Periscope

(becoming Namco in 1977) and released in Japan in 1965, as the first arcade game Masaya Nakamura built. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Also built and released Periscope in Japan in 1966, as one of its first produced arcade games. Sega's 1968 single-player redesign of Periscope popularized the quarter cost per play of arcade games in the United States. Its surprise success prompted Sega to further manufacture eight to ten new arcade games per year for the next few years. Periscope performed well in locations that would not have normally hosted coin-operated machines at the time, such as malls and department stores. The game's success was formative to Sega and the future Namco, and has been referred to as a turning point in the industry.

• Title — Periscope • Developer — Nakamura Manufacturing Co. Sega • Designer — * Nakamura Manufacturing Co. • Masaya Nakamura • Sega • David Rosen • Shikanosuke Ochi • Genre — Shooter, submarine simulator • Released — * Nakamura Manufacturing Co. • 1965 • Sega • 1966 • March 1968 (single-player)

Periscope is a shooting game, simulating a submarine attacking warships. It has a backdrop representing the ocean, upon which cardboard cutouts of ships hanging from chains are moved horizontally. Players look through a periscope to direct and fire torpedoes, which are represented by lines of colored lights and by electronic sound effects. Each play has five torpedoes that can be launched. The original Nakamura cabinet model supports up to three players. Sega redesigned it into one model supporting up to three players and one with one player.

In a 1977 interview, Masaya Nakamura of Nakamura Manufacturing Co. (to become Namco in 1977) claimed that Periscope is the first amusement device that he built. Namco states that its Japanese release of the game was in 1965. Initially named Torpedo Launcher, the game is called Periscope in the April 1967 issue of Cashbox, where Nakamura offers direct import assistance to distributors. It has been speculated that the original Nakamura version may have been a custom model for department store rooftops, one year prior to the mass-produced model. It has also been speculated that Nakamura may have licensed the game to Sega; Nakamura stated that he did sell some of his games to competitors. According to former Sega CEO David Rosen, poor conditions in the US coin-operated manufacturing market prompted the company's development of electromechanical games. His company, Rosen Enterprises, had just merged with Nihon Goraku Bussan to form Sega Enterprises, Ltd. the previous year, and both companies had engineers on staff. Rosen personally sketched out a design of Periscope, and Shikanosuke Ochi was the head of this project at Sega. Sega launched its version of Periscope in 1966 as a three-player cabinet. Its original price per play of is double that of earlier games. As the latest in the industry's well-received genre of torpedo shooter games, Sega demonstrated it alongside such competition as slot machines, slot racing games, and pinball games at the 23rd London Amusement Trades Exhibition (A.T.E.) show in December and at the Hotel Equipment Exhibition in Paris in October 1967. It was popular at this sparsely attended Paris show, with daily earnings of Fr500 (equivalent to then and). At the time, Periscopes large cabinet was cost-prohibitive for international export, but its popularity among distributors flying in to see the game prompted Sega to develop a smaller model for the worldwide market. Sega's prototype location testing of a new, smaller, single-player version of Periscope occurred in Asia and Europe, and distributors were still enthusiastic about its performance, according to Rosen. In full production by March 1968 and distributed internationally, the smaller single-player cabinet measures 6 ft deep and more than 4 ft wide, which is still larger and heavier than most games of the time. Furthermore, Japan's high export tax made it more expensive than most coin-operated games at the time, costing distributors per single-player cabinet while other games typically cost $695–795. Enthusiastic distributors complained of the expensive but popular machine's overall low profit, so Sega suggested charging a premium price of 25 cents per play. British documentary production company Pathé News recorded film footage of the game in London arcades during 1968 and 1969. Periscope became a surprise success for Sega. It performed well in larger locations such as malls and department stores, which normally did not host coin-operated arcade games, but became a preferred location due to the machine's size and impracticality at a streetside location. The game was successful in Japan, and then in the US and Europe. It was awarded the Henry A. Gunther Trophy for the "most meritorious exhibit of coin-operated equipment" at the 1968 Parks Show. In December 1968, American arcade distributor Banner Specialty referred to Periscope as "the best money-maker in 51 years". In March 1969, David Rosen said that Periscope "may well turn out to be the most profitable arcade game of the decade". As a result of Periscopes success, Sega created and exported between eight and ten games a year for the next two years. A 1970 print ad for Jet Rocket said that Sega had "developed the most profitable games of the decade" while mentioning Periscope, Missile, Combat, and Grand Prix.