Cool Things In Japanese Arcades

I always have to come back to talking about the arcades since it's probably one of my favorite things about living in Japan.  Now the thing that tends to blow most peoples minds, which is the whole idea of a sort of members card that tracks stats and progress I've talked about to death.  Here is a video of me talking about it so that I don't have to type it all out again if you don't know what I'm on about.

But that's not the only cool thing about these places so here's 3 more really cool things about Japanese Arcades you may not know about

1) Recording and Sharing

Usually if you walk into a big arcade these a big signboard at the front that has all the rules and usually one of those rules is you're not allowed to bring in a camera and take pictures and stuff.  However the people who run these places know that gamers like to come in, record their game play if they are particularly good and share it with Nico Nico Douga or YouTube.  I noticed about a year ago that a lot of the machines in my nearest arcade started hooking up capture cards to the machine nearest to the aisle which you could plug a USB device in and record to it.  Not only this but recently I found that the rhythm game Chunithm has set up these sort of holders for your phone that give you a perfect angle on the screen and controller so that you can record shit and basically upload it there and then.  Before all this started people were bringing in cameras and tripods and shit which would clog up the space for people so all of this is a welcome addition

2) Manage your shit from your house

There are certain games such as Gunslinger Stratos or Code of Joker along with others that allow you to manage gun loud outs, decks or profile details from the comfort of your own home so that when you actually get to the arcade you aren't wasting your time in menus and shit and you can just sit down and play the damn game.  The one I'm most familiar with is Code of Jokers Agent Lab.

https://coj-agentlabo.com/login?_ga=1.34699425.1013799049.1465114829

If you try to modify your deck in the arcade you are given a 120 second time limit and after that you start spending your paid credit and if you've ever tried to make a deck for a card game in 2 minutes it's a little tight.  However if you login to the above link you can sit, read through all your cards and make decks to your hearts content so that when you go to the arcade and scan your Aime you can just start playing right away. 

3) Actual Collectable Shit

I love collecting shit, it's just fun to do and one of the great things about the arcade is that they give you a chance to get your hands on quite a bit of swag.  Of course there's the UFO machines which give you prizes but they are actually worth trying for over here unlike the shitty plushies that you get in the UK.  However there are games like Sengoku Taisen (or whatever that new one is called) and Kantai Collection which give you actual physical cards to collect and trade which also level up in game as you use them, it's really cool.

My meager but much loved Kantai cards

 The best part is that you don't have to go to another shop to buy cards and then bring them to the arcade like it's Yu-Gi-Oh or some shit.  After you finish playing a round the machine itself will print a card for you to add to your collection so there's not really any extra effort required for amassing a decent collection of stuff.  There do exist specialist shops that allow you to buy the rare cards individually but these are mainly for the most hardcore of collectors rather than just regular players of the game.

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It's a real shame that we don't have these kind of games in the UK because I might not hate the idea of returning home so much if we did.  That said if we did put these games into English arcades they'd probably just get abused and become unusable within a week anyway, so maybe it's for the best.

Arcades: How Far They Have Come

So recently I received an email that was asking me about some of my favorite classic games and the changes in the technology I've been using within gaming over the years.  There's plenty I could talk about since gaming in general has come a long long way since the old 8 and 16 bit era but the area where the advancements in tech feel the most noticeable is in the arcade.

Arcades are not too much of a thing in the west, especially not in the UK.  As a young lad growing up in Manchester the best I could hope for in the ways of coin op was a few barely functional machines in a local bowling alley on cinema lobby.  For quite a while though the only things I played in arcades were fighting games and side scrolling beat 'em ups so for a while my impression of an arcade machine was nothing more than a screen, a stick and a few buttons.  This all changed when my mother took me to a place called Sega World that was in London

Sega World was the my first real experience with a proper arcade.  It was located in London and was 5 floors of arcade joy that has now been shut down.  Last I checked it was replaced with something called Fun Land but if I'm not mistaken that's been shut down too, but I've not been back to England, let alone London, for about 5 years so I might be wrong about that.

Anyway, my young mind could barely handle all the awesome that was in this place and this is where I first discovered the rail shooter.  Big machines that didn't have a stick or little buttons to push but huge screens and big guns attached to them which you had to use to shoot enemies.  The one that grabbed my attention in particular was The House of The Dead because shooting zombies was way more interesting to me than blasting people in titles like Virtua Cop.  I even got my first taste of arcade multiplayer experience on that same day.

Near the end of my time in Sega World that day me and my mother returned to the floor where all the light gun games were located.  I was hoping to get one last go on The House of the Dead before we set out but there was someone playing already.  Instead of just giving up and walking away like I would do nowadays I just stood there and watched this guy play and I was fascinated by it because he was getting to parts of the game that my young self could have never of dreamed of getting to while on my mothers budget of £1 coins.  In that game there are 4 stages, and when he reached stage 3 he notices me and my mother watching, probably assumes we are waiting for a go and then offers the 2nd players gun to me.  I excitedly grab a few coins from my mother and start playing with this complete stranger and it all culminated in us finishing the game.

The rush of excitement as the games final boss, Magician, went down was intense and once the credits had finished rolling we shook hands and split ways.  I don't remember anything about that guy aside from the gaming experience but he really made my day.

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Fast forward to 2016 and now I'm living in Japan where arcades are pretty common.  I have about 4 all within 15 minutes of my apartment building and comparing coin op now to what it was back then it's incredible to think just how far these machines have come.

One thing I was always a fan of was rhythm game and things like touch screens have done a lot for that genre.  A few years ago I thought stomping all over a big metal pad was cool but now I'm using touch sensitive keyboards with hand sensors above them in games like Chunithm or just playing with the game screen itself in titles like Syncronica

If rhythm games aren't your thing then fighting games have huge followings and a lot of them can be played online from the arcade itself.  Generally speaking internet connectivity has really changed the game centre for the better with people now being able to compare stats or track progress against other players.  This also extends to have accounts that are stored on IC cards which means that as you play you can unlock more content for your games. There are new WiFi systems out there like Luma, a startup I was just introduced to. They have a surround home wifi system that was built for advanced connectivity among the multiple devices online, with added security that allows any obstacles that might block your signal and keep you from playing to be removed.

My Cards have seen a lot of use

My favorite use of these cards is for a game known as Code of Joker which sort of plays like Magic the Gathering.  An online trading card game exclusive to the arcade, the IC card stores your profile with not only things like your wins and losses but your entire card collection and decks.  Stick to cards for a moment, for those who prefer their trading card games in a more physical form there's Kantai Collection and Sengoku Taisen.

Kantai

These games involve either collecting the cards to be scanned by the machine in Kantai or placing them on a table and moving them around in a more RTS style of game play in Sengoku Taisen.  If I could go back in time and tell my young self that trading card games would be available in arcades I think my head would have actually exploded.

Just to finish up this post and bring it back to the old House of the Dead comparison, one of my favorite light gun games in modern times is Gunslinger Stratos

While it may look like a sort of space age version of the old rail shooter this game is actually a 3on3 online 3rd person shooter that plays sort of like Unreal Tournament or something.  Movement is controlled with the sticks on the backs of the guns and you can change weapons by holding them together and slotting these sort of magnets into each other, it's crazy.

I could talk for HOURS about all the fancy new stuff in the Japanese arcades but then this post would go on for way way too long.  It's mental to think just how far the coin op experience has come in such a short amount of time and quite frankly, I'm super glad that I'm living in Japan and am able to experience all these things as they are released.

[beastsofwar.com] Arcade Card Games

While I've talked about these kind of games on the blog before, namely Sengoku Taisen my friend who has been living in Japan for about a year and a half has written a post for his website about these games.  First you should go check out his post at this link

http://www.beastsofwar.com/card-game/tabletop-otaku-arcade-card-games/

In that article he talks about Sengoku Taisen, Code of Joker and the until now unmentioned (on this blog) Kantai Collection Arcade.  If you want the low down on the latest schoolgirl warship simulator that has become a bit of an arcade sensation since its released then check out his post because I'll be uploading some game play footage from Kantai in the very near future.  I still need to sink my teeth into that game a little more before I produce my own thoughts on it but for a brief overview then that's a good place to start.

I've not had much time to click around that website but it looks like a pretty good place to go for information on table top games, so if you're into that then give them a bookmark, seems like a cool place.

3 Great Arcade Games Hosted on Mediasplat

So there's this new website called Mediasplat being run by a friend of mine.  They talk about all sorts of things on there such as movies, games, table top stuff and more and I've been asked to write a few things for them.

So of course the first thing I decide to write about is a couple of Japan only arcade games that I'm currently enjoying and that you should totally book a holiday in order to come and play.  So go check out my post and then check out some of their other content too!  The site only went live a couple of days ago so there isn't much to see just yet but keep an eye on that space.

http://mediasplat.net/identity-gaming-3-awesome-arcade-games-you-should-visit-japan-for/

The Japan Gamer Episode 2: Stat Cards

It's pretty common in Japan for arcade games to have a card that goes with them.

In this episode I give a brief overview of the cards I own, what games they work with and what they do.  The next episode will be a tour around an actual Game Centre! so look foward to that one!

Gallery!

Works with Nesica

Works with Aime

Works with Aime

Works with Aime

Works with Aime

Works with E-Amusement

Works with E-Amusement

Machine for Charging Paseli Credit to an E-Amusement Pass

Some machines I couldn't find pictures for online and don't have a picture to hand, so you'll just have to wait for the episode!

That Gundam Game I've Never Played

While Gundam is a pretty big thing here in Japan, I've never been too much of a fan.  That said, one thing that has always sparked my interest is Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield.  Most people probably don't even know it's called that because it's usually written like 機動戦士ガンダム 戦場の絆, but it's most famously known for its huge pods that the player must sit in to play.

So as far as I understand it, you get in that giant pod and pilot a Gundam to blow the shit out of other Gundams and fulfil objectives.  You can customise your giant robot so it can do all sorts of fancy shit, and as far as I know you can play online against other people all over Japan.

Sounds fuckin' awesome right?  Well you'd probably be correct but there is a problem with this game, and that's the pricing.  Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield is not the kind of game where you can just hop in and start playing. 

Before you even think about playing you have to drop 300 yen on a stat card.  This used to be called a pilots licence but I think it was recently changed to some generic stat card that works with other games.  Then on top of that you have to drop another 300 yen...for ONE CREDIT!  300 yen for a single play is pretty steep considering I can play regular games for 100, and older ones for anything between 10 and 50 yen.

Not only that but you have to wade through all sorts of menus to set yourself up and then read absolute shit tons of Japanese so you know what your doing, how to play, the objectives etc etc. it's head spinning.  It's the kind of game that you have to study, and I don't really want to have to do a crash course in giant robot related kanji to enjoy game about blowing shit up.

In something like Sengoku Taisen, the card battle game I've mentioned a few times on here, there is lots to read but you can do it at your own pace.  Also you can generally figure out what each new card does just by giving it a spin, and on top of that for 600 yen I can get anything between 3-5 plays depending on which game centre I go to.

Not to say that this Gundam game is bad, it's probably really fucking good, but it's not the sort of time/money investment I want to make when I know my time in Japan is limited right now.  Maybe when I make a return (and trust me, I will), I'll whip out the dictionary and give it a spin, but until then I'll stick to my trading cards.

(If someone wants to e-mail me a crash course, the address is on the side)

Some reasons on why Game Centres are so popular

This is a post I've been wanting to do for a couple of weeks since I watched a certain episode of a show called Pach-Attack on gametrailers.com.

For those that don't know, Pach-Attack is a show hosted by a guy called Micheal Pachter, a dude who knows a great deal about the industry and answers questions on certain topics every week about business related things.  A couple of weeks ago, he was asked "Why are arcades so prominent in Japan but not so viable in the states?" to which he responded "Japan is a weird place and the people are just a lot weirder than the people in the west"

Now I don't know why but this struck a nerve with me, I think Pach-Attack is a great show and the guy knows his stuff, but on this topic he is just fucking wrong, and the way he worded his answer seemed pretty offensive, not only to the Japanese, but to me who also enjoys these games.

The chance of Pach himself reading this post is pretty slim, but I'll tell you the real reason why arcades are more viable here than anywhere else.

1. More new/interesting games
I'm really only talking about the UK but from what I've heard about America it's a similar situation.  In the UK, you ALWAYS see the same games, shit like Time Crisis and DDR and maybe a shitty racing game or 2, but in Japan, the selection is way more varied.  You have a metric shit ton of rhythm games, but all have an interesting take on rhythm gameplay (the recent Mai Mai comes to mind on this one)

Also, I've covered games before like Sengoku Taisen but games like this are basically unheard of in the west AT ALL, and I don't think anywhere would want these huge cabinets in their establishments, which leads me to my next point

2. Dedicated places to play
The Game Centre is a pretty popular thing out here, hell, I live within about 30 minutes of 4 different ones.  The existence of these not only give people a good place to come together, compete and practice, but it gives developers of these games somewhere to put their crazy designed cabinets.  While Arcades like this used to exist in the west, I found that people weren't willing to maintain the machines as much as they are around here, so shit used to stop working and people would stop coming.  The closest thing to an arcade near me in the UK had a broken DDR machine for 2 YEARS, that was never fixed and probably still has a broken right pad on the P1 side today. Speaking of machine care leads me to my final point which is...

3. Developers and players actually give a shit in Japan
Players of arcades in the UK really didn't give 2 fucks about how they treated the machines, and owners, like I mentioned in my last point, didn't give a shit about fixing them either.  For example, people would wreck the guns on rail shooters, or in one case, some teenagers broke into the coin box and stole the money, and the place disposed of the cabinet rather than spend time repairing it.  So in short, people fuck up the games and they are just not worth playing.

Arcades also get more developer attention with stat cards being available to unlock new content on basically every game.  On top of that, with most machines being hooked up to the internet, developers release patches and updates for popular games with great frequency.  If you dig through the posts a bit, or check my youtube channel, the Sound Voltex Booth game that I covered a while back has had over 40 new songs added to its library as well as a long list of pre-existing Beatmania songs that have been remixed for the game.

I could talk for days about why arcades here are so good, but I'll leave you with those 3 points for now.  So, Micheal Pachter, the Japanese aren't weird, the scene is just more interesting over here, and maybe you should actually look at what's available before you make stupid comments like that.

The Japanese Game Centre

This is a topic I'm actually surprised I've not covered up until now since these happen to be my favourite hangout spots when I've got some time to kill as I'm milling around the streets of Nagoya.  But what makes them so damn good and why don't they exist in the same way that they do in the UK and other countries?

First, let me tell you a story about a game centre from ages past, Sega World in London!

That there, is a promotional picture for what was probably the only real game centre in all of the UK.  Sure, I'm aware that there are coin-op machines dotted round the country at bowling alleys and cinemas, but they aren't proper game centres, THIS was the real fuckin' deal.

Sega World was some hardcore shit back in the day, it had an amazing atmosphere, almost like a theme park for gamers.  The place was about 5 or 6 stories of just games, shittons of fuckin' games.  On top of that, every floor had some kind of ride or attraction to go on so that even if you weren't
 much of a gamer being dragged around by your buddy, you still had something fun to do.

Then guess what happened?  God shit on my soul and pissed in my face, Sega ran out money or some shit and the whole place got closed down.  But the dream wasn't over!  Segaworld basically got downsized and given a shit name, Funland.  Despite the shit name Funland was still pretty good.  The game selection was actually pretty solid and the machines were well maintained most of the time.  The atmosphere had kind of died a bit, it felt more like a seedy underground bar that you see in a post apocalyptic sci-fi movie than a proper game arcade, but there was still funtimes to be had at Funland.

Then once again I get a huge kick in the nads when Funland shuts down unexpectedly, and now what was once the greatest game centre in the UK is now home to a few fucking air hockey tables and it's full of bastard children running around breaking everything.   Actually I think it may have a In The Groove machine too, but fuck that game I quit playing DDR a long time ago.

Fuck you Air Hockey

Since then, every English "arcade" I've been to is a fucking mess.  The machines barely work, its full of bastard kids breaking everything and the only remotely good game any place ever has is DDR, but like I said before, fuck DDR,  I've played the shit out of it and I don't want to play it anymore, we need more varied rhythm games for crying out loud.

So after moving to Japan, I've been hitting the Japanese game centres, and holy shit, it's like my childhood all over again.  Sure, the vast majority of them are not as big but they are all basically like the London Segaworld.  They are clean, have a fun atmosphere, a good selection and best of all, everything fucking works.  When I say the selection is good, I mean it's really fuckin good, lots of innovative stuff that really capitalise on the fact that they are not limited to what home consoles can do.  You have games with interesting control schemes like Jubeat or Reflec Beat and then you have really cool ideas like Sengoku Taisen (something I'll blog about tomorrow maybe) there is basically something for everyone.

Please note this is not Sengoku Taisen but they are basically the same fuckin' thing so shut up

So why is this shit so popular in Japan but not in the UK or basically any other country for that matter?  I think there are 2 factors at work here.  First of all, gaming is a hugely popular past time here, huge amounts of people play these things.  There are more people willing to drop a couple hundred yen into a tekken machine than there are in the west.  Second, and the most important factor, is the busy lifestyle of your everyday working man.  If you are a Japanese Salaryman and you enjoy video games, you probably don't have time to be going home and diving balls deep into the latest console releases.  If you were a Salaryman you'd probably want something that you can drop a coin into, play for 30 mins to an hour, and then fuck off home to cry and prepare for the next day of boring, grey routine.

I'll probably spend the next few posts covering some of my favourites, dig through the archives and there is already info on one, Sound Voltex Booth.  So more to come soon!  If you do get a chance to come to Japan, a game centre should be one of the first places you go to, it'll blow your fuckin mind.