8-Bit Cafe in Shinjuku

[greg]

My friend's in the Navy, when he's in port in Japan, he often gets drugged off to Gas Panic. He says they have people going around constantly checking to make sure patrons have a drink and if they don't or have finished theirs, they are required to go buy a new one.

I'm really not into the club scene at all. I'm married anyway, so I can care less about that sort of thing because as much as I'm not into it, my precious wallflower wife is even less interested.

If you check out 8-Bit Cafe, please let us know. My friend told me that there's a Dragon Quest-themed place too. I'm not sure where it is. Oh, and while in Roppongi, there's a Konami shop there somewhere. My friend picked up a really cool Gradius pin there for me.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm really not into the club scene at all. I'm married anyway, so I can care less about that sort of thing because as much as I'm not into it, my precious wallflower wife is even less interested.

Well, you have no business going to the likes of Gas Panic (which isn't really a club as much as it is a cancer within the bowels of Roppongi), but there are plenty of places that I frequent regularly and have no other intentions than catching up with friends and hopefully hearing some excellent music. I spend every Thursday night in the same bar... and it makes for some messy Friday's some times.

[greg]

Yeah, I guess I've always associated dance clubs with the singles scene.

[GaijinPunch]

Yeah, I guess I've always associated dance clubs with the singles scene.

Lame cock places like Gas Panic should be! In fact, Roppongi should be, as it has absolutely zero musical sense whatsoever. Plenty of other places far better though.

[dcharlie]

yeah, the clubbing scene for music is great - i miss going

i have a clubbing mad friend who comes over once every few years - there's always someone worth seeing it seems. Last time he was over it was Paul Van Dyk, Nick Warren, and Deep Dish over three days.

Deep Dish at Ageha were incredible (and i honestly wasn't expecting much from them) - we left for the first train and they were still playing.

Nick Warren is always awesome, but i really really like Womb. The pair combined was heaven.

Paul Van Dyk was at Unit - it was an album launch with limited tickets. Utterly amazing in a fairly tight environment.

[GaijinPunch]

Dubfire, of Deep Dish fame, comes quite a bit. Twice last year. Many people are cancelling now though, and some taking flack for it. Ritchie Hawtin came and did a charity party at Womb over Golden Week... probably to make a statement rather than anything else. He has always had a great relationship with Japan. Definitely a classy move by the guy.

I saw Steve Bug last week. Good fun.

[Shocky]

Went to 8-Bit Cafe last week. The place is cleverly hidden from foreigners, and is very small. The owners/staff/regulars probably thought that we (4 gaijin) were real idiots, paying 500 entrance fee, drinks and disappearing in 15 minutes (was in an extreme hurry). The atmosphere was quite icy, although the place did have a large selection of nostalgia stuff, tv set with playable consoles and a Xevious cocktail cabinet among other things.

Also visited the door of 16 Shots, but the "700 golds" entry fee was too much because I didn't have time, I just wanted to take a quick look. If it's even smaller than 8-Bit Cafe, then people probably have to move sideways in there.

Other quick observations from Japan:
-Darius Burst: Another Chronicle cabinet has some gut-kicking speakers!
-Taito's MusicGungun 2 is great fun - many tunes from shmups available, Darius, Raystorm... non-shmup ZUNTATA stuff too like Daddy Mulk from Ninja Warriors

Now in South Korea. They have some huge arcades here.. and the StarCraft SHMUP. Anyone got any tips (what YOU think is interesting) for Seoul, going to be there for some 4 days (including the weekend)? Then back to Tokyo.

Greetings from Jeju island - the island of innumerable tiny little museums and theme parks everywhere. Can't really recommend..

[originalz]

Don't want to spam shit but they recently opened up an Resident Evil-themed bar in Kichijoji and I went to it recently. Maybe some people here are interested. I posted my thoughts on the blog:

http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/05/e ... g-bar.html

[denpanosekai]

Greetings from Jeju island - the island of innumerable tiny little museums and theme parks everywhere. Can't really recommend..

Ah, my buddy from Jeju keeps bugging me to visit ... keeps saying it's the best place on earth, etc. Seems expensive to get there too.

As for clubs/bars/cafe in Japan, I may be stating the obvious here but keep in mind most of these places enforce a strict HEAVY SMOKING policy. I had to cut short many of my visits due to this, hell I even turned myself away from a couple cool chiptune shows just because you could smell the disgusting cigarette from across the street. And as previously stated, everything is ridiculously expensive everywhere.

[Shocky]

Found another retro geemu bar: Famicomcity ( www.famicomcity.com ), in Shibuya, towards Dogenzaka, near 109 and Tokyu Hands. But.. it was closed or something? In the elevator the fifth floor (where it should be) button was taped shut. Anyone know more about this place and its status?

Ah, my buddy from Jeju keeps bugging me to visit ... keeps saying it's the best place on earth, etc. Seems expensive to get there too.

Well. The Hallasan mountain is cool, and the hexagonal lava rocks ("Jusangjeoli") in the south are amazing (although there is an even more impressive formation in N-Ireland, called "Giant's Causeway"), but other than that, it's a bit tired and moving there is slow without a car.

As for clubs/bars/cafe in Japan, I may be stating the obvious here but keep in mind most of these places enforce a strict HEAVY SMOKING policy. I had to cut short many of my visits due to this, hell I even turned myself away from a couple cool chiptune shows just because you could smell the disgusting cigarette from across the street. And as previously stated, everything is ridiculously expensive everywhere.

Yeah, smoking inside sucks big time, especially in arcades. Tokyo is now depressingly expensive - club entry costs 16 - 50 USD, movie ticket 22 - 30 USD.. fuck that. And seriously.. the bars and clubs are not fun at all anymore. I just returned from Seoul and people there were partying like it was the Rapture, even on weekdays, and often club entry was free. Here in Tokyo it's an effort to have a good time (in bars) nowadays, and an investment (like these retrobars like 8-Bit Cafe and 16 Shots; entry 6 - 9 USD, and drinks are not cheap either!). And the subway trains stop ridiculously early.

[dcharlie]

I just returned from Seoul and people there were partying like it was the Rapture, even on weekdays

Seoul has always been like that though. Any trip there tends to be absolutely balls out nuts.

[Snake]

I just returned from Seoul and people there were partying like it was the Rapture, even on weekdays

Seoul has always been like that though. Any trip there tends to be absolutely balls out nuts.

Whenever I'm in Korea the almost fevered alcohol consumption blows me away. And I've been to a few countries famous for their drinking.

I also hear that Seoul is the "in" party town right now in East Asia.

[rancor]

I also hear that Seoul is the "in" party town right now in East Asia.

Being under constant threat from your crazy neighbors 50,000 artillery pieces will have that effect on a population. Depending entirely on the will of an aging, psychopathic dictator, life in Seoul could quite literally cease to exist at any second of any day. I`ve been there a few times before, and taking the bus from Inchon to Seoul is quite astonishing if only for the sight of the dozens of artillery pieces, missile launch systems and radar sites on the tops of even the smallest hills. 100`s of gas masks populate all of the subway stations as well. This is a population prepared for war at any moment, with all men required to serve time in the military. And yes - the night life is incredible - far better than anything I`ve seen in Tokyo.

I`ll be there for a week starting July 1st! Cant wait!

[Snake]

I also hear that Seoul is the "in" party town right now in East Asia.

Being under constant threat from your crazy neighbors 50,000 artillery pieces will have that effect on a population. Depending entirely on the will of an aging, psychopathic dictator, life in Seoul could quite literally cease to exist at any second of any day. I`ve been there a few times before, and taking the bus from Inchon to Seoul is quite astonishing if only for the sight of the dozens of artillery pieces, missile launch systems and radar sites on the tops of even the smallest hills. 100`s of gas masks populate all of the subway stations as well. This is a population prepared for war at any moment, with all men required to serve time in the military. And yes - the night life is incredible - far better than anything I`ve seen in Tokyo.

I`ll be there for a week starting July 1st! Cant wait!

Yeah, I'm pretty well versed in the situation there. The coolest part has to be all the secret tunnels the DPRK is supposed to have dug leading into Seoul and other points south, so that their commandos can do a kind of reverse-paratrooper thing behind enemy lines to lead the attack.


Though I get the impression that the paranoia about possible war there has died down in the last few decades. Zerg v. Protoss seems to be a bigger concern, after getting loaded.

[dcharlie]

I`ll be there for a week starting July 1st! Cant wait!

I didn't know what to expect but we went to JJ's in the Grand Hyatt. Expensive, but just so insane. Met a few of the US helicopter pilots there, a couple of guys who worked at SNK (?!) and got hit on by a ballet dancer (male, unforunately) but had an absolute riot of a night.

Very friendly atmosphere with a Filipino band playing in one part of the bar, and a dance floor, square bar drinking area.

Only place that got anywhere near as crazy was Shanghai - but that's because we knew a gang of insane locals who showed us the high spots. And a couple of strange lock-ins in TK when i was much much younger that got interesting/weird/expensive

[rancor]

Just saw this today:

[greg]

Neat article. That reminds me: has anyone seen my Metal Slug beadsprite show up as a decoration in Super Potato? I think that employee must have taken it home with him. That thief.

[dcharlie]

i have checked every time i've been in Super Potato and i've yet to see it though their walls are pretty "busy"

[rancor]

That reminds me: has anyone seen my Metal Slug beadsprite show up as a decoration in Super Potato? I think that employee must have taken it home with him. That thief.

Is this it?

[greg]

THAT'S IT! YAY!

[caincan]

the tiny aspect of these coffee-shops seems so kewl

[greg]

I was at the 8-Bit Cafe Saturday night with a couple of friends. I invited Originalz, but he was busy that night with his work's year-end party. The place is very cool. Contrary to what I've read, they were very accepting of cameras. Just not flash photography. I took a video of the inside of the place. They asked me to make some beadsprites for decorations for their place after I showed them my gallery of iron beads beadsprites from my friend's smartphone.

The top selling drink there is the Dr. Mario, a mix of vodka, gin, and Dr. Pepper. They serve it in a science beaker and give a candy pill to drop into the drink. The Donkey Kong one was great, a mix of banana juice and something else. I can't remember everything exactly, but I did take a video of the place. I'll share it with you guys later after I'm done working on it.

[dcharlie]

Oh welcome back Greg!

[greg]

I live in Japan now. I guess I haven't told you yet, Charlie! GP, Rancor, and Originalz know by now, and I guess NTSC-J.

Here's a vid of the bar! Very cool bar for nerds.

[dcharlie]

oh awesome - welcome !

I've not seen anyone in a while due to some real world stuff to sort out, need to catch up with people - especially Shou

Hopefully get out of the house soon! lol.

Where abouts are you living?

[Ed Oscuro]

The servers were dopey shinjuku girls that didn't know anything about the items they were surrounded by.

I can just imagine you must've had an awkward conversation.

They're hired help, not tour guides...buy something or get out!

One of the best Japanese websites I've ever seen.

What is this, 2003? Tiny little postage stamp and somebody didn't realize their camera had white balance settings (or maybe they just wanted to show off the smoky flavor of the place?), but they still made a panorama...oddness. It's a nice little concept, I'll give it that. Worst Japanese website I've seen all day, regardless.

[greg]

Where abouts are you living?

Well, under my avatar it says Shizuoka-ken... I live in Fuji City. It's a beautiful, sunny Christmas morning now, with a crystal clear, cloudless view of Mt. Fuji outside my window here.

What is this, 2003? Tiny little postage stamp and somebody didn't realize their camera had white balance settings (or maybe they just wanted to show off the smoky flavor of the place?), but they still made a panorama...oddness. It's a nice little concept, I'll give it that. Worst Japanese website I've seen all day, regardless.

Wow, you're a pretty negative person, aren't you? I'm not on this forum that much, but from what I've seen, you seem to be a constant downer. I think their website design is very great. Reminds me a bit of the Designers Republic work on the Wipeout games, as well as the text to old Famicom RPGs and such.

Anyhow, the two employees I talked to were pretty knowledgeable about what was in the room. Very friendly people. I will definitely go again and help add to their decorations.

[Ed Oscuro]

Because making value judgments about people is a lot better than criticizing text that's too small for modern monitors, huh?

Wow, you sure read a lot into that. I even called it a nice concept, sheesh. Don't fall on your ass when you get off that high horse, man.

Nice description of Fuji-san, though, I wish I could see it