the mysterious オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo)

オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo) is a company that baffles me.

They have seemingly taken machines from other companies and change the name and sometimes some of the art and then resell them.  Some times they take a machine and keep the original name and improve it for the Japan market.  Some times it seems they have made their own machines.

(I am going to be linking to a few machines on my other project, a foreigners' guide to eremeka arcades - 外国人のためのエレメカアーケードゲームガイド.  Be sure to check that link out for vastly more information that you need about eremeka arcade machines.  Click the linked names of machines in this article for a more thorough look at them.)

It's gonna get weird.

80遊戯機械総合年鑑 - 1980 Amusement Machine Yearbook

 I am ecstatic that I can share this with you:  the 1980 Amusement Machine Yearbook!

1980 80遊戯機械総合年鑑 (1980 Amusement Machine Yearbook)

You want cocktail video games?  We've got cocktails galore.  1980 was part of that peak cocktail period where everyone sat like crabs and THEY LIKED IT, DAMMIT.

Go download the 1980 Amusement Machine Yearbook at archive.org!

Louis Koziarz pinball files: Jack*Bot

Documents that Louis Koziarz has shared, this time related to Jack*Bot.

Jack*Bot

William, 1995

Jack*Bot #Pinball, how it started: We bought a Pinbot, ripped out the playfield, tore out the harness,and wired up a WPC harness to it. And that was the whitewood for the first four months.

There was a bit of spy work involved with getting that Pinbot. The biggest help was Rick S, a friendly local collector who we swore to secrecy. But the whole ask was a bit out of the ordinary.

"Can you help us find a Pinbot? And can we get it in the next 48 hours?"

Jack*Bot #Pinball, how it ended: Field test game #1 at the Old Town Ale House, Chicago. Drinking a toast with Larry DeMar (LED) and Jim Patla. I'm not even sure the Ale House served champagne. Maybe Larry brought it along?

Louis Koziarz pinball files: industry files

These are things Louis Koziarz shared that aren't tied to one specific game, and give broader views of the pinball industry and development process.

More #pinball artifacts from Williams. This chart is one of my favorite, it's the master project list from around 1996 or so. There are all the familiar games here, and a lot of abandoned prototypes or cancelled projects. It's worth a whole thread on its own.

Project 90004 "Armed and Dangerous" was a Gomez shooting game. Kind of like Hyperball but with flippers and standard balls. Games would be linked with a serial cable.
https://www.thisweekinpinball.com/this-week-in-pinball-september-30th-2019/

#Pinball designer George Gomez, looking really pleased that Armed and Dangerous got cancelled. You can see the whitewood over there on the left.

Louis Koziarz pinball files: No Good Gofers

 These are tidbits that Louis Koziarz has been sharing on Mastodon.

No Good Gofers

Williams, 1997

Back to #pinball concept art. Meet Bud.

Gofer evolution. The macquette was carved by Youssi as our visual guide to Buzz. (More on that first guy later).

Dave Link sculpted it into a 'squarish' target that filled the mechanical space and wouldn't fall apart when hit. Then it was molded in different materials like sticky rubber and hard Delrin until we found something that felt right.

Louis Koziarz pinball files: Tales Of The Arabian Nights

Louis Koziarz has a decade of pinball credits, for both design and software.  From Theatre of Magic for Midway in 1995, to NASCAR / Grand Prix for Stern in 2005.  They are on Mastodon sharing some incredible things, and I am boosting them here.  These posts will be compiled one per game.

Please show Louis some love for their incredible contributions to the industry.  

These have been reposted without express permission.

Tales Of The Arabian Night

Williams, 1996

First whitewood. See if you can spot all the changes from the final version. The actual playfield shot geometry didn't change at all, but the ramps did.

Note the "open sesame" cave that was trying to have two positions (partially open and fully open). And the vanishing magnet was on that small standup off the left ramp. The mech is awesome, but not in that position. Capturing the ball was impossible.

scans: Taito service bulletins 1980-1983

John of John's Jukes (flippers.com) has scanned in his binder of Taito service bulletins!

Download them all at the Internet Archive.

They range from 1980-1983, and include service notes for these games:

1. Alpine Ski
2. Change Lanes
3. Colony 7
4. Crazy Climber
5. Electric Yo Yo
6. Front Line
7. general
8. Grand Champion
9. Jungle Hunt
10. Kram
11. Lock N Chase
12. Lunar Rescue
13. Moon Shuttle
14. Polaris
15. Qix
16. Space Chaser
17. Space Dungeon
18. Space Invaders
19. Stratovox
20. Wild Western
21. Zarzon
22. Zookeeper

some examples:

Grand Champion steering assembly

[translation] Further Efforts to Ensure Business Compliance with Laws and Regulations Results of Fact-Finding Survey on "Invader" TV Game Machines

Space Invaders survey time!  This article looks at the impact of Space Invaders in 1979.

This article first appeared in Game Machine No. 128 – Oct. 01, 1979 (pages 18-21).  It has been transcribed and translated by tweakbod (at Gaming Alexandria).

Download a PDF with the English translation and Japanese transcription.

First paragraph:

Since last year, TV game machines that emit strange electronic "kyūn-kyūn" sounds, the so-called "invaders," have exploded in popularity among young people and invaded Japan in the blink of an eye. However, this extraordinary boom has led to the emergence of various forms of misconduct, such as theft and extortion for game money by boys who are hooked on the game, and also to the emergence of those operating in a way that stimulates the gambling spirit, such as offering prizes for the results of games, which has become a major social problem.

Read the rest in the PDF.