RolandSubject: Egret II, Developer: Sega-AM1, Year: 1985, Arcade: Taito Hey, Location: Akihabara

Great Work

RolandSubject: Egret II, Developer: Sega-AM1, Year: 1985, Arcade: Taito Hey, Location: Akihabara
Great Work
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1985. Beds under desks for months. Ravaged eyes, forgotten families. Sega-AM1 are ready: World, meet Fantasy Zone.

Epic. The Citizen Kane of cute-em-ups. I mean, has any later feat of videogame storytelling surpassed the emotional crush of Opa-Opa the walking spaceship discovering that the evil leader of planet Menon in the space year 1422 is in fact its father?

[This post contains plot spoilers for Fantasy Zone.]

Photographer and writer covering Tokyo arcade life – the videogames, the metropolis and the people

RolandSubject: Egret II, Developer: Taito, Year: 1994, Year: 1996, Year: 1997, Arcade: Taito Hey, Location: Akihabara

Flying Power Disc

Flying Power Disc (or, stupidly, Windjammers outside Japan) shows you a future of total sports perfection. This ultimate sport combines the pseudofunctional fetishwear of beach volleyball with the hardpolished maple of the NBA with the candyised plastic bodyarmour of the NFL with the circle going back and forth of Pong.

RolandSubject: Egret II, Developer: Taito, Year: 1994, Year: 1996, Year: 1997, Arcade: Taito Hey, Location: Akihabara
Flying Power Disc
RolandArcade: Taito Hey, Developer: Capcom, Location: Akihabara, Subject: Egret II, Subject: Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Year: 1996, Year: 1999

Restart Mission?

I’m hearing bad things about the independents. Even Sega is shutting shops. Akiba 2-kan – iconic! – is gone. Photos of staff bowing outside in thanks for years of patronage from also-bowing, clapping crowds.

RolandArcade: Taito Hey, Developer: Capcom, Location: Akihabara, Subject: Egret II, Subject: Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Year: 1996, Year: 1999
Restart Mission?