Good arcades and game stores in Japantown, San Francisco??..

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:36 am

Since I've discovered that a Caltrain trip from San Jose to San Fran. is only 90 minutes, one of the days I'm out of town next week I would like to take some time to head on up to San Francisco's Japantown. I've heard ravings about how great it is for gaming, so I'd like to know about some good gaming stores and arcades there.

Also, there are several Caltrain stations in San Francisco:

http://www.caltrain.com/caltrain_stations.html

which one is closest to Japantown?

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:38 am

Unfortunately there's nothing much of shmup related stuff in Japantown. There are a bunch of stores that sell cute cellphone accessories, models, etc, and a lot of restaurants. I remember there was a store that sold import games, but this was like 10 years ago. I don't think it's still there.

There's a Kinokuniya bookstore if you are interested in Arcadia magazines, and an anime shop, which is pretty cool.

No arcades there though.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:16 am

What's this "AI" I hear about? It's an abbreviation for something, but I don't know what. It might also be in Los Angeles somewhere.

zakk · Post by **zakk** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:37 am

iatneH wrote:What's this "AI" I hear about? It's an abbreviation for something, but I don't know what. It might also be in Los Angeles somewhere.

Probably Arcade Infinity, which is in the LA area, I believe. They have an arcade, and they also sold imported cabs. I'm not sure if they still do. Lots of people seemed to have issues with them regarding cab purchases.

mannerbot · Post by **mannerbot** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:32 pm

Yes, AI is Arcade Infinity, an arcade located in Rowland Heights, CA. Known best on these boards probably for their shady cab dealings.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 12:59 am

OK, well thanks for the info guys! I might just head up there; doesn't sound like it's much bigger then San Jose's Japantown.

BTW, what's a good, solid brand of disposable camera? I want to get one on Tuesday when I arrive in San Jose, on Tuesday. I'm thinking Fuji.

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:50 am

The only import or non-chain game store I know if in the Bay Area is Network Video in Burlingame.

http://www.koyagi.com/SFshopping.html#anchor349189

They're okay, but nothing great. I guess if you don't mind paying full price for new releases they'll be useful. They're mainly known as the place where some people in the local game biz dump free games they've received for cash. :P

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:54 am

Cool.

Ok, now where exactly in San Fransico is Japantown? Remember, I will be taking Caltrain up from San Jose.