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Japanese Arcade Scene Still Going Strong
Milktoast writes "An English teacher in Japan is writing about the thriving Japanese Arcade scene at Joystick101.org. He talks about new trends in a culture that hasn't abandoned the arcade as a venue." Maybe it's just me, but I've only been in a handful of domestic arcades that impressed me. I don't know if it's a cultural diffference to blame, but Japanese arcades also seem to look like there's something cooler going on, like the prizes for redemption games. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
Maybe Japanese arcades have games that let you keep playing if you're good, rather than charging you two dollars for half a minute of crappy racing.
I stopped playing pinball games once they went up to $0.50 per play, and many arcade games are $1 to play... that's just way too much, considering that you're usually killed off after a few minutes once you miss a checkpoint or get to the third character who uses every cheap tactic the AI can muster. I used to love arcades back in the day where I could play Moon Patrol for a good half hour on a quarter, but I simply can't afford to spend enough to learn all the moves in a fighting game, or where to sit to avoid the bosses bullets in the latest shoot 'em up... especially when I can play games that are just as good at home.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
I was in Japan through 97-98 and noticed two things that would explain why their arcade scene isnâ(TM)t dieing. The first is that the Japanese people like to do things in groups and going to an arcade is a fun activity that can be done with a lot of your friends. So why havenâ(TM)t home console system killed the arcade places like they have in the states? Well, that brings up my second point which is that they tend to keep visits to other peopleâ(TM)s houses down to a minimum. Every time you go to someoneâ(TM)s place you have to bring a gift (omochi, green tea, etc) and it gets to be a pain. Group gaming activities at home seem to be rare in Japan which keeps the arcades thriving. Of course I could be wrong :)
Two most impressive arcades I've seen: The lavish one at Piccadilly Circus in London, the gigantic one in Disneyland Florida (felt as big as a football field, a while back). Vegas probably has a few nice ones
:) You get the feeling these games were hastingly designed first as money making scheme, not work of arts. Still, there's quality to be found if you dig deep enough.
:)
Lately I've been trying some of the older 80-90s arcade classics via MAME, with cheats on, to preview game endings. Suffice to say, most are cheesy, mundane and typo filled
I noticed one common recurring theme: They all had Japanese credits at the end. Another thing I learned is how common quirky and hilarious english nicknames are in Japanese society, Muscle Ayagashi, TheMilk Yayamushi, Brain Yoshi, BigBoss Yogamoto and so on, weird, completely hilarious monickers. Endings are worth seeing for these alone
Japan is huge in the arcade scene, I had never grasped the full extent of it before; they pretty much made the arcade world as we know it.
Donkey Kong, Gradius, Time Pilots, Mr Do, Dig Dug, Pacman, Galaga, Galaxian, Commando, Contra, Ikari Warriors, Black Tiger, Gauntlet, Spy Hunter, Bad Dudes vs Dragonninja, Trojan, DoDonpachi, Mars Matrix, Ghouls N Ghosts, Double Dragon, Final fight, Golden Axe, ~4000 others = Japanese.
Funny thing as I was grewing up I never pictured these to have originated anywhere else than North America, for some reason