Top 5: Gaming in Japan

by Kaes Delgrego { Aug 18th 2008 at 12:50PM }

Musicians have Vienna. Catholics have the Vatican. And gamers have Japan. While many significant contributions to the world of gaming have come from outside the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan is the unassailable fountainhead of modern video gaming. It's the birth and workplace of gaming giants such as Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami, Yuji Naka, and probably others. To say that Japan is a place that hardcore gamers need to check out is an understatement at best.

Recently, I took a week to visit my brother who teaches English at a Japanese university near Nagoya. Hundreds of thousands of words could be used to describe the wonderful food, the beautiful temples, and the unique culture of the country. But being a life-long gamer, I paid special attention to the distinct connection between the country and the gaming scene we all know and love. For the Top 5, I usually come up with a topic, then list the top five items for that topic in order. For this edition, it was truly difficult to narrow it down to only five. With that in mind, here's my best attempt at listing the Top 5 gaming elements of my time in Japan.

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The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, check out What Are You Playing?, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.

Tags: arcade, imports, japan, joystiqfeatures, kyoto, mario-kart-arcade-gp, nintendo, nintendods, nintendowii, region-free, street-fighter-iv, top-5, virtualconsole

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ChunkyB @ Aug 18th 2008 1:12PM

You forgot Club Nintendo. Those freaking super famicom classic controllers are the hottest thing ever.

Mr Khan @ Aug 18th 2008 1:10PM

You might catch hell from the growing group of people who think that Japanese gaming has become a niche market, and that everything worthwhile is made in the West

Not that i agree with that (far to the contrary), just a heads-up

Also: I too have felt the sting of having my ass kicked by the Japanese, especially in Mario Kart Wii

SoshiKitai @ Aug 18th 2008 2:14PM

As much as I love Japan, their history, their culture, and their technology... I don't see Japan as the ultimate MUST for gamers.

I've seen and faced Japanese gamers... I've seen their awesome skills, especially in the arcades.

... but I think the most insanely skilled gamers come from South Korea.
...which is funny, cuz I have had SEVERAL bad experiences from Koreans. :P Call me racist, but I've just had it with them.

buffalo_aaa @ Aug 18th 2008 2:43PM

I went to an Asian mall in downtown LA for a friends birthday (best sushi in the city) and to my love and surprise there is an arcade filled with craziness. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long, but all I can say is there are mysteries in there that I need to go back and decipher. So many unrecognized characters!

SoshiKitai @ Aug 18th 2008 3:43PM

Oh... do you mean the Japan Arcade?
Yeah, you shoulda' seen it in the 90s... everyone from LA and around it, went there... a really famous Arcade back in the day...
*sigh* Just like the Pac-man arcade...

The arcade days have left, and I still miss 'em. :(

:D I still go to the Japan Arcade though... two or three times in a month. But I usually don't have the change to go there, since I usually spend all my cash at the shopping plazas around it.

Kralos @ Aug 18th 2008 11:43PM

Beaten, but yeah, Japan Arcade. I went there a couple weeks ago while visiting my friend in LA, I loved Little Tokyo. Spent way more money than i should on various japanese stuff and sushi, but it was worth it. Don't know which restaurant you went to, I don't remember one being IN the mall, but I recommend you try Frying Fish, in the Village Plaza or whetever.

buffalo_aaa @ Aug 19th 2008 2:53AM

we might be thinking of different places if you don't remember restaurants. This was at 7th and Alameda in a big cement mall with cheap parking. The mall was made up of mostly restaurants - sushi and korean. On the first floor is a HUGE asian supermarket, which is always great to go into for tea. I think the arcade is on the second floor. I definately need to go back, if only for the sushi. There was also a game store that wasn't open (!) so I have to go back and check on that.

samfish @ Aug 18th 2008 2:44PM

I'm supposed to go to Japan in October to meet my girlfriend's parents (but until I have the plane ticket in my hand, I won't believe it), but I've already made it clear to her that our TRUE number one priority is going to be visiting some of those fabled Japanese arcades!

SoshiKitai @ Aug 18th 2008 3:44PM

Can you do something for me... can you see if Neo Geo Land still exists in some way? :(
... oh the fabled Neo Geo Land... how I wish I could have sat in one of your tiny-tiny seats.

Peter @ Aug 18th 2008 2:47PM

/me starts pricing tickets to Japan online

Oh, wait. I'm unemployed.

D'oh.

ChromeAlchemist @ Aug 18th 2008 5:20PM

cant lie, the sf story was amazing to read for some reason

tacoman @ Aug 19th 2008 7:41AM

Street Fighter 4 has definitely been a defining moment of gaming for me here in Japan, and I have almost no background with the series; as soon as I saw someone pull off Zangief's ultra move, I knew this was something special.

Second would be going through the closet and finding a SFC with Link to the Past and Mario World.