Generative AI is poison to history and truth. As historians and archivists we must shun any usage of generative AI in our communities. It should not be tolerated in the slightest and those adopting it in these fields can no longer be trusted.
Once we allow the perversion of our source materials we have given up on the solidity of our facts. Everything comes into question when truth is destroyed.
1) On a Discord server, a user posted an image of a Japanese videogame magazine cover they had generated with AI, showing everyone how realistic the results were. Creating fraudulent source materials is not something we should be doing it. Not even for fun, as the results themselves poison the information space. If you must be an AI pervert, please do not share with the rest of the world.
3) A youtuber covering the history of Namco took a historical photograph of Nakamura-san and used AI to puppet his body and make him smile and bow for the camera. How utterly disrespectful to reanimate the dead to pad time your youtube video.
If anyone ever makes a deepfake of me you have permission to kick them in the dick.
They also used generative AI to guess at what the Nakamura Seisakusho workshop would look like. They try and justify it by saying that the 'scale is reasonable' but not even that is true. There is no benefit to this fake image existing, but now it will get digested back into the plagiarism machine.
This is an abomination against game history.
the bottom half is the part specifically in reaction to AI, but the whole quote reflects my sentiments towards GenAI.
here's something a little outside my expertise: a digital recreation of four elemecha arcade racing cabinets, for win95 and 3.1 - rare, absurdly niche, undumped, all that good stuff. requested by someone knows this stuff, haha. enjoy! archive.org/details/trot...
Using the disc requires installing a Japanese version of Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. Thankfully Mr^Burns has made a video of the CD-Rom in action.
Most of the images on the CD-ROM seem to be scanned from the 1969 industry yearbook. There is an interview with Furakawa, founder of Kansai Seiki (Kasco), that is included. The materials for the CD-ROM were provided by Furakawa, as suggested by the interview text.
The CD-ROM includes digital recreations of the following games by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki):
1961 ミニドライブ アクセルつき [MA型] (Mini Drive with accelerator [MA type])
1969 Indy 500 [W-type] - インディ500 [W型]
1971 Untouchable - アンタッチャブル
1987 ポルル君の旅行 (Poruru-kun's Travel)
From Jonny's Bluesky thread, here are some of the game image. Hat tip to FTB who also assisted Jonny in getting these running, and to marklincadet for decoding the images.
Of note is pages of an early Mini Drive advertisement! The machine is drawn, and does not appear entirely based on their built model. It is tragic that the images are so small.
ミニドライブ初期広告 Mini Drive Early Advertisement
There is another file on the CD-ROM that has the image larger:
Mini Drive Tokyo to Kobe 600 km Just like a real car! A new game that lets you experience the thrill of driving while practicing your driving skills. - First, insert money and press the pedal to start moving. - A wide belt moves forward. The winding road drawn on the belt is the course. - The steering wheel is real, and the car on the belt is a model, but driving it requires the same skills as driving a real car. - The car moves quickly, and the speed control is just like a real car. Going off course makes it easier. - From Kobe to Tokyo, lights on the map light up one after another, showing you how far you've driven. - Your progress so far is also shown by the lights. - Goal! If you reach Tokyo without any accidents, you get 100 points.
Time required: Approximately 1 minute 30 seconds Dimensions: 2.4 × 2.9 × 2.85 cm Distance from floor to top of display board: 4'5" Kansai Seiki Seisakusho
The first version of Mini Drive sold did not have the accelerator pedal, but the 2nd version, the MA model, did.
Mini Drive initial advertisement sketch
The darker backglass aligns with two Mini Drive variants we have seen.
ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) [original backglass] by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) [alternate backglass] by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
the backglass as seen on the primary flyer:
ミニドライブ M型 (Mini Drive M type) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
There are also pages in regards to ポルル君の旅行:
1987 ポルル君の旅行 (Poruru-kun's Travel) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki — Kasco)
The interview with Furakawa is included on the disc as an image:
July 7, 1997 We visited the home of Mr. Senzo Furukawa, former chairman of Kansai Seiki Seisakusho, through an introduction from Coin Journal. Our purpose was to conduct an interview and obtain his approval for this project. Kyoto summers are as hot as ever. It's unbearable because of the humid spring weather, but on the other hand, this year's Tanabata (Star Festival) looks like it will be a rare sunny day. Mr. Furukawa's home was located in the middle of a quiet residential area in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City. This area is a prime residential area known locally as Yukunai. His home was truly quiet and peaceful, a quiet old house that somehow exuded a sense of tranquility. Mr. Furukawa was remarkably energetic for his age, and he and his wife kindly came out to greet us. There was no air conditioning or fan in the reception room, yet it was surprisingly cool and comfortable. Come to think of it, my own old house in the countryside was like this, and I felt a sense of nostalgia.
We were shown into the reception room, where we explained the purpose of this project to revive electromechanical games to Mr. Furukawa.
Mr. Furukawa initially listened to our explanation with a puzzled expression, but once he understood the purpose, he seemed to find it interesting.
Mr. Furukawa founded Kansai Seiki Seisakusho in 1956.
It's no exaggeration to say that this company created most of the ideas for electromechanical games of the 60s and 70s, including "Stereo Talkie," "Mini Drive," and "Indy 500."
From what I've heard from people involved at the time, it's undeniable that it was the most cutting-edge game company.
Unfortunately, however, the company no longer exists.
Mr. Furukawa lost his son, who was the president at the time, and subsequently liquidated the company.
Even today's top game manufacturers imitated the ideas of the company's products back then.
Some unscrupulous companies even disassembled the company's products and used the contact molds from them.
Hearing that such a company is now a top-tier game manufacturer, I was struck by how times have changed, realizing that companies so strict about copyright now used to do things like that.
"Back then, nobody claimed copyright like they do now," Mr. Furukawa said with a casual laugh. If the company were still in business today, it might be a top-tier game manufacturer by now, and we might not even be considered rivals.
"He's a technical man, so he wasn't very knowledgeable about those kinds of things. The others were good at those things, which is probably why they grew so big," his wife said with a smile.
We showed him a prototype of "Boruru-kun's Journey" on our laptop.
Mr. Furukawa said, "There are so many convenient things now. We didn't have computers back in our day," and added, "Does this have a steering wheel? A driving game just isn't a driving game without one," showing the kind of concern you'd expect from a former developer.
Finally, we asked Mr. Furukawa if he would be willing to become the honorary chairman of the All Japan Retro Electromechanical Game Research Association.
However, Mr. Furukawa declined, saying, "I'm retired now..." The moment we opened his reply, we felt for a moment that we had done something wrong. "Have we reminded him of his son who passed away because of electromechanical games...?" For Mr. Furukawa, this interview itself might have been a painful experience. We felt somewhat guilty and couldn't ask for anything further. Afterward, we received Mr. Furukawa's approval for our project and were able to borrow a vast amount of material. This will allow us to make this project even more accurate. We thanked Mr. Furukawa and his wife for their support and left their home with the borrowed materials.
When machines went digital, a lot of the time the features were lacking because the new tech system WAS the big feature. Digital displays and sounds would dazzle even if the gameplay was lackluster. Here, the train wheels are connected and apparently spin.
It's a very rare game, so just imagine the wheels spinning in the video below. It'll have to do until another is located!
Sega Nostalgia Sega Enterprises, Ltd. has recently released "Sega Nostalgia," a two-player microprocessor flipper. This is the first time a microprocessor has been used in a two-player flipper, and it is an ambitious new product that responds to the popularity of the microprocessor flippers that the company has been developing. It has many features, but one that particularly catches the eye is the rotating train wheel in the center of the playfield, which is a completely different type of feature from conventional ones. When the ball passes through this wheel, a train whistle sounds and points are awarded. The scoring system and the way specials are obtained are full of creative ideas, making it a very fun flipper. "Sega Nostalgia" has already received a lot of positive feedback.
The central feature of this pinball are the dual dancing shrines. There is a kickout hole to the right of them that allows the ball to be popped through the right shrine towards the left.
While this game does have the right outlane gate that can be opened, it does not have a center post.
Sega Mikoshi Sega Enterprises, Ltd. has recently released Sega Mikoshi, a two-player CPU flipper game that is completely different from anything before. As the name suggests, this product fully expresses the fun of festivals, exemplified by the mikoshi (portable shrines), allowing everyone to immerse themselves in the lively festival atmosphere. Special ingenuity has been put into the features and sound effects. The two mikoshi moving in the center of the playfield are particularly novel and make a strong impression. When the ball hits the mikoshi, the decorations shake brightly and the bells ring. The sight is very vibrant, and it feels as if the rich atmosphere unique to Japanese festivals is spreading in the room. Points increase each time the ball hits the mikoshi. In particular, when the ball goes into the kick-out next to the right mikoshi, the mikoshi stops moving, and the ball continues to hit the left and right mikoshi alternately for about 5 seconds, resulting in a high score. With the arrival of Sega Mikoshi, the base of flipper fans will surely expand even further.
<Specifications> Size: Width 750 mm / Height 179 mm / Depth 1430 mm Electrical: 100V / 220W / 50-60Hz Game Fee: 50 yen per person per game
Most of the Mikoshi footage online seems to be from 13-14 years ago, so it's not good resolution.
The main gimmick of Sapporo is a swooping ski trail in the upper-left. You enter it via a kickout saucer that actually gently pushes it out, like a friendly worm.
There's a multiball via the capture holes, plus the far-left lane lights when you hit the "Ski Jump" target near the top of it, then you can can you activate the "ski jump" metal railing with your flipper. It does not seem specifically advantageous.
Also an up-post and a rightlane ball gate. Sega pinball games went above and beyond!
The primary gimmick on Galaxy is with the holes on the left and right side of the mid-playfield. When ready, a ball in there will magnetically "moonwalk" across the playfield. This appears very similar to the effect of the Mist Multiball on Bram Stoker's Dracula.
You can see it in the video below, but this machine also has a switch stuck somewhere and keeps awarding points, that's why you'll hear the chimes keep going.
BSD mist effect:
This video is very low resolution, but we take what we can find...
Other features, like the center up-post and outlane gate, are seemingly standard features of Sega pins.
