Pachinko
After world war two, manufacturers in Japan for some reason had a surplus of ball bearings (would love to know why) and some folk decided to put them to good use. The "good use" in this case was a game called Pachinko.
People line up every morning to get into a Pachinko parlor where they then buy a few crates of ball bearings to pour into a Pachinko machine. They then use a knob on the machine which controls the velocity of the balls that are being shot out the side of the machine. The balls then make their way randomly hitting nails(?) which then change their trajectory. The idea of the game is to get as many balls as one can into a slot in the middle of the machine. When that happens, more balls come out of the machine and an assistant helps stack up yer crates of balls.
The reason why people line up every morning to get into these parlors is because certain machines have been rigged the night before to deal out better results and this is common knowledge among the veteran players - how they identify which machine has been rigged is beyond me.
Its illegal to play for cash in Japan so what happens is that when one has had enough of the noise and cigarette smoke that fills the parlors, they go to a counter in the parlor and exchange their balls for items such as cuddly toys and pens. What they then do is take these useless items and go offsite to a separate dingy looking store and exchange their stuff for cash - a loophole.
Was out shopping for groceries in armor as usual and stopped by to play...
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大学生徒
http://ichinichijuu.blogspot.com/
Totally own 2 pachinko machines, I love the designs. I have a Gegege no Kitaro one and a Back to the Future one, complete with a little plastic Delorean behind a 2-way mirror that is revealed whenever you get enough reels going, blue light-up lightning bolt effects coming off of the middle of the machine and the video screen portion is all done anime-style ^^.
Otaku student
http://www.myspace.com/ukotaku
Pachinko is very bad, its the same thing as gambling but instead of winning money, u win prizes xDDD. Its alrite if u spend a little but not alot.
lecherous wretch
http://graeble.deviantart.com/
i didnt know the death star had a pachinko parlor?
study
lol danny if u win fisrt shoot i rite
Student
At our local amusement park we have machines like those.
I really suck at them, but they're mildly addicting. Just like actual gambling.
Hikikomori in the making
http://supermariabros.deviantart.com/
I've seen this in one of the episodes of Power Rangers LOL
Would definitely try if I get the chance!
Student
I kind of want to try it but I hate the smell of smoke so... eh.
overemployed
http://www.jamaipanese.com
hmmm looks interesting, i'd give it a try
tech support
hi guys,
going to Tokyo for first time next week :D
want to know if its easy to play pachinko and cash out without being able to speak japanese? Im guessing just take balls the the prize lady, then go exchange my gold ?
gonna give it a go :)
Gainfully unemployed
http://www.loneleeplanet.com/
gotta love pachinko! steel balls are propelled into a maze of spinning wheels, bumper-action pins, and bonus pockets. lights flash, bells ring and music plays when balls trigger the jackpot, earning extra playing balls.
and the star wars fever range of pachinko machines must be very befitting for a stormtrooper! check the star wars fever range here: http://www.loneleeplanet.com/2009/01/the-pachinko-empire-strikes-back/