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Arcade made to look old and rundown in Japan
Ginsu Victim:
You've only managed to make me greener with envy over Ghibli. Thanks.
MonMotha:
--- Quote from: Benevolance on April 26, 2010, 01:08:38 pm ---Ginsu, there was no notice which movie you'd see until you were in the theatre, so we skipped the movie and kept the tickets as souvenirs. I had a three-panel reel of Okkoto from Princess Mononoke on my ticket that I was unwilling to surrender! Studio Ghibli is outstanding. If you are ever in Tokyo, hop over to see it - it's barely 15 minutes from Shinjuku to Mitaka, and it's about a 10 minute walk from the station. Just remember to buy your tickets in advance before you leave your country; on the first trip to Japan, I waited until I was in Japan to buy the tickets and they were already sold out. :P
Even leaving aside Studio Ghibli, Mitaka was probably one of the nicest districts of Tokyo I've ever seen. And in random Japanese fashion, the corner store near the Studio sells birds of prey. I couldn't figure out how to fit a raptor in my carry on, so I had to pass on the opportunity.
The arcade was definitely cool, but it's fairly expensive. We played some House of the Dead 4, and it was 100Y per credit, 2 credits per play. The Mario Kart racers were the same situation; 200Y per play. The taiko drum games were probably the most fun - basically, it's simplified rock band drumming - but still 100Y per game. If I were not on vacation, I'd probably balk at that price. As it was, my wife and I dropped about $40 on just an hour at the arcade.
An interesting feature was the apparent 'save' or 'continue' option at the end of some games. When you completed levels on the taiko drumming game, it flashed a barcode. You can apparently snap a photo of the barcode and continue from where you left off at some point in the future, and presumably at any arcade you visit. That was a neat feature.
--- End quote ---
That pricing is pretty common for arcades in Japan. 100 or 200 yen per "play" seemed to be the going rate when I was there. New stuff was 200 or very occasionally 300, while aging stuff might get dropped to 100 or even 50 for some of the "quarter suckers". I mostly played the Bemani games (I like 'em so much, I collect them - the machines, that is), and they were typically 100 yen per game for versions that were approaching 10 months old (and therefore due for an upgraded version soon).
The progress saving feature is also rather common. Lots of games use memory cards or ID cards with internet linking. It was rare to find a Bemani game in Japan not on Konami's "e-amuse" network. I still have my cards from IIDX RED, Guitar Freaks V, and pop'n music 12. They've apparently combined it all into one "e-amuse passcard" now, but the idea is the same. It remembers all your preferences, high scores, etc., and you can set a "rival" that it will let you quickly compare scores with (including during gameplay). You can also do live "battles" with people who are remote (including in other e-amuse enabled countries). It's pretty darned cool.
Taiko no tatsujin (aka Taiko Drum Master) seemed a little dead when I was there several years ago, but I think it's made a comeback. The Bemani games from Konami were certainly going strong and still seem to be.
And yes, you can easily drop lots of cash at a Japanese arcade in a short amount of time. You could at American ones, too, if the prices were actually inflation adjusted back to their 1980s prices, people actually played the games, and arcades actually existed :).
danny_galaga:
Now that's more like it! pics of arcade machines! I'm now not sceptical :)
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