Forums > MobyGames > Policy regarding pachislot games.
Michael Cassidy (21287) on 11/4/2015 2:55 AM · Permalink · Report
Is there one? They aren't technically considered gambling in Japan (where gambling is illegal) because they don't take or reward money directly, and they do require some skill, so it isn't all chance. The US government seems to take a similar stance regarding imported machines.
So what does the site say about them?
Simon Carless (1834) on 11/4/2015 3:29 PM · Permalink · Report
Good question! I think they're probably offlimits for us - I don't feel strongly that they should be included. (For anyone who doesn't know, they are skill-based gambling games.)
Michael, I think in reality sometimes you can get things from pachislot games in Japan that you can exchange 'around the corner' for real prizes or money, right? So there's some way to get things out of it even tho it's 'officially' illegal...
Michael Cassidy (21287) on 11/4/2015 10:52 PM · Permalink · Report
Yes, I believe there's sort of a "Chuck E. Cheese" type system involving prize exchanges, and I think some pachinko parlors allow the players to exchange the score for cash in a separate facility (you know, because it's totally not gambling if the machine isn't directly dispensing the cash).
Simon Carless (1834) on 11/5/2015 11:39 PM · Permalink · Report
Interestingly, Las Vegas just legalized skill-based gambling very recently, so who knows what we might see there in the future? :P I believe there's a version of Silent Scope (Namco sniper game) in the UK that you can win money at, and there's a version of Tetris that I played at California Extreme one year that was from the UK and you could win cash at as well!
Pseudo_Intellectual (66516) on 11/6/2015 2:55 PM · Permalink · Report
Now that we support arcade machines, it will make sense for us to support these gambling machines someday, especially as more and more classic arcade game manufacturers transition more and more into the gambling biz.
Simon Carless (1834) on 11/7/2015 4:02 PM · Permalink · Report
I guess someday, yes - but right now our arcade coverage is pretty spotty and not being updated THAT quickly. I wonder if we can find anyone dedicated to help on arcade :) I think we're probably missing, what, 3,000 games there?