The new generation? - The First Palot Machine Reviewed

[rupan777]

I'm not sure if anyone has written about this topic yet but, at least, I'll give my impressions. For the past few years, pachinko and pachislo companies have been trying very hard to merge the two together - for example, Sanyo has released two pachislo machines based on their Sea Story series and Sammy/Sega has recently released two pachinko machines based on their Fist of the North Star series. Why? Well, even though a modern pachinko parlor has both pachinko and pachislo machines, the players of each are as different as oil and water (with pachinko players outnumbering pachislo players) so, in order to increase profits, the fusion of the two was seen as a sort of golden goose for the industry. The final results are as you can see in the image above.....PALOT (pachinko and slot fused together--clever no? )

The above machine is called "Hanagetsu Gaiden" which can be translated as "Flower Moon Side Story", produced by Sankyo (of Fever [insert machine name] fame) and based on their "Hanagetsu" series which is listed as "Fever Flower Month" in the museum. On a side note, this is a very lavish and gorgeous machine. This machine was released just a few months ago and I got to play it just before I left Japan so here's my review:

Physical Impressions:

The size of the machine is much like a pachislo machine of which I don't know the exact measurements but definitely narrower than a pachinko machine. This machine uses pachinko balls that are ejected into a pachinko machine-like well (located above the buttons in the machine), 5 balls are used per spin, balls are fed into the machine automatically. The buttons are standard pachislo fare.

There are two play fields much like newer pachislo machines: the physical reel field and, just a few inches above that a digital display where reach events occur. The digital field acts as only a "determiner" i.e. it will display when a win has occurred but you must still physically stop the physical reels (a la pachislo) to collect your win.

Probability and Win Data:

Win probability is much like pachislo; there are four different modes, the average odds being 1/420. Like pachinko and newer pachislo, this machine has bonus rounds that are linkable/continuous. 15 bonus rounds, 9 count per round, and a roughly 1890 ball payout per big bonus. There is also the usual small bonus system. This machine also has the recently popular "chance mode", an extra higher than average probability (roughly 1/6) 100-spin mode that is used to link larger bonuses together.

Gameplay Impressions:

"Tsurai naa" (this is tough), an older Japanese man sitting next to me said. Indeed, this is a pretty tough machine to win at. To make matters worse, this is a multi-tiered play machine (read: definitely not for beginners). I will describe the basic tiers that occur:

A small key first:

yokoku- This is a small event that occurs that can determine what will happen in the ensuing spin
()-means event can occur or might not need to occur
natural-means event can occur naturally via luck etc.

Losing tier:

Start slots spinning-->No yokoku-->Lose, rinse, repeat

Replay tier:

Start slots spinning-->(Yellow colored yokoku)-->replay or natural replay

Hanagetsu chance tier:

Start slots spinning-->line up three green icons (or green yokoku)-->get 1-4 chance spins (within these spins, probability is higher)

Reach tier:

Start slots spinning-->first two buttons pushed can cause a reach event in digital subscreen-->go to super reach event subtier-->win/lose

Automatic win tier:

Start slots spinning-->(automatic win yokoku)-->win (big or small)

and on and on. In all, I believe there to be approximately twenty such tiers--as I said complex and somewhat daunting. If you are familiar with the principles of pachislo (moreso than pachinko), it's doable though.

Final Impressions:

Is palot going to be the wave of the future or is it going to be just another gimmick like the touch screen gimmicks that the manufacturers were so fond of last year? It's tough to say now but Sankyo has a separate palot section on their website but it actually doesn't have any information in that section and have, in fact, listed this machine along with their pachinko machines. Suspicious to say the least. Collectors, take note.

Gameplay-wise and theory-wise, this machine is an almost perfect fusion of the two types of games but I can't say I really enjoyed the experience as much as pachinko and pachislo individually. I did win roughly US$100 by only using US$20 so that was nice but it took me a good two hours to do so, so I really felt the machine was a little slow for my taste.

(rated on a scale of 1-10)

Presentation: 8
The kind of beautiful machine that only Sankyo does.
Sound: 9
If you have the pachinko machine that its based on, you know that the music and natural sounds are top notch
Gameplay: 6
Why won't it win, DARNIT!!!
Lasting Appeal: 6
I honestly think that people will stick to Reese's if they want a good mix of two different things
Learning Curve: 9
Very tough machine, only for those who know what they are doing or the adventurous
Overall: 6 (not an average of the above scores)
I'd play it again...only if other machines are all full.

[azlew]

FANTASTIC REVIEW!!!

THANKYOU MUCHO!!!

[logicprobe]

Great review, rupan777

And, welcome to PachiTalk!

[Tony Junior]

Excellent review, Jon! I hope Tulsa can find a place in the museum for it.

[rupan777]

Thanks for the positive comments.

BTW, I forgot to post the link to the official page in case you want to check out the real specs and everything:

http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/machin...e/kg2/top.html

[azlew]

Rupan777 I thought this all sounded familiar so I did a search for palot using the search function we have (located on the top menu above just to the right of the new posts option) and I discovered that we have been discussing this now since June in the Pachislo section(introduced to us as a Pachislo by Pachi_sloter). The following are the threads for it :

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot

I am very interested in hearing your response to what we have been saying about Palot.

[rupan777]

Rupan777 I thought this all sounded familiar so I did a search for palot using the search function we have (located on the top menu above just to the right of the new posts option) and I discovered that we have been discussing this now since June in the Pachislo section(introduced to us as a Pachislo by Pachi_sloter). The following are the threads for it :

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot

I am very interested in hearing your response to what we have been saying about Palot.

Ah yeah, I assumed that you guys had heard about it before; that's why I included a hands-on review to at least put a spin on the topic.

[pachi_sloter]

Actually the name is CRP Kagetsu Densetsu R (ＣＲＰ花月伝説Ｒ).

花月 Kagetsu does mean "Flower Moon" but the last part of the name is 伝説 Densetsu (tradition/legend/folklore) not 外伝 Gaiden.


From page 14 of the Sankyo 2005 Annual Report:
Palot: Palot Kagetsu Densetsu R
In July 2005 SANKYO commercialized the industry’s first palot machine, Palot
Kagetsu Densetsu R, a new type of a game machine combining features of
pachinko and pachislo.
The gaming performance of palot is the same as that of pachislo but it uses
pachinko balls. Because peripheral equipment for pachinko machines can also be
used for palot machines, installation of palot machines is simple, requiring no major
work. So, parlors can offer their customers a gaming experience comparable to that of
pachislo, but incur far lower costs than they would in the case of installing new pachislo
machines.
Palot Kagetsu Densetsu R, using the same character and visual presentation as Fever
Kagetsu, a very popular pachinko machine SANKYO released in January 2003, employs a
simple game method, giving it a powerful appeal to pachislo beginners and infrequent players
of pachinko.
SANKYO will endeavor to cultivate new players by establishing palot as a third game platform,
alongside pachinko and pachislo.
http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/ir/pdf/annual2005.pdf

[rupan777]

Actually the name is CRP Kagetsu Densetsu R (ＣＲＰ花月伝説Ｒ).

花月 Kagetsu does mean "Flower Moon" but the last part of the name is 伝説 Densetsu (tradition/legend/folklore) not 外伝 Gaiden.


From page 14 of the Sankyo 2005 Annual Report:
Palot: Palot Kagetsu Densetsu R
In July 2005 SANKYO commercialized the industry’s first palot machine, Palot
Kagetsu Densetsu R, a new type of a game machine combining features of
pachinko and pachislo.
The gaming performance of palot is the same as that of pachislo but it uses
pachinko balls. Because peripheral equipment for pachinko machines can also be
used for palot machines, installation of palot machines is simple, requiring no major
work. So, parlors can offer their customers a gaming experience comparable to that of
pachislo, but incur far lower costs than they would in the case of installing new pachislo
machines.
Palot Kagetsu Densetsu R, using the same character and visual presentation as Fever
Kagetsu, a very popular pachinko machine SANKYO released in January 2003, employs a
simple game method, giving it a powerful appeal to pachislo beginners and infrequent players
of pachinko.
SANKYO will endeavor to cultivate new players by establishing palot as a third game platform,
alongside pachinko and pachislo.
http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/ir/pdf/annual2005.pdf

That's correct, I made a mistake. Kagetsu Gaiden is actually a complete pachinko machine. I guess I was so enthusiastic that I erred rather than checking first. *doh* Thanks for the correction.

Here is the actual official page for CRP Kagetsu Densetsu （CRP花月伝説）:

http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/machin...e/pkg/top.html

Sorry all.

[pachi_sloter]

Kagetsu Gaiden is the pachinko machine not the palot machine.
http://www.pachinkomuseum.com/gendai..._zf/index.html
http://www.sankyo-fever.co.jp/machin...e/kg2/top.html

[arbycoffee]

The foot print (size) of this machine is it like the Pachinko or Pachislot ?

[rupan777]

The foot print (size) of this machine is it like the Pachinko or Pachislot ?

I can't find any size specs nor a good side-by-side comparison picture online but, from my memory, it's closer to the size of a pachislo cabinet, if not the same.

[arbycoffee]

I guess I find out come Monday and report back

[JapNoodle]

one of Palot's advantage is that parlors can use equipment for pachinko.
i read that balls are easier to be handled by machine than medals.
width and height are exactly same as pachinko.
(you saw video in which palot installed next to pachinko's card unit.)
but i felt depth is somewhat deep.
palot.jpg

[rupan777]

one of Palot's advantage is that parlors can use equipment for pachinko.
i read that balls are easier to be handled by machine than medals.
width and height are exactly same as pachinko.
(you saw video in which palot installed next to pachinko's card unit.)
but i felt depth is somewhat deep.
palot.jpg

So they are the same as pachinko machines; I stand corrected once again

ジャプヌードルさん、どうもありがとうございました。

[Tulsa]

Interesting. From the front pictures I've seen I thought it was more pachislo than pachinko. I see it's the other way around.

[arbycoffee]

CRP Kagetsu Densetsu R (Flower Moon Legend) - EI613963300JP
Your item cleared United States Customs at 3:42 pm on October 19, 2005.
I will have it tomorrow, cool

[luckydog]

Arby is always one step ahead of everyone else

[azlew]

That away arby ! Please give us details asap