So, while Japan’s Sega arcades will no longer be Sega arcades, you can step into Yakuza and Judgment’s shared world (or Shenmue if you want to slum it) and still experience them virtually. They sport the same style, both inside and out, to the point where Yakuza 0, set in 1988, makes the effort to match the appearance of Sega’s ‘80s-era arcades. Yakuza Club Segas aren’t identical copies of actual Sega arcades, but they’re not far off. However, as Yakuza proves, you can also preserve spaces that, for whatever reason, may no longer exist in their current form. But who knows? Maybe Sega will find a few trillion down the back of the sofa and use it to buy Sony, Microsoft, and Capcom, and then we’ll be sorted.ĭigital preservation is rightly a concern, especially when it comes to games. So, there’s no Street Fighter II to play yet, though Kazuma Kiryu could probably kick your backside at Virtua Fighter 5. One minor disappointment is that the arcade games you’ll run into playing Yakuza or Judgment games are always Sega titles. Others have said that, due to Japan’s predilection for small-space living, arcades served as a suitable place to gather and mingle with friends. The linked article suggests this is due to arcades being so heavily ingrained into Japanese culture. ![]() The seaside arcades that I sometimes visit are increasingly dominated by slow machines or games that spew out tickets instead of more traditional stand-up cabinets.īut unlike in the rest of the world, Japan’s arcades thrived long after they’d declined elsewhere. For most of the world, that’s currently the case – as this Den of Geek article points out, the more home consoles became capable of offering a comparable experience, the less popular arcades became. If, like me, you grew up with less impressive arcades or have never stepped inside one, the Yakuza Club Segas might seem like pure fantasy, especially now. And while it wasn’t until Yakuza 5 that you could sit down with one of several playable arcade cabinets, just being there, letting the background noise fill your ears, was an experience itself. There are the UFO Catchers, the Super Hang-On machines complete with ride-on bikes, the Virtua Fighter cabinets, and much, much more. But passing through the doors of a Club Sega is like stepping into Wonderland. Club Sega in Yakuza oozes that atmosphere.įor their part, Shenmue I and II have arcades as well, dingier ones that are truthfully more representative of the ones I grew up with. You could clandestinely download a Space Harrier ROM or stick an Arcade1Up machine in one corner of your lounge, but it wouldn’t give you the full arcade experience. When you’ve been chasing “Professor Panty” in Judgment, stepping into an arcade called a “Club Sega” is a return to sanity.īecause that’s what it’s all about, immersing yourself in the spirit of a Club Sega. It should, in theory, create some kind of tonal disconnect, but the series manages to make it work, not least because some of the sidequests are already pretty absurd. Yes, the same open-world action adventure that lets you pummel someone with a street sign or has you hunting down a missing child will also let you chill in a recreation of one of Sega’s glittering game palaces. and the arcades will be rebranded as “ GiGO.” But without the prestige of the Sega brand, and factoring in the impact the pandemic has had on Japan’s arcades, how long is it before they’re as dead as the Sega Dreamcast?īut these Sega arcades will live on forever, and it’s all thanks to the Yakuza series and its spin-offs. Granted, it’s sold its locations to Genda Inc. ![]() That’s why I’m so gutted to see Sega shutter its Japan-based arcade division. Those money-gobbling cabinets hold a special place in my heart to the point where I’ll sometimes take a detour to my local seaside town, just to visit one of the few remaining arcades. But at the time, it was preferable to spending my lunchtimes at school. I’ve touched on my love of arcades before, and on reflection, heading into town and ducking into a dingy, poorly lit arcade seems like asking for trouble. Sega’s arcades are dead long live Sega’s arcades! No, I’ve not been at the gin, though the news that hardware-manufacturer-turned-games-company Sega has quit the arcade business is enough to have me reaching for the bottle.
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