Another difference between Japan and Australia is gambling laws. In the arcade close to us in Kyoto, there was a bank of slot machines right next to the kid’s section. However, my understanding is that any form of gambling cannot deal directly in money; rather there’s a system where you exchange money for medals and win or lose them. The medals can then be exchanged for prizes which in a loophole can be exchanged for money. Don’t quote me on that.
Anyway, it’s also a common sight to see pachinko halls in big fancy buildings. They certainly look striking but you can’t forget how sleazy they are, or how they’re filled with smokers (indoor smoking is another thing that’s tolerated more in Japan). I was tempted to check one out to see the new Castlevania pachinko slot machine thing but the thought of going in felt a bit gross. But it’s not limited to these establishments; medal games or straight up slot machines can be found in most arcades.
As you can see from the Castlevania machine, these can be quite flashy and involved, or tied into other video game or anime IPs. So it’s not like they have no value as a video game machine. I didn’t play any myself but I wanted to highlight a couple of Mario-related ones I saw. Capcom has since 2004 been making large Mario Party medal games. I spotted in our local arcade a 4th one that I hadn’t known about, Mario Party Kurukuru Carnival. As part of researching Donkey Kong games I’d learned about the previous 3 and how they’d grown larger and more elaborate; the Carnival one is actually a little smaller with less stations but it sure has Donkey Kong.
You can see what I mean by elaborate in the picture; Korokoro Catcher (the 3rd one which was in the same arcade as well) has UFO grabbers, a medal shelf, prize balls, and other contraptions in addition to a small screen showing a simplified Mario Party-like experience. Carnival loses the grabbers but has these movable coin insertion dealies. To me it seemed a confusing and contrived way to squeeze money out of you, but then isn’t that what all arcade games can be summed up as? In fact I regret not giving it a go, but you have to admit it’s a little intimidating.
Another interesting thing I saw in another arcade was a setup with multiple stations with individual screens, all facing a large wall-mounted screen that was showing a virtual horse race. Punters sit at these stations and place bets or what have you, then watch a simulated video horse race. Bizarre. The actual horse betting shops I passed were also bustling. My point is that the Japanese culture seems fascinated by luck-based games and events; gachapon machines, pachinko, even getting your fortune slip at the shrine. And knowing these things and seeing them first-hand helps my understanding of certain design choices I observe in Japanese-developed games; think about the trophy dispenser in Smash Bros. Melee as an example, or the giant pachinkp machine in Mario Sunshine. These sort of things are prominent in their culture which can cause some dissonance unless you view them with some perspective. Anyway I’ll stop pretending to be insightful now.
