Wandering through Tokyo, it is common to run into huge, noisy and crowded halls. Here, in a sort of hypnotic state, gamers sit for hours in front of some strange, flashy machines similar to slot machines: welcome to the Pachinko.
Pachinko is a game very similar to pinball. How does it work?
Players sit in front of the machines and turn a knob that releases metal balls that slide downwards through various obstacles. If, along the way, they fall into a “prize zone”, the player is rewarded with up to 15 other balls to use in the game. On the digital pachinko machines, which now are the most common, there is a special “special zone” that makes you win big prizes. If the ball falls into this lucky hole, a series of numbers will appear – exactly like a slot machine – and you may win thousands of balls, depending on the jackpot.
This game, does not require any skills, it absolutely depends on chance.
Actually, the interesting aspect about these halls is more about the environment than the game itself.
Imagine a huge hall, hundreds of flashy and noisy machines, the sound of steel balls rushing down the gears, and finally a deafening background sound resembling a clunky electric guitar. Now turn the volume to max.
A person in full possession of his mental faculties would resist only few seconds. Yet, all that noise must be perfectly arranged in order to keep the players in a sort of trance.
Many Pachinko are run by the Japanese mafia, and since gambling is forbidden in the country, you can only win prizes ranging from the most basic (cigarettes, socks) to the most valuable: one of these is a gold token that can be exchanged for money at the offices located in the same Pachinko halls. However, they are considered as two separate entities to get around the law.
