Arcades in Japan(Tokyo area)
Hello:)
I’ve just recently moved to Japan, and I want to find some Third Strike competition in the Tokyo area. I live about an hourish train ride from Tokyo, so I was wondering if anyone knew where the best arcades are for 3S in Tokyo, or possibly the surrounding cities!
Thnx
hmm… didnt know this thread existed. so how many SRK ppl live here in tokyo? and who likes clubbing?
Count me in and I go clubbing as well. But seriously need to brush up on my 3s skills. Too much lost planet!
I’ll be in Tokyo for the next few days but I’m moving down to Osaka on Monday for a new job. 
Here are a list of some good arcades to check out:
Club Sega Akihabara
http://location.sega.jp/loc_web/images/tokyo/cs_akihabara01.jpg
http://location.sega.jp/loc_web/images/tokyo/cs_akihabara02.gif
Directions: Go to JR Akihabara station, exit “Electric Town Exit.” Walk out of the station and hang a right – you should see the “Die Building” – and keep walking straight. Club Sega is across the street.
Info: They have five floors of games, with the basement being all Virtua Fighter 5 and the 4th floor primarily GGXX AC and Street Fighter. The 3rd floor is mainly Tekken 5: DR, but they also have a SC3 machine as well. 5th Floor is dedicated to Gundam games. The SF community has a strong presence here, but it’s mainly a VF area.
Club Sega Shinjuku Nishi
http://location.sega.jp/loc_web/images/tokyo/cs_shinjukunishiguchi01.jpg
Directions: From JR Shinjuku or Odakyu Shinjuku, head to the West exit (Nishi Guchi). Walk towards the Bus Terminal going to Shizuoka and other prefectures and you’ll see a Yodobashi Camera right behind the terminal. Behind Yodobashi Camera is Nishispo.
Info: Basement is split up between T5DR, VF5, Gundam, GGXX AC and Gundam. Basically, the basement is the ‘battle arena’. The top floors are for other games that aren’t as popular or are single player, and they also house the card battle games (Sangokushi Taisen, Quest of D, etc.) The level of competition is very high here as well. It’s probably the best if you want to play VF5 and Gundam.
Ikebukero Gigo
http://location.sega.jp/loc_web/images/tokyo/ikebukuro_gigo1.jpg
http://location.sega.jp/loc_web/images/tokyo/ikebukuro_gigo02.gif
Directions: From JR Ikebukero station take the East exit and head straight for about 5 minutes, and you’ll find Gigo.
Info: They only list VF5 as their main game in this arcade, but the arcade is known for its strong Guilty Gear community, and I heard that the other 2D fighters (Arcana Hearts, Melty Blood, 3s, etc.) are very popular here as well. Most of the fighters are located in the basement, last time I was there. I should also mention that if you pick up any issue of Arcadia magazine, they give a listing of arcades in specific areas. They choose a different city each issue, but it’s usually within the Tokyo area since it’s the most populated. Check it out if your Japanese ability is high enough.
Hope that helps.
osaka is pimp
pm me dude on sunday my girl is going to disneyland… I’ll be free for some marvel or 3rd strike.
I might be headin’ to Japan this summer, are Japanese people respectable when it comes to race? I dont want my black ass to get kung fu’ed hehe
Sorry man, can’t make it on Sunday. I’m actually MOVING to Osaka on Monday, haha, so I have all this crap to do before I move, such as changing my billing addresses and shit like that.
canada_street_team: you should be okay so long as you don’t act stupid in public. By that I mean talking loudly or drinking in crowded areas, or being obnoxious. You’ll probably get a lot of guff from older people, but the younger crowd will either want to talk to you or just mind their own business.
kool, thanx dude cant wait !
I spent my first week in Japan hanging out in Osaka. I’m currently in Awaji Shima with a friend of mine who teaches English. I just booked a hotel reservation in Tokyo (7 days for 400 US, not bad) starting on the 16th and I’ll be staying in Ryogoku for the week. My plans are wide open after that and I’m not leaving for the US until mid February. Any thing around that area I should check out?
I think your are near the sumo houses, but I’ll need to check that. I should come down to Tokyo this week to play some Marvel and Tekken at Club Sega. We should meet then.
been awhile for me…
It has been a while since I’ve posted here (or even visited for that matter.) Anyway, I’ve been playing SF2 for ages, but am pretty rusty. I’ve been living in Tokyo for about a year now, will probably be around for a few more years.
I’m sad to hear that MORE went to the dark 3d side. Not that sad though, since I commute through Shibuya daily and have been stopping the Shibuya Kaikan since '99. I love that they have 2 SSF2T:HF or whatever those choose-your-version anniversary edition machines are being called now.
So if anyone wants to do some Tokyo meetups I’m cool with that.
I actually just ordered a Hori real arcade pro stick so I could hook up MAME and get some net game-on, but that is just for late night stuff. I like to get in at least one SSF2T gaming session a week.
Keep getting my ass handed to me at the Shibuya Game Kaikan though.
Change of plans for me, apparently the hotel I booked myself in to was overbooked. I’ve made reservations online at a hotel in Shinjuku for the week. I really just went with the other place because of price but this isn’t that much more expensive. Regardless I’ve changed what day I leave for Tokyo to the 17th. The Shinkansen should only be like 3 hours travel so it’s not that bad, and my gracious host (bless Americans working in JET who live in 9000 yen a month apartments with no heat and what is barely considered above a pit toilet on Awaji Shima) has offered to let me stay the extra day here.
MORE went all 3D? Do they have Super DragonBall Z? I recently got in to that game playing in Osaka. No one there seemed to want to play SSF2, 3S, or CVS2, and GGXX/ and Tekken 5 do not appeal to me in the slightest. Hokuto no Ken feels really weird and I still can’t play the Atomiswave KOF to save my life. Also playing Bleach DS against the japanese is ridiculous; I can barely tell what’s going on. It’s like Marvel all over again.
Anywho, I’m a pretty lost gaijin here. My Japanese is limited to simple responses. I can read some hiragana and some katakana, but not enough to get by. I really should study more but hey, I’m on vacation.
guess i should chime in as well…
marvel in shinjuku club sega is a waste of time n money… unless u wanna drop 100yen to play scrubby otaku… alpha station in shin okubo [one stop up from shinjuku] is no doubt the ONLY game center in japan where you’d actually get owned in marvel. fools play that game like its xvsf, haha…
Not true… there is a gamecenter on the Seibu Shinjuku Line called Magic 22. Doods do not play around in there, but it’s on the edge of Tokyo. Then the arcade across from Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. There is always good comp but they switch out the games often.
The last time I went to Alpha Station, they put a Tekken DR machine in it’s place but that was before XMAS.
Shibuya Game Kaikan, the Gamecenter up the street from Gas Panic right? Wait a minute, is the Lesie, Kyle, or Alan? If you are Leslie I’ve been looking for you. If you Alan, That Double Bison sh!t was not cool:rofl: ! And if your Kyle… wassup?
Reguardless, we need to all hook up one day! So I can stop playing Lost Planet and UNO all day!
Arrived in Shinjuku today. Couldn’t get a hotel online so I just kinda winged it. The cab driver said something about a “Biggu parti” but I don’t speak much (any) japanese and his english was only slightly better than my japanese. Going to call around to other hotels tonight (Washington, New Shinjuku, etc) unless you guys happen to know some other places to stay for cheap but comfortably.
Hopefully I’ll get to hit up some game centers tomorrow to dick around.
By the way, does any one know if there is an easy way to get a prepaid cell phone here in Japan? I’ve got like another month here and one would be really useful.
Go to a Softbank store and find an english speaker. The one in Shibuya has a couple of them, one of my friends included. She’s a hottie too so she’ll be easy on the eyes. 
I’ll be back in Tokyo on the 27th and 28th, but I don’t really play 2D fighters. If you play VF5 or Tekken though, I’m down
Spent a few hours wandering around Shinjuku. Got pretty lost and couldn’t find any game centers to speak of. Also none of the cellphone places I went to had prepaid phones. Currently sitting in my hotel room chillin out.
Edit: Found More! It was fun. I’m enjoying this new “Arcana Heart”. I’ll have to play it more. Tomorrow I leave for Ikebukuro, so I’m still in Tokyo. Will be there for a week or so. Maybe more if I enjoy Tokyo. If you guys are ever free let me know, I have absolutely no schedule or responsibilities and would love to hang out and play games, drink, whatever. I’m in Japan on vacation and I intend to live it up.
An update! I’m in Ikebukuro now. At the Hotel Sunroute. There are two arcades less than a block away from me. One is really shady and only has SF2, SFA3, Tekken, and a few other games (Hokuto no Ken, etc). The other is more commercial and has mostly non-fighters but also has a few tekken machines, GGXX: Core, and an Arcana Heart machine (I’m starting to like this game and it’s not just cause I love tittays).
I stopped by a =Softbank and they had prepaid cards. However, they require a japanese drivers license or a gaijin card. I have neither as I’m just a tourist. Is it in any way possible to get a prepaid phone at all?
If any one wants to hang out this weekend let me know. I’ve spoken so little english this month that I think I’m starting to go crazy.