Guest viewing is limited

Japan Slot Technology - For New Casinos

Status
Not open for further replies.

RIDER 00

TAG Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2013
Messages
1,475
Reaction score
3,041
I have posted before on this site that I am/have been a gaming enthusiast in Japan in various genres - pachinko, pachislot, horse racing, boat racing, motorcyle racing, etc.

It shocks me how foreign gamblers don't play much pachinko/pachislot, but I guess that's the Japanese parlors' fault for not making their services foreign friendly. They like to stay comfy sucking money from addicts and old timers with pension money to burn.

Anyway, with the new casino being made in Tokyo, pachislot developers are creating new slot machines based on the ones in the pachislot halls. AND -- this is the good part -- the bullshit legislation that had been passed to make pachinko/pachislot machines far less attractive/addictive by making it harder to win/win big on them do not apply, so you will have a lot more freedom in design/payout specs/fan service.

The attached vid is a demo of the machines being designed. WOW!

 
Not much of a gambler myself, but the few times that I’ve gone into pachinko parlors, the noise level always has gotten to me. At least the ones I visited were simply too loud for me.
 
Not much of a gambler myself, but the few times that I’ve gone into pachinko parlors, the noise level always has gotten to me. At least the ones I visited were simply too loud for me.

Then do what most other people do with the same issue - ear plugs or stick a pachinko ball in your ear hole.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
Shocking?

I think it would be mission impossible to "sell" pachinko to foreign residents or tourists .... with the exception of Chinese residents/tourists. I appreciate that a foreign resident or tourist may enter one of these places out of curiosity, and may even try to play a game or two, despite the smoke, the noise and the J-pop, but beyond that I can't believe many foreigners would be caught dead in a pachinko shop.

I think a casino could be a solution to issues related to "over-tourism". I would like to see the government sponsor a mega casino development in boonies near Narita. A Macau style complex with Mega malls full of the stuff Chinese want to buy on their Japan shopping holiday. May need to build a dedicated airport to deal with Chinese demand, and some transport links to Disneyland. Lots of issues with land aquisition and rice farmers etc .... but just push through it all. And tax everything like crazy. We would have an extra 100 million tourists a year and we would not see them :)
 
Shocking?

I think it would be mission impossible to "sell" pachinko to foreign residents or tourists .... with the exception of Chinese residents/tourists. I appreciate that a foreign resident or tourist may enter one of these places out of curiosity, and may even try to play a game or two, despite the smoke, the noise and the J-pop, but beyond that I can't believe many foreigners would be caught dead in a pachinko shop.

Actually, there have been surveys to foreigners/tourists in Japan on why they don't try it out. Of those who like gambling, the main reason was accessibility. No instructions in English and lack off gambling companions. **No interest in gambling is not the point

Let's say you're a fan of the Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) anime. There are tons of great pachi machines for this series. Or Lupin the 3rd. Or Evangelion. Basically, if you are a hardcore fan of these series, you are missing out by not playing because the machines offer a lot of original content.

As such, my firm belief is that if pachi halls would cater to foreigners and tourists more like Hokkaido has opened up to foreigners like a flood gate, there would be major patronage.

Tom Lee (Australian) on YT is a former pachislot magazine writer and he's a major hobbiest in the halls. I'm a white guy and I go a lot too (or did when I had money).

It may not be to your personal taste, but there's a reason the industry is still alive despite horrible legislation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
I guess that's the Japanese parlors' fault for not making their services foreign friendly.

The problem is more that they are boring activities for non Japanese. In every case over the decades when a foreign visitor has asked me to take them to one of those places, they are bored within 10 minutes of play.
 
The problem is more that they are boring activities for non Japanese. In every case over the decades when a foreign visitor has asked me to take them to one of those places, they are bored within 10 minutes of play.

Did you make them play the Sea Story series? If you did, that's on you. Help them find a machine that they would be interested in.

BTW, most pachi players don't play also if the machine they want to play is not open. That's not a valid argument.
 
It may not be to your personal taste, but there's a reason the industry is still alive despite horrible legislation.

Still alive...sure...but dying with the "old timers".

I would expect a survey of Japanese people in Tokyo under the age of 40 would support the broad conclusion that pachinko is a boring antisocial activity, and wouldn't be too complimentary of pachinko players.

Probably lucky for you that foreigners aren't competing for your seat/machine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheScientist
Still alive...sure...but dying with the "old timers".

I would expect a survey of Japanese people in Tokyo under the age of 40 would support the broad conclusion that pachinko is a boring antisocial activity, and wouldn't be too complimentary of pachinko players.

Probably lucky for you that foreigners aren't competing for your seat/machine.

LOL

Go to a pachinko hall in Tokyo. Most of the slot players are young men ranging from 20 to 40 and many pachinko players who play the anime based machines are in their 20s and 30s.

Stop living on stereotypes and actually check out the current situation.

I can speak because I was in a hall yesterday.

If you go to the countryside where mostly old folks live, then yes, the industry is dying.

There was actually an expansion in Tokyo in pachinko halls last year with Vegas being built in the DQ building right outside Shinjuku station.
 
Stop living on stereotypes and actually check out the current situation.

Wasn't it you who identified the client base as ..."addicts and old timers with pension money to burn".

Anyway, enjoy your Pachinko.....whatever floats your boat.
 
Wasn't it you who identified the client base as ..."addicts and old timers with pension money to burn".

Anyway, enjoy your Pachinko.....whatever floats your boat.

Addicts have no age group.
 
@RIDER 00 Ive always been interested but never gotten around to playing. Is there actually a skill to it? and how much would you spend in a 30 min or so session?
 
She does not but she used to.

And it would tally with the programming of eg. British fruit machines and even coin-op videogames, which almost all allow the venue management to set levels of difficulty/payout etc.

There was even a minor kerfuffle about it in the uk when I were a lad - an ex-videogame journalist somehow got hold of plans for fruit machines that showed clearly that fruit machines were not random; but the law that governed them required them to be. Unfortunately nobody cared enough to do anything about it.

Periodically there is a minor drama in Japan around gacha-based games that are also not entirely random.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
My wife reckons the skill is nabbing a machine by the window because they are more likely to pay out.

That's a psychological tactic, but the machine nearest to the window isn't necessarily the machine(s) that will be at a good setting. Many machines may be easily visible and it will be hard to pinpoint the good ones.

In the end, it really just boils down to luck. (In picking the machine and when you actually play it)
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
@RIDER 00 Ive always been interested but never gotten around to playing. Is there actually a skill to it? and how much would you spend in a 30 min or so session?

With pachinko, there is minimal skill. Basically understanding the spec/payout scheme of the machine you are playing, reading the animations to tell when you have a high chance of hitting a jackpot, and learning how to shoot the balls to the left, center, right, and to stop shooting.

With pachislot, you need to learn to stop the reels at a given logo (seven, cherry, watermelon, etc.) at a given time. Being unable to do this will result in your jackpot never starting. The rest you need to know is basically the same as pachinko expect for the ball shooting.

Do note, pachinko has no setting outside for the nails to give the house an edge or to make them loose. Pachislot have 6 settings that the hall can set at the beginning of the day, usually with the lowest at 96% payout to the highest at 115% payout. At any given time, 90%+ of all pachislots are at the lowest setting. 96% means that it will suck away 4% of your investment in the long-term. This might not seem like much, but with high short-term volatility, this is a huge disadvantange to the player.

For 30 min., you really are just testing the machine and should not expect to win much, if anything. If that's your limit, I say go play the standard pachislot - Juggler (boring, but it's the most popular). The odds of hitting a big bonus (jackpot) is about 1/300 and it will give you 6,000yen. The odds of hitting a small bonus is 1/120 and will give you 1500 yen. One spin will cost 60 yen, so pick your poision.

I usually just play my favorite pachinko machine at a rate of 1 yen per ball (ichi-pachi). The normal rate is 4 yen per ball, but I learned a long time ago that's a good way to lose money fast. I just play until I have a nice win or lose between 5,000 and 10,000 yen. It's a nice way to kill 3-4 hours on any particular day, but it'll make you very supersitious and annoyed at the other players (many of whom smoke like a chinmney or have poor manners).
 
With pachinko, there is minimal skill. Basically understanding the spec/payout scheme of the machine you are playing, reading the animations to tell when you have a high chance of hitting a jackpot, and learning how to shoot the balls to the left, center, right, and to stop shooting.

With pachislot, you need to learn to stop the reels at a given logo (seven, cherry, watermelon, etc.) at a given time. Being unable to do this will result in your jackpot never starting. The rest you need to know is basically the same as pachinko expect for the ball shooting.

Do note, pachinko has no setting outside for the nails to give the house an edge or to make them loose. Pachislot have 6 settings that the hall can set at the beginning of the day, usually with the lowest at 96% payout to the highest at 115% payout. At any given time, 90%+ of all pachislots are at the lowest setting. 96% means that it will suck away 4% of your investment in the long-term. This might not seem like much, but with high short-term volatility, this is a huge disadvantange to the player.

For 30 min., you really are just testing the machine and should not expect to win much, if anything. If that's your limit, I say go play the standard pachislot - Juggler (boring, but it's the most popular). The odds of hitting a big bonus (jackpot) is about 1/300 and it will give you 6,000yen. The odds of hitting a small bonus is 1/120 and will give you 1500 yen. One spin will cost 60 yen, so pick your poision.

I usually just play my favorite pachinko machine at a rate of 1 yen per ball (ichi-pachi). The normal rate is 4 yen per ball, but I learned a long time ago that's a good way to lose money fast. I just play until I have a nice win or lose between 5,000 and 10,000 yen. It's a nice way to kill 3-4 hours on any particular day, but it'll make you very supersitious and annoyed at the other players (many of whom smoke like a chinmney or have poor manners).
thanks man!
 
Gambling is one of the most destructive addictions. There must be millions of problem gamblers in Japan because of Pachinko.

There is an argument for this thread to be closed as it is promoting a destrucive form of behavior. I hope nobody is negatively influenced by this Ill-judged thread.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Simonka
I knew how the system worked but I'm not sayin......
 
There are additional nuances to pachinko. For example, when you've gotten the win that guarantees the "bonus round" but there's no initial payout. You wouldn't know you actually entered the "bonus round" unless you actually read the printed specs (e.g. odds of winning, what kind of "wins" can happen, etc.) attached to the side of the machine. Or looked it up on-line if the pachinko hall didn't provide that info.

PachiSlots also have their nuances...like, how the payout setting affects how the machine reacts. For example, if you get a setting 6 (115% return over who knows how many thousands / millions of spins) then you are more likely to enter ART mode, but the chance of a bonus doesn't increase. Or, if you've exited ART mode, that doesn't mean you've truly "exited" the mode because you have a high chance of getting back into ART over the next 10-15 spins if you land something rare (chuu-dan cherry, etc.).

So, if you really want to try out how these machines work just play them at a game center. The odds of winning are better and you spend a lot less cash without having to worry about understanding what the hell is going on. The kind of subtle / hidden surprise stuff that happens with these machines in Japan wouldn't be allowed in places like Vegas. They're built the way they are to maximize how much you spend. It's fun and exciting once you understand what's going on, but wil ultimately will eat your money in the long run as the odds are not in your favor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
I’m excited for the Casinos to be legalized in Japan. We need something big to awake this sleeping giant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RIDER 00
Gambling is one of the most destructive addictions. There must be millions of problem gamblers in Japan because of Pachinko.

There is an argument for this thread to be closed as it is promoting a destrucive form of behavior. I hope nobody is negatively influenced by this Ill-judged thread.
Hmmmm, I dunno. One could argue that P4P can be destructive too. Things like smoking or drinking, which either topics can easily come up in the forums, can be considered as such as well. And I highly doubt anyone here would even suggest closing any threads that discuss any of those topics....especially P4P for obvious reasons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AliceInWonderland
There are additional nuances to pachinko. For example, when you've gotten the win that guarantees the "bonus round" but there's no initial payout. You wouldn't know you actually entered the "bonus round" unless you actually read the printed specs (e.g. odds of winning, what kind of "wins" can happen, etc.) attached to the side of the machine. Or looked it up on-line if the pachinko hall didn't provide that info.

PachiSlots also have their nuances...like, how the payout setting affects how the machine reacts. For example, if you get a setting 6 (115% return over who knows how many thousands / millions of spins) then you are more likely to enter ART mode, but the chance of a bonus doesn't increase. Or, if you've exited ART mode, that doesn't mean you've truly "exited" the mode because you have a high chance of getting back into ART over the next 10-15 spins if you land something rare (chuu-dan cherry, etc.).

So, if you really want to try out how these machines work just play them at a game center. The odds of winning are better and you spend a lot less cash without having to worry about understanding what the hell is going on. The kind of subtle / hidden surprise stuff that happens with these machines in Japan wouldn't be allowed in places like Vegas. They're built the way they are to maximize how much you spend. It's fun and exciting once you understand what's going on, but wil ultimately will eat your money in the long run as the odds are not in your favor.

Just a few flaws/lack of information in your suggestions, but thanks for the contribution!

Basically, it all boils down to understanding the payout scheme/spec of the machine you are playing. They can enter into a hidden (senpuku) mode where there is a high change of hitting a jackpot/bonus game scenario without your knowledge unless you can read the animations/machine actions to guess what is going on. Playing without understanding the machine leaves you open to getting hurt in all sorts of ways. This is why I said one major issue to getting more foreign patronage is accesibility to this information.

Playing at a game center means you are playing for arcade medals. You are basically forfeiting your chance to win any cash if you hit a jackpot. I play at the arcades too, but it's only when I get sick of playing at the halls or that is the only loction of a particular machine I want to play.

With all the legislation passed now, I would seriously recommend potential gamblers to stay away from plachislots. They are now being designed to have extremelly low payouts. For instance, on past machines you would be allowed to complete your entire bonus game (ex. 1000 free spins) and get the full payout. Now, the machine is being forced to cancel the remaining bonus games after a specific amount is completed (ex. if you win 1000 medals, the game ends even if you have 600 free spins left). You can try to give yourself better odds by playing old machines, if they are still in the pachislot halls, but they are getting few and far between. This is why everyone in the industry is saying pachislots will be the first to die off and everyone will just switch to playing the casino types.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.