A few posts ago I mentioned Shinjuku Sportsland’s 32-cabinet Gundam setup. Well, here it is.

Looks like the modern Space Harrier. Fit for an old-school one-coin-stand. But the JP arcades don’t go for that these days.

Fate: Grand Order – who *isn’t* playing it?

Gundam Extreme Vs. absolutely does not give a shit about the modern world. Let’s go back: before Japan’s superfuture tech got caught pants-down by the smartphone era.

A two-part taped-up standee of Cloud Strife has producer signatures for expert nerds like me and a simple nametag for the rest: Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife.

It tells you something about the purpose of Japanese arcades when you see multiple cabs on Tetris: you don’t always come here for the games.

Ask any gamer to name a mascot is a blue cardigan and they’ll say Sonic the Hedgehog.

2017’s Densha De GO!! updated the 1996 classic with some neat features like sounding your horn in salute to trackside workers. But the basics are the same: Drive the train when told, stop the train when told. Don’t go too fast; don’t go too slow. Don’t stop at the wrong place on the platform – you’re measured to the centimetre.

Check out this monstrous dong of a joystick on Starwing Paradox. Rippling with nooks and nobbles for your fingers and thumbs.

Densha De GO! was a 1996 train driving simulator that let you experience all the grind and tedium of menial work for the low, low price of ¥100 a credit.

This is massive news: Starwing Paradox might be the real deal.

The Sega Blast City cabinets in my imaginary home arcade are forever young in the belle époque of 2D, CRT, stick-and-six gaming.