1965 Skill Diga - スキル・ディガ by セガ (Sega)

Name: Skill Diga - スキル・ディガ
Year: 1965
Company: セガ (Sega)

This machine was Sega's first hit.  Sega formed in 1965 (see research notes) and released this machine at the start of the crane game boom.

year given in Sega Arcade History by Famitsu DC

Sega 1966 price list shows Skill Diga at the top of their list, selling for 400,000 yen

Sega's Skill Diga is seemingly modeled after Jaguar Gru [Jaguar Crane] - ジャガークレーン [import, 1961] by Sidam.  It had competition from Taito in the same year, with クレーンゲーム [クラウン602] (Crane Game [Crown 602]).

Jaguar Gru [Jaguar Crane] - ジャガークレーン [import, 1961] by Sidam

Japan has a long history of crane games, going back to the early 1930s.  Crane machines were invented in the late 1920s, so they have always been popular.  But the old crane styles involved rotating the crane with a crank/wheel to position it before the claw came down.  This new style of crane game had two buttons, one for each direction: an innovation that had not existed prior to world war 2.

Skill Diga export flyer

Thank you to KT2 for these wonderful photographs a beautiful and rare machine:

a peak at the original marquee

a glimpse inside

Transcription:

・10円を入れて下さい。
・クレーンは1のボタを押している間前進します・
・次に2のボタンを押している間右に動きます
・止った位置で品物を自動的に拾って戻って来ます。

Machine translation:

・Please insert 10 yen.
・The crane will move forward while pressing button 1.
・Next, move to the right while pressing button 2
・Automatically picks up items at the stopped position and returns.