Thursday 4 August 2022

1978 Submarine - サブマリン by ナムコ (Namco)


Name: Submarine - サブマリン
Year: 1978
Manufacturer: ナムコ (Namco)








 This is the final game in the electromechanical "Periscope" series.  Please  note there were other periscope-style games in the USA, including the 1946 Undersea Raider by Bally, 1969 Sea Raider by Midway, 1970 Sea Devil by Midway, and the 1976 Sea Wolf by Midway.



1976 Sonar Attack - ソナー・アタック by ユニバーサル (Universal)


Name: Sonar Attack - ソナー・アタック
Year: 1976 
Manufacturer: ユニバーサル (Universal)



advertisement in Game Machine

new release article in Game Machine

Wednesday 3 August 2022

1968 Sonar Attack - ソナーアタック by さとみ (Satomi)


Name: Sonar Attack  - ソナーアタック
Year: 1968
Manufacturer: Samy / さとみ (Satomi)
 

Sammy (written Samy here) is an English-facing brand of さとみ (Satomi).







Sonar Attack - ソーナーアタック by 三共 (Sankyo)


Name: Sonar Attack - ソーナーアタック
Year: 1960s
Manufacturer: 三共 (Sankyo)


An obvious contender against the セガ (Sega) and 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho) machines, I do not know when this actually came out.  I am assuming it is after 1965, but was probably discontinued by the time the 1969 Machine Directory came out.

Sonar Attack [single] - ソーナーアタック by 三共 (Sankyo)

 

Name: Sonar Attack [single player] - ソーナーアタック
Year: 1960s
Manufacturer: 三共 (Sankyo)


Another of the many submarine games, Sankyo also developed a single player and larger multi-player installation version.  


blue!

I have not seen any further references to these Sankyo machines.,

Submarine - サブマリン by 三共 (Sankyo)

Name: Submarine - サブマリン
Year: 1969 or earlier (probably mid-1960s)
Manufacturer: 三共 (Sankyo)

I only have a single reference to this large installation by Sankyo, and that's the 1969 Machine Directory.  The clever cut-away in the picture reveals what is obfuscated by the control panel.  I assume it has similar gameplay to the similarly-sized 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho) and セガ (Sega) units.

This is a bit of an outlier for the "Periscope Series" since it doesn't seem to have a physical periscope, but it is hard to ignore when lined up next to the other machines in the series.

1968 Periscope [single] - ペリスコープ by セガ (Sega)


Name: Periscope [single player version] - ペリスコープ
Year: 1968
Manufacturer: セガ (Sega) 


1969 Machine Directory entry, using the promotional illustration in lieu of a photograph






snipped from the essential Who Created Periscope? article

These photos were provided by Past Time Arcade:
Note how Periscope makes Hercules feel like a normal-sized pinball machine, and Nudge It becomes even more diminuitive.






Thank you to Past Times Arcade for taking these photographs for us!



These next pics are from pinrepair:

1967 Periscope - ペリスコープ by 太東 (Taito — Crown)


Name: Periscope - ペリスコープ 
Year: 1967
Manufacturer: 太東 (Taito — Crown)


We have a reference that Periscope was exhibited by Taito at the 1967 MOA show.  This appears to be the release year, as referenced in a Taito anniversary book:
Taito 40th anniversary book




1969 machine directory entry


English flyer: Crown was the brand Taito used overseas

Be sure to check all of the pictures at pinrepair.


This game appears to be a copy of Torpedo Shoot by Mayfield 
Torpedo Shoot


Cash Box 1965-12-18



1966 Periscope - ペリスコープ by セガ (Sega)


Name: Periscope - ペリスコープ
Year: 1966
Manufacturer: セガ (Sega) 


Once again, we defer to the article Who Created Periscope? to hash out the details we have now, but it's safe to say the Sega models are more well known internationally.
Sega would release a single-player version in 1968.

A year prior, Nakamura Seisakusho released their massive Periscope game.  While it is not know if Sega licensed it or copied it, I think it is safe to assume that Sega's design is a copy of it.











It is delightful to have some of the technical details for games of this era:

Periscope can be seen in the background of ザ・ガードマン (The Guard Man) episode 118 大泥棒一家.  (you can find a detailed breakdown of the machines pictured here in the post exploring the arcades in a few Japanese TV shows)

1966 Periscope - ペリスコープ by 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)


Name: Periscope - ペリスコープ
Year: 1966
Manufacturer: 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)



Namco has done a great job advertising their history, but through their publications many errors have cropped up.  I do not think this is the 1965 "Torpedo Launcher" version in this image.  For whatever reason, it might have been easier for them to just collapse the more complex history into one single entry.

the caption says "this appears to be from a vendor show" [Sawano, 2017]


can you understand the blurry text?

photo from 1967, taken from Who Created Periscope?

1969 Machine Directory entry


a foreigners' guide to eremeka arcades - 外国人のためのエレメカアーケードゲームガイド: introduction & main page - 紹介&メインページ

eremeka search tool  // エレメカ検索ツール begin browsing at 1960 / 1960年代から閲覧する begin browsing at 1970 / 1970年代から閲覧する begin browsing at 1980 / 1980...