Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy - Manual (Page 271)

Trigger Happy
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the machine into a big plastic basket. From there they
can be scooped back into the machine for more plays,
after the initial hundred have been used up.
Now if you amass a great many balls, and you have
the self-discipline not to shove them straight back in the
machine, you can go to the back of the shop and
exchange them for real stuff, like a toaster or a
microwave oven. In fact, most Pachinko parlors operate
a shady back room where balls can be converted into
cash. But this is, strictly speaking, illegal, for in Japan
Pachinko is not officially regarded as a “gambling”
game.
The final monetary exchange is cleverly disguised,
mediated by the tiny silver balls. But this deferral of the
transaction is potentially endless, as a player will often
reuse all the balls he has won and end up with nothing
physical to show for the session—in which case
nothing has been “won” at all save an unquantifiable
gameplaying pleasure. The transaction—the verifiable,
quantifiable content, from an accountant’s point of
view—is secondary to the experience of the form, the
pleasure of playing the machine exquisitely well.
Pachinko is a primarily aesthetic experience.