Kasco and the Electro-Mechanical Golden Age (Patreon)

Alongside Sega and Namco, Kasco was one of the first companies in Japan to make their own electro-mechanical games. Told through former employees anecdotes, this historically important interview examines an era of Japanese gaming history still mostly unknown to us: the pre-Invaders landscape of the 60s/70s.

Although an attachment to EM technology prevented Kasco from making the leap to genuine video games, they created what was probably the first color video game system in Japan. Had it been brought to market, as the interviewees here nostalgically relate, the landscape of gaming may have ended up looking very different today!

This interview was originally featured at the excellent jp site CV Odyssey. I’ve left in their helpful editorial commentary in italics.