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Can we win a PS5 from this premium 2,000-yen gacha machine in Japan?

Dale Roll Mar 14, 2022
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We try our hand at winning elusive grand prizes from a capsule machine again!

The other day, our Japanese-language reporter Yuichiro Wasai came back to the office trembling with excitement. He’d been hanging out in Akihabara when his eyes caught on a sign promising great prizes from a gacha capsule machine.

It was only 2,000 yen (US$17) per spin! “Guaranteed win of a game console, video game, or figure,” it said.

Guaranteed?! When he glanced at the items he could win…

He was excited to see amazing prizes like a PlayStation5, a Nintendo Switch, Ring Fit Adventure, multiple different character figurines, and several video games!

Now if this sounds familiar to you, it’s because Yuichiro has been down this road before when he found that 5,000 yen gatcha machine last year, which had very similar prizes. This 2,000 yen machine appeared to be a priced-down version, especially since it was located outside an Akiba Liberty shop like the last one. However, this gacha machine was outside Akiba Liberty Store #8, while the 5,000-yen machine was outside Akiba Liberty Store #1. So perhaps his luck would be much better at this one? Maybe?

We better hope so, after all the money Yuichiro had already thrown at the 5,000-yen gacha. At least each spin on this one comes at a much more affordable price tag if he’s going to keep trying his luck at it.

But he won’t. He doesn’t have a problem.

Right away he put 2,000 yen in the machine and had that moment of panic when the “push button” took half a second too long to light up. Then it flashed blue.

Mustering all his good vibes, he pushed it, and out came…

A DS game!!!

It was “Daredemo Kantan! Watanabe Akira no Tsumeshogi”, a shogi problems game released in 2006. A glance at Amazon revealed that used versions of the game currently sell for 2,500 yen, which is more than Yuichiro paid to get it.

A win right off the bat!! At least, he thought so until he looked at the fine print of the capsule machine’s poster. “Consolation prizes are items directly in the capsule, like 3DS games, DS games, figures, and a single anime collectible.”

…So his DS game was a consolation prize.

Yuichiro thought that this was kind of a harsh judgment, but he could understand why, since the grand prizes were so grand. But this only served to heighten Yuchiro’s expectations and pique his excitement. With even the consolation prizes being this good, it would be a shame to stop at just one spin. After all, Akira Watanabe, the professional shogi player whose name is on the game Yuichiro won, once said, “Right now, you only have one move to attack with.” At least, Yuichiro thinks he might have said something like that.

Anyway, push! Push!

Yuichiro plugged 8,000 more yen into the machine. And here’s what came rolling out:

Well. The sign hadn’t really lied when it said you’re guaranteed to win a game console, video game, or figure. He supposed these little keychains are figures in their own way…right?

Well, regardless, Yuichiro imagined they could be treasures to people who are fans of these characters. So really, depending on who’s getting the capsules, everything from this machine could be a grand prize!

In that case, Yuchiro figured he might as well go back and try some more!

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