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Daiichi announced that it will release a new Pachinko game titled e Senran Kagura on February 3, 2025. The company will base the new Pachinko title on Marvelous' existing action game series.

The new Pachinko game will have a regular jackpot rate of 1/399, but there will be a special Zetsu-Hiden Rush Mode that increases the rate to 1/63.5. Players will have around 57% chance to enter the mode and 80% to maintain it. The game will also have a Lucky Trigger feature where players can enter a Rapid Chance Zone that may result in a large number of Pachinko balls in one go.

The company has also been showcasing a playable sample machine of the Senran Kagura Pachinko game across Akihabara. The machine is available at SENGOKU193 on the ninth floor of the Hulic & New Akihabara building until January 19, 2025. Daiichi will then spend the next day moving the sample machine to the Akihabara Gamers main store, and it will stay there until the company formally launches the game on February 3, 2025.

The latest Senran Kagura console game as of early 2025 is the crossover title Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars, which Compile Heart and Idea Factory gradually released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam between 2021 and 2022. Since then, characters from the franchise have more frequently appeared as crossover guests in free-to-play games, such as Azur Lane in 2023 and BrownDust2 in 2024.

e Senran Kagura will be available at Pachinko halls across Japan on Monday, February 3, 2025.

The post e Senran Kagura Is a New Pachinko Game For the Series appeared first on Siliconera.

Dynam announced that it will set up a new Pachinko game with Rei Ayanami statue based the Rebuild of Evangelion series. It will also features characters like Asuka Shikinami Langley and Mari Illustrious Makinami. The game, which is titled Pachinko Shin Evangelion 99 with Play Time - Entertainment ver., will be available in Japan on February 3, 2025.

Bisty and Fields' new Pachinko game will have a jackpot rate of 1/44.3 on high rate mode and 1/99.9 on low rate mode. Staying in the low rate mode for 299 times will also let players access a special Play Time mode.

The primary highlight of the new Pachinko game will be the life-sized, partial statue of Rei Ayanami attached to the machine. The character will literally watch people playing the Pachinko game themed after the movie series she is featured in.

Here is a sample image showing how the new Evangelion Pachinko machine with a life-sized Rei Ayanami statue will look like:

There has been a multitude of Evangelion-themed Pachinko machines appearing in Japan in recent years. In October 2022, Bisty and Fields revealed a Pachinko game featuring a crossover fusion between the anime series and Godzilla. In September 2024, Sega held a collaboration event between its net Mahjong game MJ and Pachinko Neon Genesis Evangelion: Roar of the Future.

Pachinko Shin Evangelion 99 with Play Time - Entertainment ver. will be available at Dynam's Pachinko halls across Japan on February 3, 2025.

The post New Evangelion Pachinko Machine Will Feature Rei Statue appeared first on Siliconera.

Sega has announced a new collaboration between the “MJ” network Mahjong game app and the Pachinko Neon Genesis Evangelion: Roar of the Future machine. This crossover is designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the anime series. The collaboration will kick off with the SEGA SAMMY PHOENIX MJ Championship, which will be running from September 1-21, 2024. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

We can view the official announcement video on YouTube below:

Players can participate in preliminary rounds to accumulate points and win exclusive prizes, including special in-game performances featuring voices and desk mats tied to the Evangelion theme. Additionally, a Pachinko x Evangelion Gacha will be available, allowing players to collect items featuring characters like Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, along with background music from the Evangelion series, including tracks like Cruel Angel's Thesis.

In related news, a unique collaboration between Godzilla and Evangelion resulted in the creation of a special pachinko machine and a collectible figure. The pachinko game, titled P Godzilla vs Evangelion G Cell Awakening, was first introduced in 2022 as a result of a collaboration between Khara, Toho, Bisty, and Fields. This crossover event featured a physical model, based on the fusion of Evangelion Unit 01 with Godzilla, leading to the design of the “Burning G Awakening Form” figure.

The MJ Mahjong app is available on mobile devices in Japan.

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Pachinko and Pachislot machines have dominated the Japanese gambling market for decades now, but a recent survey suggest that its number of s have been shrinking year by year with new record lows.

To give you an idea how big pachinko is in Japan, the pachinko market was valued at about 30 trillion yen in 1994 and as of 2015, pachinko players in Japan spent more money than the combined annual gambling revenues of Las Vegas, Singapore, and Macao, combined.

However, things are looking to cool down a bit according to Net research service providers MyVoice, who has been doing the pachinko survey since 2008, and this year is its sixth survey in the series. The data comes from 14,360 online participants including men and women from their teens to 70s.

Pachinko Experience

The above shows the results of the past five surveys. As of February 2019, 7.7% (red) have played on pachinko machines and still do. 45.6% (green) say they’ve played in the past but do not currently play. A record high of 46.7% say that they’ve never played a pachinko game before.

While it doesn’t show in the above chart, the very first survey in 2008 had 11.9% for the people that still played, and that carried over into the second survey in February 2010. However, from there it continued its yearly decline going from 10.2% in 2012 to 9.3% in 2014, 8.6% in 2016, and now 7.7% in 2019.

The “I used to play but not anymore” part (green) was at about 57.2% in the very first survey back in 2008 and only 31% participants never played on a pachinko machine.

Pachislot Experience

Pachislot machines, on the other hand, had 5.1% (red) of s who currently play, and 24.1% (green) who played before but not currently, and 70.8% who never played before. These numbers haven’t changed as drastically in comparison to the pachinko side, but its ratio of participants who never played before has continued rising from its 66.3% in 2010.

When asked how often the s frequented pachinko parlors, “About 1~2 times a week” and “About 1~2 times a month” were in the upper 30% area. About 70% of the participants spend 10,000 yen or less during each session, an overall increase from the past.

s provided the following reasons for why they play pachinko and pachislot machines (multiple choice):

• For a change of pace—52.4%
• To kill time—39.3%
• To relieve stress—37.2%
• For fun or leisure—26.4%
• It’s easy to enjoy—24.8%
• It’s a fun way to gamble—22.8%
• It’s fun to play as a game—19.8%
• To make actual profit—18.2%

The s also provided some and requests. Here are some of those:

• “I’d like to go to a shop that would just let me keep shooting pachinko for 500 yen an hour.”
• “A wholesome pachinko. With no gambling and no smoking, just the pure game.”
• “A shop that considers your health, for example one with an established bathhouse and so on.”
• “Perhaps I’d go if there were women-only shops or ones that disallow smoking.”

The post Pachinko And Pachislot Market Continues To Drain In Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s been just a little over a month since the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but Konami’s pachinko company KPE recently filed a trademark for “Big Boss.” [Thanks, Hachima.]

Konami haven’t said anything regarding the trademark, which will cover games, trading card games, medal games, slot machines, pachinko, and board games.

While a service rep for the company recently said that Konami will continue making high-end console games, and while that remains to be seen for now, it looks like we’ll more than likely see a Metal Gear Solid: The Pachinko Pain before getting a new game for the main series.

The post Konami’s Pachinko Company Filed A Trademark For “Big Boss” appeared first on Siliconera.

Capcom is teaming up with Sammy Corporation (a subsidiary of Sega Sammy) for a pachinko money-eater Monster Hunter game. Like most others, it’ll have moving bits and bobs while tons and tons of metal money balls cascade around including a Grush moment  while fighting as a special possibility.

There are all the things you can expect too, like questing and choosing who to team up with to take down foes. The game shows off the ability to select party for your perfect party as well as the ability to customize your character. Because that’s totally why we’d be playing a Monster Hunter game, right?

Don’t ask us what they’re talking about with the numbers—even we’re not versed enough in the world of pachinko to understand it, though supposedly this is meant to suggest to people how “easy” it will be for you to win at the game.

The post Even The Monster Hunter Pachinko Game Is Customizable appeared first on Siliconera.

There's good news and bad news from Sega. The good news is that Phantasy Star Online 2 is doing well and that earnings from the game are exceeding expectations.

Earlier in the month, Sega announced that Phantasy Star Online 2 has over 1 million ed IDs in Japan and that they would be doing a special giveaway in order to celebrate. The game is planned for western release in 2013.

Now for the bad news. Pachislot and Pachinko business is weak in Japan, and this has caused Sega to revise their forecast for the first half (April – September) of their ongoing fiscal year.

Sales of Pachislot machines for the April – September period were expected to be 179,000 units, but Sega have revised this number downward to 108,000 units. Meanwhile, the forecast for Pachinko machines has been revised downward from 103,000 units to 57,000 units.

As a result, while Sega originally expected profits of 3.5 billion yen ($44.4 million) for their April – September period, they have now revised this to 2 billion yen ($25.4 million).

For reference, Sega’s profits during the same period in their previous fiscal year were 3.98 billion yen ($50.5 million). Phantasy Star Online 2's strong performance was not enough to make up for the drop in the Pachislot and Pachinko business.

However, Sega point out, profit margins on Pachinko and Pachislot machines will increase due to cost improvement measures centred around the re-use of components.

The post Sega Profits Down, But Phantasy Star Online 2 Exceeding Expectations appeared first on Siliconera.

There hasn't been a Ranma ½ game in over ten years. That's about to change, but not if you're hoping for a 3D Ranma fighter with online play. Pachinko machine maker Sankyo licensed the Ranma series to create Pachinko Fever Ranma ½.

This isn't the only anime licensed pachi-machine from Sankyo. They already made pachislot (read: slot machines) for Nadesico, Macross and Captain Herlock. Pachinko parlor guests can look forward to hot water gender swapping and token dropping when this comes out "soon".

The post Ranma ½ Catches Pachinko Fever appeared first on Siliconera.

The next Ninja Gaiden game from Tecmo Koei is actually a pachinko machine. CR Ninja Gaiden has Ryu slice and dice bosses when players drop balls into the machine. Other Ninja Gaiden ladies like Rachel, Ayane, and Momoji.

Here's a look at the machine from a NicoNico live stream.

The post Ninja Gaiden Slices And Dices In Pachinko Parlors appeared first on Siliconera.

Darkstalkers, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil and even Chun-Li has her own pachislot machine. Capcom isn’t shy about bringing their video game series into gambling parlors, but Yoichi Egawa, Head of Capcom’s Pachinko and Pachislot Division, has greater aspirations.

“Though our corporate brand is more than robust enough, someday I'd like to see new brands and characters emerge from pachislo machines. In fact, some competitors already have their own original characters for their machines,” Egawa said in an investor’s interview.

Aruze, a company heavily invested in the pachinko business, has a family of pachislot specific characters.

“Additionally, it’d be great if a future pachislo character crossed over and became the main character of a home video game brand.”

Egawa should give Tecmo a call. Rio, one of their pachislot characters, has a cameo in Dead or Alive Paradise. Once Capcom figures out a plan they can start working on Capcom vs. Capcom Pachishlot All-Stars.

The post Maybe We’ll See A Capcom Game Starring A Pachislot Character appeared first on Siliconera.

R-Type and Disaster Report developer, Irem, has been mostly making PSP games. In 2010, Irem is leaping into the current generation with their first boxed PlayStation 3 title.

Don’t get too excited. It’s a sequel to their long running pachislot series. Pachipara 15: Super Beach Tale In Okinawa 2 is slated for March 18. Last year, Irem released a pachipara game as a PlayStation Network . Next year, they’re trying the same thing in stores. Baby steps, Irem, baby steps.

The post Introducing Irem’s First Retail PS3 Game appeared first on Siliconera.

Every December, it seems, AQ Interactive cancels a game with a press release. Last year it was Cry On. This year it’s a game you probably haven’t heard of, CR Hana no Keiji Zan.

CR Hana no Keiji Zan is a pachislot port with a Keiji manga license. This is the kind of game that wouldn’t ever come to North America anyway, but it’s worth mentioning since AQ Interactive just canceled a low budget pachislot game.

AQ Interactive started developing games for HD consoles like BulletWitch. Then they funded Mistwalker’s projects like Away: Shuffle Dungeon. This year, AQ Interactive released a nostlagic music/rhythm game, Ju-On: The Grudge, and a mahjong title starring characters from When the Cicadas Cry for PSP.

Here’s another look at their unfinished project.

The post AQ Interactive Cans PSP Pachinko Game appeared first on Siliconera.

Over the holiday weeks an authentic pachinko game appeared in an unlikely place, the iPhone store. When I got an e-mail about Sho Chiku Bai I contemplated why a new studio would take a risk bringing a pachinko game to North America. I decided to ask Marc Cellucci, the Founder of Mission One.

The story begins back at Sega, involves a canned Dreamcast VMU RPG, and meeting a composer from the Metal Gear Solid series at a party. Follow the journey of opening an independent video game studio in Japan below.

Before starting Mission One you used to work at Sega? What did you do over there?

Marc Cellucci, President of Mission One: My career with Sega started in America, back in the Dreamcast days.  I initially did web work for the Dreamcast Network, and then moved on to content writing for Sega.com, SegaSports.com, and SegaNet.  After three years, I left Sega to come to Japan and study the language for two years.  Then I spent a year at Koei doing marketing stuff, then went to Sega of Japan in the AM3 arcade division, acting as co-producer on the Dinosaur King franchise.

Were there any canceled projects that you worked on that you can tell us about?

There were plenty of canceled projects, but very few I can talk about!  The one I think I can mention is one I was working on in the Sega.com days -- it was an RPG for the VMU.  It was a side project being done by about three of us, and we had a full world map, scrolling engine, and game design all fleshed out, when the plug got pulled from on high.  In retrospect, they were probably right... I don't see a VMU RPG changing the fate of the Dreamcast!   We still wanted to make it, though.

What do you think of Sega since you left the company?

I am a tried-and-true, die-hard Sega fan, and I always have been.  My blood bleeds blue, man.  In the history of the Japanese game industry, no company has taken more risks and has been more innovative than Sega.  Unfortunately, they've been burned by many of those risks, and are still trying to find an identity that works in today's industry.  But I will always consider myself a Sega man (and I still get work from them, so I still feel like part of the family).

After you left Sega you decided to open your own game development studio in Tokyo. What was the toughest part about going "indie"?

Money, or the lack thereof.  I set a goal of trying to run the company self-funded.  The moment you get outside investors on board is the moment things get complicated and you have people to answer to, which goes against why I went on my own in the first place!  That said, game development (even on small games like ours) is really expensive, and if our first couple of titles don't do well, you may see me at one of many banks in Tokyo begging for money!

How did you start Mission One?

Basically, all I did was get some seed money together then fill out some paperwork, and Mission One was born.  I'm using the "virtual office" setup, which means that my staff and I all work from home, which saves me from renting office space and such.  My only startup costs were the seed money, paperwork, and ing fees.  The hardest part was probably coming up with a name for the company!

What tips can you give young developers hoping to start their own development studio?

I might not be the best source, since I'm learning as I go right now, but the best advice I can give is to learn about the business side of games as much as possible.  This probably makes me sound like a suit or something, but if you want to start a studio, you need to know about things like publishing, distribution, budgets, marketing, and human resource management.  Making a killer game is what it's all about, but getting the game into the hands of as many people as possible, while getting stacks of cash back in yours, is what's going to keep you alive.

Do you find that it's difficult running a studio in Japan as a foreigner?

Not especially.  If I hadn't spent the years learning Japanese it'd be a lot harder, but since I can read and write, and have experience producing games in Japan, the only difficulties I've faced in founding Mission One were things like tax laws and such, which I farm out to professionals anyway!

It seems that you have some high profile s since Norihiko Hibino (ed's note: one of the composers who worked on the Metal Gear Solid series and current Ninja Blade composer) composed music for your iPhone game Sho Chiku Bai. How did you get in touch with him?

Hibino-san and I met at a party a few years ago.  (The game industry is a small one, and usually the best way to make "high profile" s is to go to lots of parties!)  We chatted a bit, and got along well as people.  We kept in touch here and there, and when it came time to make Mission One's first title, I thought it'd be a great chance to work with him.  He (thankfully) wanted to work with me as well, and told me that the sugary-sweet J-Pop of Sho Chiku Bai was actually a welcome release from the cinematic type stuff he usually does. 

How did you scale the pachinko experience into a portable iPhone game?

Our goal was to create an authentic pachinko simulator, so to that end we didn't really scale down anything as far as functionality or gameplay go.  That said, in order to make it work on the iPhone, we had to squeeze lots of things (physics engine, animation, sounds, lights, etc.) into a limited amount of memory, and we had to implement touch-screen controls.  The handle was hard to do, because if it's too big you obscure the playfield, and if it's too small it becomes really hard to control.  We worked on it until the very last minute, but I think we finally nailed it in the end.

Why did you decide to make a pachinko game for the iPhone?

It's a funny story, actually.  When I formed the company, another former Sega guy wrote me asking if I could help develop a pachinko game for the PC.  When I saw the mail, I think I made the Gary Coleman "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" face!  Asking the foreign guy to make pachinko was definitely out of left field.  But being hungry for pellets of nourishing work, I started researching pachinko, playing various machines and such.  Once I understood the rules, pachinko became a lot more fun, and the challenge of being (probably) the first foreigner to make a realistic pachinko game was one I couldn't up.

Assembling the team was sheer serendipity.  The artist had just left a pachinko maker, and was looking for a job where she could work from home.  The engineer is a guy I actually went to middle school with, lost touch with for nearly 20 years, then ran into at a party in Tokyo!  (There again, the party thing.)  Then there was Hibino-san wanting to work on this sort of thing.  It all came together pretty magically. 

Making a pachinko game makes sense for Japan, but why did you decide to release it in North America?

Mainly because not releasing at least an English version of an iPhone game is business suicide!  iPhone games are distributed worldwide, and since it was easy to make an English version anyway, we went ahead with it.  And since nobody's really localized pachinko before anyway, I thought it would be a good test of the market.

This is more of a business question, but how do you expect it to sell outside of Japan considering the West's lack of exposure to pachinko? How can you overcome the exposure gap?

I don't expect it to sell well at all, actually!  Pachinko is a very Japanese thing, and the gameplay itself probably won't appeal to your average gamer... it's very much a glorified slot machine, and most Western gamers prefer more skill-based games.  That said, there's a lot of people who are interested in Japan, and have wondered what pachinko is all about.  Sho Chiku Bai is a good way to find out, and it'll only set you back five bucks.

Have you considered developing games for Xbox Live Arcade, Sony's PlayStation Network, WiiWare or perhaps even DSiWare?

In the future, I'd definitely like to release games for those platforms.  I believe that digital distribution is king, and packaged games are going the way of the dodo and game consoles with simulated wood grain s.  Hopefully, you'll see our games on those services sooner than later! 

Images courtesy of Sega / Mission One.

The post On Leaving Sega, Going Indie, And Bringing Pachinko To The iPhone appeared first on Siliconera.