Name: 宇宙戦争ゲーム (space war game) Year: ~1960 Company: unknown
Currently, the only record of this game existing is from the movie ぽんこつ (Ponkotsu). We can't tell much about the game except that it is a large shooting gallery setup. There are at least 2 globes hanging from the ceiling that are slowly rotating at the speed of a mirror ball, but those might just be decoration.
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This machine seems based on a 1970s candystore game:
1977 ブラックパンサー (Black panther) by ウコー (Uko)
This modern version seems to be made by the same company that produced コロリンボール (Kororin Ball). The handles appear to be identically machined:
I have no actual date references for this game, but there is circumstantial evidence to believe that this and Kororin Ball were released around the same time. It is only via this circumstantial evidence, and the same control mechanisms used, that I presume this machine was also made by 安宅商会 (Ataka Shokai).
高額落札された駄菓子屋ゲーム（エレメカ）まとめ 2012 (archive) this blog post from 2012 has a screen shot of this machine at auction, so it was definitely released by 2012.
Aplastic NOS topper
at the center of the spiral is a pin field guarding the prize hole
Compare the above to the center of Black Panther, the game from 1977 that it is based on:
The "Version 2" sign on here refers to how they made the final target easier to hit, but I am unsure if this was a company modification, or made by the DGM owner.
game instructions
For a long time Kororin Ball was a mystery. There were many photographs of this machine in different Japanese arcades, but I could not find any solid information on it online. The machine itself does not display a company name. Despite this machine seeming to be a popular modern version of a candystore game, I could not locate any flyers for it, advertisements in magazines, or entries for it at arcade websites.
There is a rejected trademark application filed in 2009 for this machine's name:
This blog entry from 2012 shows that one of these machines was sold at auction in 2012. This clip also identities the company as Ataka Shokai. I would guess that this machine was released some time between 2009 and 2011. It is possible it game out earlier in the mid 2000s and they only applied for a trademark later.
こうして海外への輸出で自信を得た里見は、京都で失敗したクレーンゲーム機に再度挑戦して海外へ売り出そうと考えた。そして「ソナーアタック」発売2年後の昭和45年、現在でもゲームセンターにある、コインを入れハンドルを操作して好きなものを吊り上げるクレーンゲームの原型である「サミークレーン」を完成させた。輸出となると、世界どこでも通用するブランド名が必要になる。そこで「さとみ」から「と」を抜いて「SAMMY(サミー)」というブランド名を付けて売り出した。 Having gained confidence through exporting overseas, Satomi decided to try again with the crane game machine that had failed in Kyoto and sell it overseas. In 1970, two years after the release of ``Sonar Attack,'' he completed ``Sammy Crane,'' the prototype of the crane game still seen in game centers today, where you insert a coin and operate the handle to hoist whatever you want. When it comes to exporting, you need a brand name that can be recognized anywhere in the world. So he removed the "to" from "Satomi" and gave it the brand name "SAMMY" and began selling it.
The text might be unreliable, since Star Crane was listed in the 1969 machine yearbook:
1969 coin machine directory
Since the Satomi article claims the Star Crane was 1970, but it was obviously there in 1969 for the machine directory, I think it is reasonable to say that Sammy Star Crane is a 1969 machine.
It is odd that Star Crane is described as the template for crane games today when Taito and Sega each had very successful cranes earlier. In fact in the 1969 machine directory, the Sammy Star Crane is just one of about 8 similar crane machines.
Star Crane looks nearly identical to Sega's Skill Diga from a few years earlier. The only difference I can see, beyond the name and logo on the arm, is that Star Crane has two coin slots to Skill Diga's single, and thus two coin reject buttons.
1965 Skill Diga - スキル・ディガ by セガ (Sega)
1969 Sammy Star Crane - サミースタークレーン by さとみ (Satomi)
Company: 昭和娯楽物産 (Showa entertainment products) & 日本遊園設備 (Japanese amusement park equipment)
This machine only appears in the 1969 machine directory, and so we can only say that the year of release was ~1969, but it could have been earlier.
While the backglass says "Pony Derby", the advertisement and all of the catalogue entries refer to it as New Pony Derby. We do not know if or how Keeney and/or Satomi are involved with this machine, if at all. This machine is a nearly exact copy of Satomi's New Pony Derby, with only minor differences.
At the bottom of the advertisement, 日本遊園設備 (Japanese amusement park equipment) is mentioned.
Looking at the right-side of the machine we see 5 prize slots and we were able to match up the 3 colour blobs to vintage Japanese cigarette logos. (Thank you to EM好きおじさん for the extra cigarette information)
This tells us 里見治 (Satomi Hajime) was born in 1942. He entered university in 1960, and while in university he began selling game amusement machines. サミー工 業 (Sammy Industries) was founded in 1975. They became サミー (Sammy Corporation) in 1997.
23歳で独立してアミューズメント機の販売を始めた里見だったが、アミューズメント機の需要が多くなってくると、㈱セガや㈱タイトーなど大きなメーカーが製造だけでなく直接販売もするようになった。こうなると、メーカーからゲーム機を買って販売していた里見は価格面で太刀打ちできなくなった。 "Satomi started selling amusement machines independently at the age of 23, but as the demand for amusement machines increased, large manufacturers such as Sega Corporation and Taito Corporation began not only manufacturing them but also selling them directly. When this happened, Satomi, which had been buying game consoles from manufacturers and selling them, was unable to compete on price."
That would mean that Satomi began selling amusement machines around 1965.
caption at the bottom: (株)さとみが最初に市場へ投入したアミューズメント機 「ポニーダービー」 "Pony Derby, the first amusement machine introduced to the market by Satomi Co., Ltd."
If that text is accurate, it means the year for Pony Derby probably 1965.
If you look closely, you'll see that it uses the "Samy" brand:
They dropped the "To" from Sa-to-mi to make "Samy". By 1970 this would be spelled as "Sammy".
Pony Derby is a bit of a mystery to me. It was a machine first made by Keeney in the USA in 1964. There were many new laws against gambling machines in the USA (the latest wave began in the mid 1950s) and in the 1960s the legislation was altered to allow for transport of gambling machines. Keeney was selling console slot machines to the UK market via Mar-Matic.
Cash Box 1964-02-01
Cash Box 1964-02-01
In that same issue we get a glimpse of the Mar-Matics booth at ATE.
it is nigh impossible to see, but beneath the "L" in Limited is a machine I believe to be a Keeney Pony Derby based on the rough cabinet shape, legs, and payout slot. Cash Box 1964-02-01
Pony Derby was also scheduled to make an appearance at the 1965 ATE Cash box 1965-01-23
The machines being brought into Japan are very different in appearance than the ones for the UK and USA. (With that statement I am assuming there were still some select markets in the USA that they were sold to.)
I have not heard of anyone else owning or discussing one of these, so I am unsure if they were successful. Given the lack of mentions in magazines and by collectors, I assume it was not a success compared to their other slot machines.
The Japanese Pony Derby also has an entirely different backglass than the regular Keeney Pony Derby.
1964 Penny Derby (1D Derby) by Keeney (note: this image has been stretched from its original form into the current perspective)
Thank you to Chris Dade for the revelation that what we see in Japan is actually a reworking of "Penny Derby", which was released at the same time as Pony Derby. If you look at the Cash Box articles above, it is referred to as "1D Derby", 1D being how British currency referred to a penny then.
1964 Penny Derby (1D Derby) by Keeney
1964 Penny Derby (1D Derby) by Keeney
Satomi's Pony Derby uses the iconic metal castings that we see on both Keeney machines, Pony Derby and Penny Derby.
Note: These castings are not found on the machine "New Pony Derby".
The small metal payout cup is typical of Keeney slot machines of that era.
The game play of Keeney's Pony Derby is very basic. One button to select your horse, and one button to start. The Satomi Pony Derby also has just these two buttons. Earlier Keeney slot machines had an iconic metal handle that would rotate to start (see the Blue Spot photo above) but that was not used on Pony Derby, just the Select and Start buttons.
It seems that Keeney created a special version of this machine for export to Japan. The differences:
Different cabinet dimensions
Different buttons locations
the backglass has many differences:
The odds are not on the glass
the name was changed from Penny Derby to Pony Derby
The Trophy Entry and Copper Star areas in the upper-right were moved further to the right.
1964 Penny Derby (1D Derby) by Keeney flyer via Chris Dade
