Namco Blames Wii for Lack of Interest in Arcades
By Stephany on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 2:07 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry, Nintendo, Nintendo, Portable
Namco Bandai has said that it will be closing up to 60 arcades in Japan, due to the consumers’ lack of interest in the arcade market, and apparently the Wii is to blame. Many Japanese families purchased a Wii last year, and it has been reported that they are saving money to buy more hardware or software for the console in lieu of going to the arcade.
“A lot of the types of games that people played at an arcade can now be done at home,” offered company spokesperson Yuji Machida. The company is also blaming the rise in the gas prices as the company feels it keeps families from traveling to amusement centers and malls where the majority of Namco’s arcades are located.
Namco Bandai is the second arcade operator to announce a major overhaul. Sega Sammy Holdings also plans to close around 100 of its arcades.
Via: Reuters
Wouldn’t that lower gas prices, since they AREN’T traveling?
I JUST FUCKING WISH THERE WERE MORE ARCADES IN AMERICA.
FAGS, LOL
So do I. When I was younger you used to be able to find an arcade game in a few of the local bodegas (grocery stores). That’s how I first played Street Fighter and flirted with the boys.
Fuck Arcades, their time has come and gone…
Wow..the potty mouths sure are coming out in this article.
Arcades have been dead for quite some time here in America mainly because of the home console, I believe they started to die when the Playstation came out.
The reason why arcades are taking so long to die in Japan is because not only do kids/teens play them before/after school, but a lot of Japanese businessmen are known to stop by an arcade or two on the way home from work. That’s why there are so many arcades still active in Japan.
If you compare the size of Japan to the size of the US, it’s pretty much the size of the east coast (from Maine to the top of Florida). If you stuck all of the arcades in the US only on the East Coast, then the arcades would take longer to die since they’d pretty much be everywhere you’d go. Factor in the Japanese have loved video games for a very long time, and you can then see why arcades took so long to start dwindling down in Japan.
I don’t think the Wii will completely overthrow the arcades, but, I do see the arcade business dying down a bit. But they won’t die in the heavily populated cities in Japan.
Arcades were a wonderful place to PHYSICALLY socialize with real live people, while having a burger, fries and a vanilla coke. I also have to agree with LaChandra, it was GREAT way to meet guys, the only problem was that they were usually more interested in the game than the girl.
@Stephany: I have no idea how on earth I was able to eat the food at arcades and play games. The thought of playing a game after god knows how many people played a game doing god knows what with their hands before playing (high fives, taking gum out of their mouths, or the dreaded bathroom visit without washing afterwards) makes me nauseous at the thought of it
It was a great hang out back in the day, even though there were always these scrubs hanging around asking to borrow a quarter (or token) because they were hooked on the games and needed another fix. I won’t even begin to tell you the indecent proposals I got just for a quarter… which I happily accepted.
Arcades in America are dead? Well not everywhere since there is still a huge arcade near where I live. Anyways why would Namco start blaming the Wii for the lack of interest in arcades? They probably make a ton of money off of the SoulCaliber series and their other games, I don’t think losing the arcade business is going to hurt them much.
Arcades in the US have been dead long before the Wii ever was concieved so don’t blame the Wii because nobody wants to leave there house.
Well, to be fair, its not a loss of revenue for Namco, just a realignment. I mean its pretty simple. If people are staying home to play Wii instead of going to the arcade, Namco just needs to make some good Wii games instead of arcade games. Duh.
@ManOfTeal: I know for a fact you didn’t read the article. How about you spend 2 minutes reading and giving some feedback that actually makes sense rather than reading a title and commenting.
one of the problems with arcades in the U.S. is that they attracted the criminal element as well. I don’t think people realize that many towns put heavy pressure on arcades to close back in the 80s and 90s because of this. The home console also put an end to the arcades. They have to realize that Americans live busier lives than say people in Japan and Europe. We work more hours and generally have less time than the rest of the people in the world.
Japanese workers used to put in more hours than US workers. I believe we passed them in the last decade though. We are typically 1 and 2 globally on that stat so that shouldn’t be a major issue. Now, Europe, they should have PLENTY of time for arcades!
yeah I know people in Europe who take 30 day vacations lol
There’s one huge arcade near where I live, but I used to be able to list off Dozens.
They all died out and it pisses me off. I like to physically socialize with other people.
me and my friends go out every friday night, but we don’t want to go to the same damn arcade over and over because it only has 1 game worth playing!!!
Although, the last time I went, I got to play Donkey Kong for free which was fucking awesome.
Anyway, I just wish we had more arcades.
I still travel down to Dave And Busters when possible.. but I mean I guess that’s as close as we are going to get to arcades of old these days. I was thinking about possibly building my own personal arcade in the basement one day. I just have to get the approval from the wife. lol
I’m moving to Tokyo!!
Hey Daniel……..extends his arm……….extends his middle finger……Blow me…….