@home Maid Cafe+JPN Mid-80s Onwards Arcade VHS Footage Hunt:

[JAPJAC]

I've just litterally been in Abracadabra (07:00 GMT) and the 'The Backstreet Boys' one has just reopened as another branch of Maidreamin' just out of interest.

[JAPJAC]

Split into 2 parts.

JAPJAC's Japan 10 Years Anniversary pt. 1/2 Vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPgzgqba3nw

JAPJAC's Japan 10 Years Anniversary pt. 2/2 Vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=antgVJo4jdk

[GaijinPunch]

It's miday in Tokyo now and I promise you it's 04:00 at home. Anyway.

The internet never lies

You are my Tokyo arcade senpai so it's before my time. All I know is that it's severely gone down hill over the last 14 years.

Before my time as well, too. Ironically I lived in Meidaimae (home to Game Inn Namiki) when the shit was going off (Circa 1998-2001 roughly) and was too poor to be into games at all... much less arcade games. I never went in once.

I do have a friend in the same age group as me that worked at Try when he was in University, which would be the early 90's. Unfortunately he didn't steal any of the few holy grails they had go through there. He has been a nice treasure trove of information though.

I've seen footage of Space Invader Cafes a million times (I just know that 100 Yen doc. will have that predictable footage in there somewhere lol) but where is the footage of Japanese arcades from the heyday? Internet and Google is definitely not ones friend. It's shocking really.

It's not that shocking -- nobody had mobile phones back then, and they certainly didn't have cameras on them. So, unless people went out of their way to lug around film cameras, there are not a lot of pictures floating around. A friend was recently explaining to another friend why there are virtually no pictures of us clubbing in even the early 2000's, much less the late 90's. Arcades are no different.

It Started With Pong has some decent photos... at least from the late 50's to late 70's which is the only ground I've covered, but not tons.

[JAPJAC]

It's miday in Tokyo now and I promise you it's 04:00 at home. Anyway.

The internet never lies

You are my Tokyo arcade senpai so it's before my time. All I know is that it's severely gone down hill over the last 14 years.

Before my time as well, too. Ironically I lived in Meidaimae (home to Game Inn Namiki) when the shit was going off (Circa 1998-2001 roughly) and was too poor to be into games at all... much less arcade games. I never went in once.

I do have a friend in the same age group as me that worked at Try when he was in University, which would be the early 90's. Unfortunately he didn't steal any of the few holy grails they had go through there. He has been a nice treasure trove of information though.

I've seen footage of Space Invader Cafes a million times (I just know that 100 Yen doc. will have that predictable footage in there somewhere lol) but where is the footage of Japanese arcades from the heyday? Internet and Google is definitely not ones friend. It's shocking really.

It's not that shocking -- nobody had mobile phones back then, and they certainly didn't have cameras on them. So, unless people went out of their way to lug around film cameras, there are not a lot of pictures floating around. A friend was recently explaining to another friend why there are virtually no pictures of us clubbing in even the early 2000's, much less the late 90's. Arcades are no different.

It Started With Pong has some decent photos... at least from the late 50's to late 70's which is the only ground I've covered, but not tons.

What fun! A foreigner in the same country as me telling me what time it is in my own country. For the final time, currently Tokyo is setting it's time to whatever it is in London + 8 hours.


One assumes footage taken from an amateur source (although the Japanese were mocked the world over as permanently having a camera and/or a video camera stuck to their boat races). A naive assumption.

There was this country that's coin-ops where taking over the developed world's arcades (again), what with their pseudo 3D-into the screen graphics, their huge vibrant moving cabinets, fantastic sounds and playability-welcome to the fantasy zone it really was. Furthermore, making masses of cash for Japan.

And one is telling me that this time wasn't captured on their home soil by professional film makers? You're having a laugh. There must be a Japanese equivalent to the BBC archives? This is the mid-80s to mid-90s here, not the Roman Empire era.

It's 2013 and if I see any more footage from within these Japanese Space Invaders Cafes and North American Pac-Man fever infested Chucky Cheeses representing the whole of arcading's past then these Etnies are going through the telly.

There would be reels and reels of footage from the Juliana's bubble clubbing scene so why not from this game centre bubble/boom? We took our video camera into Maniac Love/Lexington Queen as it was obvious that these places were very special (and thus couldn't last) so deserved some footage for our own memories at the very least (pre-YouTube). Anyone that didn't realise that must of been thick as you like. I even used to take pictures of arcade machines as a child, a moving OutRun was infinitely more impressive than The Needles to us.

It's shocking.

P.S. E.T.'s just BMXed from the sky into my office and started tossing someone off with its neck. I won't bother taking a photo.

[ED-057]

It's always GMT +9, unless GMT observers DST (which I would assume it doesn't as it's used as the global constant). Maybe Londond is GMT +1?

yes London is on DST right now

[Hagane]

Japan always finds a new way to disgust me.

[GaijinPunch]

What fun! A foreigner in the same country as me telling me what time it is in my own country. For the final time, currently Tokyo is setting it's time to whatever it is in London + 8 hours.

Stop being a tit. We're talking about GMT... not London time, as per your erroneous claim. London could be on Zimbabwe time for all I care. Nobody gives a shit... except people living in London... which neither of us do.

One assumes footage taken from an amateur source (although the Japanese were mocked the world over as permanently having a camera and/or a video camera stuck to their boat races). A naive assumption.

So where are the heaps and heaps of photos from that era?

And one is telling me that this time wasn't captured on their home soil by professional film makers? You're having a laugh. There must be a Japanese equivalent to the BBC archives? This is the mid-80s to mid-90s here, not the Roman Empire era.

Did you really live here for 10 years? My toilet may wipe my ass for me, but Japanese as a people are petrified of many technologies (the internet, for example) and even more petrified of sharing things. If there is a treasure trove of photos, they are well hidden in some random company's archives, or an individuals home.

There would be reels and reels of footage from the Juliana's bubble clubbing scene so why not from this game centre bubble/boom? We took our video camera into Maniac Love/Lexington Queen as it was obvious that these places were very special (and thus couldn't last) so deserved some footage for our own memories at the very least (pre-YouTube).

Well, be glad you got any footage. Cameras were barred from Maniac Love full stop, as per the management. That doesn't mean there's not photos of me floating about, leaning on the infamous yellow wall. Maybe even a few w/ a cigarette. They were definitely not sanctioned though. Different era. Busting out a camera back then was definitely not the norm. If I was in a stranger's camera's field of view in a place like ML, I'd have moved... stat.

Anyway, great theory. Please share when you find this treasure chest full of undeveloped 70's to 90's nostalgia.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

When I would enter the local arcade hangouts back in the early 1980s and into the early 1990s, I never did notice anyone lugging around a SLR 35mm camera nor a full-sized VHS camera setup to record a normal arcade's daily run (as it would've been too noticeable/obstrusive easily to the general public) + the arcade's management wouldn't be too happy about that particular issue. Perhaps if you had access to a Polaroid Instamatic camera or a camera that used those old-school C-110 rolls of photographic film (not to mention having to get them developed at the local photo developing shop which was expensive if having more than a few rolls of photos developed) to take pics of the actual arcade scenes as it really was during the Golden Age of Arcades' heyday.

It would've been cool to see some pics of Japan's game centers back in the early '80s as I've always wondered how they looked aestethically.

Those pics & vids of the early years of the Chuck E. Cheese's heyday, it really was set up to accomodate those cocktail-table arcade cabs if you wanted to catch a show of Chuck & Co. during their hourly state-of-the-art animatronic shows at the same time. Plus the fact that you could gather up a small group of pals for some heated rounds of games while chowing down on some "za" & some soda pop...those were the days of early arcade gaming at CEC.

It wasn't until around 1985-87 that CEC started doing Teen Night where you'd pay a one time fee to play unlimited games + eat all the pizza & unlimited soda for four hours (usually, it'd start at 10pm until 2am). I'd go there just to play as many games within that time limit & skip the pizza/soda. Of course, I'd see a CEC employee walking around with a bucket of tokens to coin-up games that others wanted to play. The logistics of making sure all the games were set on "Free Play" was something else (if the staff was running underhanded) at those CEC TN promotional events.

At the 1999 California Extreme show, the CAX staff held it at the former original CEC stomping grounds site (when it first opened for business back in 1977) in San Jose, CA. It was so huge & spacious inside, it made me wonder how it looked during it's glory days. By the time 1982 rolled around, the CEC franchise business was already 5 years old. To think that Nolan Bushnell came up with the initial CEC concept & later sold it, that's an interesting high-tech idea of marrying arcade games with pizza + state-of-the-art animatronically audio-visual shows for a family's night out.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

Digging through some old photos at my home, I found 3 photos of interest that might interest people here. Two were of arcades (birthday parties though, hence, the pictures) and one was of the cab I had in my home as a younger man. I think I had it age 7 to 11 . So much more hard core than you mother fuckers.

Technically it was my sisters though. She won it at a skating rink.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I recall of CEC having a contest where they'd give away the full-sized arcade game cabs of Super Zaxxon and a few others if you collected a winning matching set of game stamps afixxed to a paper game map set. With an MSRP of $3,000 USD per new arcade game cab, that was the going rate for a new cab back in the early 80s.

You lucky dog ya, nothing beats having a full-sized arcade game inside a house back in the 80s, GP. Btw, what was the name of the cool arcade game in your house?

One former co-worker that I used to work with, he said that he bought an Atari Inc. produced Tempest cab from a garage sale for a mere $100 bucks back in '85. He said that it was a lot of fun as you could set it on free play & challenge your family & friends to a heated session. I asked him if he still had the Tempest cab...he said that he had it for about two years then sold it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

You lucky dog ya, nothing beats having a full-sized arcade game inside a house back in the 80s, GP. Btw, what was the name of the cool arcade game in your house?

Moon Shuttle, by Nippon Bussan (Nichibutsu) if I'm not mistaken. I played it all the time. My sister... about 5 credits.

I asked him if he still had the Tempest cab...he said that he had it for about two years then sold it.

Damn -- wrong move!

[Ruldra]

Japan always finds a new way to disgust me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/1 ... 23985.html

[JAPJAC]

What fun! A foreigner in the same country as me telling me what time it is in my own country. For the final time, currently Tokyo is setting it's time to whatever it is in London + 8 hours.

G:Stop being a tit. We're talking about GMT... not London time, as per your erroneous claim. London could be on Zimbabwe time for all I care. Nobody gives a shit... except people living in London... which neither of us do.

J:"All right calm down mate, there's no need to get offensive" I was just joshing. I don't say " Let's grow ourselves a big lanky goggle-eyed freak of a son."

You might not give a toss but those working in the finance industry certainly do as London is the financial capital of the world. And a money makes the world go around.

One assumes footage taken from an amateur source (although the Japanese were mocked the world over as permanently having a camera and/or a video camera stuck to their boat races). A naive assumption.

G:So where are the heaps and heaps of photos from that era?

J:I have no idea but I'm convinced they exist. One certainly isn't going to find any directly from other forum members here further back than JAPJAC's Try Amusement Tower 2001 footage as I stated earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQMTgnujEGE

The Japanese and their cameras:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93NDr1U4HaA

And one is telling me that this time wasn't captured on their home soil by professional film makers? You're having a laugh. There must be a Japanese equivalent to the BBC archives? This is the mid-80s to mid-90s here, not the Roman Empire era.

G:Did you really live here for 10 years? My toilet may wipe my ass for me, but Japanese as a people are petrified of many technologies (the internet, for example) and even more petrified of sharing things. If there is a treasure trove of photos, they are well hidden in some random company's archives, or an individuals home.

J:Again, I'm convinced footage exists, the 'shocking' part is that they don't like sharing things but thinking about it, people get jel as they foolishly and ungratefully mistake it for boasting/showing off. Can't blame the clever Japanese then for their mindset.

Did you know that Space Invaders was so popular in Japan that there was a national shortage of.... ZZZZzzzzz zzZZZZZZ ZZZZzzzzzzzz.

There would be reels and reels of footage from the Juliana's bubble clubbing scene so why not from this game centre bubble/boom? We took our video camera into Maniac Love/Lexington Queen as it was obvious that these places were very special (and thus couldn't last) so deserved some footage for our own memories at the very least (pre-YouTube).

G: Well, be glad you got any footage. Cameras were barred from Maniac Love full stop, as per the management. That doesn't mean there's not photos of me floating about, leaning on the infamous yellow wall. Maybe even a few w/ a cigarette. They were definitely not sanctioned though. Different era. Busting out a camera back then was definitely not the norm. If I was in a stranger's camera's field of view in a place like ML, I'd have moved... stat.

J: Hardly. Seems like two rules depending on whom was behind the viewfinder then clearly. And no stranger Germanic male blokes were of any interest to us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6imgl-cKTvw

3:38-4:08 - 'Easy oriental birds not minding being openly filmed in Maniac Love and dripping from the attention shocker.'

4:55-4:59 - 'Maniac Love management not minding being open filmed after a morning's worth of turning a blind eye to charlie being snorted up from the bar top using grubby Lady Godivers shocker.'

Did you sit in the corner smoking your pipe whilst studying 'Japanese For Busy People' in your day?

G: Anyway, great theory. Please share when you find this treasure chest full of undeveloped 70's to 90's nostalgia.

J: WARING - DO NOT VIEW THIS FOOTAGE FROM WITHIN AN 80s TOKYO GAME CENTRE IF YOU SUFFER FROM AN ENVIOUS DISPOSITION AND THE FOLLOWING OFFENDS YOU:

GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE HAVING FUN TOKYO.
PEOPLE SHARING INTERESTING FOOTAGE WITH OTHERS FOR FREE.
NORTH AMERICAN SQUADDIES.
PEOPLE OF A CERTAIN NATIONALITY.
MUSIC NOT TO YOUR LIKING.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yjv3EVEfzE

Thank you NichiBeiTrader, still the best video on YouTube.

Shocking.

[trap15]

[GaijinPunch]

J: WARING - DO NOT VIEW THIS FOOTAGE FROM WITHIN AN 80s TOKYO GAME CENTRE IF YOU SUFFER FROM AN ENVIOUS DISPOSITION AND THE FOLLOWING OFFENDS YOU:

GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE HAVING FUN TOKYO.
PEOPLE SHARING INTERESTING FOOTAGE WITH OTHERS FOR FREE.
NORTH AMERICAN SQUADDIES.
PEOPLE OF A CERTAIN NATIONALITY.
MUSIC NOT TO YOUR LIKING.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yjv3EVEfzE

Thank you NichiBeiTrader, still the best video on YouTube.

Shocking.

Yes, we've all seen that video. It was posted a while ago. It is awesome... however, 1 video hardly counts for heaps... at least here in reality. Perhaps in an alternate universe, photos and videos were commonplace in the 80's... and Japan Standard Time is GMT +8.

[JAPJAC]

Japan's arcades from mid-80s and onwards from VHS contributors:

1). NichiBeiTrader.
2). JAPJAC.
3).
4).
5).

[GaijinPunch]

Japan always finds a new way to disgust me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/1 ... 23985.html

I saw this at a gaijin forum. Shit just ain't right.

[null1024]

Japan always finds a new way to disgust me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/1 ... 23985.html

I saw this at a gaijin forum. Shit just ain't right.

I am terrified and aroused at the same time. Moreso terrified, considering most people with their awful oral hygiene.

[JAPJAC]

I invented it. I was the first person to do it. I've been doing it since day one.