Archive for February 26th, 2008:
Bad news for acrade fans: Wii kills Japanese arcade industry
Arcades, a Japan staple for over 30 years with cutting-edge video and games, are under attack, hit by the success of Nintendo’s Wii console.
Once a testing center for next-generation games ranging from “Street Fighting” to dance, major industry players like Namco Bandai are closing arcades as potential patrons stay home.
America’s arcade industry was killed by the original Nintendo in the eighties but Japan’s arcades have been fairly healthly until now. This is depressing news for fans of arcade games, as the few new games that make it to the U.S. each year almost all originate in Japan. Less video arcades in the world mean less game developers making new games.
The ironic thing is that this ends up hurting the console makers like Nintendo as well, as many of the greatest console games over the years got their start in the arcades. It’s yet another testament to the domination of the Wii that the Japanese now prefer to stay at home and play Nintendo instead of going to their high-tech arcades, which have been a large part of youth culture for decades now.
Just Letters
One of the classic time wasting sites on the web can be found at Lunchtimers. It’s a virtual refrigerator door covered in letter magnets. The fun is trying to spell out words while other people around the world are also trying to spell out words of their own. You can work together, disrupt their attempts, or try to post your own message on the fridge. It’s a unique way to kill 5 minutes and it’s something that could only exist on the Internet. Click here to check it out.
