Japanese arcades are WAY different from those in the U.S. Have you ever been to one? Most are divided into two sections, pay-per-play games, and token games.I have yet to see a Japanese Namco arcade made in the last 15 years that wasn't a token-style one.
So anyways, the pay-per-play ones aren't too much different from those here, but of course, you'll never find one under 100 yen. In fact, most of the games are over "standard size"(The size most people think of an arcade game being-these include DDR, Time Crisis, and the like) and require something along the lines of "200 yen to start, 100 per life after that". A bunch include a sort of "memory card" feature, where one buys a credit-card-style piece of plastic(Usually 600 yen or so) that acts as a memory card for one particular game-a feature which I personally used most in playing Ghost Squad-It would keep track of all the weapons you gained, costumes, levels cleared, stats, etc.
I've seen some crazy arcade games over there, including numerous card games where you place your units on some type of special table that reads the cards information, and you move the cards as units of an army to defeat the other player. Popular among the kids is a sort of janken beetle game(Which didn't really catch on here) where you buy cards that contain stats and you slide the card on a machine, you pick rock paper or scissors, and depending on your stats and what you picked, your beetle would proceed to smash his opponent with his horn.
Also dominant there are the pay-per-play(to win) games. Up to half of the entire arcade may be dedicated to the winning of random assortments of stuffed animals-or chips, video games, or just random toys-in games that are almost impossible to win. The Japanese take the crane game to a whole new level.
Then there are the token games. More often then not Namco, there is NO way to win. Seriuosly. Have you seen those frikken things? Basically, you buy tokens(100 yen for 12 or 500 yen for 70, say). And you use them to play games.
To win more tokens.
It is literally an endless cycle of using your tokens in some of the most odd games imaginable to win(or lose and then buy) more tokens to play the games to get more of those god damn tokens. Some of these games are sorta like miniature arcade games where the more tokens you used, the easier it was to "win". Other games include dropping a token into a slot at a certain time to bounce of of certain pins(a la pachinko) onto a continuously sliding back and forth rack of more tokens that, if you are lucky, would be knocked down in part by your certain token. The really "skillful" ones can sit there for hours on end playing and earning tokens, only to lose them in more games trying to get more tokens.
I must admit, I haven't been to an arcade in the U.S. in a while, but I'm sure most of the differences listed here are still true.
I mean, come on, I seriously doubt that ANY U.S. arcade EVER went and got "Typing of the Dead"(Admittedly, it was pretty fun because it still used the standard U.S. keyboard and letters but with Japanese words).
But anyways, this kinda surprised me because usually those places are frikken packed.
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I dunno...Personally, I like my wine at room temperature.
Most flame wars over the net are probably linked to those with stickers all over their computers, monitors, keyboards, etc.
Japanese arcades are WAY different from those in the U.S. Have you ever been to one? Most are divided into two sections, pay-per-play games, and token games.I have yet to see a Japanese Namco arcade made in the last 15 years that wasn't a token-style one.
So anyways, the pay-per-play ones aren't too much different from those here, but of course, you'll never find one under 100 yen. In fact, most of the games are over "standard size"(The size most people think of an arcade game being-these include DDR, Time Crisis, and the like) and require something along the lines of "200 yen to start, 100 per life after that". A bunch include a sort of "memory card" feature, where one buys a credit-card-style piece of plastic(Usually 600 yen or so) that acts as a memory card for one particular game-a feature which I personally used most in playing Ghost Squad-It would keep track of all the weapons you gained, costumes, levels cleared, stats, etc.
I've seen some crazy arcade games over there, including numerous card games where you place your units on some type of special table that reads the cards information, and you move the cards as units of an army to defeat the other player. Popular among the kids is a sort of janken beetle game(Which didn't really catch on here) where you buy cards that contain stats and you slide the card on a machine, you pick rock paper or scissors, and depending on your stats and what you picked, your beetle would proceed to smash his opponent with his horn.
Also dominant there are the pay-per-play(to win) games. Up to half of the entire arcade may be dedicated to the winning of random assortments of stuffed animals-or chips, video games, or just random toys-in games that are almost impossible to win. The Japanese take the crane game to a whole new level.
Then there are the token games. More often then not Namco, there is NO way to win. Seriuosly. Have you seen those frikken things? Basically, you buy tokens(100 yen for 12 or 500 yen for 70, say). And you use them to play games.
To win more tokens.
It is literally an endless cycle of using your tokens in some of the most odd games imaginable to win(or lose and then buy) more tokens to play the games to get more of those god damn tokens. Some of these games are sorta like miniature arcade games where the more tokens you used, the easier it was to "win". Other games include dropping a token into a slot at a certain time to bounce of of certain pins(a la pachinko) onto a continuously sliding back and forth rack of more tokens that, if you are lucky, would be knocked down in part by your certain token. The really "skillful" ones can sit there for hours on end playing and earning tokens, only to lose them in more games trying to get more tokens.
I must admit, I haven't been to an arcade in the U.S. in a while, but I'm sure most of the differences listed here are still true.
I mean, come on, I seriously doubt that ANY U.S. arcade EVER went and got "Typing of the Dead"(Admittedly, it was pretty fun because it still used the standard U.S. keyboard and letters but with Japanese words).
But anyways, this kinda surprised me because usually those places are frikken packed.