Game centres in Japan, and how our cultures shape how and what we play

Something we got onto in tutorials was the continual success of arcade games in Japan. More specifically, the ‘game centre’ remains a place of congregation for many of Japan’s youth to this day. It’s not the exact same scene as the Western amusement arcade in the 1970-80s, but it’s a unique and popular Asian off-shot – kind of the modern Asian boy and girl groups to the West’s ‘90s groups. You’d be hard pressed to find the same kind of atmosphere or the exact same kind of games at any given American amusement arcade in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Yet more importantly, the game centre is a type of gaming arcade and does have continual success. This has something to say about the way culture shapes how we see games and their cultures.

I may have been in one myself before, but I’m not even sure. Game centres are so deeply embedded in Japan’s popular, electronic culture that it’s hard for me to say or remember whether or not I may have stumbled through one during my times in the country’s electronic district. This has relevance to the issue at hand – these arcades are so immersed in the Japanese culture that they blend right in, but why? It’s hard to say exactly why going to a place of gathering to spend your money on a few goes at arcade games has died out so much in some parts of the world, but continues to flourish oh so much in others. Many modern Americans or New Zealanders might look at the idea and scoff at it, but they come from a different cultural background. Why do so many of us go to a club and order a drink for $20 when we could get the same drink for a quarter of the price elsewhere and party at home? Is it that weird that so many of us seek out that particular environment for drinking and partying, or is that just something that we do because it’s the norm, and for whatever reason we really enjoy that environment? The continual success of gaming arcades in Japan is a direct example of how like anything else, game culture is very much a part of other, greater cultures and is shaped by how these cultures see different types of games, in this case how worthwhile they are.