pachinko
Politician wants people to know which businesses in one high-risk industry are ignoring warnings during the state of emergency.
A popular pachinko place claims to be “following suggestions by city mayors“, but is what they’re doing helpful?
A grim mortality rate for pachinko parlor management companies shines a light on the poor health of the industry.
”Preventative measures” sees visitors setting themselves back $75 before even stepping foot into the casino.
Turns out there’s a simple way you assess whether you’re a happy drunk or a dangerous one, at least according to one Japanese Twitter user.
Place your bets now for what you think the biggest energy consumer in the largest city in Japan is.
Videos have emerged of a man smashing pachinko machines with a hammer before being arrested by police.
From the consumer end, it’s easy to mistakenly assume that video game publishers’ only concerns are creating art and providing fun. The reality, though, is that like with any human endeavor, time and money are always limiting factors in game development, and while an abundance of one can sometimes help cover for a lack of the other, at the end of the day there are only so many resources to go around, and companies can’t greenlight every project pitched to them.
But that just makes it all the more heart-warming when a major publisher gives the go-ahead to a new installment of a fan-favorite. Remember how a few months ago Konami halted digital distribution of horror sensation P.T. and the associated Silent Hills, the daydream-come-to-life collaboration between game and film directors Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro? All water under the bridge, because there’s a brand new Silent Hill game coming in October, and it’ll cost less than a buck to play!
Konami is even being bold enough to take the franchise into an entirely new genre: pachinko.
For a country that doesn’t have any businesses officially classified as “casinos,” Japan has a ton of places to gamble. By far the most common are pachinko parlors, which you can find within a short walk of just about every major train station in Tokyo and Japan’s other large cities.
But with so many places to gamble, and many of them allowing customers to purchase the balls used to play for as little as one yen (less than a penny) each, it’s easy to get sucked into the siren song of the pachinko parlor. Seeking to help gamblers keep their wagers within their limits, one company is now proposing using facial recognition software to inform you, or your family, when you’re gambling too much.
What do loud noises, small shiny balls, and bright lights have in common? Pachinko parlors. Pachinko, which can be described as a cross between pinball and slot machines, is a favorite pastime in Japan, despite gambling being illegal (because it’s not technically gambling). The players, who often spend hours sitting in front of these noisy, bright machines, win shiny steel balls, not money, so it’s not gambling, right? Right. Enter loophole: They can take their baskets of balls to a neighboring, but “separate,” establishment to exchange the balls for cash prizes. How convenient!
Pachinko parlors are often huge, gaudy buildings, common even to countryside towns. If you pass one early in the morning, there will often be a line of people rounding the corner, waiting for the doors to open. Many people, especially men, love pachinko. Some members of the government, however, are starting to believe that their citizens love it a little too much.
Gotta find ’em all! should be the catchphrase for the campaign attached to the new The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya animated video. Even though it’s the first new Haruhi animation in four years, its creators aren’t just screening it for free–they’re making fans actually work to see it! That said, the campaign is actually more like a treasure hunt than anything else. Introducing “Haruhi Hunting,” in which the residents of Japan must work together to unlock the new promotional video.
Do YOU have what takes to find all 707 missing frames of the animation?