Another classic tokyo arcade folds!

A real shame this one, while I always preffered the one opposite which had a great 2D fighting community, it is really sad that arcades like this are dying out. If you do some gaming this month, make sure its at your local arcade!

http://wheredoesgodzillapoop.com/?p=6094

 

Went there from time to time. Sad, but likely unavoidable. As long the HEY still stand straight, I'll be halfway happy.

 

That is very sad. I have been there numerous times on my trip to Japan in 2007. I remember I saw a Western dude playing Mushihimesama Futari and I randomly asked him if he was GaijinPunch because it was Shibuya and I knew that GP lived in Shibuya at the time.
Well guess what, first white guy I ask in a 30 Million people city and it really was GaijinPunch! LOL

 

very sad, but its the way of things, we dont have any local arcades.

 

I still remember that -- I was on my lunch break.
I've posted this on a couple of boards. This was definitely the red-headed step child of Tokyo arcades. Nobody really raved about it, but everyone loved it and spent time in there. RIP. This is basically the 3rd arcade that I spent substantial amount of time in to fold. Note that 3 others ranging from tiny to huge have also folded in previous years.

 

Out of interest, what are peoples favourite arcades out of the ones left in Tokyo?

 

HEY Arcade and that lil retro corner in the Kawasaki Warehouse...hehe.

 

Hey is fun but I've not been into shooters in a while. On that note, Mikado has too many shooters and not enough platformers. It's still nice though. I guess Try Amusement Tower is my favorite, but I'm rarely in Akiba.

 

I like Hey for beat-em ups but the place is too big and noisy for me. I prefer my more local arcades but as we see above they are almost gone.

I have amazing memories of being an 18 year old hitting the scene when Zero 2 and 3rd Strike were all anyone was playing. Ah, good times.

 

I have very fond memories when I saw Street Fighter II the first time back in 1991.

A pal suggested me to check out our local arcade since they just got in a new game, looking similar to final fight which I might like.
Next day I went there and what I saw went beyond all of my expectations I could ever have had.

Not just I had to force me through like 25 peeps standing around that only cab until I finally could see the first pixels of this game (which by the way was the blanka stage, with fighting guile vs. blanka), I also wasn't able to play it for like another hour.

But the game was so undescribable brilliant in every possible view. Grafx, colors, speed, movement, dynamics, style, special moves, controls, interactions, sound/FX etc. It was and still is a perfect game, and undoubtedly the greatest milestone in history of vs. fighting games ever.

Never before I had experienced a new game introduction in the arcades like this.

 

Wow man, you were actually here during the champagne years. I bet those days were really amazing and competitive.

 

A lot of smaller arcades are dying out here as well, but I never thought it would happen in Japan.

 

That stinks. Though you guys are very lucky to have had it this long. The arcades in my area started dying out in the mid 90's, right after the Street Fighter craze.

 

lol no, don't get my story wrong. that was back in my home town. I was barely 16..hehe.

 

Damn, even in Japan.

=/

 

All of us wanting to have Arcades in our living room is having a ripple effect.

 

Arcades use to be cool, but as technology becomes more powerful it makes arcades obsolete. Who wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a game that they can't even own when you can spend a fraction of that on a game you can? It's different in japan because it's crowded as hell and people don't like these "big" consoles taking up 99% of their living space, so they HAVE to go to arcades.

Now I guess they're addicted to mobile gaming and it's killing off arcades. Kinda interesting to see how other cultures evolve around gaming.

 

You Arcade in Yokosuka count? lol. I visit that place a lot

 

Unless you live in a shitty Tokyo apartment this is not true. My first apartment was small but had plenty of room for a desktop PC and a few consoles. My 2nd apartment was bigger and had lots of room. My house is well; a house so loads of space.

This idea that Japanese all live in little box rooms is a load of crap. Students do because they're out most of the time and can't afford a bigger place plus they live in Tokyo which is crowded. The reason arcades are closing in japan is the same as the west. Home games are just far more advanced now. Gone are the days when an arcade game would wow you with its graphics. The only way arcades can wow people now is if they have cool cabinets.

Probably another reason why arcades are closing is because they were on almost every corner at one point in japan. My local gamers arcade is still booming and always full. No shitty print club machines or UFO catchers in there because it's the only real gamers arcade in town so people flock to it. In Tokyo there are many, so competition is tough.

 

Also, not everything can be played at home. I only play rhythm games and recreating the arcade experience is damn near impossible with those, save for a few.