Where to Play in Japan!

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
1

I get asked the same question 20 times a year, so I thought I’d post a master list of to play in Japan. :slight_smile:

IMPORTANT!!

In Tokyo, the place to play depends on the night. For example, if you go to Game Versus on a Monday, don’t expect any competition.

Another important point is that you should get on your knees and thank Satan himself if you find someone to play in the daytime. Usually no one plays until at about 20:00 on the weekdays and ~16:00 on the weekends.

Monday
Oyama Game Newton
大山 ゲームニュートン
〒173-0023 Tōkyō-to, Itabashi-ku, 板橋区Ōyamachō, 25−8, 野口 ビル
http://oyama.game-newton.co.jp
Starts: ~19:00
Event: Weekly ft10 gachi battles. You usually have to arrange it prior to coming.

Tuesday,
Takadanobaba Mikado
高田馬場 ゲーセンミカド
〒169-0075 Tōkyō-to, Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba, 4 Chome−4−5−10, オアシスプラザビル
http://mi-ka-do.net/baba/
Starts: ~19:00
Event: There used to be a weekly random 3v3 but it seems to just be casuals now. Lots of players and lots of cabs.

Wednesday
Oyama Game Newton
大山 ゲームニュートン
〒173-0023 Tōkyō-to, Itabashi-ku, 板橋区Ōyamachō, 25−8, 野口 ビル
http://oyama.game-newton.co.jp
Starts: ~17:00
Event: Weekly free play event. It costs ¥1000 I believe (from 17:00-24:00). They usually have a singles tourney as well. Top competition.

Thursday
Nishi-Nippori Game Spot Versus
西日暮里 ゲームスポット バーサス
〒116-0013 Tōkyō-to, Arakawa-ku, Nishinippori, 5 Chome−15−10, 今井 ビル 3 階
http://www.game-versus.net
Starts: ~20:00
Event: Touzaisen aka East vs West Battle at Nishi-Nippori

Friday
Nishi-Nippori Game Spot Versus
西日暮里 ゲームスポット バーサス
〒116-0013 Tōkyō-to, Arakawa-ku, Nishinippori, 5 Chome−15−10, 今井 ビル 3 階
http://www.game-versus.net
Starts: ~20:00
Event: Casuals

Saturday
Oyama Game Newton
大山 ゲームニュートン
〒173-0023 Tōkyō-to, Itabashi-ku, 板橋区Ōyamachō, 25−8, 野口 ビル
http://oyama.game-newton.co.jp
Starts: ~19:00?
Event: Casuals. They might have some gachi battles or a singles tourney.

Sunday
Nishi-Nippori Game Spot Versus
西日暮里 ゲームスポット バーサス
〒116-0013 Tōkyō-to, Arakawa-ku, Nishinippori, 5 Chome−15−10, 今井 ビル 3 階
Starts: 12:00-17:00
Event: Free play. ¥500

Those are the main places that people gather during the week. Is that it? No!! There are many other places to play around Tokyo that still have players on most nights. It’s not guaranteed you’ll find competition, but you might stumble in and see 6-8 guys playing.

Game Studio Cube Koenji
ゲームスタジオキューブ高円寺店
4 Chome-４-２６-１２ Kōenjiminami, 杉並区 Suginami-ku, Tōkyō-to 166-0003
https://twitter.com/cube2006
Note: I used to play here everyday a year ago. There are some good guys. Boss used to frequent on the weekends. It’s hit or miss with competition. Sometimes a lot of guys, sometimes none. Good luck.

Game Safari Ikebukuro
ゲームサファリ池袋
〒170-0013 Tōkyō-to, Toshima-ku, 豊島区Higashiikebukuro, 1 Chome−1−42−3


Note: Myself, Pherai, Nate play here regularly. It’s our home and there are usually people every night around 21:00-24:00. Nice players!

Ikebukuro Game Park Rumble Plaza
ゲームパークランブルプラザ 池袋
〒170-0013 東京都Higashiikebukuro, 1 Chome−42, 豊島区東池袋1-42-19
https://twitter.com/rumbleplaza
Note: This place is seriously like next door to Safari. Worth a check if you’re in the area.

Shinjuku Sportsland
新宿スポーツランド
〒160-0022 Tokyo, 新宿区Shinjuku, 3−22−12
http://spolan.com
Note: Cool arcade in the center of Shinjuku. Shibuya Sportland used to a top arcade for 3rd Strike around 2005. The manager of Shibuya still works at the Shinjuku branch. Cool guy. Always worth dropping by if you’re in the area. One of the few places with daytime players.

Shinjuku Club Sega Nishiguchi
クラブセガ新宿西口
〒160-0023 Tokyo, 新宿区Nishishinjuku, 1−12−5 西口三平ビル‎


Note: This place has a bunch of fighting games in the basement. Cool place to play if you’re in Shinjuku. The Guilty Gear player Miu works here. Cool and nice guy.

Aso:Viba!
1 Chome-105 Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo
http://www.asoviba.com
Note: Not many players, but it’s worth a shot if you’re in the area.

Akihabara Hey
〒101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda, Sotokanda, 1 Chome−10−5, 広瀬本社ビル


Note: This place is always full. Usually someone will be playing 3rd Strike. Everyone should visit here once.

Akihabara Club Sega (New)
秋葉原クラブセガ新館
〒101-0021 Tokyo, 千代田区Sotokanda, 1−11−11 外神田1丁目ビルディング


Note: Worth dropping by if you’re in Akihabara. There might be some players. Also, there are many Club Sega’s in Akihabara, so make sure you’re going to this one. The others don’t have 3rd Strike

Jiyugaoka Prince
自由が丘プリンス
〒152-0035 Tōkyō-to, Meguro-ku, Jiyūgaoka, 1 Chome−12−10
https://twitter.com/jiyugaokaprince
Note: A solid group of guys play here. After Shibuya lost all its arcades, the players seemed to migrate here.

Outside Tokyo

These are places that are just outside Tokyo. Still about 30-45 minutes, so not too bad.

Saitama Prefecture

Play Spot Big One 2nd
プレスポットビッグワン-2nd
〒336-0017, 2 Chome-27-12 Minamiurawa, Minami Ward, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture 336-0017
http://big1.mods.jp
Note: Lots of good players here. It’s a little far, but I always have a good time here.

Game Daytona Shiki
ゲームデイトナ志木
〒352-0001 Saitama-ken, Niiza-shi, Tōhoku, 2 Chome−37−10, 高野 ビル B1
http://www.game-daytona.net
Note: I’ve never been here personally, but they have 3rd Strike events. Free play on Tuesday nights. ¥500 from 18:00-23:00.

Kanagawa Prefecture

Warehouse Kawasaki
ウェアハウス川崎
3-7 Nisshinchō, Kawasaki-ku, 川崎市川崎区, Kanagawa-ken 210-0024


Note: This place is a giant arcade that is almost like an amusement park. It’s a replica of the Kowloon Walled City. They even imported trash lol. Good players at night sometimes.

Freedom Yokohama
フリーダム横浜
〒220-0005 Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama, 西区南幸1丁目5−27
http://www.freedom-y.sakura.ne.jp
Note: Only been here a few times. Some random competition.

Well, that’s about it. I can always add to this list with other cities if people can help me out.

KEEP ARCADE 3rd STRIKE ALIVE!!

2

Magmax Kawagoe is probably worth mentioning as a “if you’re in the area check it out” place, since they started doing freeplay on fridays. They only have one setup on normal days though and it’s pretty trash, 1p stick feels rusty. Maybe they finally replaced it by now. It’s decently out of the way from Tokyo, but it’s sort of a touristy place, I’ve known people to visit it to see…castles or something. https://twitter.com/magmax_kawagoe

Also, are you SURE that Club Sega still has 3S? I could have sworn when I was there in march they’d gotten rid of all their candy cabs to expand the music game section. Maybe I’m wrong, but I know it’s only expanded further since with Sega and Konami apparently settling their beef and bemani becoming available at Club Segas.

3

Why don’t they stream/record the Ft10s anymore? We’ve missed out on years of quality high level sets already

4

I’ll add the Kawagoe place. Thanks.

By the way, which Club Sega are you referencing?

Newton uses niconico for streaming. It’s like $5 a month if you want access to the streams and recordings. Not bad really.

5

The Club Sega to the right of HEY. It’s hard to say with total certainty since it’s been like 9 months since I was there, but I remember going there and not seeing the cabs where I expected them to be. Since then they’ve picked up 5 IIDX machines and like a dozen other bemani cabs, and those take up space for sure.

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Nice.
People are always asking. This should be stickied.
can always be updated in the future.

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Is this the channel? http://ch.nicovideo.jp/game-newton

There’s only very few videos and are all free to watch. Do you have the link to the correct channel

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That’s the channel. There’s like nine 3rd Strike broadcasts from November alone.

Try this link. http://sp.ch.nicovideo.jp/game-newton/live

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Alright, so apparently I can only watch them through the app? Any way to watch it on desktop

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Sorry, I just posted that because I was on my phone.

You have to click at the top where it says 生放送.

Here is the direct link.

11

Wait, did Newton stop doing freeplay on Saturdays? Looking at their twitter for the last few weeks, I only see it mentioned for the week of the beginner tournament. They definitely used to do it at least, I went a bunch of times.

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Is this list still up to date?

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its only 8 months old

14

just came back from Game Newton. Love the scene there! Free to Play, 1000 Yen.

15

I just moved to Chiba, it’s a bit of a trip but I want to play some 3S!
How is Game Versus on Sundays? That’s my only (mostly) consistent day off, and also there’s more time which is good, considering it’s a 90 minutes to get to Tokyo one way for me.

I often have Mondays or Tuesdays off as well, how’s Newton on Monday and Mikado on Tuesday?

16

3rd strike player, nice, I saw you in the Japan thread. If you are looking for 3s events, you can check this page out. http://kakuge-checker.com/event/

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Thanks

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[quote=“Belegorm, post:17, topic:181575”]

Thanks! But also in addition to the events listed on that site, if I showed up on the right day at the right place would there be people playing? Due to distance and schedule Sundays are good for me so if I showed up to Game Spot Versus and there was no event listed on kakuge checker would there still be free play and people there?

Some of those other events I can make, but I got to weigh the 3 hour round trip travel time to how much time I’d get to play

19

you could always pm ryan.
not sure if he is still as active in the scene at the moment but he could prob give you a good idea for weekly playtimes.

because even though this thread is kind of here to avoid that, specifics change sometimes week to week month to month.

20

Ryan is back in the states for TFC but in general you can find people to play any time after around 5-6PM