Namco Pushes Counter-Strike LAN Centers In Japan

Posted by simoniker on Friday December 5, 2003 @01:41PM from the special-pacman-appearance-forthcoming dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for their extended four part series discussing Namco's attempt to launch gaming-specific LAN centers as an alternative to arcades in Japan. The company has made moves to "..license Counter-Strike from Valve Software, create a localized version called Counter-Strike NEO for Japanese gamers, and install specially designed [PC setups] running the game in Namco's LEDZone LAN arcades." Although PC gaming is still weak and arcade gaming strong in Japan, Namco has put a lot of effort into these gaming-only PC LAN centers, which even have a "subwoofer mounted flush with the floor in front of each seat... so gamers feel each gunshot and explosion through the soles of their feet." Namco also mentions Counter-Strike NEO shows gradually increasing revenues, as opposed to Japanese arcade games, which "...are most profitable shortly after installation, and then suffer declining revenue until the arcade owner replaces them."

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Intresting to note. by Quadfreak0 · 2003-12-05 17:10 · Score: 5, Interesting

On my last visit to taiwan, which isnt that far away from japan, Lan-cafes or lan party pubs seemed to be a booming biz, and most people go play there than at the arcades just because you pay the hourly rate and play whatever games you want. amazing how diffrent these two gamer cultures are when separated by a little water. Oh and last I check CS is still quite popular, but I dont think they should have payed to put their little name on it...