Written By: Ken HulseySource: Dvice.com
The Japanese populous is presently being bombarded with slick adds featuring Darth Vadar on television and giant video billboards. The adds feature Vader-head bomber planes descending en masse on Japan, Vader heads rolling off a robotic assembly line, a massive Vader army standing at attention, and a live action sequence in which Vader enters a room full of Stormtroopers and proceeds to slice through a holographic projection of the country of Japan with his light saber.
What's all this Vadar advertising about? Is there a new Star Wars movie coming out in Japan? Is there some new Star Wars related video game about to be released in the "Land of the Rising Sun?"
No these larger than life adds are a promotion for Sankyo's new "Fever Star Wars" pachinko gambling machine.
A gambling machine? you may ask, well pachinko is huger than huge in Japan. Think of it as a kind of pinball machine combined with a slot machine.
Here is what Wikipedia says:
There are many types of pachinko machines and parlor regulations, but most of them conform to a similar style of play. Players can buy metal balls by inserting either cash, a pre-paid card, or their member's card directly into the machine they want to use. At 4 yen per ball that's 250 balls for every 1000 yen. These balls are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. The pachinko machine has a digital slot machine on a large screen in the center of its layout, and the objective here is to get 3 numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot.
The winnings are in the form of more balls, which the player may either use to keep playing or exchange for tokens (typically slits of gold encased in plastic), vouchers, or a vast array of prizes. First, when players wish to exchange their winnings, they must call a parlor staff member by using the call button located at the top of the machine they used. The staff member will then carry the player's balls to an automated counter to verify how many they have. After recording the number of balls the player won and the number of the machine he or she used, the staff member will then give the player either a voucher or card with the number of balls input into it. It is this voucher or card that the player must hand in at the parlor's exchange center to get their tokens or other prizes.
Some prizes are as simple as pens or cigarette lighters; others can be electronics, bicycles, 50 cc scooters or other items. Under Japanese and Taiwanese law, cash cannot be paid out directly for pachinko balls, but there is usually a small exchange center located nearby (almost always separate from the game parlor itself) where players can conveniently exchange their winnings for cash. This is tolerated by the police because, on paper at least, the pachinko parlors that pay out goods and tokens are independent from the exchange centers that trade the tokens in for cash. Some pachinko parlors may even give out vouchers for groceries at a nearby supermarket.
For more information on the "Fever Star Wars" pachinko gambling machine go HERE
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