iPhone pachinko game

[sharmoni]

Sho Chiku Bai
** SALE!**
Sho Chiku Bai Lite has hit the Top 10 in the Japanese App Store, and to say thanks, we are running a limited time sale. Now you can get Sho Chiku Bai for nearly 40% off!

Pachinko -- the most popular game in Japan -- is now available on iPhone and iPod Touch! With its anime-style characters, vivid lights and animation, and authentic gameplay, Sho Chiku Bai is the closest thing to being in a pachinko parlor itself. And if you're new to pachinko, Sho Chiku Bai's instructions will give you the perfect introduction.

Sho Chiku Bai also features an original J-Pop single composed by Norihiko Hibino (Gem Impact, Inc.), famed composer from the Metal Gear Solid series!

Features:
- Japanese anime-style art and animation, with a theme based on Japanese culture.
- Authentic pachinko gameplay, with a realistic physics engine and true pachinko rules.
- Features the original J-Pop song "Sho Chiku Bai" by Norihiko Hibino of Metal Gear Solid fame.
- Unlockable character art, board designs, and more!
- Presented in the original Japanese with English menus and instructions.

This game is a pretty good simulation of a modern digi-pachi, with wonderful graphics and music. Here's the link to a typical Japanese pachinko ad featuring only the song and graphics—no shot of the machine at all: Mission One.

The balls are very kinetic and you can leave the handle on and just watch the numbers spin and hope for reaches. Many funny little reach cartoons of cats trying to catch birds as the numbers roll on the screen. If you hit the fever you get to see an animation of the girl singing the theme song. Once you win enough balls your prizes are new backgrounds, anime characters and artwork for your iPhone or iPod touch.

Room for improvement: handle can never quite be set to bounce balls off the top pin so they have a chance of going down either side. Also the handle obscures the playfield, where it would be better (and more authentic) to have it on top of the part of the window showing the balls falling in the tray. At least it does collapse out of sight, but again, since you can't set the handle in a really good spot, you have to keep it open with your finger in the way of the right side of the playfield.

[mudfud]

wow. I can't wait 'til I get home to berkeley, where my main computer is for iPhone syncing, and download this. my friends will really think i'm a pachinko-holic now.

[cmarlowe]

Being a lurker on this board, I do not have the pachinko expertise that I enjoy reading here, but this game is one of my top three on my iPod Touch.

There is a thread over on the Touch Arcade forum that the president/director/producer has posted in: Sho Chiku Bai - Pachinko (including free lite version) - Touch Arcade

The second post in that thread is humorous, too:

1) What the hell is "pachinko"?

2) why is everything bright pink?

Heh, heh!

<snip>

Room for improvement: handle can never quite be set to bounce balls off the top pin so they have a chance of going down either side. <snip>

Unfortunately, I have the same disappointment that I have not been able to set the handle so that there is a chance of going down either side.

[Supersaiyan]

Thanks for the tip. I noticed the Sho Chiku Bai a while ago at AppStore but the price was too high for me even it was pachinko game. Now I'm going to buy it and cannot wait to sync my phone. There are some slot machine and pinball games as well but the free ones aren't so good (imho). iSlots is quite nice but I haven't found any pachislo games.

[mudfud]

Being a lurker on this board, I do not have the pachinko expertise that I enjoy reading here, but this game is one of my top three on my iPod Touch.

do join us in the non-virtual world. a pachinko is probably waiting for you on your local craigslist. they're great fun and the challenge of fixing them and cleaning them up is well worth it.

[sharmoni]

The new "Pachinko" app that was released yesterday by On-Core is perfect for those who like vintage pachinkos.

YouTube - Pachinko by On-Core

The sounds are very authentic and match the motions of the balls (including banging against the glass!). The gravity is a little off—the balls don't launch or fall as fast as in real life—but the kinetics of how they bounce off of each other and through the nails are spot-on.

I like how the settings allow you to determine how many balls you start with and how many you win per jackpot. Some of the graphics are a little hard to see, like the middle jackpot section, so it would have been nice to have that simpler or maybe a floating magnifying glass to see the detail.

The flipper controls use the iPhone touch control perfectly and make the game play very much like an actual vintage pachinko machine.

For 99¢ it's a no-brainer.

[luckydog]

[quote]

For 99¢ it's a no-brainer.
__________________

until you wear out your iphone playing

[pinjan]

Bought this as well. Great game ! Bought simultaneously game called pajazzo, which idea is pretty similar to pachinko. You are flipping coins instead of balls. It is skill game and used to be very popular in Finland.

[mudfud]

The new "Pachinko" app that was released yesterday by On-Core is perfect for those who like vintage pachinkos.

YouTube - Pachinko by On-Core

The sounds are very authentic and match the motions of the balls (including banging against the glass!). The gravity is a little off—the balls don't launch or fall as fast as in real life—but the kinetics of how they bounce off of each other and through the nails are spot-on.

I like how the settings allow you to determine how many balls you start with and how many you win per jackpot. Some of the graphics are a little hard to see, like the middle jackpot section, so it would have been nice to have that simpler or maybe a floating magnifying glass to see the detail.

The flipper controls use the iPhone touch control perfectly and make the game play very much like an actual vintage pachinko machine.

For 99¢ it's a no-brainer.

it's a great simulator. my friends can now know what pachinko is about, without seeing one in person... my friends wonder, too, about my pachinko brain , but I'm very happy.