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The Arcades of Japan, a picture collection

DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Okay, so i have been sorting through dead HDDs and uploading stuff a while back - i Flickr tidied a ton but am a bit bogged down with work/life/stuff to finish this right now.

Anyways, it's a start and maybe of interest to some :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcharlie/collections/72157624007899446/

Collection of pictures from Japanese arcades, some from back in 2003, some from more recent times.

I'm going to be adding to the collection at some point in the future, but not likely any time soon!

Hopefully someone likes them - there's a couple of hidden GAFfers in there too ! :D
 
S

Snakeyes

Member
Beautiful. It's sad that most of the arcades here are a far cry from these. I'm sure that if a group of people dedicated themselves to offer a real Japanese arcade experience in any big city in NA, they would make quite a bit of money.

When I'll have a good amount of money to burn, I'll make sure to give it a shot; build a classy arcade/lounge in downtown Toronto and advertise the fuck out of it.
 
B

Barkley's Justice

Member
when i pulled a camera out to take a picture in an arcade in japan i had like 3 attendants run at me making "X" signs with their arms and then all collectively sigh when i managed to fire a shot off lol
 
B

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
Barkley's Justice said:
when i pulled a camera out to take a picture in an arcade in japan i had like 3 attendants run at me making "X" signs with their arms and then all collectively sigh when i managed to fire a shot off lol
Click to expand...

WTF? Why they would do that? :lol
 
E

El Sloth

Banned
These are really cool.

Man, is there no way for the Arcade market to be revived in the U.S.? :(


I'd settle for the East Coast.
 
A

andymcc

Banned
bernardobri said:
WTF? Why they would do that? :lol
Click to expand...

you can't take take pictures in most arcades, sega and taito ones are pretty well-marked indicating as such.

as to the reason why, i don't know. maybe so people don't video tape playback, or it's because of those print club machines. anyone have any better reasoning? :lol


mjemirzian said:
Glad to see a strong shoot em up/cave presence. Nice shots, thanks.
Click to expand...

taito hey in akihabara is pretty much mecca for shmup enthusiasts. i teared up a little the first time i set foot in there.
 
K

KTallguy

Banned
The X sign is funny because Japanese people think it's universal, when it's totally weird in the US. I guess you could get the meaning if you look at it for a while, but the first time I was like "what is that guy doing"...

And not being able to take pictures in some Japanese arcades is pretty lame.
It's silly that I have to try to avoid being seen by staff when taking pictures of like ... 10 year old arcade games in Sega Nishi Sportsland.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
after a fair amount of feed back, i am considering expanding this out to make a world wide "arcade picture" website/photo bucket.

if anyone is interested in contributing , let me know
 
O

Oichi

I'm like a Hadouken, down-right Fierce!
DCharlie said:
after a fair amount of feed back, i am considering expanding this out to make a world wide "arcade picture" website/photo bucket.

if anyone is interested in contributing , let me know
Click to expand...

This album should be called Arcades of Tokyo.:lol

I can contribute, since I've been to a lot of arcades in Kansai and other parts of Japan outside of Kanto though.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
This album should be called Arcades of Tokyo
Click to expand...

haha, indeed - for the moment it should be - reason i called it arcade of Japan is that i have a ton of content regarding non-Tokyo arcades, including places in nijima, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kanagawa, Osaka, etc. Just need to get em off semi dead hard drives :D

But yup, will give people a heads up in a few weeks once i strip all my drives.
 
O

Oichi

I'm like a Hadouken, down-right Fierce!
DCharlie said:
haha, indeed - for the moment it should be - reason i called it arcade of Japan is that i have a ton of content regarding non-Tokyo arcades, including places in nijima, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kanagawa, Osaka, etc. Just need to get em off semi dead hard drives :D

But yup, will give people a heads up in a few weeks once i strip all my drives.
Click to expand...

Have you been to Ikusa before? It's in Shikoku... gonna be heading there this summer for a couple of days for VF:D It looks SHIT HOT.

http://www.gems.ne.jp/shop/ikusa/ikusa_kagawa/shopview.html
 
I

IlliterateBookworm

Neo Member
There's no pictures of the mangy 30+ balding otaku playing Animal Kaiser or Dragon Quest while all the little kids look on and throw temper tantrums that they didn't get to play when their parents come to drag them home since they're done shopping. With fanny packs as well. FANNY PACKS.

Last time I was there, and the malformed creatures finally plodded back to their underground dwellings, my son told me he didn't want to use any of the chairs around those games since the seats smelled like scary people. I agreed with him.
 
L

LordAlu

Member
M

Moor-Angol

Banned
Nice topic and pictures, DCharlie

i really like to go to HEY when i'm in Japan, even if after a while my ears can't stand all that noise...


Have you ever been in Warabi, Saitama-ken ? There is Daytona III, some friends of mine brought me there 2 years ago, seems like it's one of the favourite places for shmup lovers for setting their hiscores.
It's a very simple arcade room, but games are cheaper than Tokyo arcades

There is a video i made : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvRnK-ntAHk
 
M

minor effort

Banned
Awesome thread. I never get tired of finding small, hole-in-the-wall arcades here in Japan. Particularly the smoked filled basements full of rare, obscure games.

Unfortunately, not every arcade can be so interesting. Most of the "chain" arcades outside of Akihabara are filled with the same predictable assortment of games. There's no interesting arcades up here in Yamagata, but I can find a few good ones in Sendai.

A side note, last time I was in Tokyo I flipped my shit seeing a My Hero/Seishun Scandal machine at the Akihabara Club Sega.
 
R

RevenantKioku

PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Awesome! I should take some shots of some of the depressing looking ones down here in Bamuburufakku.
 
I

isamu

OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH
Thank you so much for this thread and for posting these pics DC. They are fantastic! Makes me want to go to Japan and revel in the splendor that Japanese Arcades. If you or anyone else in Japan get a chance please consider taking some hi quality vids of arcades. I've been scouring youtube for footage of Japanese arcades and have come up empty :(
 
T

Tain

Member
Huge lineup of Cave, the Toaplan games have a row to themselves despite how goddamn alien they probably seem to new Cave players, and just look at that loving Darius II setup. But of course there's the shooter stuff. There always is. It's more and more the non-shooter stuff that I'm interested in seeing.

fuckin' Night Striker, I'd love to play the original. Just look at how well Space Harrier and After Burner are treated, put in Naomi-era cabinets and everything. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is right next to AvP, and both are still played today because, just like countless other games in all sorts of different genres that I saw in the photos, they're goddamned masterpieces for anybody who wants to put in the effort and try to 1cc them. PuRiLuRa? Makaimura? Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun? These games apparently get enough people trying to best them today that they're worth the floor space and maintenance. Amazing.

cool pictures, thanks.

Red Scarlet said:
? which game? It links to like 30 pictures.
Click to expand...

He meant the arcade itself. It's not the first time I've heard the claim, either!
 
M

minor effort

Banned
DCharlie said:
seriously, it was so awesome - i took about 30 pics of it. a thing of great beauty
Click to expand...

That was truly amazing. They had Darius, Ninja Warriors, and that incredible Darius II setup. A good selection of Taito's insane multi-screen games.

I'm itching to get down to Akihabara again.
 
cantona222

cantona222

Member
Thanks for the topic. It is somehow related to what I want from you guys. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Tokyo for 12 days. Any recommendations for places to visit (video game related and other fun stuff)?
 
Finaika

Finaika

Member
cantona222 said:
Thanks for the topic. It is somehow related to what I want from you guys. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Tokyo for 12 days. Any recommendations for places to visit (video game related and other fun stuff)?
Click to expand...
Akihabara.
 
I

isamu

OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH
DCharlie said:
Okay, so i have been sorting through dead HDDs and uploading stuff a while back - i Flickr tidied a ton but am a bit bogged down with work/life/stuff to finish this right now.

Anyways, it's a start and maybe of interest to some :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcharlie/collections/72157624007899446/

Collection of pictures from Japanese arcades, some from back in 2003, some from more recent times.

I'm going to be adding to the collection at some point in the future, but not likely any time soon!

Hopefully someone likes them - there's a couple of hidden GAFfers in there too ! :D
Click to expand...

Hi DC. Have you been back to any Japanese arcades lately? Has the scene changed since making this thread? Any other pics/vids you can share with us?

Man, I wish I could go and experience playing games in a Japanese arcade. We actually had one down here in Little Tokyo Los Angeles a few years ago. If anyone is from LA, remember Hi-Tech 21 in the Yaohan Plaza? Man, that place was hella cool. Straight up Japanese arcade games for the most part and I made some very cool friends back then. Those were the days.

If I ever hit the lotto, I'm going to open my own Japanese style arcade in Little Tokyo and all the games will be $0.01 to play!!!!
 
F

FacelessSamurai

..but cry so much I wish I had some
This thread just put a big smile on my face :D Just love it!

Here's a pic of mine (I know it's not from Japan, but it's arcade related!) My cat likes my arcade! :p

 
J

jlevel13

Member
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Great pics. I miss living in Japan and going to arcades. What a great reminder. :D
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
Great pictures but the pictures aren't complete without the smell of stale cigarettes. That's pretty much the only downer to going to J-arcades. Even after 5 minutes of being inside the building your clothes will smell like you took a dive in an ashtray. XD

I still love em! Initial D, Wangan, and Outrun cabinets are my regular rotations. I love arcade racers.
 
M

minor effort

Banned
Is it weird that the smell of indoor smoking instantly reminds me of Japanese arcades? That association is pretty hardwired into my brain now. :lol

I found one of my local arcades had Dolphin Blue yesterday. For some reason I always wanted to play that, and now I can. What an awesome day.

My favorite arcades here are the dank basements full of old, dingy games. Valkyrie no Densetsu running in your arcade? You're an awesome arcade manager.

I'm slowly seeing in many arcades the traditional arcade games losing space to those multiplayer touchscreen whatever games. Or mahjong setups. Or UFO catchers. I'm not interested in them, therefore I disapprove of them. I'm always on the hunt for struggling arcades where the selection of games has gone ignored for the last several years.
 
M

minor effort

Banned
Sorry to bump this older thread, but this hardly seemed worth making a new thread about, but still interesting enough (to me) to make note of. So I'll just use DCharlie's pre-existing one.

I just noticed a new (?) retro game arcade museum just to the east of the Akiba Yodobashi. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but it seemed pretty new to me. It's in the sleepier part of Akihabara. I was really impressed with some of the vintage cabinets and tabletops there.

88daX.jpg


TVXQu.jpg


Look at that fucking Quartet cabinet.
uizKu.jpg


Look at that fucking Makaimura cabinet.
tPtlH.jpg


ZIc2w.jpg


Z7ccm.jpg
 
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