The Asian Power Hour

Some other interesting arcade trends to come out in Japan in the past few years that have been ramping up include:

Quiz based games, such as Magical Quiz Academy. Recently even Konami has come up with their own version. It’s worth noting that Japan’s arcade gaming culture, which is very separated and solitary is being invaded by these types of games. Custom two to three player seats are commonly seen for these machines as they are also popular with couples or a small group of friends.

“Coin pusher” style gambling games. The old arcade style game where you would aim coins down at a few tiers of coins constantly being pushed (I have no idea what this is called exactly) has gotten some interesting updates. Recently, games have been built into this, with the player aiming at a specific slot to roll dice or advance events. Different ones include:

Monopoly
Taiko no Tatsujin, now on the 2nd Revision.
Dragon Treasure, now on Revision 3.

While Monopoly and Taiko no Tatsujin are dice rolling board style games, Dragon Treasure is really neat, as it is a RPG styled adventure where you would use coins to hit slots to move the character or hit enemies that would move in real time.

However…these games are also incredibly addictive and I think I lost around 2000 Yen in about half an hour playing Dragon Treasure. That was dinner for that day, gone, poof…but hey, it was fun…..and now I’m just glad I’m not in Japan to be tempted to play that game again.

Tokens you earn from these games can be tossed into a coin bank at the arcade that uses a pin number and also a fingerprint reader to track your funds.

The big kicker that I wasn't expecting at all though comes as a blast from the past, specifically the return of the virtual reality pods from the FASA Battletech centers. These have been re-modified for Japan as Gunam battleground simulators pitting Zeon and E.F.S.F. forces against each other. You purchase a IC card that is keyed to a specific side that stores your personal data and can be used to customize your mobile suit with weapons that you unlock through play and achievement. New robots, items, etc. can be unlocked with futher play and stored on your card.

Some other interesting stuff is the ability to join a local guild which is based around each location so you actually have a physical presence for your teammates. My cousin and I actually signed up for a guild and then were surprised to meet the guild leader after one of our matches, apparently he had been yammering at us to outflank the enemy the entire time, but we didn't have our headsets on.

For our next game, there were actualy paper maps and pens provided and we sat down and planned out a strategy before going back in, it really felt like we were in some sort of Gundam squad, and a more experience soldier was planning out an attack against another squad (located at another arcade, and they were probably doing the same thing)
The cockpit itself consisted of a chair with feedback and speakers, two pedals, two flight simulator style controllers, headset, and a 180 degree screen.

The IC card itself is written on with erasable magnetic ink, like Namco's Arcade Mario Kart and has your name, ranking, battles, wins/losses, guild emblem, and arcade location. There are also notebooks at each location for each faction for players to leave tips, or just friendly banter, sort of like an analog localized forum. Very cool, too bad I get mad motion sickness when I play this game. There was also a giant console in the center where players could insert their cards and take care of their stats, robots, equipment, etc. on the bottom screen and watch the current battle unfolding on the top screen.