Arcade "St. Tropez" - Ikebukuro

As close as you'll get to the Carnival Night Zone.

Awesome place, hella spacious, well kept and essentially maintained by the huge casino on the 3rd floor and a mega pachinko place on B1.

All the biggest and best arcade titles of the moment, small FGC community selection but well worth visiting - SEGA GIGO is next door but the vibe is pretty dark. Definitely worth hitting this place once and a while to see the climate of gaming in Tokyo.

"Events for Gamers"

"Events for Gamers" - Great site if you're looking for gaming or gaming related events in your town. Cons, expos, exhibits and whatnot.

Tough to scroll down realizing the next event in Japan is gonna be the Tokyo Game Show in September "/

www.eventsforgamers.com

Arcade "Carnival" - Shinjuku, Tokyo

If you're an arcade fan or ever had a chance to explore game centers in Japan you might've heard of this place. Being tucked away in Kabukicho (the red light district) means it's a tough one find without getting lost .. or distracted.

It's one of the oldest arcades in Tokyo but have managed to keep pace, introducing gambling machines and catering for the local market.

Prices are a little on the steep side but for fighting or retro games the standard 100¥ for two games is in effect.

One of the reasons Carnival remains a popular place is due to the spaciousness of the layout. Might sound minor but in a crammed city like Shinjuku personal space counts.

Arcade "Game Cube" - Koenji, Tokyo

One solid basement floor packed back to front with cabs. Good support for fight games with GuiltyGear, Tekken and StreetFighter plus a bag full of rhythm games. 

Aside from the games, Cube has got a real 90's arcade feel. No frills, no UFO catchers or photo booths - just an underground dirty hangout for local dudes.

"Taito Station" - Kokubunji, Tokyo

Don't often cover the larger game centers, but kinda blown away to see this Taito Station shut down.

Taito Stations dominate the arcade scene in Japan, able to acclimatize themselves without resorting to pachinko or slot machines.

Can't be sure why this one on the outskirts of Tokyo has shut down (possibly due to redevelopment), but being a residential town for commuters with families, it's pretty worrying.

Arcade "Namco" - Nakano, Tokyo

Hell of a spacious and well thought out floor space makes this an awesome place to game. Definitely supporting the UFO catcher scene first and foremost but also have every current Namco cab on release too.

Central Tokyo arcades have a tendency to over-cab their places leading to a lot of distractions while playing. Blows trying to focus whilst gettin nudged in the back.

Being a Namco arcade they also hold fortnightly tournaments to keep things fresh, hygienic and non-smoking areas make it a cert for our upcoming meet ups.

Arcade "Vortex" - Roppongi, Tokyo

4 months back the last arcade in Roppongi shut down. It truly blows to see a place with potential just boarded up. 

Being located on the outskirts of a red light district might sound like a detriment to a game center, but actually some of the most successful indie places have that in common. Often hosts, hostesses take to the arcades before, after and during catering hours to kill time.

Signs read:
"December 27th 2013, Game Center operations will stop."
"Roppongi has become a town without a Game Center."
"Thank you for 18 years."

Tekken tourney dates - March

Arcade "Namco" in Sugamo is the place to be if you wanna test the tourney waters in Tokyo. Events biweekly mean you can drop in any time and get a whoopin.

Seriously highly recommended if you wanna taste some tourney action and get a feel for just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Gotto love Sugamo "Namco"

Extra outlets at the cabs allow you to charge your phone while toasting players. 

May seem trivial but it's a pretty dope move on part of Namco - Arcades around Tokyo have been struggling in recent years to pull in revenue, and even Namco's flagship store most be feeling the pinch. A few places offer seating areas to snack and chill, but encourage players to throw some coins in while charging their phones is a great move.

Twitter - @homeppp

5 reasons why you should be following @homeppp on Twitter

The best way to study Japanese

If you're looking for an in into Japanese language studies whilst buffing up on your gaming history, can't recommend "Game Center CX" enough. 

The "GameMaker" series focuses on interviews with top industry dudes, with a few gaming challenges thrown into the mix.

Got some study time free? Pop out the dictionary and try it for 20 mins. Most eps are available on YT with Japanese subtitles.

"Game COSMO" - Tsurumi, Kanagawa

Kanagawa has a hardcore gaming scene, but outside major cities even a tiny dugout like this is a pretty dope find.

Old school gamer types will love this place, one on one cabs means win or go home. One of just about every arcade cab on the market right now makes it a dope place for Tsurumi residents.

Gotto respect these indie coin pushers not going down the pachinko or slot machine route.

"Game Tiger", Nakano Broadway

Not really a gaming arcade, more of a pachinko place, but being directly across from "Big マリオ" it's worth popping through while you're in town.

Game Trader - "Big マリオ", Nakano Broadway

Independent game trading stores outside Akihabara are pretty few and far between so it's a pretty cool place to drop into. Competitive prices, some dope deals on used games and trade ins too.

50¥ PSOne games make it well worth a visit, and Nakano itself is littered with Gaming Cafés and arcades all over. 

Puyopuyo Tetris

Eating these and listening to this is trippy..

"AMNET Game", Gotanda

Can't overstate how clean this place is. Like impeccably so.

Awesome for Gotanda residents, bunch of pachinko and gambling machines, Gunslinger, StreetFighter and multiple rhythm games.

Couldn't recommend leaving the likes of Shinjuku for this place but great if you're in the area. (100¥ Taiko thumbs up) 

"Amusement Land Kyonta Gon", Okubo

Real old school arcade in the heart of Korean Town, Gon has been rolling for 15 years plus. 50¥ games, old and new, one of the few arcades selling potato chips (shocking).

Thought Okubo had dropped off as an arcade town last year but realizing there are actually 3 joints in the area.. Dope.

Located just a 10minute walk from Shinjuku, Okubo is perfect for some casual games, drinks and laughs.

Arcade "GAO", Okubo

 

Awesome little arcade tucked away in the heart of Okubo. 

Until early last year the Korean district had one of the best gaming scenes in Japan, with even a 5 floor indie arcade packed with every fighting game imaginable. 2012-2013 saw a bunch of indie places feel the pinch. 

So glad to see this one still rocking it.

The McDons of marketing

Great to see gaming merch at McDonalds, showing just how big Taiko no Tatsujin is in Japan.

During the McCampaign, exclusive items have been been released on arcade taiko machines - McFries-don and McShake-don (awesome).