Olympia Star

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Olympia Star
System(s): Slot machine
Publisher: Olympia
Developer: Sega Enterprises
Supporting companies: Taito (concept and design)
Release Date RRP Code JP 1964 ¥? ?

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Olympia Star (オリンピア･スター) is a slot machine released in Japan around 1964 which reuses the shell of the Star series. Produced by Olympia, a joint venture between Sega Enterprises and Taito, it introduced a form of legalized gambling to Japan which would establish the foundations of the future medal game industry.

History

Main article: Olympia (company).

Around 1960, Taito conceptualized a way to circumvent Japan's anti-gambling laws by creating a slot machine which would use specialized tokens; these tokens would later be traded for real money. By equipping their existing Royal Crown machine with this system, adding a stop button for the reels to add a weak element of skill, and categorizing the machine in the sex industry, Taito was surprisingly able to get government approval in 1964.

Olympia Co. emblem

Taito's new version of the Royal Crown launched that year. However, it was soon noticed that Sega Enterprises was almost ready to launch their own identical machine. An upset Taito then made its grievances known throughout the industry.

Ultimately, the two companies settled on a compromise (possibly related to both machines being copies of the same Mills product), and quickly formed a new joint venture, Olympia Co., Ltd., that same year. The name was chosen by Taito to capitalize on Tokyo's 1964 Summer Olympics (without any license to do so). In this agreement, Sega would handle the manufacturing of the new slot machines, and Taito would manage their sales and marketing. This resulted in the Olympia Star, released in 1964 almost immediately after the joint venture was established, and was the start of a long series of future Olympia machines.

Legacy

The Olympia Star proved to be immensely popular, and soon coined a new term among the Japanese public, "Olympia Machines".

Specifications

Dimensions

42 m (1653.54")

80 m (3149.6")

45 m (1771.65")

Promotional material

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  JP flyer

Photo gallery

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  Token (front)

References

Sega gambling machines
Classic Bell series Sega Bell (1956) | Sega Bell Classic (195x) | Multiple Bell (195x) | Multiple Bell Classic (195x) | Electro-Bell (1958) | Copper Sega (1963) Star series Bonanza Star (1962) | Bonus Star (19xx) | Paybak Star (19xx) | Diamond 3 Star (1960) | Diamond 4 Star (19xx) | Double-Pay Star (19xx) | Mad Money Star (195x) | Progressive Star (1962) | Console Sega (19xx) | Multi-Bell 35 (19xx) | Starlet (196x) | Monaco Starlet (196x) | Copper Star (196x) Continental series Continental Bonus (19xx) | Continental 3 Star (19xx) | Continental Progressive (19xx) | Continental Bonanza (19xx) | Continental Mad Money (19xx) | Continental Bulk Pay (19xx) | Continental Big Jack (19xx) | Continental Grand Prix (19xx) | Continental Mark 10 (19xx) | Continental Mark 20 (19xx) | Continental South Seas (19xx) Windsor series Windsor Aztec (1974) | Windsor Bonus (1974) | Windsor Buccaneer (19xx) | Windsor Crazy Bells (19xx) | Windsor Crown (1974) | Windsor Derby (1974) | Windsor Imperial (19xx) | Windsor Mad Money (1974) | Windsor Playboy (19xx) | Windsor Sailor (19xx) | Windsor Speedway M1 (19xx) | Windsor Speedway M2 (19xx) | Windsor Vegas (19xx) | Windsor Victory (19xx) | Windsor Wild Joker (1974) Olympia series Olympia Star (1964) | New Olympia (1969) | Olympia Mark II (1971) | Olympia Mark III (1972) | Olympia Golden Star (1974) Others Ascot (1966) | Mini-Sega (1958) | Lord Sega (196x) | Clover Bell (1960) | Black Jack (196x) | Bonus Line (1974) | Lucky Double (1974) | Bonus Twin (1974)
Modern JPM International Sonic the Hedgehog (1997) | Around the World in 80 Days (1997) | Planet Tours (1997) | Analog to Digital (1998) | Big Trader (1998) | Penguin's Fishing (1998) | Soccer Crazy (1998) | Club Firecracker (2003) Pachinko CR UFO Catcher (1998) | CR Sonic (2003) | CR Sakura Taisen (2007) | CR Virtua Fighter (2008) | Pachinko CR Sakura Taisen 2 (2010) | CR Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (2011) | Pachinko CR Virtua Fighter Revolution (2012) | CR Persona 4 the Pachinko (2015) | CR Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! Tenshou Gion-hen (2015) | Pachinko CR Puyo Puyo (2017) Pachislot Jet Set Radio (2003) | Sakura Taisen (2005) | Virtua Fighter (2007) | Sonic Live! (2008) | Pachislot Puyo Puyo! (2011) | Pachislot Sakura Taisen 3 (2011) | Pachislot Sakura Taisen 3: Loop Ver. (2012) | Virtua Fighter Pachislot (2014) | Pachislot Bayonetta (2015) | Pachislot Devil Survivor 2: The Last Seven Days (2015) | Pachislot Ryu ga Gotoku of the End (2015) | Pachislot Chain Chronicle (2018) | Pachislot Sakura Taisen: Atsuki Chishio Ni (2017) | Pachislot Senjou no Valkyria (2018) | Pachislot Phantasy Star Online 2 (2020) | Pachislot Persona 5 (2022) Others M3001 (19xx) | M3002 (19xx) | M3003 (19xx) | M3004 (19xx) | M4001 (1989) | M4002 (19xx) | M5001 (19xx) | Sevens Plus (199x) | Bonanza Bros. (2010) | Golden Axe (2010) | House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn Battle Genesis (2019) | Virtua Fighter Battle Genesis (2019) | NiGHTS Dream Wheel (2021)