The Pop-Culture E-Zine
We love finding old raw footage from the golden age of arcade gaming. This time, it is from a Tokyo arcade parlour from 1979.
As we wind back the clock some 40+ years, this news story features Tokyo’s arcade parlour, World Game, as it stood in 1979! It is so awesome to see patrons pumping coins into arcade machines, like Space Invaders, just like we did all those years ago!
source: btm0815ma
Not the arcade gaming news we wanted to see in 2021 – another iconic arcade building is set to close.
First it was Sega’s (GiGo) Building 2 that closed in August last year, and now as reported by SoraNews24, Taito Station’s iconic Nishi Shinjuku branch is set to close its doors on March 21st, 2021.
If you are anywhere near Shinjuku, go and check this out before it closes. Unfortunately we will never get to tick this one off our bucket list 🙁
【お客様各位】
いつも当店をご利用いただき
誠にありがとうございます。
誠に勝手ながら
タイトーステーション新宿西口店は
2021年3月21日(日)をもちまして、
閉店させていただきます。
短い期間ではございましたが
多くのお客様の
ご愛顧を賜りました事を
心より感謝申し上げます。#タイステ pic.twitter.com/TlIOThqrbI— タイトーステーション 新宿西口店 (@Taito_shinjuk_w) February 21, 2021
Now this is so funny and so clever, so we had to share it with you all! The sound effects are hilariously spot on!!
Well done to the Japanese comdey duo, Nomotion – NO79369371 and @nomo_info, this is awesome!
😬😅
…when it got out of hand in 2020 pic.twitter.com/UyNgIT2mHM— Adrien (@Adrien92100) August 17, 2020
It looks like we will never cross this one off our bucket list 🙁
SEGA’s Building 2 (formerly known as SEGA GiGo / Akihabara GiGo) is set to close on August 30th. Building No. 2 opened on the southern edge of Akihabara in October 2003, becoming a favourite for arcade video game enthusiasts and gaming nostalgia-seeking peeps.
It would seem that the current world health crisis has hit the Electronic Town quite hard, with a big downturn in visitor numbers. SEGA hasn’t as yet provided any formal reason for the impending closure, except for this post and the sign below, which reads (translation by SoraNews24):
image source: Arcade Otaku via Twitter
“Notice of Closure
Thank you for your continued patronage.
We are sorry to announce that this branch, Sega Akihabara Building 2, will be closing.
Our last day of operations will be Sunday, August 30.
The entire staff wishes to express, from the bottom of our hearts, our sincere gratitude at the loving support you have given our establishment for so many years.”
If you have visited SEGA’s Building No. 2, we would love to hear your stories (and see some pics), so please share them with us on Twitter or Facebook!
image source: That Damn Pixel / header image: Google
After the Legend of Zelda LEGO Ideas set, we thought that would be it with Lego news for this week. How wrong were we!
Japan is such a cool country! Wish we could visit there on a regular basis to stock up on super cool stuff that we will never get or get months or years later.
So what’s this about then? Well, it’s more cool Lego stuff. We previously informed you all that LEGO Super Mario was set to launch in August, however, Nintendo have announced that the Starter Course and two expansion (Piranha Plant Power Slide and Desert Pokey) sets will launch first in Japan on July 10.
Wish we could be at the Nintendo Tokyo store on July 10 to get our mits on this Lego awesomeness! Alas, we will have to wait till August 1 like the rest of the world.
story source: Kotaku / image source: Nintendo
Oh My Gosh! Micah Moore, the cool peep that explores the strange and wonderful as part of his Legend of Micah Facebook page has done exactly that – explored the strange, wonderful and incredible arcade in Kawasaki, Japan, modelled after the Kowloon Walled City – an infamous slum in Hong Kong. The Amusement Game Park Kawasaki (Anata No) Warehouse has narrow alleys, flickering lights and the sounds of an underground marketplace that create a maze filled with 80’s and 90’s arcade games.
Taishiro Hoshino, an art designer for kabuki theatre, painstakingly reproduced signs and posters from the real Kowloon Walled City, which was demolished in the early 90’s. This arcade is going on the bucket list immediately!
Big thanks to Skooota for letting us know about this one!
source: Legend of Micah – Facebook
Care to use Twitter on your Game Boy? Perhaps you would rather use Microsoft’s Office applications on Nintendo’s little coloured beast? I know, you want to Skype your friend with vintage equipment!
Ah yes, welcome to good use of retro gaming gear Japanese style! You got to hand it to the Japanese, they know how to refashion old equipment and make you notice it. I wish I was this clever. Now hand me those SNES headphones and scroll through these epic pics!
source: matome.naver.jp
Old school arcade machines may be enjoying a resurgence thank you to the success of barcades, but in their native land of Japan, some are left in haikyo (廃墟) – amusement centre graveyards.
These are just some of the shocking pictures from arcade graveyards where machines and their surroundings have been left in ruin. My heart breaks at seeing these majestic machines left in such disarray. If only they could all be saved!
image source: Haikyo.org
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Arcade Machine Preservation Society [AMPS]
Taking action to save and protect our classic arcade machines from damage and decay.
Follow AMPS on Twitter