1960 宇宙戦争ゲーム (space war game)

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.

ぽんこつ (Ponkotsu)

The scene is dimly lit, but if you look at the background you can see this sign:

It appears to be a projectile shooting range titled 宇宙戦争ゲーム (space war games).

This scene is filmed at 後楽園ゆうえんち (Korakuen Yuenchi) which opened in 1955. (archive)

note the "G" on the right.  This matches the Game Center sign beneath:

this photo had the caption:
【1960年】遊び（昭和35年）▷　ゲームセンター・遊園地 (archive)
[1960] Play (1960) ▷ Game center/amusement park

1980 Magic Toppers - マジック・トパース by シグマ (Sigma)

Name: Magic Toppers - マジック・トパース
Year: 1980
Company: シグマ (Sigma)

In 1980, Sigma released their own version of Magic Toppers, a 10-player mass medal machine.

There is a version that I believe came out in the late 1960s, made by Crompton, that was imported into Japan around 1973 by ジャパンオーバーシーズビジネス (Japan Overseas Business).
Then a redone version by Crompton was imported around 1975 by エスコ貿易 (Esco Trading).

This version of Magic Toppers first appears in Game Machine magazine in 1981:

1981-03-01

1981-03-15

A Sigma company publication puts the year for Magic Toppers as 1980, so perhaps it was first made then, and more widely released in 1981?  Since it's a company publication, there's also a chance they just noted what their internal date was, i.e. when the project began.

私と・シグマと・25年

Sigma exported the machine to the USA.  I have not yet seen any photos of Magic Toppers in a North American arcade.

Cash Box 1981-05-16

Cash Box 1981-05-16
(continued)

Cash Box 1981-07-04

1993 Scotfield - スコットフィールド by シグマ (Sigma)

Name: Scotfield - スコットフィールド
Year: 1993
Company: シグマ (Sigma)

Scotfield is probably the largest single electromechanical arcade game ever built.  It is like all of Sigma's prior derby games, where electromechanical horses ride around a track and numerous players bet on them.  It is a very simple kind of idea that spawn decades of iterations.  Derby games from the 1920s were run off bellows, had mechanical horses, and allowed multiple bets.  This is the same idea, writ grand.

The image I am using for this game is from a flyer for Rongo Rongo, a multi-floor arcade that featured a casino on floors 1 and in the basement, Scotfield occupying floors 2 and 3 to accommodate the tiered seating, and then the legendary BATTLETECH immersive multiplayer game set up on the floors above it.  More on Rongo Rongo from nazox2016. (archive)

Rongo Rongo map:

1968 宇宙大冒険 (Space Adventure) [宇宙大要塞 (Space Fortress)] by 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)

Name: 宇宙大冒険 (Space Adventure) [also known as 宇宙大要塞 (Space Fortress)]
Year: 1968
Company: 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)

One Namco publication lists 宇宙大要塞 (Space Fortress) for 1968.

The Namco Electromechanical Encyclopedia does not include this game at all in any of their lists.

Nours magazine issue # 51, published in 1993, had a feature on Shoot Away II, which included a brief history of Namco gun games.

宇宙大冒険 (Space Adventure)

In the photo we can see the machine is correctly labeled but different from the earlier list.  I think this is the machine the list had in mind.  Either they made a mistake in the name, or there is perhaps an alternate version with the other name.

For the time being, I am going to assume that these are the same game.

Nours 51

1975 Duck Shoot - ダック・シュート by セガ (Sega)

Name: Duck Shoot - ダック・シュート
Year: 1975
Company: セガ (Sega) 

The year of this game was confirmed to me by someone with experience at Sega.  I had seen it in a Sega catalogue that was printed around 1975, but I had never found any confirmation before.

This game does not appear in any of the machine directories, nor have I ever seen any magazines advertisements for it.

In November 1974, the game Duck Shooting was released by US Billiards at the MOA show.

Cash Box magazine 1974-11-09

Cash Box magazine 1974-11-16

Colour flyer for Duck Shooting, and we can see it is extremely similar to Duck Shoot

We can see the graphics were copied, but done in a slight stylistic variation.

1974 Duck Shooting by US Billiards

1975 Duck Shoot by Sega

1972 Target Bowling - ターゲットボーリング by 栗田技研 (Kurita Giken) & タイトー (Taito)

 

Name: Target Bowling - ターゲットボーリング

Year: 1972

Company: 栗田技研 (Kurita Giken) & タイトー (Taito)

Target Bowling was manufactured by 栗田技研 (Kurita Giken) but is listed by タイトー (Taito) in their history of games:

from the Taito 40th Anniversary book

This game was also distributed by arcade operator マル三商会 (Marusan Shokai), but I think Taito is more famous for it.

This game is used in a scene in 愛欲の罠 (1973):

I would like to highlight how great this graphic design is:

this would be very difficult to do in 1972!

1973 machine directory listing

1972 アーチェリー (archery) by タイトー (Taito)

 

Name: アーチェリー (archery)

Year: 1972
Company: タイトー (Taito)

This is from a tweet by onemoretimec:

1972 listed as the year

this publication says 1973

archery range posted by Taito on their 70th Anniversary webpage.  (archive)
"日本初の自動アーチェリーセンター オープン"
(September 1972: Japan's first automatic archery center opens)

The archery range was installed in bowling alleys.  During the 1960s there were also archery ranges in bowling alleys in the USA.

One of the bows had been sold at auction.  This tells us that the bows were made by a company called American Archery from Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, USA.  60" is the size of the bow.

found via a cached auction page (archive)

Another bow, from this tweet by aw11tribology (archive): 

The American Archery logo appears to be printed in the same manner as the Taito logo.  I assume they were a custom order, and that the Taito logo was added by American Archery.

There is a lovely site that has the American Archery catalogues scanned and available online. (archive)

In the 1965 catalog, the company had a different logo, and were located in Clarendon Hills, Illinois.

In the 1966-1967 catalogue they are now listed as being in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin.  They still have the old logo.

This catalogue introduces the Flash model bow.

from the 1966-1967 American Archery catalogue

In the 1968 catalogue, we finally see the logo that matches the Taito bow, and we can clearly see the similarly-styled writing on it.

Flash is one of the few 60" bows ever sold.  In all of the catalogues it is the only 60" bow that looks similar to the Taito bow.  It is also advertised as being perfect for beginners, so it is an ideal bow for a bowling alley archery range.

Here is the Flash bow from the 1972 catlogue.  The only thing different on the Taito bow is that it does not appear to have the inset wood on the grip.  This inset piece appears on every other American Archery bow.

Flash bow by American Archery, from the 1972 catalogue

zooming in

1972 Safari Rifle Range - サファリーライフルマン by タイトー (Taito)

Name: Safari Rifle Range - サファリーライフルマン

Year: 1972
Company: タイトー (Taito)

In the Taito 40th anniversary book we have these 2 photos:

Both photos are listed as from 1973.  The top photo says Safari Rifle Range.  The bottom photo is labeled as アーチェリー (archery).  These photos also appear in this article on bowling.  This is from a tweet by onemoretimec:

The archery ranges were being installed in bowling alleys, as the bowling boom waned.

But this publication says the photos are from 1972.

1972 listed as the year

In a 1972 issue of Amusement we also see this photo, entitled シューテイングシステム (Shooting system).  This is probably most of the same technology, but a huge difference is that this shows a single pedestal, versus the extended (bowling alley sized) lineup of Safari Rifle Range.  This pedestal also has coin doors.  I am unable to discern if the unit on top of the pedestal is the exact same kind as used in Safari Rifle Range.

1972 シューテイングシステム (Shooting system) by タイトー (Taito)