but you can now bypass all this hassle by purchasing andy warne's new arcadeVGA, a new radeon-based video card made for outputting video compatible with 15khz arcade monitors! no special software or configuration, you just pop this into your pc and you're all set. i wish this card was available 4 months ago when i got started.

              good starting points:

              Build Your Own Arcade Controls [arcadecontrols.com]
              J-Pac and ArcadeVGA [ultimarc.com]
              Happ Controls [happcontrols.com] (however you can save some $$$ by not getting it from their online store, and finding a local distributor)

              good luck!

  • Guilty Gear series (Score:4, Informative)

    by Demon-Xanth ( 100910 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:34PM (#5296003)
    They've also done the Guilty Gear series (which I'm particularly fond of)

    • Re:Guilty Gear series (Score:2, Informative)

      by Matarick ( 566397 )

      Actually, ARC System Works [arcsy.co.jp] developed the popular Guilty Gear fighting series for the Playstation, Dreamcast, arcade, and Playstation 2 systems. They also worked on various PC and Playstation dating simulators as well.

      I think they would continue to work with Sammy for newer games in the Guilty Gear series but I don't think Samy owns ARC System Works. I think the next game in the series would recieve the Sega Promotion treatment on television, internet, and in magazines. The only thing that could go wrong with the Guilty Gear series if Sega would get involved in the process.

      Only if ARC works on the next Sonic game or even remake Streets of Rage :~~~~~~~

      • The only people who should be allowed to make Sonic games are Sonic Team, and the games should be sidescrollers. 2D optional.

        This, to me, is actually kind of sad. I was always a big Sega fan.

    • YES (Score:2)

      by Spiff28 ( 147865 )
      Guilty Gear X2 / XX is THE quentissential 2D fighting game. It has the most evolved and polished gameplay I have ever seen. It is balanced beyond belief, yet all the characters are wildly different (from style of play to art).

      Sammy revitalized the 2D fighter. I haven't been this blown away since Street Fighter II. They paid very close attention to what's been done in the gameplay of the genre, and improved upon it. Take the tension meter, for example. Not only can this be used for super moves, but also to block w/o taking damage, or to instantly Roman Cancel out of a special move to avoid the entire animation time penalty.

      The graphics in Guilty Gear X2 are insanely nice, yes, and OK the loading times are low. But they clearly focused all of their efforts on the gameplay.

      They're not going to be known for their Pachinko machines much longer :)

      - spiff
  • sonic the hedgehog on the gameboy... square and enix together...

    insaine I tell you! insaine! I remember when the nintendo/sega war was as bad as the windows/linux war is today

  • Cool! (Score:3, Funny)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:36PM (#5296016) Journal
    So if I win enough at the arcades on the Sega machines, I can win carefully wrapped packs of cigarettes that I can exchange for cash at the shady back window? Excellent!

  • Arcade Dead? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by muzzynat ( 631911 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:37PM (#5296032)
    From what I've been hearing the past couple of years, arcades are about dead(true from what I've seen too). I really don't think it would make sence for Sammy to push Sega tward the Arcade again. Especially when Sega is establishing itself as a third party developer for counsels. On the other hand, Sega does make a few games that would be cool in arcades(Panzer Dragoon, anyone?). Just curious if anyone else thinks arcade develpment is dead (whimpers, remembering "killer instinct" machines)

    • Re:Arcade Dead? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by johny_qst ( 623876 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:49PM (#5296120) Journal
      I definitely do not agree that the arcade is dead. Are you familiar with how popular arcades and plinko arcades are in japan? Do you realize that there are countries other than the USA that are consumers of such machines? Maybe to slashdot the endnote about square merging with enix is bigger news, but arcades are far from dead.
      • I agree. Last time I went to Japan I spent more than half of my spending (for food) in the Arcades. Of course, you can smoke in them and they have a hip-hop nightclub feeling (dancing to Dance Dance Revolution Version 47#$% - which is quite entertaining to watch by the way)... I need to go back...

        Anyway, those types of Arcades would NEVER make it in the current US (except Dave & Busters)...

    • Re:Arcade Dead? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by briancnorton ( 586947 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:05PM (#5296230) Homepage
      Arcades are FAR from dead, they are just in a state of transition. If you think they arent making money, go into a "Dave and Buster's" or a "Jillians" or another adult themed entertainment establishment. The arcades of the past were killed by the home consoles, no doubt.

      The arcade of tomorrow (today) offers an experience that one cant get at home. They offer FUN, short multiplayer games that are more suitable to social situations than vegging on your couch, and they offer large expensive Virtual-reality systems that jimmy nintendo could never afford. You walk in and see motion capturing games like 911 Simulator or mocap boxing. You see racing games with wheels, force feedback, and motion simulation.

      Most importantly, you see BEER. Adults can walk in and blow $100 on food, drink, and games and not bat an eye. Arcade kids had to bum $5 off dad. It's amazing how much money the nintendo generation now has control of. There is a VERY bright future in arcades, as there is going to be a big demand for very large, very expensive multiplayer gaming rigs. I'm glad sega has more insight than Atari.

      • Interesting, they transitioned to sell a service and product to the exact same generation the where in arcades when they where peeking.

        Brillant, really.

      • Re:Arcade Dead? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Broodje ( 646341 )
        I was just at a Dave & Busters in San Jose, CA. From the top of my head (~6:30pm Sat)
        • 1:20hrs wait for a table.
        • $16 for 3 beers (Sam Adams).
        • $24 for 4 "arcade cards": each had $5 (21 credits) on them + $1 per card.
        • drank beer, used up card in 3-4 games (damn!).
        • dinner=$120+ for 5 people (ok we had dessert, but its soo good!).
        I'm not saying we didn't have fun, but this isn't exactly affordable hehe. I'm all for blood and gore (read: Quake etc) but here are some games that stunned me a little (especially popular at that):
        • "commercial airplane pilot" I don't know the real name, but you fly a plane through cities and land it. Fun. PC? not really ;) I care? No.
        • "sniper ..." I saw like 2-3 kinds of sniper games with mass gore. PC? not at all!
        Not a biggie, but lastly something I realized is that "Dave and Busters" is a meat market, tons of dudes and chicks trying to get lucky, ridiculous prices, and KIDS RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE! The only reason I care if a game is "PC" is because of the kids swarming this place. Its like a casino with 12yr olds all over!

        I think I'm too old for this, or I haven't been out for a long long time.
      • The other thing I've noticed about these places, Jillian's particular, is the number of vintage games. The Jillian's here in Worcester MA, has gotten a number of old games, including tetris, arkanoid, galaga and a few others. As well as some nice early 90s pinball machines that I fondly remember wasting my high school days playing. Add to this the latest DDR craze, and the arcade is certainly not dead. However I will miss the good ole days of blowing a few bucks at the old dingy arcade at the mall where the attendants used to go smoke up in the back room, and the games were always a quarter.

    • Re:Arcade Dead? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:14PM (#5296301)
      "Just curious if anyone else thinks arcade develpment is dead (whimpers, remembering "killer instinct" machines)"

      I think it's in a depression, bout I wouldn't say it's dead. The problem is that home consoles have caught up to what Arcades can produce. As a result, arcade games were no longer premium experiences. This has caused arcade game manufacturers to do things consoles can't.

      That's where games like Dance Dance Revolution (hope I got the name right...) changes the variables. DDR is technically feasible in the home, but not really all that practical. Not to mention the social implications of playing it in a public place. Then there's a cop shooter game.. grr I can't remebmer the name, I think it had 911 in the title though. What's different about it is that there are motion sensors that can track your body movement, so if you duck out of the way you can avoid being shot. I have difficulty imaginging that game being faithfully ported to a Playstation.

      I honestly believe that we'll see a reniassance in arcade gaming. A theater near my house has a small arcade, and every single game they have there would be difficult to port to a home console without a seperate hardware add-on. That place is constantly busy despite not being in a mall or being an official 'arcade'. It's just a matter of getting a new round of creativity brewing up new types of games.

      So, in short, I think arcades are in a slump right now. They will pick up, though.

      • Ever thought of how popular a multiplayer deathmatch version of this game would be?

        Something that could never be done at home - Too easy to cheat.

    • Arcade Not Dead. (Score:3, Informative)

      by Alkaiser ( 114022 )
      And Sammy is leading the way. If you've been in an arcade in Japan recently, the machines that are the most packed are Sammy machines.

      Guilty Gear XX is always busy with men and women both waiting for their turn at the controls.

      Initial D, ver. 2 is in arcades in Japan, and the head to head cabinets are ALWAYS occupied.

      Guys in Japan started getting clever with the concepts. One of the early thrills in arcades was getting the high score, and seeing your name dominate over everyone. Until the jerks started resetting the machine every night and wiping 'em.

      With Initial D, you can buy a card for 100 yen. You pop the card in every time you play, and gain points. The points upgrade your car, you get new parts, and are able to compete with higher level opponents, and progress in the arcade machine's storyline. Basically...it's like playing a console game in the arcade...and you take your save card with you wherever you go.

      Soul Calibur II has a mode called Conquest. You join up on a side, and battle other players to try and gain control of 100% of the map.

      You build your character up by winning and using certain styles of fighting, and your chracter's AI is based off of how you fight. If you throw a lot, your character will throw a lot when other people have to fight against it. If you have certain attack combos you use prevalently, so will your character when you are away from the machine.

      It gets highly addictive, and it locks you into playing at that machine, making sure you can progress and build up your character. When I was there, one guy on the other side had plunked, by calculations off of his win/loss record, nearly $330 (US) into the game. I was ranked 10th for my faction on that machine...I'd only popped $35 in. But it hooks you. The arcades are back.

  • Sammy's Mind (Score:4, Funny)

    by burgburgburg ( 574866 ) <splisken06NO@SPAMemail.com> on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:37PM (#5296035)
    From here [sammy.co.jp]:

    " We contribute to creation and development of culture with our creativity and foreseeing in entertainment while moving forward with people."

    Ok. ...ugh ...Huh?

    • Perhaps the fish [altavista.com] can help (E->J->E):

      While moving with the people first, we contribute to our creative cultures and the compilation and development of prediction of entertainments.

      Yes, yes, I see now.

    • Well you obviously haven't been to Engrish.Com [engrish.com] if that still throws you for a loop. 8-P

      P.S. Not trying to harp on or make fun of any one, but that stuff is seriously funny. Hell I can't even speak Japanese so they do better then I would.

  • Wow ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by B3ryllium ( 571199 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:39PM (#5296043) Homepage
    Wow ... this is like Vivendi ... merging with ... Las Vegas! Imagine the kids from THAT marriage. *shudder*

  • The is Gabby Hayes Big (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:39PM (#5296044)
    I think this may be the most important merger of Japanese titans since the joint venture of Matsumora Fishworks and Tamorobuchi Heavy Manufacturing.

  • Sega's financial troubles. (Score:5, Informative)

    by larsoncc ( 461660 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:41PM (#5296066) Homepage
    This isn't a particularily stunning move (that SOMEONE would take an interest in Sega), as Sega has been a target for quite some time. Sega has been bleeding money - earning less than expected even though they ceased hardware production.

    The reason? Poor sales of the "2K" sport series, combined with heavy marketing of the series. They've been unable to dethrone EA, even though they're producing quality product.

    Personally, I've got a soft spot for Sega because of Phantasy Star and "blast processing".

    Here's a good Genesis game (Thunder Force III): Review [fatmangames.com].
    • Sonic... and Rez. Holy smokes, if you don't have a copy of Rez, you need to get on eBay or Amazon and snag one before they're all gone.

      Anyhoo... it's kind of ironic since Sega made a Japan-only DC game called Segagaga, an RPG set in the near future. Sega is nearly out of business, and in a last-ditch effort to save the company hires some cartoony anime kids to upper management positions. You wander around the city fighting monsters, and after you defeat certain ones, you get to hire them! Of course you have to negotiate salary terms...

      Of course this was the platform that gave us "ChuChu Rocket" and "Bomber Hehhe"... god I love Sega...
  • I can't really think of a good name combo if Sega and Sammy want to change it. On the other hand, Suqare-Enix has an uber duper name Squarenix that sounds like a GNU/Linux distro. oh, BTW, Sega stands for SErvice of GAmes.

  • Um, Acquired? (Score:4, Informative)

    by ultor ( 216766 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:44PM (#5296096) Homepage
    I'm pretty sure that Squaresoft wasn't acquired by Enix. Rather Square (not Squaresoft) merged with Enix. As I recall this was a long time ago and there was a large fight over stock prices. Square's stock only got about 60 some cents to Enix's dollar in the new company, making square stockholders quite angry. The dispute was settled about a month ago.
    • It is a merger and was announced about two months ago. The merger will take place on April 1 (no, this isn't an April Fool's joke).
    • It was 81 cents initially and the majority stock holder for Square objected, saying that since Enix outsourced their development Square had more costs, but also more assets, and the calculations were weighing just the titles far too heavily. Then they reconvened, I believe changed the rate of the purchase to 85 cents, and that sealed the deal.

  • Um hey... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TerryAtWork ( 598364 ) <research@aceretail.com> on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:45PM (#5296104)
    Aren't the Yakuza deeply mixed up in the Pachinko business?

    • Re:Um hey... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Kintanon ( 65528 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @04:19PM (#5297235) Homepage Journal
      So Rumour has it... Much like Rumour will tell you that the Mafia controls most of the Vegas casinos. Of course, Rumour is a dirty little snitch and if he doesn't keep his mouch shut we're gonna cut out his tongue and dump him in the river....

      Kintanon
    • Aren't the Yakuza deeply mixed up in the Pachinko business?

      Gambling for money is illegal in Japan, which means that the prizes you win in pachinko parlors aren't cash, but teddy bears, cans of abalone, etc. This bit of the business is perfectly legal.

      Now, the yakuza's role is to run shady little shops next door, which exchange your teddy bears and abalone cans for cash, and sell the prizes back to the pachinko shop. This is not legal, but the police are bribed enough to not care, and it makes pachinko a lot more popular; some people play well enough to earn a living.

      So Sammy, being at the other end of the chain (designing the machines), has virtually no contact with the yakuza. Their business would collapse if the police started cracking down, but they aren't about to as it's a rather innocuous racket as far as these things go.

      Cheers,

      -j.

  • Next game from Sega? (Score:5, Informative)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:46PM (#5296109) Homepage Journal
    The next big game from Sega, Pachinko?

    I wonder what percentage of Sammy is:

    Supported by debt backed up by Microsoft (This in regards to speculation on what japanese entity is benefitting from $590 million insured by Microsoft in their last quarterly statement.)

    Run by North Koreans. (note: not a Troll! It is well known that most Pachinko parlors in Japan are run by North Korean families (think: mafia), for the purpose of exporting cash to North Korea.

    "Pachinko for the XBox, great, what shall we call it?"

    "How about AI Pachinko."

    "We'll get sued, but I like it..."

  • What happened to the Microsoft merger? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by grungeman ( 590547 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:49PM (#5296124)
    Wasn't Sega supposed to be bought by Microsoft? I could imagine that some Keiretsu decided that the Microsoft/Sega merger would be a major threat to the Japanese consumer electronics industry (Sony/Nintendo), so in order to prevent that merger they made Sammy to merge with Sega.

  • I can't wait to play pachinko on my PS2!

  • Enix buys out Square? Probably good news. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Thag ( 8436 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @01:53PM (#5296152) Homepage
    Is this the merger that was reported before, or has Enix actually bought out Square lock, stock & barrel?

    Either way, hopefully we'll get better RPGs out of it. I'm playing Final Fantasy X now, and my enthusiasm is dropping like a stone. Watch cut scene, walk, watch cut scene, walk, it's like they combined the linearness of a rail-type shooter with the annoying random encounters and levelling-up of an RPG. And the characters just don't emote. Pretty, but shallow, and ultimately boring.

    I just finished Grandia, a Sega Saturn game that was ported to PS1. It was far more advanced than FFX.

    Jon Acheson
    • Uh-oh. FFX is boring in comparison to Grandia? Considering I played Suikoden I+II, FF 7-9, Grandia, Chrono Cross, and Vagrant Story on PS1, and am considering the PS2 jump, this isn't good news. Grandia was the most irritating RPG I played on PSone. But maybe it was the fact it was a direct rip of Lunar and the voice acting was predictably bad.
      • I wouldn't necessarily take my word as gospel. I hated Final Fantasy 8, for instance, which others liked. (I thought the gameplay was just too tedious.)

        My faves are FF7 and Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast.

        You might also try renting the game first.

        I never played Lunar, but have heard vaguely good things about it.

        Jon Acheson
  • ...and the first product will be an add-on to the Genesis that requires the 32X and Genesis CD that adds little bouncing ball bearings to all Sonic games.

  • Enix and Square? Foretold in FF 1 (Score:3, Informative)

    by eclectric ( 528520 ) <bounce@junk.abels.us> on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:01PM (#5296203)
    One of the gravestones in the Elf kingdom read "Here Lies Erdrick"....

  • Hopefully (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bendebecker ( 633126 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:21PM (#5296346) Journal
    Maybe if we're lucky Enix will force final fantasy to become more fantasy again (as opposed to the sci-fi-with-swords it has become in recent years.) Enix has seemed to have kept its dragon warrior series medieval and I think it would be really cool if they combined the two into one game series.
    • Actually, a lot of people (well, me!) like the whole Sci-Fi angle Square's been taking. That's what makes Final Fantasy, well, a Fantasy. I personally don't like the medival RPGs (even FF3 had a lot of 'tech' elements). I find them too constricting and not allowing for good storylines. I also abhor (I'm talking loathe here) D&D and PC-style RPGs (partly because of their lack of creativity) so maybe I'm a different style of RPG gamer. My favorite, FYI, were FF7 and Chrono-Trigger.

  • Not a suprising partner (Score:3, Interesting)

    by doctor_no ( 214917 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:25PM (#5296366)
    Sammy isn't a suprising partner considering that in Japan, like most other countries, the gambling industry is big with a large profit margin (For those of you who don't know pachinko is form of gambling). Sega, like Sammy, used to produce pachinko machines as well as "pachisuro", which are basically slot machines.

    Gambling parlors, unlike most of the US, are everywhere; in every city and on most main streets. This should allow Sega larger capital for investment in their gaming division, and perhaps allow Sammy USA to use Sega's strong US pressence to start selling slot machines and other gambling equipment to the growing and lucrative Casino gaming industry in the US.

  • A joke, right? (Score:5, Funny)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:30PM (#5296410) Journal
    Pachinko...

    Pachinko?

    One of the previous generation's best video game companies has decided to do... Pachinko?

    The stupid game which consists of "invert bucket of ball-bearings over machine, watch them drip through, every third bucket or so win a colored ping-pong ball that you can trade for crappy chucky-cheese-esque prizes"?

    Nope. This proves it. I have finally lost any sense of contact with the world whatsoever. Time to wander off into the woods and live on skinned squirrels and assorted tubers. You folks have just gotten WAY too sureal for my liking.

    And here I considered myself something of an eccentric. Heh. I can't possibly compete with how cracked reality seems.

    • Re:A joke, right? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by SpinyNorman ( 33776 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @02:47PM (#5296542)
      Actually, Pachinko is MASSIVE in Japan. I was in Tokyo a while back, and there are galleries of Pachinko machines all over the place - packed with people. It looks like rows and rows of people playing slots in a casino (but packed together more tightly). I think you can win credits (maybe money?), but anyways for whatever reason the Japs are nuts over it!
    • Most of us think of pachinko as non-interactive pinball and think "WTF? Why would anyone want to play that??"

      But that's the wrong way to think about it. It's not non-interactive pinball, it's like a more-elaborate slot machine. I never understood the appeal of gambling myself, but if I had to throw my money to the winds of chance, I'd rather play packinko than a slot machine any day of the week.

      But actually... I think the Japanese do consider it interactive on some level. They place a high societal value on luck, and presumably your luck is what influences the outcome.
    • besides, pachinko is NOT about chucky-cheese prizes (even if you knew that, other readers might not).

      you would take your prizes and "sell" them to a "hole in an alley" and get way more than they are worth. sometimes more than what you invested in the buckets of bearings.

      this is the only way to gamble besides horse-racing and lotto (as far as I know), since gambling is supposedly illegal in japan. the prizes and the selling is just a loophole of some sort that I don't think the government has any intention of plugging.

      hell, there are magazines DEDICATED to this stuff - they have pages upon pages of charts that will tell you a machine's win-rates over time (i.e. as a function of how long you sit over there). It's really a professional hobby, if gambling can be called one.
  • Look at the bottom of the page. [docbrown.net]

    My uncle used the own a Pachinko store in Cincinnati in the early 80's, and still has part of his garage full of old machines. About a month ago, my brother and I drove down there and gabbed 10 machines (so far, 3 are in working condition, with 2 more needing some minor repairs). And, this weekend, my uncle is driving up with a truckload of more machines! WooHoo!

  • Ok, I had heard this once, then that Square was backing out, then that Square was appeased, and then again that Square was backing out again..... What is the true status of this?

  • It's what they do best anyway... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stonedCoder ( 650101 ) on Thursday February 13, 2003 @03:37PM (#5296893)
    At least it sounds like SEGA will be concentrating on arcade tech again. Since the megadrive/genesis they've not really been on the ball in the home market but in the arcade they've been a real force to be reckoned with for many many years.
  • From what I remember, Square actually wound up buying out Enix. The stock buyout ratio was cast in Square's favor when the two companies combined, giving Enix owners somewhat less in return than what Square owners got.
  • This reminds me of the manga success thread of a few days ago. You have to understand that arcades ("game centers" is what they're called in Japan) are very different over there than they are here. The industry as a whole is not doing all that great there either, but Sega has been one of the few profitable companies in terms of their arcade business in Japan and I'm sure this is what attracted Sammy to them. Why?

    Pachinko is big game center business in Japan. Seriously, it's a perfect match. Every major game center in Japan has a large section devoted to pachinko, including many Sega game centers (such as the multi-story monstrosity in Akihabara, which has an entire floor of pachinko machines). These are generally not "real" pachinko machines in that you don't actually gamble, but the real thing is extremely popular as well with a pachinko parlor seemingly on about every other block in some towns. The point being we may laugh at pachinko - but the Japanese don't. It'd be the equivalent of making slot machines legal in every municipality in this country - they'd sprout up like weeds all over the place. Pachinko is just the way Japanese people gamble mechanically, and pachinko and "regular" arcade machines are very closely related there.

    Also, as has been mentioned, Sammy is not just a pachinko company. They just released Guilty Gear X2 in this country, which is doing quite well and has gotten a lot of good reviews. This is an old-school 2D fighter with modern visuals, and I think this also fits in with Sega's arcade business very well. It also obviously gives Sammy a new distribution channel for home consoles, along with a respected game development studio. Sammy Studios now just becomes another of Sega's development teams - which is great for Sega and Sammy both. 2D fighting is still quite popular in Japan and Sega really didn't have any major franchises in that area before.

    As to what else it gives Sega... money, I would guess. They just revised downward their forecasts by 90%. 90%! That's huge. They have not made the transition to 3rd party developer smoothly at all, and their stock price has dropped by about 80% from its highs of a few months ago. They were in need of a white knight. I'm personally glad it was Sammy and not Microsoft, as unexpected as it was. They were increasingly vulnerable and now they are less vulnerable - I don't think Microsoft would be interested in acquiring Sammy, and I don't at all think this is the mysterious unnamed Japanese company that MS is invested in (I continue to believe that company is Tecmo).
  • "We contribute to creation and development of culture with our creativity and foreseeing in entertainment while moving forward with people." [sammy.co.jp] A good fit for old Service Games?

    By comparison, Microsoft's corporate objective was, for many years, very clear: "A computer on every desk, running Microsoft software".

  • From their site (go hunt for it -- Sammy's Mind)

    "We contribute to creation and development of culture with our creativity and foreseeing in entertainment while moving forward with people."

    They do admit it's a translation.

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