Arcades - A tribute

[Ex_Mosquito]

@ACSeraph
Nice pics of Try! I went to the Try tower in 09'. I know people always bang on about Hey but I think I prefer the cosy homely, gritty atmosphere of Try. Hey! is has a nice selection of games and all but it feels a little too polished and fancy for my liking. Try feels like its more relaxed and traditional, and those old arcade posters plastered on the walls are just the icing on the cake for me. If I was a Tokyo local and I was in this area a lot, this place would defiantly be my local.

I wish the pics were a bit clearer, though. That's potential Wallpaper fodder there

[rancor]

Updated with "Tokyo Gulliver"... Also, Game Omoron has been demolished. It's just a vacant lot now.

[Devdan]

Last time I went to TRY, I ran for the elevator and made the middle aged guy inside unreasonably angry. When I got off at the music game floor, he gutturally muttered "YAPPARI" and punched the wall (or maybe the door close button, I wasn't looking but I could hear it over the music game white noise) really hard. Made me really uncomfortable. He was going to the retro games floor too. JUST THOUGHT i'D SHARE THAT.

I'm subscribed to this twitter account https://twitter.com/iidx_close and I check it a lot to see if anyone arcades I care about have closed. Dunno if they only do music games, but I know they've covered places with no IIDX at least. I'm living in Saitama, so every time I see Saitama on there I have to take a deep breath. The Carom I sometimes go to near where I work seems really dead. That twitter was how I found out Pasopiard in Kamata was closing. I didn't cry, and yet there are still days when I find myself thinking "hey, why I don't I go to Pasopi...oh right, they're closed, as in forever." They'd just gotten a 3rd Strike too, life is so unfair.

I'm rambling, none of this matters.

[emphatic]

Updated with "Tokyo Gulliver"...

Also, Game Omoron has been demolished. It's just a vacant lot now.

[Lobinden]

http://randomwire.com/kowloon-walled-ci ... -in-japan/

I'm not sure if this has already been posted (if it has, I apologize in advance) but this is the Kawasaki warehouse - an arcade designed in the style of Hong Kong's former slum known as the Kowloon Walled City. It gives me a good cyberpunk vibe.

[Obiwanshinobi]

In 20th Century Boys there was a similar re-creation of the protagonists' home turf from nineteen-sixties made in this century.

[monouchi]

Awesome thread again.
Im going to Tokyo in Aug again, been checking most of the known arcades so will try to visit some of these, especially those in Koiwa.
Need to visit Matmouse in kawasaki again too.

[Sphere]

I love this thread and I will definitely follow it closely. Thanks Rancor

[MintyTheCat]

Bloody awesome thread, thanks to all who posted their insights, experiences and great photos.

[Sphere]

And here's London's Casino, leeched images from various meets.

Guys, can anyone help me understand which casino in London this is and what the address is?

[tomwhite2004]

And here's London's Casino, leeched images from various meets.

Guys, can anyone help me understand which casino in London this is and what the address is?

It was by the Goodge street tube station but is no longer there unfortunately. I would love to see some pictures of namco wonderpark that used to be located in windmill street, soho. Spent a great deal of time there in my teens but cant find more than a couple of pictures via image search.

[quash]

One of my favorite arcades in Yokohama closed recently. I took a single snapshot right before the day of reckoning:



Even though this was a franchised Sega arcade, it was pretty different from most of them in that it was only two stories and the top floor was pretty much devoid of UFO catchers and the like. The local Melty Blood players used this as a hangout spot since it was a bit out of the way compared to the bigger arcades, but that was most likely also a contributing factor in its demise. Having a Round1 right around the corner probably didn't help.

[Nana]

"game" - No name for this entry, and I'm not sure that this place has one. I had to drive out pretty far into the countryside today for a photoshoot, and on the way back driving slow on wet streets I caught a glimpse of what I thought to be cabs inside a shop. I parked the car in the nearest free parking I could find, and doubled back to check my suspicions. I was right! There were 3 Aero City cabs inside along with 2 other cabs I didn't recognize. You can see pics here. Before this place was an arcade / candy store, it apparently sold ice. Before that it sold boxed lunches. Before that it sold fabric. I guess that when each business failed they just crossed it off the sign, and wrote something new in. You can see "game" at the very bottom in white. Interesting place, and will no doubt be gone soon. The owner looked to be about 80 years old, and was thrilled that I stopped by to play some games and buy some candy. He didnt care too much that I was playing the arcade games, but he wanted to tell me everything he knew about the electro-mechanical games that he had in store. There were about 5-6, and they all looked to be at least 30 years old and in good working order. He kept saying "懐かし", which means "it brings back good memories.." I'm guessing he doesn't see much business these days, and is happy to talk to anyone that may stop by. Partial interior shot here.

Spoiler

This one looks pretty curious. Do you happen to remember what city this is in?

[rancor]

Yep!

It's directly across from the JSDF tank museum in Saitama. I'll see if I can pinpoint it, and post here.

edit: wow - wouldn't you know, its the one place that the Google car didn't go. Anyhow, you can put in this address into Google maps:

4 Chome Sakaechō, Asaka-shi, Saitama-ken

Its the stoplight there that you cant go into streetview for. As you can see from the pic, its directly under the traffic signal.

[MintyTheCat]

And here's London's Casino, leeched images from various meets.

Guys, can anyone help me understand which casino in London this is and what the address is?

It was by the Goodge street tube station but is no longer there unfortunately. I would love to see some pictures of namco wonderpark that used to be located in windmill street, soho. Spent a great deal of time there in my teens but cant find more than a couple of pictures via image search.

I haven't been down Tottenham Court Road for a few years now. What now resides at the Casion Arcade's address?

[giantw3nis]

The pictures on the front page are awesome. The closed arcades give me a strange feeling even though I have never been to them.

[mltv]

I need to dig up some pics from my trip last year (Apr '15). We went to Izukogen (~100miles south of Tokyo) for 2 days to explore the country, and were walking through a town that would have been the last place we would have expected an arcade. And hidden in this town was an arcade (about 10 candy cabs, and some sitdown twin cab). It made my day, as the whole point of going to the Izukogen was so my fiance could escape Akihabara and all the arcades (and smoking!)

And I'm happy to say that on each of those 15 days that we spent in Japan last year had time devoted to playing some games - no matter if it was in Akihabara or 2 hrs south of it

[MX7]

I haven't been down Tottenham Court Road for a few years now. What now resides at the Casion Arcade's address?

A gambling hole called the 'crystal casino' or some other bullshit. Breaks my heart every time i go past it.

I remember living in Nottingham in the mid-00's, catching a train to the Casino, grabbing some vegetarian thai food, smoking a few more fags and playing a few more games before heading home. What else is there to do in London

[rancor]

New arcade visit - Otopara Ageo - added to the bottom of the first post!

[chempop]

Interior

[monouchi]

Wow , almost looks abandoned.

[mvsfan]

there used to be an awesome arcade in fort lauderdale called funscape that i used to go to in the early 90s. place was huge they had a few hundred games and a bit of everything.

they did really well back then but around the time the playstation came out they started losing business.

first their games went up from a quarter to .50. a short time after that .75, 1.00, 1.50 then 2.00 per game.

shortly after the 2.00 per game they closed their doors because the crowds were gone.

[boagman]

So is this thread pretty much for any arcades we have in our particular areas? Because there are at least a few in this area I could take pictures of...but if you're looking for shmups, there will only be disappointment.

[rancor]

Yeah! Post whatever is available to you. No shmups needed. Let's just try to stay away from Dave and Busters, or any large chains. Indies / mom & pops / unknowns are best - It seems anytime someone comes to Japan, they think they're the first to discover this great new arcade called Hey! or Try tower.

[Devdan]

I don't think I follow how "auto parlor" = "boys paradise". I was curious about where in Saitama it was, since I lived in Sakado last year, so I googled it. Not too far from where I lived, but no convenient way to get there. Not that I would've gone anyway, but it would've been amusing to me if it had been somewhere I'd been before. The cursed Ogose line has to be hiding something worthwhile. It just has to be.

[edit] pretty much all I get out of their website is that they have a machine that dispenses corn beef sandwiches, and they have a Pop'n music.

http://www26.tok2.com/home/lunchboy/ageo.htm

[rancor]

[edit] pretty much all I get out of their website is that they have a machine that dispenses corn beef sandwiches, and they have a Pop'n music.

I'll let someone explain Japanese wordplay, but that's not "their" website. You've linked to "lunchboy's" homepage, a site dedicated to eating at coffee shops, cafe's, rest stops, and arcades:

http://www26.tok2.com/home/lunchboy/

[Devdan]

Pfft, I thought it was weird that their website put so much emphasis on those awful looking sandwiches.

And is the joke that oto is like otoko and para is like paradise? You're lame Japan, be less lame.

[JoeAwesome]

Yeah! Post whatever is available to you. No shmups needed. Let's just try to stay away from Dave and Busters, or any large chains. Indies / mom & pops / unknowns are best - It seems anytime someone comes to Japan, they think they're the first to discover this great new arcade called Hey! or Try tower.

There's two places I like in Texas: Arcade UFO in Austin, and Speedy's Fast Track in Houston. I'll try to get pics of Speedy's soon since I go to Houston more often. To me, that place is an institution since it's been open for over 20 years and kicking! Not a lot of new stuff, and definitely no more shmups, but I'll take some pics to show when I can.

[Plasmo]

So by now I have visited tons of Arcades here in Japan, many not being in this thread as well. Good stuff tho.

This year, we unfortunately had to see two very unfortunate closings.

1. Try Amusement Tower in Akihabara has closed down their retro floor. 90% of their shmups are thus gone. The rest is still open, but who cares about other games, right? Try had a fantastic selection of older shmups including many rarer titles that you couldn't play anywhere else.

2. Game Oslo 5 in Tachikawa closed its doors completely at the end of August. It was one of the major arcades for shmups in Tokyo. A great loss for the STG scene. Here's a picture right before it died:



Playable STGs included: Gradius IV, Tatsujin Ou, Guwange, Raiden DX, Progear, F/A, DOJ WL, Garegga (x2), Batrider, Ketsui and all Nessica games (Ikaruga, CCWI, Akai Katana Shin etc.)

Oslo 5 was one of the main arcades for Garegga and the home of many WR class players. During its last months, famous players from all over Japan were visiting Oslo 5 one last time.

R.I.P.

[Icarus]