Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life • Hacker News Board

Re: Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

#71

Post by lrvick » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 8:38 PM UTC

chucksta wrote: post #67

lrvick wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is real. I don't have arcades near me, so I converted my garage to an arcade. I think a lot of private collectors like me are sweeping up old equipment that doesn't have a profitable public home anymore. Would -love- to open a non-profit retro arcade/hackerspace in the peninsula area some day if I can secure a building somewhere, but in the mean time I'll just keep collecting equipment to selfishly enjoy at home…

I coincidentally, was looking for a DDR machine yesterday. How do you fine your cabinets (any not just DDR)? It seemed there were a couple small national sites, and one or two local, and their inventory was it

https://www.vintagearcade.net/ - ships anywhere.

Also Ebay and Craigslist.

Not a cheap hobby though by any means.

Re: Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

#72

Post by Larrikin » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 8:42 PM UTC

chucksta wrote: post #67

lrvick wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is real. I don't have arcades near me, so I converted my garage to an arcade. I think a lot of private collectors like me are sweeping up old equipment that doesn't have a profitable public home anymore. Would -love- to open a non-profit retro arcade/hackerspace in the peninsula area some day if I can secure a building somewhere, but in the mean time I'll just keep collecting equipment to selfishly enjoy at home…

I coincidentally, was looking for a DDR machine yesterday. How do you fine your cabinets (any not just DDR)? It seemed there were a couple small national sites, and one or two local, and their inventory was it

I'm fairly removed from the scene at this point but Bemani arcade games have been thoroughly cracked for years. Most of the serious players now just buy custom controllers and if they really want fit them in custom cabs.

I don't think Konami cares so long as you aren't posting videos on YouTube or setting the games up for profit. They don't sell the games to consumers anymore.

Re: Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

#73

Post by selimthegrim » Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

KTallguy wrote: post #33

ekianjo wrote: post #7

They are already mostly gone except in a few places in tokyo and the obvious geek dens like Akihabara. And they are all smoking which means you get cigarette smell amd feel dirty after no time. No thanks.

Smoking was common in Tokyo arcades up until mid 2020. Tokyo introduced a new, stricter set of regulations that banned smoking in most businesses unless they have a dedicated smoking room/section. Most arcades didn't build those facilities, so they are legally obligated to be smoke free[1]. Arcades outside of Tokyo have to comply with the looser national regulations. As a non-smoker who regularly frequented arcades,…

I would assume Meow Wolf snapped up their talent at bargain rates for the Vegas expansion.

Re: Japanese gaming arcades are on their last life

#74

Post by anakaine » Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 8:10 PM UTC

geon wrote: post #52

Cyberdog wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest trying to find a "retro arcade" which has older machines, often with discounted rates (eg, two credits for 100円 for a game which originally just gave you one). Obviously these will usually be in more out-of-the-way places than standard arcades; I fondly recall one from my days in Nagoya that was on the top floor of a shopping center that had to have been built in 1975 at the latest. Granted, I'm sure some o…

Here in Sweden, mainstream arcades disappeared in the late 90s. But you can still find some hidden away, ran by enthusiasts. Especially pinball, probably because the experience of real steel balls bouncing around is hard to replicate satisfyingly on a screen. In my city of 80k, there is an arcade with at least 20 pinball machines. https://m.facebook.com/matchstickpinball/ A slightly smaller city 2 towns over has an a…

Brisbane Australia here. We have at least one venue in the city that is a pub dedicated to original gaming - and it is a very popular place. You can go in, choose from about 40 different craft drinks on top, order some excellent food, and play any of:

- About 20 pinball machines

- Original arcade games like Tron, Space Invaders, Galaga, Simpsons 4 player, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat.

- NES, SEGA Megadrive, SNES, N64 Goldeneye

Almost all those games are running on CRT TVs as well, and the arcade games are in their original cabinets as much as possible. When you go to the bar you can buy a bag of 20 $1 coins and each pinball and arcade game is $1. Consoles are free. Great atmosphere and great concept. People are friendly and its not uncommon to have a small crowd watching and shouting at goldeneye on the small TV in the corner as players get killed.