They're called “game centers” there and you can find them just about anywhere in the gaming mecca that is Tokyo, though the Akihabara area is of world renown in regards to arcade gaming. In Japan, however, video arcades are abundant and have woven into the very fabric of Japanese culture. The same can be said of the European arcade scene, though with its density and relative proximity to Asia there may be more secondhand outlets to play games beyond DDR, Time Crisis and House of the Dead. In America there are very few dedicated video arcades today that aren't side attractions of movie theaters or other entertainment venues. This was the dawn of the end for arcades in the West. With more costly hardware came pricier admission (costing upwards of 50c-1$ per round), drawing the focus away from the traditional teenage crowd who were cautious of buying in. Developers of arcade games scrambled to stir the pot with flashy titles like Sega's 3D Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA and Bemani's Dance Dance Revolution - but it wasn't enough. Console technology was advancing, 3D graphics were on the rise with polygonal models dethroning 2D sprites, the internet was thriving there was no reason to go to a video arcade and play what you could in the comfort of your own home. It was around the mid-nineties when the shift to consoles became increasingly apparent. If you grew up in the '80s or '90s this may be a hard pill to swallow, but in the West the reality is apparent: arcades have become an antique of the past.
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