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.
