How is the shmupping scene in Seoul??...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:00 am

Compared to, say, Tokyo, in terms of game stores and arcades? Just curious, as I'd really like to visit the city sometime.

LSU · Post by **LSU** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:56 am

Well, I don't live in Seoul but I've been there many times as my wife comes from Seoul, and I've been to Tokyo and played in arcades there too.

Shmupping and arcades aren't quite the same in Seoul as in Tokyo, as arcade gaming has a little bit of a more 'underground, grungy' reputation. Having said that there are many arcades around, they're just not as nicely setup or glittery as in, say, Shinjuku. The age group that goes along seemed about the same though, and there were plenty of shmups around last time I went. There also seemed to be about the same mix of males to females in arcades as you see in Tokyo. Gaming is actually just as popular in Korea as in Japan, but rather than go to arcades most people play on their PCs instead, or go to 'gamebangs' (gamerooms) - PC online gaming cafes - these are incredibly common and popular.

Game stores however, are another matter - there are not as many in Seoul, and when you do find them they're mostly filled with PC games. A while ago piracy was also quite prevalent there, and while there are still plenty of pirated games still on sale, the situation has got a little better recently, especially since the release of the PS2 in Korea. Bottom line is, there's no district in Seoul that's anywhere near on par with Akihabara. Although there are general electronics areas that are very plush, very big and really nice to go to along to. (And it's a nice city to go to, by the way, for many other reasons.)

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:05 am

The difference to Tokyo is that the koreans have these "PC-bangs" in almost every block, and they gather in those to play online games like WoW and Lineage II, so they don't have so many actual coin-op arcades.

I was in Seoul a month ago and didn't find too many arcades, but there were small places here and there. Usually they had older games, for example Raiden Fighters, Vasara, DoDonPachi.

The only actual location I can remember is about in the middle of the famous walking street Insa-Dong Gil. They had stuff like Gunbird, Strikers 1945 II (I think EVERY arcade in Asia has this..)

If you go to Korea, then you might want to visit Busan too. There's this one part of the town (I'm quite sure that it's Seomyeon) that can easily rival or even beat Tokyo's Akihabara and all in terms of night time entertainment (well, the amount at least). They had arcades everywhere, and slightly newer games than they have in Seoul (maybe because it's nearer to Japan?).

Arcade gaming is relatively cheap in Korea. One game cost approx from 0.10 to 0.4 euro I think.

Don't know anything about game stores though, I was going to Japan so I didn't want to spoil my shopping appetite beforehand

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:47 pm

Ok, well thanks for the info guys! Seems like PC gaming is much more popular then in Japan.

ahnslaught · Post by **ahnslaught** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:46 am

Can't say anything about arcades in Korea since I haven't been there in 20 years, but even in the US, PC games and koreans go together butter and toast. I feel like I'm the only korean not crazy into PC games...but what the hell, variety is the spice of life, eh?

bpe · Post by **bpe** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:10 pm

I am amazed at the kind of questions this board knows the answer to. Seriously.

So how about China ? I may be spending a year in China, not sure where but possibly Shanghai. Will it be possible to get my shmupping fix there at the arcades (... there are arcades... right ??), or are we talking J-PS2 support group here ? :\

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:20 pm

bpe wrote:I am amazed at the kind of questions this board knows the answer to. Seriously.

So how about China ? I may be spending a year in China, not sure where but possibly Shanghai. Will it be possible to get my shmupping fix there at the arcades (... there are arcades... right ??), or are we talking J-PS2 support group here ? :\

And while we're at, how about Sinapore?

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:42 pm

well, since were on it, here in the philippines (se asia), there are still some decent arcades, usually with tokens of card slide things...

for the shmuppin scene, there is practically NO shmup scene here (afaik), the common ones in the arcades are Gunbird 2, Strikers (proving Shocky's statement), and a tons (i mean, tons) of Raiden stuff... i usually see some Cave stuff as well, namely ESPGaluda and DoDonpachi, but they are often in the cheaply maintained arcades...

as for koreans (since the korean community is growing by the day, cuz of cheaper English education) i think most koreans here go to bemani games or tekken or other pop stuff when it comes to arcades.

we also have a lot of "PC-bangs" here, cuz MMOGames are pretty rampant here, and yes, the korean MMOgames are the ones that sell here...

tis all

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:16 pm

bpe wrote: So how about China ? I may be spending a year in China, not sure where but possibly Shanghai. Will it be possible to get my shmupping fix there at the arcades (... there are arcades... right ??), or are we talking J-PS2 support group here ? :\

Fear not, you can definitely shmup in China!

Hong Kong: There are many small places, also new games.

Beijing: I only found one Taito Station, I think it was on Wangfujin Dajie or Jinbao Jie anyway a broad walking street / major shopping street just east of Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square. They had the usual Raiden* Strikers* games, but also neat stuff like DoDonPachi II: Beestorm.

Oh yeah, I also found a Sega World in the Sun Dong An Plaza (also just east of Forb. City), but it hadn't opened yet.

Shanghai: There are arcades, they're just not necessarily easy to find.. but I know one place that's so good that you don't need others! It's in the same complex with the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, so it's dead easy to find (the Museum has it's own subway station..). So what do they have? Well, I can only remember like a small fraction, but that includes Zero Gunner, Sengoku Blade, Super Spacefortress Macross, Cotton 2, Kingdom Grand Prix and many many more, some of which I didn't even know to exist but still blew my consciousness away...

bpe · Post by **bpe** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:32 am

Alrighty, excellent !!!

Many thanks, I'm suddenly looking even more forward to this

Fingers crossed that I don't end up in the boonies