Gameplay[edit]
Periscope is a shooting game, simulating a submarine attacking warships.[2] 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.[4][5] 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.
History[edit]
In a 1977 interview, Nakamura of Nakamura Manufacturing Co. (to become in 1977) claimed that Periscope is the first amusement device that he built.[7] states that its Japanese release of the game was in 1965.[8] Initially named the game is called Periscope in the April 1967 issue where Nakamura offers direct import assistance to distributors.[9] 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;[6] Nakamura stated that he did sell some of his games to competitors.[7]
Poor conditions in the coin-operated manufacturing market prompted the company's development of electromechanical games. His company, Enterprises, had just merged to form Sega Enterprises, Ltd. the previous year, and both companies had engineers on staff.[3] personally sketched out a redesign of Periscope10 and was the head of this project at Sega.[1]
Reception[edit]
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 street-side location.[6] The game was successful in Japan, and then in the US and Europe.[4][15] It was awarded the Henry A. Gunther Trophy for the "most meritorious exhibit of coin-operated equipment" at the 1968 Parks Show.[16] In December 1968, American arcade distributor Banner Specialty referred to Periscope as "the best money-maker in 51 years".[17] In March 1969, David said that Periscope "may well turn out to be the most profitable arcade game of the decade".[18] As a result of Periscope's success, Sega created and exported between eight and ten games a year for the next two years.[3][6] 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.[19]
Retrospectively, Ken Horowitz praised Periscope's impressive features: "Large, bulky, and loud, it was an amazing sight to behold for the first time. Periscope attracted a great deal of attention from customers, but it also made waves with distributors, and it was incredibly successful for Sega."[6] According to the publisher, people came into these arcades just to play that game. I would say that in my time, Periscope is one of the great successful novelty machines.[2]
Legacy[edit]
The game's success helped to set the trend of a quarter dollar coin per play for premium games,6[20] which became the US market standard for all arcade games since then.[21] If you talk to the old-timers in the industry, they will tell you that The Periscope was a turning point in the industry. He said Periscope showed Sega it "could design acceptable games" and prompted the company's business of designing and exporting original games, including to the United States.[22] Sega upgraded its subsequent game development to the latest technology, as explained: "We were doing lots of things that hadn't been done before, like adding sound and special effects."[5]
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