In America you’ll notice that there are very few places where you’ll find an arcade on a block (unless it’s one of those “barcades”). Things are completely different in places like Japan though – arcades are still very prevalent there. The reason why they still have arcades in Japan are:
- The arcades respond very well to trends
- Game makers actually own the arcades
- Their arcades are a part of the arcade landscape
- Japanese arcades offer things you can’t find in a home
- They’re constantly changing things
Why are there so many arcades in Japan?
According to the Japan Amusement Industry Association, there are 13,856 arcades in the country (4,856 registered and 9,000 other arcades). While they have seen a slight drop in their arcade numbers they do still have new cabinet releases.
- The arcades respond very well to trends
Arcade game owners respond very well not only to patron trends but also to what games are popular. For example, when arcade game owners realized that they were getting a surplus of older customers they began offering things like Tokyo Gulliver, the Financial Times, and blankets to them – heck, they even lowered the sound on some games.
- Game makers actually own the arcades
Companies like Sega, Taito, Capcom are also game developers and produce games for their own arcades. They invest in the arcades and produce content (such as the Taito Station, Namcoland, Plaza Capcom, and Club Sega) so their customers will keep coming to the arcade. Arcades are an integral part of game producer’s identity’s which is why they still continue to invest heavily in their games. Since they got their start in arcades they continue to develop them.
- Their arcades are a part of the countries landscape
In major cities in Japan, you’ll find they have arcades located near their train stations. This makes it so that playing an arcade game is something you can do almost anywhere in Japan. Not only at train stations do you find arcades but you also find them in places like shopping malls – this helps them make up for the lack of foot traffic that not being in places like shopping malls brings about.
- Japanese arcades offer things you can’t find in a home
A focus of Japanese arcades is that they aim to offer things that you don’t typically get to experience at home. An example of this is the traditional crane game (an experience you really can’t get at home).
- They’re constantly changing things
In Japan arcades are always changing. They’ve constantly developed from arcades on the roof to on-ground game-filled arcades. Games have constantly changed as well – the likes of people are always changing. Here’s an example timeline of the changes that take place in arcades.
- 1960-1970s: Carnival and Electromagnetic games
- 1980-1990s: Improved graphics and larger game cabinets.
- Mid 00s: High-definition monitors, IR card games.
Current state of arcades in Japan
An interesting thing about the arcade market in Japan is that it has grown in size since 2018. While it had been shrinking in size since 2011 it did a major reversal in 2015 and has been on an uptrend ever since. A possible reason for this is that there was a major change in the law on Control and Improvement of Amusement and Entertainment Business made in 2015 (fueiho). The change stated that children can go into arcades till 10pm if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.
If one looks at the individual success of arcade games, they will see that most of the growth came from prize games rather than traditional arcade games. And to add to this, the games placed in non-traditional spots such as department stores, restaurants etc. count towards the market’s growth.
To be quite honest, the popularity of these prize arcade games has reached such a point that there are now video game arcades with no arcade games, only prize games. In fact, there’s a massive arcade game station titled “Taito Station with 454 machines, most of which are crane games.
Some even believe that arcade games (the traditional arcade games) have lost popularity because of the competition stemming from games that can be played on the phone. I mean, it makes sense. Why would a kid pay to play a game in an arcade when they can play a game on their phone anywhere and at any time.
In fact, August 2021. Now, there is also the fact that Sega Sammy Holdings decided to get out of the arcade management business as a whole; they sold 85.1% of their holdings in Sega Entertainment to Genda. This was a decision that needed to be made as in 2020’s fiscal year end, they lost close to 900 million yen (20221031_tanshin_e.pdf (segasammy.co.jp)). They were also projected to have lost 2.7 billion yen in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021.
Sega wasn’t the only company to have suffered losses either. Another company that suffered losses was Round One, a company that runs amusement centers that include arcade games in them. Round One suffered losses of 16.48 billion from April to December 2020. Another company, Aeon Fantasy, suffered losses in the fiscal year ending in February 2021 . Other companies such as Bandai Namco and Konami (arcade businesses) have reported similar losses. On the other hand, though, companies such as Square Enix and Nintendo have reported gains as more people have been staying at home and playing their games.
I truly believe that the arcades will weather this storm. To start this, they have even started implementing measures to counteract customer’s COVID fears – things such as antiseptics, hand sanitizers, and towels have been placed in arcades, so customers feel safe. Other arcades have even pivoted and picked up alternative streams of income such as uploading videos, streaming, or even crowdfunding.
Conclusion
Even though arcades are still very much so prominent in Japan, they won’t be around forever. However, I’m sure the owners of said arcades have thought about this and are on their way to the next thing – I wonder what it is.
English 
日本語 