Anyone know Tokyo arcades?

[tzakiel]

Heading there in May. Is there anywhere to play cave shmups? Not sure if those are popular/too old or if I will find them at the aki arcades still today?

[Shepardus]

Taito HEY and Try Amusement Tower are good places to check out from what I hear.

[Elixir]

http://www19.atwiki.jp/karishooterwiki/pages/81.html
http://www19.atwiki.jp/karishooterwiki/pages/128.html

enjoy

[_rm_]

Just visit Hey's 1st floor and you're good to go in terms of shmups

[rancor]

Just visit Hey's 2nd floor and you're good to go in terms of shmups

Fixed.

[GaijinPunch]

If you just want the shooting games, Hey 2nd floor has just about anything you'll need, but can get crowded on the weekends. Tower's retro floor will have some goodies and way less people (and a bit more of an older crowd to boot). If you can't make it over to that side of town, Game In Mikado in Takadanobaba is worth trying out. Similar to Try Tower, but bigger. Lots of goodies.

[_rm_]

Just visit Hey's 2nd floor and you're good to go in terms of shmups

Fixed.

I'm used to call "0" to the entry floor, but you're right

[geekmiki]

Taito HEY! is pretty easy to find on Chuo dori in Akihabara.

Mikado can be trickier to find:
Train to Takadanobaba station and then:
http://mi-ka-do.net/baba/shopinfo/#_=_

Also, for those that have been there, is Game Inn Ebisen worth a visit? I'm heading soon to Tokyo too and that's the one I haven't visited yet...

[Feedbacker]

Does someone know where this has been filmed ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK0wdLCk6NY

[_rm_]

Also, for those that have been there, is Game Inn Ebisen worth a visit? I'm heading soon to Tokyo too and that's the one I haven't visited yet...

Definitely worth if you're into shmups.

Only been there once but i got the chance to see Clover TAC training

[ACSeraph]

If you want to hit up Ebi-sen make sure you do it at a good time when there are people actually there playing. I went on a random weekday in the afternoon because it was the only time I had, and unsurprisingly it was dead inside. It's very small inside so the selection is smaller than a place like Hey!. Good, but theres nothing you couldn't find elsewhere if you just wanted to play, and it's a bit out of the way to get there too.

Hey! is a good all around arcade no matter what you want to play, and the second floor has everything you could ever want when it comes to "modern" shmups (and Taito! ). Try Amusement Tower is pretty close to Hey! and has a very different selection, focusing more on early 90's and prior. You wanna play Hotdog Storm? Try is your place.

I would also recommend going to Kawasaki Warehouse near Kawasaki station. Not the hugest selection of shmups, but an incredibly badass arcade nonetheless. It's made to look like the Kowloon Slums in Hong Kong, and features a nice little selection of beautifully maintained ultra rare cabs you wont see anywhere else. Want to play Space Harrier on a legit working cab that will toss you left and right? Feel the road under your wheels in Outrun? Warehouse is where you can do it. They also have a few typical shmups (Futari 1.5, DOJ, Dangerous Seed were out last weekend, they seem to change them often) and the best maintained Darius Extra cab I've ever found. The Darius cab is some special extra large version, with a much bigger screen than the cabs at Hey! and Try.

Looks like I'll be moving to Tokyo next month actually. If I have time maybe I could go with you to a few places on the weekend.

[NTSC-J]

Saturday night is usually the time to go to Ebi-sen. It's usually packed (which is to say 12 or so people), but most of them are superplayers, so you're bound to see something good.

Another one that hasn't been mentioned yet which is almost worth going to is Goody 21, the arcade where Yusemi-SWY sets his records. It's an absolute shit hole. Whereas Ebi-sen is clean, friendly, and professional, Goody 21 is a dive with empty cans strewn about filled with cigarette butts. Ebi-Tencho, the owner of Ebi-sen, is outgoing, warm, and an active member of the STG community (he hosted the Wasshoi event last week, for instance). The dungeon-keeper of Goody 21 sits behind piles of trash and manga in a nerd nest not fit for man nor beast. Why SWY chooses that place to play can only be to spite his competitors.

[rancor]

Goody 21 is a dive with empty cans strewn about filled with cigarette butts.....The dungeon-keeper of Goody 21 sits behind piles of trash and manga in a nerd nest not fit for man nor beast. Why SWY chooses that place to play can only be to spite his competitors.

Please, for the love of god, get pics of this place and write a report for the arcade tribute thread.

[NTSC-J]

It's been years since I went, so for all I know, the curse was lifted and it imploded like the house in The Poltergeist.

Here are some small photos of the exterior:



The sign says the door "is currently" busted, but this was taken in 2008, and I think I must have visited it with Adversity in 2010 or so and the door was still broken, imagine that.