Tuesday, September 3, 2024

exploring the arcade in 乾いた花 (1964) / Kawaita hana aka Pale Flower

This film contains a bowling alley scene with a few arcade games in the background.  Thank you to @TOO_yoshikawa for bringing this to my attention.

乾いた花 (1964)


let's begin with the machine on the far-left, since we only see it for a fraction of a second



again on the far left, there is a machine that looks like Taito's Sportsman.  But Taito did not begin selling that machine until 1966, so this must be the machine it was based on.


for reference only: 1966 Sportsman - スポーツマン by 太東 (Taito — Crown)


1947 Deluxe Athletic Scale floor model machine by Mercury Steel Corporation

The image does not line up perfectly:  In the movie there are some striations along the top curve of the machine.  This might be a modified paint job, but could also be a geometric reflection of the lights.  The text card also seems differs, perhaps replaced with a Japanese language one.



on the left there is a pinball machine, but it cannot be identified by the door and leg alone.  Let's focus on the 2 machines at the center of the frame.

1960 Skill-Score by Bally

1958 Double Shot by Games Inc

Remember how I said the pinball machine can't be seen?  Well I was looking around online and found this photo/still, which does NOT appear in the movie.  The scene happening here is shot from a different angle, so I suppose this was a photo taken, or from a different camera?  You can easily find the moment the woman wearing black walks past that Skill-Score machine, and the angle is quite different.

Here is what we see in the film at this exact moment:

Curious!  Anyways, that extra still lets us see the pinball machine.
1955 Gypsy Queen by Gottlieb




Finally, on the far right we have a game that has piqued my interest.




It looks like a Dodge City.... but could this be the elusive Western Gun?


is this Sega's Western Gun?  Or just a Dodge City by Frantz, without the marquee?


Sunday, September 1, 2024

scans: プレイグラフ Play Graph 1978 01/02/03/05/06/08

Play Graph (プレイグラフ) was a pachinko operator magazine.  Thank you to the members of the global pachinko community that contributed funds to help us purchase 19 issues of this magazine, and thank you to @Detchibe for scanning these (as well as contributing funds).  The magazines are filled with great images of new pachinkos, arrangeball machines, gear for running a pachinko parlor,  photos of parlors, and articles about the industry and players.  

Here are the first 6 scans.  I have also posted some of my favourite pages under the cut.

If you would like to help with future magazine purchases my email (and paypal) is thetastates@gmail.com and you can also find us on the GA Discord.

Tip: If you download the "COMIC BOOK ZIP" from the Internet Archive you can rename the .CBZ file to .ZIP and then unzip the entire issue as JPEG images.  These can be easily dropped into Translate programs.

プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 1 (January 1978) (600DPI)


プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 2 (February 1978) (600DPI)

プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 3 (March 1978) (600DPI)


プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 5 (May 1978) (600DPI)

プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 6 (June 1978) (600DPI)

プレイグラフ [Play Graph] Vol. 14 No. 8 (August 1978) (600DPI)