Sammy Buys Shares, Angling For Sega Takeover

cdneng2 writes "Following failed merger talks earlier this year, it seems like game developer/pachinko giant Sammy has made a bid to acquire 22.4% of Sega shares. Sega's former parent company CSK sold its shares to Sammy, Japan's largest pachinko machine maker, who also has a game development subsidiary. The article mentions: 'Sega managed to rebuff its most enthusiastic suitors [including Namco, possibly EA, Microsoft] in a determined effort to remain independent', but it seems their efforts may be failing. The piece also notes: 'Sega officials are believed to have been particularly unhappy about a merger with Sammy due to the shady image of the pachinko industry in Japan'."

Comments

PACHINKO PACHINKO PACHNKO

[Anonymous Coward]

Coming to Xbox, PS2, and Gamercube in spring 2004

Pachinko/Pachislot

[FesterDaFelcher]

Off Topic, but here is a great presentation on how pachislot/pachinko works, if you dont know. Great Engrish too.
Sammy Pachinko Virtual Tour

Pity about Pachinko's reputation...

[DLWormwood]

It's the last surviving profitable form of bagatelle or pinball in the world right now. And pachinko's a destinctinly Asian, if not Japanese, gaming form. You would think that this game would have more success as a cultural export. (I find Japanese slot machines all the time here in the Midwest, but rarely find a pachinko machine.)

I own one, and I can say that it's very fun to play with. The only prob is keeping the machine fed with ball bearings. They don't recycle their own bearings; they have to be mounted in a special wall for that. I really ought to dig it back out of that attic sometime...

Re:Pity about Pachinko's reputation...

[DLWormwood]

It's just gambling... I don't see the appeal?

"Officially," Pachinko's a redemption game, like Skee-ball. The skill element is adjusting a dial to determine how far into the playfield individual balls are ejected. A good player can usually look at the wear and pin arrangement to determine which machines are more likely to pay out. (Parlor operators are always hammering and bending the pins to thwart such efforts.)

The "seedy" rep comes from two aspects...

• On most machines, there's a special hole or bucket that triggers a mini-game. This is usually some variation on slots. Pachinko machines tends to be rather noisy when this happens, making a parlor sound much like a Las Vegas casino.
• Most prizes that are redeemed can usually be taken to a nearby pawn shop and sold. Many shops and parlors are said to have "below board" ties that encourage this, leading to weird exchange rates and cash values for seemingly worthless trinkets.

Better than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo....

[dstyle5]

... buying them. If the Sammy buyout goes through then Sega will most likely still develop games for all consoles. :) If Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo would buy them then Sega games would be exclusive to one console again, which isn't fun if you don't have all 3 consoles.

Re:Better than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo....

[SScorpio]

Why would you need all 3 consoles? Wouldn't you just need the console from the company that bought them out?

Right now you need all 3 console to get the full Sega product line such as Panzer Dragoon, and Shenmue on the Xbox, Shinobi, Virtua Fighter on the PS2, and Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg on the GCN.

One of them buying Sega would require you to need to own fewer consoles. Of course in the end it would be better for them to produce every game for every console but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Re:Better than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo....

[edwdig]

If you don't have all 3 consoles and are a Sega fan, it would be better if they became exclusive.

Right now their games are distributed amongst all 3 platforms. Very few of their games come out on all three. So you need all 3 systems to play Sega games. If they were exclusive, you'd only need one system.

Sega makes Gambling Machines as well

[cdneng2]

Pachinko is an Asian gambling machine, and most people aren't aware that Sega makes gambling machines (Royal Derby, Blackjack, Royal Ascot, Bingo Party, and Roulette Club) as well.

Not flaming, just uninformed:

[Elwood P Dowd]

According to this dude's travelogue in North Korea, the majority of the Pachinko parlors in Japan are owned by Korean Japanese folks, and they send a bunch of their profits off to the DPRK. While the bulk of their money may go to basic human services, and I don't necessarily have a problem with this relationship, it's still interesting. Does anyone know if Sammy is one of these North Korea supporting companies? Does anyone know if they're sending money off to the Dear Leader, or how much?

Please, don't quote me on this. I have no idea if the above link is accurate or not. If someone else out there has any specific information, then I'll be a little more confident in that travelogue source.

Re:Nintendo?

[DLWormwood]

The game's Hanafuda, sometimes called Go Stop in Korea. Nintendo still makes non-video game stuff in Japan, including playing cards. That page is Japanese, but there are enough pictures for anyone to figure out where the links go.

Re:Already Merged

[simoniker]

Slashdot? Well, show me that story from a respected news source, and then we'll talk, buddy!

Uhm, just kidding. It seems that the 'actually merged' talk going on early this year was actually 'haven't signed the papers yet but we're going to, honest!' - and eventually, they didn't sign the papers.