Pinball in Japan

[Videogamecollector123]

This might seem like an odd question but I was wondering if anyone knows how popular pinball machines are in Japan. By that I mean the pinball machines that are popular here in the States. I know Pachinko is pretty popular but I just got this in my head and I can't find any answers

[onmode-ky]

I can't speak for any individual machines, but I do know Japan has at least a cult awareness of pinball. Just check out the Japanese Wikipedia page for it:

 

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB

 

Pinball is certainly not as popular as pachinko in Japan, but that's like saying video games are not as popular as slot machines in Las Vegas; one of them is a gambling device largely dependent on luck, which draws in more non-gaming people. Also, pinball is not particularly popular in the US anymore, judging from Stern being the only player left. I'd guess it's only slightly less popular in Japan these days; that is, a certain segment of the gaming population enjoys it, but that segment is neither huge nor insignificant.

 

onmode-ky