Taito Station - Ameyoko, Ueno

Ueno's best selection.

You'd be hard pushed to persuade any gamer to take the short ride away from Akiba and go arcade touring in Ueno. Dramatically less variety and only a few actual video game arcades, Ueno can't offer what Akiba has, but does have some pretty strong communities.

Taito station gets it right though. 3 floors, UFO catchers, rhythm games and old school gaming on the top floor makes attracts a slightly different demo to those in Akiba. Most prominently as a date spot, with UFO catchers, rhythm and shooter games getting the youngsters in. The top floor with StreetFighter, Tekken and Gundam catering for the local hosts, hostesses and salarymen in the area.

Definitely the one to visit if you're around Ueno way.
DD

UFO Catcher - Paper Mario

@ Shinjuku SportsLand

http://www.spolan.com/ssl-9/

MeetUp - Ikebukuro!

Games, grog and good times in one of Japan's arcade Mecca's - Ikebukuro!

Friday 26th

7pm ~

DonQuixote Seibu side

More deets at - http://meetu.ps/2yKsqn

MeetUp - Takadanobaba

Been a while but we're back in Baba ready to rock - Mikado, Taito Station, HUB

Kickoff - 7:15 at Baba HUB, Friday 19th.

More deets at http://meetu.ps/1QbYSq

Meetup - Namco Sugamo, Tokyo

Much thanks to members joinin last Sunday's meetup. Huge amount of Tekken's elite turned up in top for for the 3 on 3 team battles. Awesome prep for the upcoming MASTERCUP tourney in November.

Here are a few pics from the event.
DD

Game Plaza Capcom - Kichijoji, Tokyo

Much thanks to Google Maps on this one! 

A candy land of gaming goodness courtesy of Capcom with a huge floor space dedicated to all things Capcom (and Nintendo crossover related).

Located on the basement floor of a shopping center it's best to just look for the bright yellow "Loft" sign as advertising for Plaza Capcom is few and far between.

As is standard with most large arcades, UFO catchers take up a quarter of the space, photo booths another, coin games another and the remainder video games. As you'd expect, StreetFighter gets a lot of love, with most of the medals sporting a silhouette of Ryu, posters covering the floors and walls too relating to the franchise too.

Games wise, there's an extreme lack of what most arcade fans would put in their own Capcom arcade - The "Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter" poster at the entrance, for instance, which turns out to be simply a poster. Few, if any, pre 2010 games .. 

It's business at the end of the day, and overwhelmingly it's a great feeling to be standing in what is as close to CapcomLand as we'll see. It just seems that with a few retro cabs as apposed to posters, something truly great could've been realized.
DD

Playlot Joy - Kichijoji, Tokyo

The most arcadey of arcade names.

One of the best arcade hubs in Tokyo, with three top notch arcades within 2 minutes of one another, "Playlot" ticks all the right boxes.

The classic 3 floors of gaming goodness starts with UFO catchers and Taiko on the ground floor. Second floor dedicated to rhythm and gun games, and the third to the fighting game community.

As has become pretty common, some of these lesser known indie arcades are actually either part or fully owned by Taito corporation.

Although you'll struggle to find any retro classics, their affection for old school decor is a site to behold, maintaining what seems to be the original 90's color scheme and neon lights. Couple this with an onslaught of posters from video games past and present and you'll glad you came.

プレイロットジョイ
〒180-0004 Tokyo, Musashino, Kichijoji Honcho, 1 Chome−8−23, 河田ビル
http://goo.gl/maps/6etgq