Why Arcades Are Still Thriving In Japan - Cheddar Explains

Namco

Glad I have my own arcade in my house because a good arcade is hard to find any more in the area I live in

We opened an old school video game arcade in Tokyo in 2021. Please come and visit us.

I went to a Japanese arcade in the U.S. and the games it had were amazing, even though the menus were hard to navigate since they were all in Japanese, tons of variety too. A lot of American arcades are all just 100 machines to play pinball with maybe a few other games that are hardly working and they're all dirty... no one is gonna spend tons of money to play pinball.

How does a grown man’s face still look so scuffed. He looks like a pepperoni pizza

Arcades are seedy as fuck! I hustle in them muthafuckas over Detroit Michigan! 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

My favorite arcade is Alien vs Predator

This video didnt age well 😔

Pandemic is there at Japan, yet flawlessly and seamlessly perfected gaming atmosphere at the arcade centers designed for viruses and making places PROOF. Kick that virus. :) follow instructions per building notices and signages as the game of instruction states. SMEs.......,.......respectively.

dive bars are goat for modern day.

I actually came to this video because I was on a Street Fighter 4 nostalgia trip and I wondered this, idk video game companies actually own some arcades, that explains a lot, imagine if Microsoft or Activision opened an arcade right now.

Because these American like Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Minecraft better.
How the fuck is Fortnite better than The Metal Slug?
How the fuck is Call of Duty better than The House of the Dead?
How the fuck is Minecraft is better than Cho Chabudai Gaeshi?

My favorite arcade game is taiko no tatsujin

Arcades will never make a comeback in the US because they're far too expensive having to pay 3 to $5 to play a game once I'm sorry I would rather stay home and play games here

Arcades nowadays in America are just glorified casinos but with no money

Having arcade games at home is great and all, though it's not the same as actually being at an arcade and playing with someone next (or across) from you at the same arcade game.

except arcades are dying in japan

Arcades are not just thrving in Japan but all over south east Asia to this day that's one of the reasons why I love living here

I reckon they could come back strong.
The Dreamcast is still getting Atomiswave ports today.

Dave & Buster's = USA
Round 1 = Japan

Hey, Cheddar. My favorite arcade games I like are the following:

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes
Arctic Thunder
The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes
Galaga

Arcades are definetly making a comeback in retro bars already been to 3 different cities with bad ass retro bars plus fighting games are making a comeback too

The Japanese are far different culture to us in the west and theu take gaming very seriously, this is why I love japan because its so different, on the subject of arcades, well I haven't seen a proper arcade place since the late 90s, most of the arcades in the uk have all gone to the wall or the ones that i used to go into as a kid are now full of those dreadful ticket machine's or crane grabbers where you don't win anything also they are usually full of unsavory characters / street scum, such a shame. I'm lucky enough now to have a few of those old arcades at home and real ones not those ebay replicas or 1ups, i don't do new gen consoles anymore I find them meh, so prefer to sink my hard earned into buying or building my favourite arcades of what i used to play in the 80s and 90s.

So many different things contributed to the US downfall of arcades. I think the number one thing is culture. Every arcade in the US banned drinks and food in the arcade area. It's all about keeping people around for hours.

all the most iconic arcades in Japan have just recently closed :(

I lived in Osaka in 1982 and there were thousands of arcades everywhere. I visited both Tokyo and Osaka last year and COULD NOT FIND A SINGLE ARCADE. I call this article as BS 👎

A big problem i see with arcades in the west is this mindset that arcades should be centered around toddlers and little kids. Arcades here in Argentina have been slowly but surely replacing their older simple cabinet games like Shoot-em-ups or fighting games with stuff like mechanical kiddy rides, or touchscreen arcade ports of mobile games. And apparently some US mall arcades also have this problem. The only stuff that didn't get swapped out was classic racers such as Cruisin' USA, Sega Rally, or Daytona.
Of course people of all ages can enjoy arcade games, but this over-focus on the absolute youngest audiences has only made arcades seem lame to teens as well as adults who grew up when arcades were still big. Arcades could really use more engaging games for older audiences, even if it means bringing back old machines or importing japanese machines.

Back in the 1980's-late 1990's Bally Midway owned their own series of Arcade buildings called Aladdin's Castle.

Arcade died because of the home console 😂😂😂

The real problem is the weakening American economy and an ever degrading culture. In the U.S. arcades are seen as childish and nobody can justify spending money at an arcade when they can sit on their butt at home and play PS5. Despite the fact that all arcade titles these days are arcade exclusives and cannot be played at home..

This brought a tear to my eye

no longer thriving after the pandemic

I am Japanese. I think the reason Japanese arcades have survived is because there are other gambling elements. Many Japanese arcade games since 2000 eject cards unlike other countries. And many strong cards are sparkling and cool. Strong cards are hard to come by Many children want more powerful cards in games, so they invest more money than in regular games. It is the same as gacha in social games.

when i was a kid in the USA Between 2002 until 2006 and i spent a lot of time in arcades with other kids

I’d love to have my revenue plummet from 12 million to 100 million.

Only 13,000 arcade machines across america??? from the very first line I can see this is factually incorrect.

Foot traffic thanks to smart urban planning and avoiding what sunk the American game industry.

The reason for less arcades now is thanks to mobile gaming, the pandemic, and the bubble popping.

that was lame

GALAGA

Is life.

Learn the waves.

Enjoy.

Thr only thing thriving in america?

Simple; guns.....

Only 13 000 arcade machines in USA at the height of the boom? That can't be right...

If a lot of game developers made games exclusive to arcade, that would probably help arcades become popular again in America.

Just don't make those games available anywhere else like console, PC, mobile, etc, because that would stop people from going to the arcades.

Arcades offering a lot of experiences not available anywhere else would probably attract people and keep them coming back.

I still don't like to go and play in an arcade, but unless there's an arcade close to my house or near my area, I won't make the trip. Plus a way to go to an arcade will help people get out of their houses and be more proactive in the world instead of being not a people person.

I mean we got big chains like Dave n busters, we got big arcade rooms in malls, we got local businesses like restaurants and some big businesses like movie theaters and bowling alleys and even Walmarts with their own arcade sections. Not to mention we still got independent arcades here and there.
I don’t think arcades are dead in America 🫤
But there’s definitely a lack of innovation in the industry which is probably why it’s not one of the most popular places people want to go like Japan, and more of, “oh there’s an arcade right there lemme play a couple games”. But there’s definitely potential. Everybody in America plays in arcades here and there. So you could woo plenty of not only hardcore gamers but regular people to big state of the art arcades like Japan.

Ironically, the Arcade I went to in the 80s when I was little is still there - Fun & Games in Framingham Mass.
It has good through many changes thought. Originally it was cool with a 'spaceship corridor' entrance that had black lights which made white clothing glow and a typical dark atmosphere with the glow of arcade machines. Then it was changed and the corridor entrance was removed, the interior a lot brighter and it focused more on ticket dispensing machines rather than true video games. Looking through though the window, the first thing you saw were tables and chairs (For the party area) which used to be in the back corner. It looked more like a doctors office than an arcade. Last time I decided to swing by and give it a look, they began reverting back to the 80s look, giving it a more sci-fi like setting again.

In any case, there are two 'Free to Play' Bar and Arcades within an hour of me. It's 21+ only, but they have only 80s and 90s games there, all free. You just pay a cover charge when you enter.

loved it

because Japam actua;;y has taste in gaming