Can't say I would recommend this movie given the dark subject matter, but hey let's check out the arcade games in it anyways! This is another movie that comes to us via a TOO_yoshikawa tweet,
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| 鬼畜 / Kichiku (The Demon) - 1978 |
This is a bit of a tantalizing-yet-disappoint arcade exploration. We can see many machines, but there are too many I have been unable to identify with confidence. But, we work with what we have. I always want to try and state my assumptions and uncertainties as I do these.
Let's start with this scene:
On the left is a unit with 2 single-shot pachinko machines visible. Single-shot pachinkos are readily defined by the height/width ratio of the glass front. You can see the track swoop down to the right at the bottom so the player can see the ball where it will be hit.
This one here seems to be:
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| 1969 パチン・ボール [五角パッチンボール] (Click Ball [Five-sided patch ball]) by 東光遊園設備 (Toko Amusement Park Equipment) |
The angle of the machines in the movie seems less pronounced, but when it is in the distance it can be difficult to be sure as the camera lens can distort things. But the top marquee area certainly seems to lineup, the size of the ridge between machines, as well as the metal trim separating the machine area from the upper marquee area. It could also be a variant configuration that I had not yet seen before.
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| this smudge is showing it from another angle that shows how it does line up well with パチン・ボール |
There were MANY variants of this style, so it is hard to say for sure. Here are other examples of arcade-style setups that utilize a 60s-era pachinko machine. All of these are single-shot pachinko machines from the 60s, except for the auto-pachinko which uses a lovely half-gauge pachinko with a 60s-style ball feeder.
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| ~1970 Ultra Ball [4-sided pachinko] - ウルトラボール [四面パチンコ] by 昭和遊園機械製作所 (Showa Yuen Machine Works) |
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| 1971 ウルトラボール (Ultra ball) by 大東娯楽産業 (Daito Entertainment Industry) |
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| ~1960s Auto-Pachinko - オートパチンコ by アートポイント社 (Art Point) |
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| ~1969 パチテガム [パチンガム] (pachite gum) [pachin gum] by 三共 (Sankyo) |
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| ~1969 ミニパッチン (Mini patchin) by 東光遊園設備 (Toko Amusement Park Equipment) |
On the right side of the screen we have a crane, an air hockey table behind it, and then 2 domed games.
We have no perfect fit for identifying this crane, but I will discuss its similarities to two popular models.
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| ~1969 Sammy Star Crane by サミースタークレーン by さとみ (Satomi) |
The metallic trim and wood grain matches this Satomi crane. But the proportion of of the wood trim to the glass is off. The wood area on the Satomi crane is thinner than the one in the movie.
The Satomi crane also does not have the rail reinforcement at the top of the glass.
Oriental Crane however has the extra metal trim along the top of the side glass, and the width of the side, versus the glass, seems to match that of the movie. I think the crane in the movie is a copy of Oriental Crane, but with woodgrain finish. This machine seems to have been made for many years, so there is a good chance it was made in a number of finishes / colours. (I do not have evidence yet to support this.)
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| ~1969 オリエンタルクレーン (oriental crane) by オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo) it existed in 1969, but was sold well into the 1970s. |
The air hockey table looks like Speed Hockey, but there were also models that looked very similar. Though the side netting is very iconic.
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| 1973 Speed Hockey - スピード・ホッケー by セガ (Sega) |
Let's get a better look at those domes:
The one in the back looks like Satomi's basketball, but with a round dome instead of the one we see in my file photo. Note the black line of the angled cabinet and how perfectly it matches up. IIRC I have seen a Satomi basketball with a different dome at least one other time.
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| ~1969 バスケットボール (basketball) by さとみ (Satomi) |
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| note the red band that continues along the bottom, the shape of the tower in the center and how it expands at the top. |
While this dome might remind us of Space Crane at first glance, it is actually a much earlier domed crane game. I do not know the name of it, but I have seen a photo of it before.
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| ~1966 ロケットクレミー (Rocket Clemmy) |
Oh wait, did you what is behind the domes? No? Well that is because you're a reasonable human being that doesn't spend hours staring at smudgy film frames.
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| do you see it now? |
Let's colour-correct that thing behind the dome...
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| note the thickness of the frame edge, the colours, and the machine's height relative to the rest of the scene. It is going to be one of these two machines... |
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| 1958 ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki) |
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| ~1969 Popeye's Rally Drive - Popeye's ラリードライブ by 日本遊園設備 (Japan amusement park equipment) |
Do you see the machine behind the man? To the right of the 3 mirrors?
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| do you see it? Behind the mirrors? |
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| it almost looks like the black part is the front-face of a large EM cabinet |
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| From this perspective we can see the black is a folding gate, and the blue is a machine facing to the right of the screen. The cabinet is blue and has a metallic plate step like Leijac cabinets. The prize slot more to the right-hand side. |
Looking through the barely perceptible smudges, I think the game might be Jet Coaster.
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| 1977 Jet Coaster - ジェット コースター by 日本ベンディング (Nihon Vending) |
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| 川越ピープルランド (Kawagoe People Land) perhaps there are other photos out there of this arcade? I think this is a well known location. |
Final shot
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| What if, instead of being heartbroken by the sheer cruelty of this movie, we focused on the 8 arcade games visible here? What, don't you see 8 arcade games in this picture??? |
We only see the tiniest sliver of the first game, but the proportions and the slanted rail atop the glass is enough for me to identify it.
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| 1976 Lucky Swing - ラッキー スイング by 日本ベンディング (Japan Vending) |
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| 1977 Acrobat TV by Taito |
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| 1978 宝さがし (Treasure hunt) by 関東娯楽 (Kanto entertainment) |
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| 1978 宝さがし (Treasure hunt) by 関東娯楽 (Kanto entertainment) |
At the moment, my best guess is that there is a Bonanza facing to the right, and the backglass we see on the left is a machine facing more towards the camera, but I can't identify it. It feels so strange to not be able to place it!!
The best match for the side pattern is Bonanza, but note the dashes are leaning in the wrong direction if they were part of the backglass we see. Plus only 2 vertical front dashes instead of the 3.
This was cabinet pattern was copied nearly exactly by a European company for Dancing. Please note dancing ends on blue, but Bonanza has one extra red stripe at the bottom.
The curious thing about these 2 games is that the dashes progress from further back (at the bottom) to towards the player (near the top). When I look on this scene in the movie, my brain forces me to see one pinball machine, but it is very like that the 3 dashes are from one machine, and the side are we see if a 2nd machine, facing the opposite direction. That is the only way I can make sense of the direction of the dashes on the side.
This pattern is also similar to games like Bowling Queen, and to a lesser extent, Majorettes.
The 3 coloured dashes on the front only matches a handful of machines, but none of these backglasses look like they match up.
See also: Bumper Pool / Target Pool / Mini Pool,
At this point I have to move on and admit defeat. But fear not, for I treat these posts as works-in-progress and have come back to solve mysteries at much later dates.
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| buckaroo by Gottlieb |
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| 1965 Kings & Queen by Gottlieb |
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| 1965 Sky-Line by Gottlieb |
At this point I have to move on and admit defeat. But fear not, for I treat these posts as works-in-progress and have come back to solve mysteries at much later dates.
I have asked a number of my pinball-spotting friends about this and we still do not have a satisfactory answer.
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| This photo from 1964 taunts me, showcasing Bowling Queen and Bonanza |
If we return to the earlier shot, we can even see what is probably another mystery pinball
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| not the blue then red vertical stripes, most likely the side of a head. |
It is not a lot to go on, but it is probably a game similar to Let's Go Bazooka. In the movie image, the red line is on the outside, so it is probably not this game.
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| ~1969 Let's Go! Bazooka - レッゴー・バズーカ by ホープ自動車株式会社 (Hope Motor Co) |
Next up in the shot is the dome game, but we identified this one earlier on as that unknown crane game.
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| coin-op pachinko |
The original pachinko machine is probably from the late 60s, early 70s. The single-shot machines would have a larger display window so the player could see their ball at the plunger. But this machine also had a ball feeder tray that was removed for the arcade.
It only seems to have been for a few years, but you do not see many machines with the collector ball tray so low in the cabinet.
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| this is an example of a machine with the collector ball tray very low in the cabinet. In the movie, we see the feeder section has been removed and replaced with an orange panel. Note that you can see more of the track in the machine when compared to a typical 1970s pachinko. It was designed way since it's a "recycler" model, and you have to be able to see the ball jackpot window on machines like this. |
from a slightly different angle:
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| features to note: very low ball collector tray that was only used for a few years. Orange cabinet and feeder tray replaced with an orange panel with a metallic hole Then at the bottom is a tray and the slingshot mech. the right-hand side of the cabinet would have a coin slot. |
It is a different colour and the stand isn't there, but I do believe this is:
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| 1960s コパルガム (Copal Gum) by コパルマシン (Copal Machine) |
Go back to the screen cap this next one is from and see if you can even figure out what part of it I'm talking about. Staring deeply into arcade photos can cause one to go mad, but sometimes you discover smudges like this:
ENHANCE!!
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| even if you did spot this machine, you might assume it is a vending machine |
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| 1968 Golden Jack by Panda (archive) |
If we look deep into the background we can even find these 3 things. Well, on the left and righthand side I think those are arcade games, with it easily looking like an arcade pachinko on the right.
At first I was unsure about the middle one...
I found another angle on it, and it definitely looks like a pachinko-style game:
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