This machine's device has been used in two prior games, in USA. Machines like this use air pressure to raise or lower the floating ball, with the goal of keeping it in a guided precision range.
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| Game Machine 1992-04-01 |
Transcript:
占いの要素を加味したアーケードゲーム機「マインドコントロール」が、㈱関西精機製作所(本社京都、古川純一郎社長)から三月下旬発売となる。これはボックス内の下にある男の頭の中から上へ真っすぐに伸びた透明チューブがあり、チューブ内をボールが風圧により上下動する。プレイヤーはボールスイッチを回しチューブ外側のリングを、ボールに合わせて上下動させるというもの。
ゲームはタイマー制。終了後、ボールにピッタリとリングを合わせていた時間と予言(簡単な占い)が書かれたシートをブリントアウトする。OP価格六十六万円。
Machine translation:
``Mind Control,'' an arcade game machine with elements of fortune-telling, will be released in late March by Kansai Seiki Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Kyoto, president: Junichiro Furukawa). This is a transparent tube that extends straight upwards from inside the man's head at the bottom of the box, and the ball moves up and down inside the tube due to wind pressure. The player turns the ball switch to move the ring on the outside of the tube up and down in time with the ball.
The game is timer-based. After finishing, print out a sheet with the time when the ring was perfectly aligned with the ball and the prediction (simple fortune-telling) written on it. OP price: 660,000 yen.
I have not seen evidence of this machine outside of the mention in Game Machine magazine. I do not know if it entered full production, but I would like to find any flyers or price lists that mention it.
In 1986 Williams was working on a game called Direct Hit, which never left prototype. They were developing their system 10 board, but no other game utilized it. A friend of mine has restored one of the few that still exist:
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| 1986 Direct Hit [prototype] by Williams |
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| 1986 Direct Hit [prototype] by Williams |
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| 1986 Direct Hit [prototype] by Williams | (pic via pinrepair) |
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| an extremely rare Williams System 10 board, posted to pinside |
In 1987 this concept was resurrected by ICE for U 235 Meltdown, which apparently only had about 50 copies made. There are rumours that the machine was pulled / did poorly because of the Chernobyl reactor meltdown that happened in 1986, but there is no actual evidence for this that I could find.
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| 1987 U235 Meltdown - メルトダウン [import] by ICE & 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki) |
I have posted the full scan of the U235 Meltdown flyer over here.
This game appeared in Japan for the 1987 Amusement show, brought by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
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| Game Machine 1987-11-01 |
It is interesting that Kansai Seiki utilized this device 5 years after they brought U 235 Meltdown to Japan. If there are any publications or interviews that mention any of these machines, or what was occurring with Kansai Seiki and their development, I am very curious to learn more.
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| 2005 Capsule Craze by Bob's Space Racers |
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| 2006 Bubble Up by Bob's Space Racers |
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