What systems have retail displays in Japan, or is the practice not as totally ubiquitous it is for Americans? Established unofficial versions are fine.
Not been to a game store in a while, but the one I park my bike by has PSP stuff right there in the window to be seen on the street. Generally you're far more likely to see a demo video than a playable kiosk.
As a Kid I just LOVED to go play on those kiosks, the staff would usually have to tell me to leave at some point because I could just stick there all day. My favourite place though was not at a game retail store but at the video rental. They had a NES and a Genesis in a custom made enclosure and they would switch the games everyday.
I used to love the Arcades, I stopped going after a silly accident, it was winter so the days where shorter and after school at 4pm I went, my brother was going to follow later (it was already dark) about an hour later I had a friend racing into the arcades, come outside your brothers been knocked over by a car. never again did I go I was supposed to be responsible for him... he was lucky to be alive (I was about 12 he was 9) but then I was always in DIXONS back in the days, every Saturdays I was there they had a SUPER NES and Street Fighter cart. that was when it launched and not many people had one
back in the late 90's EVERY game store would have game kioks out on the street. They had them for all systems including stuff such as the PCFX. These days you see them in game stores for all systems too but I'm not sure if the likes of Akihabara or Den Den Town still have them outside the stores.
console stands are not what they used to be before a console stand was there to test the game see how you felt before you brought and also a little entertainment for kids while mum and dad shopped in store today is to show off the console in a game shop and 9/10 its prob turnt off or just on the XBM screen with no game inserted, parents don't shop in game stores for long periods so they can be left on XBM or off just purely to show off the consoles sleek design today its design and looks that sells
silverfox i think you got the nostalgia tinted goggles on a little too tight. It's always about selling, always has been. Anyway, I see a lot in the US still. They're either muted or entirely too loud. I remember when Guitar Hero 2 was brand new, that was a common demo but a lot of stores had them muted. ...pretty hard to play a music game muted.,
Look at the kiosks - official ones usually have a REALLY huge logo, typically running a new game, usually set up in the game section. It's an advertisement, and a demo. A demo is a playable advertisement. They are intended to suggest a game to buy - that's their purpose.
Akiba's are generally a bit more streamlined and less clunky. You're still far more likely to see a movie demo than a playable demo of something though.
