Evening at the arcades
Video arcades stopped being popular in Western countries around the end of the 90s, I think. I remember them as dark places where the bad kids went to play games and maybe smoke cigarettes at the tender age of 14. In China, arcade salons are still present in many malls and are an entertainment option for the whole family. There are games suitable for children, for example using water guns or throwing balls at the monsters on the screen; music games like playing drums or being a DJ; driving games with cars or motorcycles; dancing games… You just need to change a small amount of money into special coins and you can start playing your favourite games.
Some games don’t look too suitable for children but they play anyway…
On Thursday we went to have dinner to the most popular mall in Suzhou. It is always crowded and in fact we had to wait one hour for our table. What to do during that hour? Luckily there was an arcade salon in the mall!
I love taking pictures inside arcade salons. There are many weird machines, full of bright colours and neon lights. After taking a look around, I found my favourite game: the drums machine. I am glad I was never interested in becoming a drummer because I am awful at it, but I enjoy banging at the drums once in a while. It is a good exercise for my arms!
As you can see I am totally into the game!
My second favourite game is the one where you get a plastic hammer and have to hit the animals/monsters that emerge from a hole. You have to be very fast! Also a great exercise for my arms!
There were no plastic hammers in this particular arcade so we had to punch them with our bare hands! (pressing the big buttons).
I played a game I had never tried before: Trampling Spider! You had to step on the buttons on the floor to kill the spiders on the screen.
What kind of sick mind invents a game like this? Haha!
In these places there are also many machines that are not games. You just insert coins and then you can win more coins, or tickets that you can exchange for gifts. I think this a kind of soft gambling for Chinese people, as casinos are illegal in China.
Chinese people love gambling but this is the closest thing to a casino you get on the Mainland.
One of the games that look more modern are the DJ games. The first time I saw this game was in Shanghai a few years ago and there was a Chinese guy playing it at the speed of light, pressing 48,720 buttons per second. Just looking at him made me dizzy.
My friend inspecting the game.
In this arcade salon there were also a lot of crane machines where you could get plush toys. C. wanted a dog with a big head but he could only get this bear:
The bear has already passed Nico’s approval (i.e. has been licked all over).
Next time I would like to try the dancing games, but only if there is no one looking.
I haven’t gone to one in awhile, but they are fun! And they usually aren’t too expensive in China, at least compared to arcades back home. I remember my husband took me to one when we first started dating. He tried winning me a stuffed animal (from the electric claw machine). He lost so I tried and I won! We still have that bear. Makes me smile thinking about it. . .
Haha, that is a good memory! The stuffed bear we got is full of dog’s saliva now u_u”
They have these arcades in Japan too. I would also like to try the dancing games but only if no one is looking haha! Problem is there’s usually a small crowd watching the dancing games, especially when the players/dancers are good.
The arcades in Japan must be amazing!! I haven’t really seen anyone here looking at other people’s playing but, you know, as a foreigner, they might be more interested in my crappy dancing hahaha
There are many game centers like that in Japan! Of course in Tokyo they have some pretty sweet games, whereas in the countryside the game selection can be limited. There is usually some form of pachinko/slot but it’s also non-gambling because casinos are technically illegal in Japan (the big pachinko parlors get away with it by having players exchange coins for cards, then cards for cash at an outdoor stall).
The big thing recently is this game where you use your hands to touch flying firework-type-things on the screen and the more you play the faster it gets. I know people who have special gloves to make their touch more accurate in this game and are very intense. I, on the other hand, know nothing about it. I wish arcades in the states were like those in China and Japan! Minus the spider game, please…
I didn’t know casinos are also illegal in Japan!
Game centers in Japan must be amazing, but also full of “professional” people playing (in the sense that they are very good), so I would be shy to play in front of them, I am very bad in basically all the games…
Yes! But you can still make money on pachinko and slots somehow ^^
When I went in the middle of the afternoons to the game centers it was mostly full of school-age kids who were better than me at every game, but I still played because it only matters if you’re having fun! Plus they started somewhere too… You should give it a try!
I love Chinese arcades! The drum machines are always good for a date :)
Though I suck at the dance games.
It’s true paying coins for video games in public has gone out of fashion in the west, but rest assured Chinese arcades are but pale cousins compared to the ones in Japan. Even in Hong Kong.
Also, those cheaper arcades in the urban villages with the outdated Neogeo games are also worth checking out…
I haven’t checked the games in Hong Kong! Let’s see if I can find a place next time :D
Los juegos no son lo mío… Pero es verdad, que iba a esos sitios de perdición con 13 años…, y tía, cómo desparecían las monedas de 25 ptas. del bolsillo!! Era una escuela de ludópatas!
Ostras, las monedas de 25 pesetas! En mi época fue justo cuando empezó a haber de las que eran doradas con un agujero en el medio… jajaja
Nobody would look if you dance poorly. People will only stop and watch when the dancer is doing well :D
Uhm, Chinese people love pointing out other people’s defects… so maybe they would stop to look and tell me I suck :D
As a child I lovved arcades but now I really don’t get into it anymore :) (perhaps I am getting old and boring)
Haha you can try going and remembering your youth ;)
Arcades are really popular in Taiwan as well but I don’t really play any of the games. Every time I pass one, I think about the time I spent 3-4 hours trying to get from the first song to the second song in ‘Guitar Hero’ at a friend’s house. It was the easiest song and everyone finished it in only 3 to 4 tries, expect me.
You should totally try the dance one – I bet you will be rocking the place and gathering a large audience. :)
OMG I am absolutely crap in Guitar Hero, haha. If it is a consolation, when I was young I had a boyfriend who was a professional musician and he told me Guitar Hero had nothing to do with playing a real guitar, so there is still hope for us if we ever feel like learning to play the guitar :D
I love arcades! Great observation there that arcades are still popular in Asia. There is always at least a mini one in shopping centres in Malaysia. I love the crane machines. My brother is very good at winning things from those…you really need a lot of luck on these things.
I think I’d be very good at the spider game since I’m terrified of spiders. Probably will be smashing them all in record time :D You look like you are very good om drums, so I am sure you are even if you don’t think so!
I sucked at the trampling spiders game, I was not able to step on the right button if I was not looking at the floor, and then I couldn’t look at the screen on time, and… total disaster, hahaha.
I think the crane machines are always tricked, many times you catch the toy but then the claw opens itself and the toy falls :(
I love going to these arcades ^^ it’s so fun, I really like the fish game, where you can win more coins to play with, have you tried it? :D
No, I haven’t tried those! Do they have real fish? :O
I guarantee you will play better without 10 layers of clothes ..lol
Haha the clothes are not the problem, my inabilit to coordinate my movements is :D
Chinese arcades look fun. I need to make tony take me to one the next time I visit. XD We do go to a arcade in Texas called Dave and Busters. It’s aimed more for adults. :p I won him a giant hello kitty prize. I would really like to try that spider game. It’s so weird! I like to play in the giant pods that make you feel like you’re in the game. O.O
Yes, you should go the next time you come to China! But don’t expect anything fancy, the games here are quite old fashioned, I have never seen the pods you mentioned!
That’s fine! :P I’m up for any type of arcade games. As long as it keeps me entertained. I hope you get to try the dancing games soon. :) I always find myself embarrassed playing those because I have no idea what I’m doing.
Haha, I never really make my way into arcades hereーtoo noisy, but I do go to take purikura photos with friends a lot. Our latest craze is to add all the “extra” settings (skin whitening, making your eyes bigger, legs longer) and seeing how crazy and alien-like we can get, haha XD
That DJ one looks fun though! :D
Oh I’ve seen those “aliening” pictures, they are so scary!!
The DJ one is extremely difficult! You have to be super fast!