Game centres or arcades are really exciting places; especially for me.

I grew up with that back in the 1980s.

Japan invented them, and the Japanese companies,

They were the industry leaders and believe it or not the game centers are still big today!

Akihabara is a hub for Japanese subculture meaning. It's a place loaded with game centres.

Game makers like Sega and Taito have game centres here.

The first floor is usually filled with crane games or UFO catchers.

Which we featured in a previous episode.

Many also have Purikura photo sticker booths.

But it's the games that attract me,

and we're going to a special game centre loaded with vintage arcade games.

I grew up with arcades back in the 1980s, but, by the middle of the decade they sort of died out.

But here in Japan, they still exist.

SHINGO: Well the kids in the 80s who actually enjoy these games in games centres, they still kept coming.

They still are here. Well we in the United States

Oh, we in the United State, just stopped once the game consoles came

But for us, this was not just the place where you can play games this was something very special

so with a little more money

People are still coming here. Think it, still coming here. So that means the average age of a gamer

when they were teenagers of the 1980s that means they're like thirties, forties

fifties

Pushing their 50s which is why retro game centers in Tokyo are a thing this still be behind us is, Mikado

They have some pretty interesting games that I've heard. Oh my goodness. You will be surprised yeah

But you said one other person was gonna be joining us. Oh Mickey, yeah, Mickey

We needed someone who wasn't born during the arcade boom of the 1980s and well

Here she is

From the mobile gaming generation she's no idea what she's getting into today, but she sure knows how to make an entrance

This is Mickey Igarashi, and she's known as a science girl for her love of well science

Today she'll get to try a vintage arcade game from before she was born

It really is like going back into time. Mikado is stocked with vintage arcade games like Daytona USA and Space Harrier

It's a mix of games from many generations

Back then they really made the games to last metal sticks buttons that you can pound

metal steering wheels and

solid game bodies

Let's play a few of these vintage arcade games

Shingo goes first picking this car racer game made by Sega. It's outrun

Where you get to drive a Ferrari Testarossa spider through what seems like, California USA?

Pole position in 1982 is the earliest racing game I can remember playing with a steering wheel

So an outrun came out with a gear shift

Realistic controls and car movements it was a dream come true

Kids lining up to play or should I say Drive?

Well this is one of the first games that I actually played on an arcade it's got some nice girls nice-looking girls, it's got the

full

Californian American law and this is all

something that you kind of dream about of about

United States once you're gonna get old you probably want to do this exactly the same thing

Well, you don't want to find the carpet, okay, but this is the full American

Experience what a long time yeah, and I still suck at it. I don't know why?

Three coins already it says 1986 money got it. It's been that long

This game came a decade after outrun

Tokyo Wars put you inside of a tent as war rages in either central Tokyo or the Bayside area

Players had a lot more control with pedals

The screens got bigger too to compete with the game consoles

The experience needed to be more interactive than what you could play at home each game lasting about 15 minutes

Speaking of game consoles they've become retro too and Super Potato at Akihabara has become headquarters to buy old game systems

But if you go to the top floor, they have an arcade with some retro games, too

On the lower floors you'll find old Nintendo games and equipment remember this thing

Japan had a lot of game consoles never seen in the West

But some are well-known like this one

Just walking around the store brings back memories from anyone who grew up between 1980 and 2000

Back in Mikado I found an old arcade game. I used to play in 1983 made by Atari

So back in the early 1980s Star Wars was the biggest movie like it still has these days and back

Then you would play all the arcade games standing up

This was the first game where you can sit down and enter new world and actually

destroy the Death Star yourself

Really, I don't know

It's my first time to see that game

Wait when were you born again?

I'll never mind never mind everyone

time to destroy the Death Star

This game is simply called Star Wars and uses 3D color vector graphics a game used to be 25 cents, but these days

It's 200 yen, and kind of worth it try finding this somewhere else

Starwars incorporated the music from the movie as well as real voices of Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi

So they really knew how to make games back then this one is made out of really good wood that controls made out of metal

Very solid and the gameplay today is still really awesome

I mean even it was 1983 so they made this game and it's still

Amazingly exciting to me and the best part is when you hear Obi-Wan Kenobi

Tell you to use the Force and you're inside

Getting ready to shoot the Death Star you really feel the passion of the movie come alive into this game

And that's what makes this like so special oh

The game brilngs back your memory

Yeah this brings back memories when I was 10 years old

That's really cool. If this thing actually exists this game actually exists here in Tokyo. This is really cool

Yeah

Thirty years later the Star Wars battle pod from Bandai-Namco games came out, and yeah, it's quite a step up from my childhood

It's Mickey's turn, and she's hankering to fly a helicopter

It felt like you are entering a real helicopter

A joystick like a cyclic and another handle like a collective and throttle just like helicopter controls for 100 yen

You could fly a multimillion-dollar helicopter

1980s style

The helicopter stays in the center while the screen around you changes the game moves to simulate a real helicopter battle

Mickey seems a little too chipper after falling 400 meters to the sea below, but it's like

The game that I've just played is so realistic

but, in that Star Wars games, you could see the pixelation, I felt llike really nostalgic to me

You could see all the pixels, right?

Yes, I could see the pixels and fell like nostalgic to me

I was very surpried that they've established their view of world thoroughly

There's still a lot of game centers in Japan

But this retro arcade will always have a home as long as there are people still alive to play them

Visiting a game center is a must in Japan

And if you grew up during the arcade boom or you're just a fan of video game history

Savor those 8-bit graphics and nostalgia and bring a pocketful of quarters or in this case

100 yen coins

Next time the only in Japan series continues as we travel Japan in search of food, culture and adventure

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Matane