I had a moment of self-righteousness when I read the AFP’s headline proclaiming the positive effect of Sammy “pinball machines” on Sega’s bottom line. I’m not one of those loopy pinball freaks who won’t play anything that doesn’t make its bleeps out of an air horn—I have just as fond a memory of breaking my shift keys with CGA Pinball—but I was still peeved when Williams and Midway abandoned the American pinball market.
Sadly, though, they are talking about ‘Japanese Pinball,’ which is actually pachinko, the pointless ball dropping game that siphons millions of dollars from hapless players every year, growing like a mold on every other vacant building in Japan. So that’s the future of Sega—bilking Japanese out of their retirement money.
Sammy’s pinball machines a hit for sagging Sega [AFP/Yahoo]
