Game over man, game over! - Sega shuts down arcade business

[williamcll]

After 56 years of operation, beset by the ongoing pandemic and competition from private video game devices such as consoles and mobiles, Sega has announced that it is shutting down all their arcade business in japan following London Namco last year.

Quotes

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After more than 50 years, Sega has pulled out of the Japanese arcade business. All of the company's remaining arcades will be sold to arcade company Genda Inc, which operates locations under the GiGo brand (thanks, Tojodojo). Sega had signalled the move back in 2020 - which, as you might expect, was a particularly poor year for arcade revenue. Back then, it shifted 85 percent of its arcade shares to Genda. Now, it has offloaded the rest.

Of course, this is part of a much longer trend away from arcades towards gaming at home - a trend Japan has resisted for longer than many other countries. Over the years, countless arcade locations have shuttered.

My thoughts

Understandable, even a few years ago when I went to tokyo the place is a lot less packed than I saw in magazines and other media. I guess soon capcom and Konami will come to this as well unless some kind of breakthrough in video game revenue generation is discovered.

 

Sources

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-28-sega-quits-japanese-arcade-business-after-50-years

[Rauten]

As a kid/teen who grew up with SEGA, this hits me in the feels.

I fully understand why, the business has been dying for a while, and the pandemic hasn't helped one bit, but still hurts; SEGA were a goddamn arcade monster back in the day.

 

Alexa, play the Daytona USA anthem

[Falkentyne]

Yes this was a long time coming, but I didn't expect it in Japan, of all places.  The Pandemic didn't help anyone one bit, except for the stay at home PC/Console video game and mobile industry.

[Mark Kaine]

22 hours ago, Rauten said:

Alexa, play the Daytona USA anthem

Hi this is Alexa, Super Hang On you say? Enjoy ~

 

 

 

 

[cmndr]

The upside is you can buy a SEGA game bundle on steam for like $10, or get a SEGA Genesis Mini at a reasonable cost.

[da na]

2 minutes ago, cmndr said:

The upside is you can buy a SEGA game bundle on steam for like $10, or get a SEGA Genesis Mini at a reasonable cost.

That's not quite the same experience as an arcade though.

[IPD]

I mean, I shed a tear when Williams/Bally/Midway shuttered their Pinball MFG.  But Pinball lives on.  So there's always hope.

[CarlBar]

9 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

Hi this is Alexa, Super Hang On you say? Enjoy ~

 

 

 

 

 

I forget what game this was on for me but damm, blast from the past.

[cmndr]

6 hours ago, Mel0nMan said:

That's not quite the same experience as an arcade though.

Yeah, the screen is 4x larger, 2x brighter and refreshes at 120Hz instead of 72Hz and you can use a wireless controller instead of a budget set of buttons.
 

[minibois]

While in the past arcade games were truly better than their home console counterparts, today we fortunately are able to play the best games on our PC's and consoles. What sets an arcade apart from simply the home experience was the different types of control options.

I haven't been to many arcades, but one I did go to had quite a few machines, but my favorite was definitely the Crazy Taxi (a SEGA game!) cabinet, which had a small wheel and one of those "lean bars" behind you.

Crazy Taxi is certainly in my top 10 favorite games and I love playing it with a controller, but playing it in an arcade with such a different control setup is really cool.

 

Arcades have become a thing of the past, but it's still sad to see a part of gaming history disappear in front of my eyes.

[whm1974]

12 minutes ago, minibois said:

While in the past arcade games were truly better than their home console counterparts, today we fortunately are able to play the best games on our PC's and consoles. What sets an arcade apart from simply the home experience was the different types of control options.

I haven't been to many arcades, but one I did go to had quite a few machines, but my favorite was definitely the Crazy Taxi (a SEGA game!) cabinet, which had a small wheel and one of those "lean bars" behind you.

Crazy Taxi is certainly in my top 10 favorite games and I love playing it with a controller, but playing it in an arcade with such a different control setup is really cool.

 

Arcades have become a thing of the past, but it's still sad to see a part of gaming history disappear in front of my eyes.

 Aside from a few old machines still working, I thought Arcades disappeared entirely. Now there are Companies that sell you both working Arcade and Pinball Machines. They also sell them to local Business like some bars and restaurants have them for example...  

[Mark Kaine]

50 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

 Aside from a few old machines still working, I thought Arcades disappeared entirely. Now there are Companies that sell you both working Arcade and Pinball Machines. They also sell them to local Business like some bars and restaurants have them for example...  

Arcades were, until recently at least, huge in japanese cities, with some rather iconic buildings, so its certainly a cultural loss in those regions.

Same with pachinko machines btw, has always been hugely popular but recently theyre closing down due to lack of customers.  

 

was always something i wanted to visit… guess not anymore.

 

HOWEVER:

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It’s also worth pointing out that SEGA, as Japan’s leading amusement company, actually owns a large number of buildings and arcades within Tokyo, including Akihabara itself. So although the closure of Building 2 is incredibly sad, it luckily won’t diminish SEGA’s presence in the area too much. Notably, the large SEGA arcade right outside Akihabara JR station.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2020/09/iconic-akihabara-sega-arcade-closes-down-for-good/amp/

 

ps: article is 1 year old however…

[Rauten]

9 hours ago, minibois said:

While in the past arcade games were truly better than their home console counterparts, today we fortunately are able to play the best games on our PC's and consoles. What sets an arcade apart from simply the home experience was the different types of control options.

Not just the controls; arcades could be kind of community centers for kids/teens in the area.

Friendships could be made on those places.

Hell, arcades were the beginning of the fighting game community and all the tournaments around it nowadays.

9 hours ago, minibois said:

I haven't been to many arcades, but one I did go to had quite a few machines, but my favorite was definitely the Crazy Taxi (a SEGA game!) cabinet, which had a small wheel and one of those "lean bars" behind you.

Oh, I spent a fair amount of pesetas  on the Crazy Taxi machine in a local arcade that used to be close to my childhood home. Man, I loved hammering the gear stick on it.