{"id":55754,"date":"2026-01-14T16:32:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=55754"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:32:58","slug":"taito-is-searching-all-of-japan-for-countrys-legendary-first-ever-crane-game-machine-offering-600-cash-prize-for-valuable-leads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/taito-is-searching-all-of-japan-for-countrys-legendary-first-ever-crane-game-machine-offering-600-cash-prize-for-valuable-leads\/","title":{"rendered":"Taito is searching all of Japan for country&#8217;s legendary \u201cfirst\u00a0ever\u00a0crane game machine,\u201d offering\u00a0$600 cash prize for valuable leads\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Taito Corporation \u2013 the developer of influential arcade games like Space Invaders \u2013\u00a0has\u00a0issued a follow-up on its\u00a0nationwide effort to\u00a0locate\u00a0the <strong>Crown 602<\/strong>,\u00a0an elusive\u00a0crane game machine released in 1965 that the company describes as Japan\u2019s first domestically produced model\u00a0(based on its own historical records). The search is part of a public information campaign aimed at\u00a0identifying\u00a0surviving units or reliable records of the machine\u2019s existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taito has been collecting tips through\u00a0this project since October 2025, and according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/prtimes.jp\/main\/html\/rd\/p\/000000680.000041970.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a new\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0the company,\u00a0people sent in over\u00a01,200 reports\u00a0about the Crown 602\u00a0just\u00a0within the first two weeks.\u00a0However, after reviewing the\u00a0information, Taito says\u00a0that\u00a0the majority of\u00a0the leads were unfortunately related to similar crane game machines subsequently manufactured by other companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taito attributes the difficulty of the search to the widespread&nbsp;presence&nbsp;of similar cabinets during the 1960s. While some&nbsp;of the&nbsp;leads were&nbsp;deemed&nbsp;potentially credible, the company says&nbsp;none&nbsp;have yet conclusively confirmed the location of an authentic unit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"739\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1533px) 100vw, 1533px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114-55754-001.jpg\" alt=\"Crown 602\" class=\"wp-image-55761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114-55754-001.jpg 1533w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114-55754-001-380x183.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260114-55754-001-768x370.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To&nbsp;assist&nbsp;in further narrowing the search, Taito has&nbsp;shared three identifying features it considers essential for&nbsp;telling apart&nbsp;a genuine Crown 602. These include:&nbsp;an&nbsp;inverted trapezoid-shaped glass window&nbsp;mounted on the side;&nbsp;a plain white or beige cabinet without decorative elements;&nbsp;and a coin slot installed on the side&nbsp;(rather than the top)&nbsp;of the machine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Information is\u00a0still\u00a0being accepted through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/form.taito.co.jp\/a.p\/460\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a dedicated web form<\/a>\u00a0as well as Taito\u2019s official accounts on X and Facebook. Submissions can include photographs or written recollections of locations where\u00a0a unit\u00a0may have been installed. The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2026, and\u00a0Taito has announced that it will award \u00a5100,000\u00a0(around\u00a0$630 USD)\u00a0to the individual who provides the most substantial\u00a0information\u00a0leading to the discovery of an existing machine.\u00a0Additional prizes, in the form of game software, will be awarded by lottery to selected\u00a0tippers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-uses-classic-arcade-games-like-space-invaders-and-vs-super-mario-bros-to-collect-donations-for-akihabara-redevelopment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japan uses classic arcade games like Space Invaders and VS. Super Mario Bros to collect donations for Akihabara redevelopment<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taito has issued a follow-up on its nationwide &#8220;search warrant&#8221; for the Crown 602, the first Japan-produced crane game machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":55759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-55754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taito is searching all of Japan for country&#039;s legendary \u201cfirst\u00a0ever\u00a0crane game machine,\u201d offering\u00a0$600 cash prize for valuable leads\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Taito has issued a follow-up on its nationwide &quot;search warrant&quot; for the Crown 602, the first Japan-produced crane game machine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/taito-is-searching-all-of-japan-for-countrys-legendary-first-ever-crane-game-machine-offering-600-cash-prize-for-valuable-leads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taito is searching all of Japan for country&#039;s legendary \u201cfirst\u00a0ever\u00a0crane game machine,\u201d offering\u00a0$600 cash prize for valuable leads\u00a0 - 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Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55754"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55763,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55754\/revisions\/55763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}