Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface Geoffrey Rockwell and Keiji Amano Abstract No discussion of play and leisure in Japan would be complete without acknowledging the place of pachinko, a game so popular that it dominates the leisure economy in a way no other medium does, not even videogames. Even in decline, pachinko generates more revenue in Japan than any other leisure pursuit and yet it is rarely discussed in game studies in the West or even in the Japanese literature around game culture. This is largely because of the gambling associated with pachinko and because it is unique to Japan – a national industry with no export potential. Pachinko is at the disreputable edge of gaming—economically, culturally, and mechanically. Above all, pachinko machines stand out as monstrous hybrids that combine the electro-mechanical apparatus of a pinball machine with the digital screen of a slot machine in a curious mixed interface that seems to be an anachronism of a pre-computing era. And that is what this paper is about – the hybrid interface of pachinko. Paradaisu Yokohama was crowded at eight o'clock in the evening. The volcanic rush of tinny balls, the clanging of tiny hammers across miniature metal bowls, the beeping and flashing of colorful lights, and the throaty shouts of welcome from the obsequious staff felt like a reprieve from the painful silence in his head. Haruki didn't even mind the thick swirls of tobacco smoke that hung like a layer of gray mist above the heads of the players seated opposite the rows upon rows of vertical, animated machines. (Lee 2017) No discussion of play and leisure in Japan would be complete without acknowledging the place of pachinko, a game so popular that it dominates the leisure economy in a way no Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities, vol. 4, No. 1, p. 72 Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface other medium does, not even videogames. Even in decline, pachinko generates more revenue in Japan than any other leisure pursuit and yet it is rarely discussed in game studies in the West or even in the Japanese literature around game culture. This is largely because of the gambling associated with pachinko and because it is unique to Japan – a national industry with no export potential. Pachinko is at the disreputable edge of gaming, both economically, culturally, and mechanically. Above all, pachinko machines stand out as monstrous hybrids that combine the electro-mechanical apparatus of a pinball machine with the digital screen of a slot machine in a curious mixed interface that seems to be an anachronism of a pre-computing era. And that is what this paper is about – the hybrid interface of pachinko. Why Interface in the Digital Humanities? Although the screen in reality is only a window of limited dimensions positioned inside the physical space of the viewer, the viewer is expected to concentrate completely on what she sees in this window, focusing her attention on the representation and disregarding the physical space outside. (Manovich 2001, 96) We tend to think of the human-computer interface as having to do strictly with that which takes place on the screen, no doubt because that is what most people talk about when discussing interface. It is the screen that Lev Manovich (2001) focuses on in the chapter on “Interface” of his book The Language of New Media, providing a fascinating genealogy of the screen and reminding us of how it evolved from cinema and radar. It is not surprising that discussions of interface would focus on the screen. The screen can be programmed and manipulated so much easier than physical components giving designers room to play. If, however, the interface is that “face” which mediates between the human and the computer then it must also include all that we see and touch including that which is outside the screen. If the interface includes the means of interaction then we need to include the affordances we use to communicate with the computer from the keyboard, mouse, to audio. For that matter, we should also consider the aesthetics and ergonomics of the machine cabinet as it presents itself. A user clearly interacts differently with a laptop, using the keyboard and trackpad for entry, then with a smartphone which uses multi-point touch or an arcade game in a stand-up cabinet. As Manovich points out, cinematic representation has always forced Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities, vol. 4, No. 1, p. 73 Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface us to sit still and in the right place so that we can see the world focused on the screen. Now with Virtual Reality gear and physical computing we can imagine different relationships between the body as interface. The pachinko parlor and the game centers in Japan where one finds imaginative new interfaces to coin-pushers, photo-booths and UFO-catchers may not be a dead end, but a hint at what could be. The screen dominates not only interface design. Given the privilege accorded the screen we tend to think of interface design as a subset of software development. The hardware doesn’t change that quickly and is outside the control of most designers leaving only the software as a site for creative design. We thus find interface subsumed under software in that most basic of binaries in computing, hardware and software. But it needn’t be so and the availability of affordable physical computing platforms like the Raspberry Pi (raspberrypi.org) and Arduino (arduino.cc) challenge the habits that limit design to the screen. Pachinko, as this essay outlines, is one of the exceptions as each machine is a unique combination of hardware and software designed as an entertainment whole. This is, from the perspective of the digital humanities, one reason to pay attention to pachinko. Through it we can understand the opportunities for design when the hardware, software, and combination of the two are open to design. Pachinko challenges the dominance of the screen in computing studies. Task-oriented and efficiency driven, they focused on feedback loops that minimized frustration and maximized satisfaction with mouse clicks and joy sticks and rewarding bells and whistles. (Drucker 2011, 1) A related reason to study the interface of pachinko is that pachinko design is not utilitarian but for entertainment. In the humanities, unlike informatics, we are not only interested only in interface for reasons of productivity but also in the aesthetics and design of games, hypermedia fictions, and other works that have no productive function. Pachinko is one of the few industries where there has been sustained creative development of hybrid physical/software interfaces which makes it a great case study. In understanding how to study the evolution of pachinko interfaces we can see how to be open to a different conception of interface and computing. As 3-D printers, smart fabric, cheap wearable computing platforms like the LilyPad Arduino (www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ ArduinoBoardLilyPad), and affordable sensors become widely taught we need to think differently about productivity and computing and pachinko can help us do that. Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities, vol. 4, No. 1, p. 74 Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface Finally, for the Western reader, and we hope the Japanese one, this essay will use pachinko to make digital interface design strange again, much as fiction can defamiliarize the mundane (Shklovsky 1990). It isn’t hard for the Western reader to be surprised by pachinko given that we rarely see it unless at an antique fair or if we travel to Japan.1 Which is why, many Westerners like Roland Barthes (1982) write about pachinko as something other in Japan. This raises the danger of orientalizing pachinko – belittling it as a technological dead end compared to the usual brilliant futures imagined in/with Western media (Lozano-Méndez 2010). We hope that readers will see that this essay does quite the opposite; it is an attempt to take seriously and learn from a Japanese form of hybrid creativity. As for Japanese readers who may have dismissed pachinko due to its gambling associations, we hope this essay will interest them in the creative disruption pachinko represents. Our approach to the interface is first to pay attention to the monstrous in the interface, by which we mean hybrid combinations of disparate orders like the mechanical and digital. We approach the overwhelming bling of pachinko, in the spirit of the humanities, historically. Manovich and Drucker both point out how screen interfaces draw on and remediate earlier forms like the page or cinema. To understand an interface you need to understand where it came from. For that reason we look at the evolution of features that over time have been added to pachinko making the contemporary experience. We also pay attention to the location and audience of pachinko. Who is playing it and where. Brief History of Pachinko and Who Plays It? There is some controversy about the origins of the pachinko, but it is said to have evolved from a game called “Corinthian bagatelle.” The word is supposed to have come from the sound of the balls dropping though pins – a “pachi-pachi” sound. Modern Japanese pachinko history begins in Takarazuka (Hyogo Pref.) in 1926-1927 where the leisure facility “Paradise” introduced pinball to Japan. Manufacturers then started to make special wall machines and placed them in rooftop amusement parks of department stores and in fair stalls.