Another Arcade mogul bites the dust
If you don't get your coins out soon, you won't be able to at all
Bye Bye
After over twenty years in the business, Arcade manufacturer Jaleco has announced that it is halting the production of its machines.
It would be fair to say that Jaleco produced low-end arcade games, and the company was often criticised for a lack of originality that approached plagiarism.
Jaleco is now part of Japanese entertainment company PCCW. Former Jaleco employees make up half of PCCW staff with everyone involved in the arcade business (150 employees) being made redundant.
Japan must now be awash with unemployed arcade game developers. We suppose that the Jaleco workers are just hoping that the same fate that befell former SNK doesn’t happen to them. Pachinco machines are not arcade games.
On this note, it was quite upsetting to see the SNK guys at the Tokyo game show. Every Western reporter wanted to speak to them, and typical conversations went something like this:
Journalist (looking pleased to see developer): “Hello, it’s a great honour to meet you.”
Both bow.
Developer (looking hopeful): “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Journalist: “What did you used to do at SNK?”
Developer: “I developed the combo engine for the King of Fighters series, and oversaw the character design for Samurai Shodown 4”
Journalist: “And now?”
Developer: “I make pachinko games!”
Journo: “Just think, you used to be idolized by hoards of gamers all around the world, and now you make faceless ball-bearing gambling games.”
Developer (stoically): “I am, as all of my colleagues are, very grateful to Aruze for the opportunity they have given us.”
It would be fair to say that Jaleco produced low-end arcade games, and the company was often criticised for a lack of originality that approached plagiarism.
Jaleco is now part of Japanese entertainment company PCCW. Former Jaleco employees make up half of PCCW staff with everyone involved in the arcade business (150 employees) being made redundant.
Japan must now be awash with unemployed arcade game developers. We suppose that the Jaleco workers are just hoping that the same fate that befell former SNK doesn’t happen to them. Pachinco machines are not arcade games.
On this note, it was quite upsetting to see the SNK guys at the Tokyo game show. Every Western reporter wanted to speak to them, and typical conversations went something like this:
Journalist (looking pleased to see developer): “Hello, it’s a great honour to meet you.”
Both bow.
Developer (looking hopeful): “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Journalist: “What did you used to do at SNK?”
Developer: “I developed the combo engine for the King of Fighters series, and oversaw the character design for Samurai Shodown 4”
Journalist: “And now?”
Developer: “I make pachinko games!”
Journo: “Just think, you used to be idolized by hoards of gamers all around the world, and now you make faceless ball-bearing gambling games.”
Developer (stoically): “I am, as all of my colleagues are, very grateful to Aruze for the opportunity they have given us.”
Companies:
Jaleco
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