Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

Having lived in Japan for the past decade I can say that game centers (arcades to those outside Japan) have changed. I remember playing rhythm based games (pop-n-music, taiko drum master, etc.) and some fighting/shooting games for a few years. But, within the last two years or so, the NFC card requirement for almost all games has come to fruition. Wanna play that racing game? Gonna need to "grind" a vehicle and save that progress with an NFC. Wanna play that rhythm game? Scan your NFC first. Wanna shoot at dinos? You know the drill. This is why I won't put a single yen in the machines. Arcade games were put your coin in the box and see how good you were at it. However, they have turned it into a scan your NFC and see how far you've "grind"-ed to mastery. Instead of "grind"-ing an arcade game at 100 yen per round I could actually use my money on other things that bring more pleasure.

Visited Japan a few years ago and even then I found the arcade experience kind of bewildering. I was fully prepared to accept the crane games, rhythm games, and the genre sorted levels of the big arcades.

What really threw me was the absolutely impenetrable MOBA style games that seemed to fill entire levels on their own. They looked like they were designed for lots of long term play and grinding, and needed some kind of way to store progress. Even though I must have seen 50 of these machines filling entire floors at the few arcades I went to, I never actually saw anybody playing them.

There was however a dedicated "scene" in the basement of one of the arcades where they were playing some kind of competitive mech game. The cabinet was unusual in that it had arcade style controls, but also looked like it had a playstation-like controller as well (maybe as an option?)

I have no idea what the arcade culture or scene is like in Japan, but going in I thought I'd spend more time there and have more fun trying out weird stuff that hadn't made it to the U.S. In the end I think I found a Tekken 5 cabinet and played a few rounds against a few players and then left.

Its a shame, Tokyo of the 90s and 2000s felt like stepping into a new cyberpunk world with arcades, advanced cellphones, net cafes and karaoke booths, wild fashion music and subcultures etc. When Thomas Freidman came out with the World is Flat around then I thought it was kind of ridiculous, and it hasn’t played out in work but the world of consumer culture sadly is becoming much flatter. No market can resist the iPhone and Netflix forever.

Japan resident here. I grew up in the arcade scene in the US. It was the thing to do when we were kids. Sadly, it began to die just as I entered university age. I moved to Japan in my mid 20s and was thrilled to see arcades not only plentiful, but also decently packed.

Before online play was ubiquitous, there was always a line of people to challenge. I loved it! But yeah, the scene is rapidly approaching what I saw back in the US. Even before the pandemic, the scene was dying out. I suppose this is just the nail in the coffin.

On the other hand, I've also lived in South Korea and visit quite often (only a 2 hour flight). The arcade scene is HUGE. It reminds me of its heights back in the US. The places also offer offer a huge variety -- from your typical fighting, MOBA, and crane, to darts, basketball, and target shooting. And oh yeah, little 2 person karaoke booths. It even seems like a popular date spot for young couples. There is also a huge growth in VR arcades and retro arcade bars. The latter is pretty awesome. They'll typically have some retro console/emulators set up, and you pay a flat fee (and a drink minimum) for unlimited play. Can't wait to get back!

They were already less cool as of late. Gone were a lot of the “one game per machine” things and instead they just had a bunch of crane games and these “multi-title” machines with standardized controls. So, you could sit anywhere and play the same thing unless it had unique controls/displays or could still justify its own cabinet.

I certainly miss 90’s arcades but what made them special was limited access (my parents would only take me every now and then) and the gap between arcade and consumer hardware. There was a little bit of socializing but it was mostly with the friends that came along. I wish location-based VR experiences like The Void would become a modern substitute but the economics don’t seem to work.

I live in Detroit and within the past few years 3 arcade bars have opened within walking distance of my apartment and another is about to open. These are the places I tend to frequent (actually about to go to one to after writing this and went to another last night). The thing that separates them from console or PC games for me is pinball. I cannot justify buying a machine, but I’m loving the resurgence.

What was the biggest game ever in the arcade scene? I remember in Akihabara in the 90s they were screening Virtua Vighter matches outside because the crowds were too big to fit into the arcade centers. The loser had to make place for the next guy in line and there seemed to be no limit of new contestants. I tried my luck (not skill) a few times and IIRC even won once.

Lived in Tokyo in the 80's as a teenager. Game centers where the place to be after school and meet kids from other schools. Loud places, usually close to train/subway stations. Games where between 50¥-100¥. Some game centers offered free melon soda. My game center was managed by a young and friendly Chinpira(low ranked Yakuza).

Non-paywalled syndicate: https://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/131076.php

Sad story but a good side effect of that is you can now buy one of these arcade machine for a good price.

I bought a vewlix diamond a few months ago for $2k. Something I never thought possible a few years ago.

Game center are closing but if you are motivated, and not afraid to spend countless hours of research, cleaning, figuring out manual guide in japanese,… now is a good time to own one of those aracde machine before they completely disappear!

Check out https://www.arcade-projects.com/

What does this mean for Round 1?

It seems to be making inroads in the US.

I knew a guy who had arcade machines he used to place in public places. A few years after gaming arrived on smartphones he had to wind up his business as the machines weren’t generating enough profit.

Article text:

>Over the decades, gaming arcades in Japan have faced a series of challenges. Typically, they’ve been in the realm of technology — namely high-tech video game consoles that first promised arcade machine-level graphics and then, eventually, surpassed them. Now, Japanese arcades are facing a new menace, one that the entire world has been combating: COVID-19.

>Even pre-pandemic, arcades in Japan were on a downward trend. According to a police white paper, there were only 4,022 arcades across Japan in 2019, down from 26,573 in 1986. Things have changed even since the late 2000s, when I published a book on Japanese game centers called “Arcade Mania!.” Back then there were over 9,000 arcades — significantly less than their mid-1980s peak, but double that of today.

>For years, bowling alleys and the rooftops of department stores functioned as amusement spaces. Namco, for example, got its start in the amusement business in the mid-1950s, building two wooden hobby horses for the roof of a Matsuya department store in Yokohama. By the early 1970s, it expanded to electromechanical games, forerunners of the modern arcade games.

>Gaming arcades as we know them first exploded in Japan in the late 1970s, when the game Space Invaders captured the nation’s imagination. Game centers — often coffee shops converted into arcades — were called “Invader House,” as the association with the classic space shooter was so strong.

>From the late ’70s through the early 1990s, arcades thrived, thanks to youth with disposable money and arcade cabinets that often offered better graphics than home consoles. But as home consoles — from makers like Nintendo and Sega — got more powerful, and as the internet made online play possible, Japan’s arcades lost some of their home-field advantage.

>Although time and technology marched on, arcades always had a certain charm that couldn’t be replaced by better graphics or central processing units. They were places you could go out of nostalgia, time machines to another era, and, most importantly, where you could interact with like-minded people. This appeal wasn’t limited to traditional gamers; in 2010 Nikkei reported that arcades were increasingly becoming social hubs for the elderly. One 65-year-old said going to the arcade and making loads of friends was “like being in a dream.”

>Much of what makes arcades so appealing — human interaction — is now severely limited. When states of emergency were declared in Tokyo and Osaka, arcade titans Taito and Sega temporarily shuttered their game centers. Those that are open do take precautions, such as disinfecting the cabinets, buttons and joysticks, but the vibe is simply not the same.

>When explaining Taito’s operating loss in the amusement business and sharp drop in net sales, parent company Square Enix explained in a recent financial statement that these closures were designed to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

>“The amusement market continues to face a harsh operating environment given the direct impact it sustains from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Square Enix added in its most recent financial results. Capcom also notes that it’s not just the foot traffic into arcades that has been impacted, but also the demand for manufacturing amusement machines. The whole industry has been hit.

>Knock-on effects compound. For example, with the ongoing border closure, arcades that relied on international tourists are feeling the crunch more than ever. Since last year, a spate of notable arcades in Tokyo have closed, including Sega Akihabara Building 2, an area landmark formerly known as Akihabara Gigo, and the 48-year-old Shinjuku Playland Carnival.

>“Business was tough, but I had thought we could get out of this someday,” Shinjuku Playland Carnival manager Noriyuki Shimoda told The Asahi Shimbun about the closure. “I can’t find the words to describe my feelings.”

>There appears to be little help or interest from the Japanese government in boosting arcades during the pandemic. With each arcade closure, a part of the country’s gaming history and culture is lost.

>“The government is doing nothing to help us out of this hopeless situation,” Yasushi Fukamachi, manager at Tokyo arcade Mikado, told Agence France-Presse earlier this year. “The income has gone down by more than half. This is horrible.”

>Mikado owner Minoru Ikeda was forced to launch a plea on crowdfunding site Campfire last year. Thankfully, over 3,800 fans chipped in, raising ¥37,328,892 (about $343,000). Not every arcade has been so lucky.

>But don’t count out Japanese arcades just yet.

>Game companies are showing slight signs of optimism. “Although amusement center operations, which had slumped due to the impact of COVID-19, have entered a recovery trend, it is expected to take some time for the recovery of purchasing motivation of customers,” wrote Sega Sammy in its most recent financial statement. The gaming giant sold an 85.1% stake in Sega Entertainment Co., a subsidiary that operates amusement facilities, to Genda Inc. in December 2020. Likewise, Square Enix stated that its amusement centers have been on the rebound, particularly in the suburbs and shopping malls. > >This may be the greatest challenge Japanese arcades have ever faced, but it isn’t quite game over.

It is worth checking out the documentary “100 Yen” about the arcades.

I'm so sad I'll never get to experience this. I don't think with covid, arcades will ever be economically viable again. Even with a vaccine it's a high risk low reward activity to have so many people gathered around in such a small space.

However there are tons of arcade bars in the US. Hopefully this will become a thing in Japan

They are already mostly gone except in a few places in tokyo and the obvious geek dens like Akihabara. And they are all smoking which means you get cigarette smell amd feel dirty after no time. No thanks.