"Taito was founded 60 years ago." "We started as an import goods company." "We would bring in items from overseas like Pinball Games." "Our president then decided that arcades seemed to be working well in America, and that they would suit Japan equally well." "We created our first arcade store and it was a success." "That made us say, why don't we start making our own games?" "1978," "Space Invaders was born." "The programmer and Director of the game was Nishikado." "In a standard arcade there were Space Invader cabinets and various other games, usually around fifty to one hundred games throughout the arcade." "but customers really only wanted to play Space Invaders and the other games were only taking up space so we decided to make arcades with only Space Invader cabinets these became known as Invader Houses." "it turned out to be a great idea." "A game of Space Invaders cost a single 100 yen coin per play and customers would pump their coins into the machines spending hundreds of coins per person, every day." "It became such an epidemic that Japan actually ran out of 100 yen coins." "Historical records show that while the banks did their best to keep up they couldn't print coins fast enough causing this incredible shortage." "Of course shooting games are my first love." "Instead of a human running around with a gun, we have these futuristic space ships shooting aliens." "That idea alone was so new and such a romantic concept." "Of course Space Invaders is one of the most recognized Japanese games." "but when you mention the word game to someone who grew up at the time, they immediately think of a space ship moving across the x and y axis' and shooting bullets." "Hi, I'm the owner of Game-Inn Ebisen." "Ebihara-san aka The Shrimp Boss." "This isn't your standard Japanese Arcade, we don't have modern mainstream games, it's more of a retro arcade we focus more on the retro games." "I also provide a service where you choose the game you would like to play and i'll swap it out in the machine." "At my arcade, vertical and side scrolling shooting games are the most popular, other than those... maybe just Tetris." "Basically the people who play here," "I'd say about 90 percent... 90 percent of my customers are hardcore..." "Hardcore gamers." "My alias is Clover-TAC" "I pretty much just play shooting games." "The idea behind shooting games, which of course was born from Space Invaders, are based on a concept that is easy to understand anyone who is watching can see you shoot bullets to hit your enemies and then at the same time" "if you are hit by a bullet you explode, ending the game." "These rules haven't changed since shooting games' inception." "It is these simple rules and ease of comprehension that have kept these games popular for so many years." "'That's good enough' doesn't exist in these guys' vocabulary down to the last detail, they keep fighting." "Of course I feel a lot of pressure to succeed but once the game starts the nerves disappear." "Not only that but you can only reach your peak performance from experience, it's similar to a test you've been studying for in school you can't suddenly start playing these games and be amazing." "It just won't happen like that, you need to work up your skill level to become good at these games." "Lately, you know..." "How do you say... the best shooting game players don't necessarily have insane reactionary reflexes instead it's more about logical thinking and strategy that's more the norm now, more the focus." "Find your strategy and keep building and building and building on that foundation." "After all that, you can't just wait for a perfect score to arrive you have to want it and push for it to happen." "It is this type of mindset that these players all maintain especially someone like Clover-TAC." "Of course..." "Of course I remember the first time Clover-TAC came to Ebi-sen." "Naru-kun, a top player..." "A really good shooting game player who frequents this arcade..." "He was the one who brought Clover-TAC along and right from the beginning I could see... this guy was really good." "Ahh... this guy... there's something different about this guy." "I believe the first time that I had one of my high scores published was a score from a game called ESP Ra." "De." "My scores now, at least compared to my first published high score, while I've gotten much higher scores since, that first published score is the one that i'm the most proud of." "The one that I remember the most fondly." "Most recently my best score is from the game "Akai Katana"" "about 430,000,000 points." "When thinking about arcade games and their design you must consider that you put in your 100 yen coin the game begins and the arcade gets its profit." "So the user is paying for a chance to enjoy a game." "Paying for time." "They get X amount of gameplay minutes." "So with that in mind, one game should be able to be completed within about 30 minutes." "One other thing is, for the person who deposited their 100 yen coin in simple terms, there needs to be some kind of satisfaction within the first one to three minutes of gameplay." "For this reason, RPG style adventure games with long stories where you work towards getting to the final boss and numerous events take place in between, this style of game just doesn't work, it's N.G. (no good)." "Within the first three minutes..." "At about the three minute mark the player needs to understand this is how the gameplay works, these are the game's mechanics." "So the game needs to have a sudden and exciting climax and then from there, once the player has reached this climax, if they are like "I'm done, I get it, I'm finished playing"." "The game has failed." ""I want to do that again!"" "Even though they've experienced the climax they should want to get to that climax again without feeling they've experienced the entire game." "There's still so much more to do!" "These principles must be present for an arcade game to be successful." "It is these principles we consider when designing a game." "Up until now, arcade games had always been a business model that in an interesting way, has been about purchasing time." "We'll take your 100 yen and give you three minutes of entertainment and that was our hobby at the time." "But then this is where things started to shift." "You and the person beside you each pay 100 yen to fight if you lose we take your money!" "That's frustrating isn't it?" "Better out in some more money." "Until now this type of hobby didn't exist." "Once you tried it, you realized how fun it was." "This new game-type caused arcade business to surge." "So when you look at Street Fighter 2 in the grand scheme of arcade game history." "Fighting games would be like the proverbial meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs." "Street Fighter 2 would act as the catalyst that would overthrow my favorite genre: shooting games as the number one draw to arcades..." "This would represent the first major paradigm shift for arcades." "The reason I like fighting games, is it's such a fresh concept." "it's not simply a physical challenge, the mental aspects known as Yomi, which involves "reading" your opponent didn't exist in games before this." "I thought, hmm..." "This is a thinking mans game and that's what really attracted me to fighting games." "That and I thought if I could make some friends when playing these games, it would become even more interesting." "Basically, if you think about Fighting Games as a communication tool you won't be far off." "I've been playing games for so long..." "I don't know if you can call it a hobby anymore." "The first time I played games was at a video rental store." "It was there, when I went with my sister to rent a movie that I had my first experience with arcade games." "From the age of fourteen until twenty..." "About twenty-two, I was playing pretty much non-stop." "From twenty-three through to twenty-seven, I ddin't really play much." "With the release of Street Fighter 4" "I returned to playing very frequently." "In 2D fighting games, without a doubt the best player is Daigo Umehara," "He has a long storied career in fighting games and has travelled overseas for many tournaments." "How can I say..." "He has one of the best records in fighting games and is universally considered one of the best players in the world." "Without a doubt, for 2D fighters" "Umehara is the best." "The social interaction between two people is what this is really all about." "It's not about the Artificial Intelligence of a computer" "I think that's the most interesting aspect of fighting games." "It's hard to say for sure what makes me a good player but I'm sure it has something to do with an innate understanding of these types of games since I was very young." "That's really the sense of a pro gamer." "That being said, natural ability only gets you so far..." "It all comes down to playing these games and putting in the time, the repetition, the practice..." "That's where I feel professional level skill comes from." "In one month..." "When I was younger, at the arcade..." "I'd spend about $600 a month." "When I was playing the most, in one week," "I would go to an arcade..." "Everday." "When I was younger I would get really nervous, my hands would shake from nerves and it would really affect my gameplay." "But by the time I turned about..." "Seventeen..." "Once I was around that age I really didn't get nervous." "Even in big tournaments, I could perform fairly well." "Now in tournaments or whenever, I'm really not nervous at all." "Right." "If I watch a tape of myself playing a match, sometimes if I watch my..." "When I'm playing if you watch my face, people often comment that I look scary." "Why..." "Why is that?" "When I was a kid," "I didn't really show my emotions..." "I was the type of kid who doesn't show their emotions." "So I guess that just kind of carried over into my playstyle as well." "Daigo Umehara is well..." "He's not necessarily better than others at these games, he's better at working hard, to become the best." "It's that quality that makes Umehara a unique and strong player." "To become a skilled player, practicing at the arcades is your best bet." "The reason I say this is the fact that each game in an arcade costs you real money." "Because of this, you treat the game differently, you consider things more, you try harder." "Whereas with console games for example, you can lose and it doesn't really matter, you don't really care, I think." "You won't see that type of mindset in an arcade, people take it a lot more seriously." "For those reasons practicing in an arcade is more serious as well." "Japanese homes are very small." "So you can't make noise or party without getting complaints." "It's much more common for friends to meet up at arcades where you can let loose and have fun." "Japanese arcades are loud, but I mean that in a good way loud and exciting." "The people that I hang out with, they of course love to play games," "but mostly come to arcades to be with their friends." "There's regular groups of people who all come to the arcades, which gives them a chance to meet up more often and I think that's true for most people who frequent the arcades in Japan." "I imagine that, that is one of the main differences between Japan's and foreign countries' arcades." "When I was working at an arcade, well, at that time... arcade friends..." "What I mean to say is..." "Friends I made by playing games together at arcades, are people that you become very close with." "And..." "Well..." "Actually..." "I married my best friend that I met there." "The arcades that I've seen the most of, the ones with a serious fighting game atmosphere..." "They really serve many different purposes." "For example, they are a place to meet friends and play together, a social place." "They are also a place to find stronger players regularly and try to beat them to improve your game." "Not only that, but they hold lots of events and if I want to practice, it facilitates that as well." "There are just so many different purposes to these arcades." "To put it simply, if you like attending events and want to socialize, to make new friends..." "Or more specifically what we call..." "Fighting game friends, your training partner for these games then it's really all about connecting with other players." "That's the kind of atmosphere you can expect in an arcade." "It can be a fairly hardcore atmosphere..." "Around things like UFO catchers or easier games, maybe not so much..." "Around fighting games, and other challenging games, at least around me, it's definitely a more hardcore atmosphere." "A little more serious I think." "I work for Sega as a sound designer." "My name is Hiro." "I'm in charge of creating the music for various arcade games," "Most of the titles I'm known for came out about 20 years ago." "Games like Hang On and Out Run or Afterburner and Space Harrier." "But anyways..." "Large cabinet games that you sit in which move as you play, these types of games were the ones I made the music for." "Recently a new genre of game has come out." "Until now, arcades were mostly fighting games or driving games, but now there is a new genre that is popular in arcades." "With music being the main gameplay element for the genre, it creates a whole new aspect to gaming..." "A fresh and exciting take on the arcade experience." "My real name is Tomoyuki Mori, my gaming alias is Akudaikan." "The game I'm playing most now is DDR" "That and more recently a game called Horse Riders." "That's what I'm enjoying currently in the arcade." "At the time..." "I didn't know anything about DDR, but had seen a game called Beatmania which was really taking off." "When I tried it for the first time I was like..." "Ahh this is pretty interesting!" "But my friend was like, just wait until you see this other game and that other game turned out to be DDR." "Rather than using your fingers, this game is all about feet, and I thought..." "Oh this is great!" "That's when I decided that this was the game for me." "The first time that I got to try music games was when I went to the Tokyo Game Show in 1999." "The console version of DDR has just been released, so I got a chance to try that out, and when I did" "I realized how fun and new this experience was." "That's how this all began." "By now there have been tons of versions of DDR released on Xbox and Playstation, however, when you think about the situation in Japan..." "It's really difficult to invite people over to your residence and replicate this kind of experience." "It's just completely different playing these games at home versus in the arcade." "If you want to play in front of a crowd you head to the arcades." "If you keep going to the same arcade to play these games and continually play with the same group of people, you can't help but become close friends with everyone there." "It was this way that I made a ton of friends and got heavily involved with the community." "It was a great experience." "The same can be said for almost anything." "In Japanese we say "koriyakuho" which means, for example, if you're attempting to get a marvelous [the best score] there is no instruction manual which tells you exactly how to hit each note at the exact "marvelous" timing." "Depending on the song, the timing for a marvelous will usually be slightly different." "Actually, there will usually be at least one "feint"" "where the marvelous timing will be just slightly off in an attempt to confuse even the best players." "Having said all that, there is no way to learn these things except for trying it out yourself." "After that, it's all repetition and practice, until it becomes second nature or muscle memory." "I'm not sure about others, but I think that DDR is similar to sports, such as Skiing or Badminton, in the sense that you can continue doing them even as you get older." "Even in America we saw DDR appear in schools to help combat child obesity." "While I am fourty-four years old" "I know people who are over fifty who are playing DDR." "There is also a well known couple in Japan who play DDR and I believe the husband is over seventy years old." "That couple uses DDR regularly as an exercise tool." "It's the fact that you need to use your legs and really your whole body when playing DDR..." "In terms of a sport or activity" "DDR is an excellent exercise tool in my opinion." "When chasing highscores in DDR, of course you'll compete a gainst many different players and have some great battles, while developing friendly rivalries but the truth is, even though I've been trying to get highscores for quite a while, I've made lots of good friends along the way." "The reason I play these games now is less about getting a highscore and more about making friends." "The environment of the arcade is one where background music is constantly playing." "With so many games strewn throughout this creates a major noise pollution problem." "From the inception of arcades this has been a major issue and the kind of devices that would solve these problems would be small speakers placed near the ears of the player or directional speakers built into arcade cabinets allowing only you to hear the sounds from the machine." "When trying to not overly pollute the arcade with noise, it is critical to decide when a game should or should not emit sound effects or music if all the games were constantly throwing out sounds no one would know what to listen to." "Deciding to play a sound or not to play a sound and either loudly or softly is the designers best tool for shaping the users experience." "The quality of service is the main concern for arcades in Japan." "With arcades covering the country they are always trying to appeal to passerby" " "Hey, you look a little low, why not play a few games?" - always reaching out to potential customers it is this spirit built on a service culture that enables all of the small mom  pop arcades to survive." "In America, if you go to an arcade, the owner is probably just standing in some corner saying "yeah, sure..." "play some games or something... "" "In Japan, the employees don't make any extra money but their desire to provide excellent service will have them asking "How is everything?" "Are you having fun?"" "This Japanese cultural difference makes arcades more about customer satisfaction and less about money." "While I was working at the arcade, it was always a lot of fun." "Being able to watch games while at work is the best." "We would always get customers coming in who genuinely love games and we would really hit it off." "It was great having a job where you could have a positive influence on the clientele." "Near the entrance, you'll find UFO catchers that's usually where you'll see the most customers..." "So that's why there are always UFO catchers near the entrance." "After that you'll see..." "Music games..." "Beatmania and Taiko no Tatsujin and well, those other games that are for people who maybe don't come to arcades as often." "Those games are all located near the entrance of the arcade." "And then near those games you'll find large cabinet games," "Horse Racing games or Soccer games..." "There's definitely a lot of these types of games nearby." "Then, as you head higher into the arcade, you'll find the Medal games [coin based games] and finally, on the top floor you'll find the 'intense' video games." "So I think that maybe, the people who love games, head to the higher floors." "Whereas the people who don't necessarily play as much will be on the first floor." "If you like gaming, you'll find yourself heading higher and higher into the arcade." "That's really how these places are designed." "Arcades like Round 1, for example, are becoming more and more accessible to casual gamers." "At first I really thought that's where all arcades were headed but even the folks at SEGA thought it would be beneficial to build arcades that cater to the more casual players or elderly gamers." "So I think current arcades are working hard to appeal to a wider audience." "Console games have recently become extremely well made and higher in quality." "For arcades..." "From this point on, it will become difficult to build new ones." "This is a tough era for arcades to survive in." "Well I think that everyone was saying, with the release of the Wii the whole point of arcades has been replaced and I have to admit that they are right." "For example, if you get together with your friends to go bowling, instead you can just stay home and play Wii." "So I think the original purpose of the arcade is essentially losing to today's consoles..." "If you go to the arcade, you'll quickly understand, business has become mostly about Purikura on the first floor and the card games on the second floor." "These are the popular areas now." "When the Wii came out" "I thought, this is the end of the arcades..." "At least from a business stand point." "But I think they've changed from what they once were." "Arcades are evolving and I think they'll find their place in today's gaming landscape." "Well..." "To be honest..." "These small arcades like Ebi-sen, the one I'm in now, which are independantly owned and operated and are filled with mostly hardcore video games are facing a difficult time right now in terms of business and profit." "It is often said that console gaming technology has increased, they have become very advanced gaming systems, whereas it used to be that only arcades would have the newest technology, but now consoles have improved to such a point that they" "have all but replaced arcade gaming..." "And there is simply less of a reason to go to an arcade." "And then there are certain popular games like Mahjong Fight Club or other elaborate titles which are more expensive to play and maintain and thus harder for indie arcades to own." "Compared to other countries Japan's arcades are doing well, but if you compare it to ten years ago then there has been an obvious decline." "Clearly crane games and music games will eventually be what fills the arcades, I think." "Arcades need games that can only be experienced there and without some kind of plan for the future" "I think things like fighting games will disappear from arcades." "While I don't know for certain what the future holds, obviously consoles have really evolved and people only come to arcades to experience something new." "While perhaps one key factor is the social climate, it's more about the desire and excitement to try something new..." "With the unpredictable future of technology where something might come out that re-invigorates arcades..." "Without something of that nature, little by little, we'll see the arcade business decline." "While it's true that some arcades are struggling, and while..." "Some arcades are struggling, we aren't just giving up." "We're looking for ways to attract new customers and keep our current clientele coming back for more." "Everyday we're looking at new strategies to improve our business." "A new category of gaming, which combined card games and video games was born." "Any time a new popular style of game is released, especially with this type of synergy of genres, it creates an opportunity to top our sales goals." "Our numbers..." "Or rather our various revenue goals, are obviously a large part of our business, but I don't think that's very interesting." "Rather than focusing on numbers we want to increase traffic to our arcades with fun and exciting games..." "And help foster the love of arcade culture among Japanese people." "This is the ultimate goal for Taito, that we must pursue to continue growing as a company." "With all of this in mind we are putting all our efforts into expanding gaming culture and will do our best to continue to push the boundaries of arcades." "Japanese, you know..." "Japanese anime and manga etc..." "Is really popular among foreigners." "Arcade culture on the other hand, hasn't caught on yet." "I really feel like gaming is a unique sub-culture..." "Please, come experience it for yourself." "A rich..." "A rich experience that shouldn't lose to anime or other Japanese sub-cultures." "Wouldn't that be great?" "Playing games at home by yourself, just isn't the same." "Arcades allow you a glimpse of something bigger." "I implore you to come and see for yourself." "Evo is definitely the tournament that I practice the most for..." "The tournament that I want to win the most, it's the one that creates the biggest spectacle." "It's the most fun." "It's my favorite tournament."