Giro Games 
The Industry That Measures Itself: Japan’s DK-SIS Hall Data Network
Japanese pachinko halls feed their machine-level performance data into a shared national benchmarking system. Nothing comparable exists in western slot markets.
Japan - Giro Games
Okislo: The Okinawan Slot Machine With Bigger Coins
Okinawa runs its own species of pachislot, with 30mm medals instead of 25mm and machines you will not find on the Japanese mainland. The…
Medal Games: Japan’s Slot Machines Where Winning Buys You Nothing
In Japanese arcades, whole floors are given over to slot and pusher machines played with metal medals that cannot be exchanged for anything. Millions…
The Kugishi: Japan’s Craftsmen Who Tuned Machines With a Hammer
Before software controlled everything, a pachinko machine’s payout was set by the angle of hundreds of brass nails — adjusted nightly by a specialist…
Setting 1 to 6: The Japanese Slot Machine With a Dial Inside
Every pachislot cabinet in Japan contains a physical setting from 1 to 6 that the hall chooses each morning. The same machine can be…
Rainbow Means Jackpot: The Color Grammar of Japanese Machines
Japanese pachinko and pachislot machines speak to players in a strict color code — white, blue, yellow, green, red, gold, rainbow. It is the…