In this months article I will discuss Club Sega. Many people think Sega makes video games and that�s it well there wrong not only do they have a movie coming out based on the one of there games they also are a big player in the arcade scene in Japan, one such it Club Sega.
Club Sega, in Tokyo's Akihabara district (the electronic and gaming store district) can be easily identified with its bright red sign and white Club Sega logo. When you enter the first floor of the five floor complex of Club Sega you come upon the UFO catcher machines, which are the exact equivalent to the machines in the US that you maneuver a mechanical arm to grab prizes. But in Japan they contain much better prizes like anime toys, Sega goods, coffee cups with pictures of cute Japanese pop idol singers, Hello Kitty and Snoopy stuffed animals (one of the many American things Japan is crazy over).
But there is so much more to enjoy at this 5-story heaven! When you venture on to the other floors in Akihabara's Club Sega, you will notice that Sega wants you to stay and feel comfortable at these arcades. Rather than standing and playing games, they have built in seats. In every arcade Sega wanted you to feel comfortable sitting on stools playing your favorite game, even providing ashtrays for the casual smoker. But on to the games, there were a number of arcade games in Club Sega, from the old 2D shooters to Virtua Fighter 4.
However, there were even some Sega games that were ported to the Dreamcast early on, such as Samba De Amigo and Typing of the Dead. Its quite amusing that the actual Dreamcast keyboards were being used for the arcade version of Typing of the Dead. However, the game that drew the most crowds was Virtua Fighter 4 utilizing the VF.net network that connects every Virtua Fighter 4 machine in the arcade. For 600 yen, players can purchase a card that slides into a slot in the arcade machine. They can save game data and other information on this card.
Players can also examine how well you are competing against other players using your Japanese cell phone. Well that�s it for Club Sega make sure to check out next months article when we look at Sega's Joy Polis! |
