Japan's arcade industry slumps as Wii takes off

[TriniXaeno]

Well this does not come as any surprise.

The arcade scene has been taking quite a beating since the original Nintendo and Playstation hit the market many moons ago. Things are only going to get worse.

The home of the arcade scene is feeling the brunt of Nintendo's latest console assault. We aren't talking just Mom and Pop type arcades either. Big ones from Namco and Sega are closing down.

Wii idmc.

"Arcades are expensive, noisy and filled with cigarette smoke," said 15-year-old Gene Sato, adding he'd rather save his money to go to a theme park. "Besides, I can stay home and play NBA Live on PlayStation 3."

But it's not just the Wii. Industry officials and analysts tick off a long list of culprits.

With widescreen TVs in households across Japan and games with cutting edge graphics and audio standard fare, the traditional video arcade experience can easily be replicated in the home.

Analysts also estimate that the vast majority of Japanese kids own a handheld game player such as a Nintendo DS, or PlayStation Portable.

Even if they don't, games can be played on computers or cellphones. Mobile phones are also blamed for diverting youths away from arcades because a large share of kids' pocket money often goes towards paying cellphone bills.

Full article below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080518/tc_nm/japan_arcades_dc

Interestingly enough, I saw this in the Daily Express as well, May 21st 2008.

[New Era Outlaw]

Yup...I read about this, too.

The on-line factor plays a big part in diminishing the relevance of arcades, namely, the human interaction part. Logically, it makes sense....why bother dressing up and heading down to the mall when you can own noobs in the comfort of your own home?

[TrinireturnofGamez]

Survival of the fittest , Either the arcades start offering things the consoles can't , or they die out

[rb]

Interesting that you would post the tekken 6 machine, that machine alone probably set arcade owners back quite a bit (20gs), and I've read that some arcades have multiple machines. Even though its probably the second most played game in Japan,god help those arcade operators, this is why Tekken 6 hasn't hit PS3 as yet (even though the arcade board and ps3 are identical) and probably won't til year end or early next year. Arcade kits themselves have seen steady increases in prices. GGXX for example cost like 2000US for the kit,whereas SF4 is reportedly costing 5 times that amount.

I don't think it'll die anytime soon, those guys are too competitive to let that happen. The process has started though. Until they can faithfully emulate the offline experience online, it'll live a bit longer.

[TriniXaeno]

Today I visited a local arcade and was reminded of why I don't go regularly anymore.

Played Soul Calibur 2 first and the button layout on the cabinet was setup for Samurai Shodown or some other SNK title. Only someone like Dhalsim could have made proper use of that.

Next was Tekken Tag. Sure enough, pulling back on the joystick resulted in a left punch. How they achieved that piece of magic is beyond me. lol. So much for blocking. On the flip side, it prevents turtle play. Strong offensive play iymc.

Both machines had no players around them mind you. The only two cabinets drawing a crowd were street fighter based and old vers at that.

RIP