Special issue: Bringing Japan Game Studies and Digital Humanities
Pachinko
A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface
2019 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 72-89
Details
2019 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 72-89
No discussion of play and leisure in Japan would be complete without acknowledging the place of pachinko, a game so popular that it dominates the leisure economy in a way no other medium does, not even videogames. Even in decline, pachinko generates more revenue in Japan than any other leisure pursuit and yet it is rarely discussed in game studies in the West or even in the Japanese literature around game culture. This is largely because of the gambling associated with pachinko and because it is unique to Japan – a national industry with no export potential. Pachinko is at the disreputable edge of gaming—economically, culturally, and mechanically. Above all, pachinko machines stand out as monstrous hybrids that combine the electro-mechanical apparatus of a pinball machine with the digital screen of a slot machine in a curious mixed interface that seems to be an anachronism of a pre-computing era. And that is what this paper is about – the hybrid interface of pachinko.
