Well I’ve been in Japan for over a week now and there’s one major difference that just blows my mind… Japanese arcades out here aren’t just plentiful, they’re HUGE! The average arcade out here is approximately 5 stories tall but they also usually have games in their basement making for a total of 6 floors of gaming goodness.

I spent a good chunk of time hanging out in Akihabara since that is not just the technology capitol of Japan, it’s also gaming central. I walked into SO many arcades and it seemed like every couple blocks I walked there was ANOTHER arcade for me to go into. The biggest arcade of them all is probably without a doubt the best arcade in the world… CLUB SEGA! Even though you’ll notice many Club Sega’s while in Japan, the one across from Akihabara station is the main Club Sega and the best of them all. Not all Club Sega’s are the same… some are just full of slot machines and the ever so annoying Pachinko machines.

THIS Club Sega, however is 6 floors of gaming and a whole basement dedicated to BlazBlue and Street Fighter 4. I also found out out that the 4th floor is home to Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, a Tekken 6 update ONLY in arcades and ONLY in Japan, as well as Virtua Fighter 5 R which is again another Japan only update for the game which brings back Sumo wrestler Taka Arashi from Virtua Fighter 3 and French karate newcomer Jean, who bumps the full line-up to 20 fighters including boss character Dural. The game has all new stages, hundreds of tweeks and improvements and is a definite must play for Virtua Fighter fans!

I’m super excited to finally compete against some Japanese players out here. One of the things I really love is that I’m able to play against opponents all the time thanks to the way they have their machines set up. With Street Fighter, for example, they have about 10 machines and they line up 5 of them in a row and place them back to back. This type of gaming set up is already a plus in my book because I like not knowing who my opponent is. Also, to make it even better the first 6 machines are all hooked up to each other making it so that when you win you automatically get hooked up with another winner from another machine, but even if you lose you still have another 5 machines you could hook up with ensuring you always have an opponent to play with.

What’s also great about arcades out here is that they use the cards to track your stats on all fighting games. In the states we don’t use cards for SF4 (for example) but in Japan I was able to purchase a card and lock in Sagat. The only bad thing was that since I can’t read Japanese I accidently selected the wrong option and was stuck with the name “Unknown Player” for my profile. :p I got a chance to sit down at machines when they weren’t in use and browse player stats. I was surprised to see that 7 out of the top 10 players on each machine were actually Sagat. I was also surprised to see that there were players with over 800-900k battle points on the machines. WOW! I was pretty excited to rack up some wins and score some battle points on my card even though I can only use it here.

Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion is pretty similar to regular Tekken 6. The 2 extra characters don’t really affect the game and I didn’t see many people picking Alisa or Lars anyways. Yesterday I got my first loss on Tekken 6 since I’ve been in Japan. The match was pretty intense but I have to thank the guys at Video 94 for all the help they’ve given me back home. Practicing with the best players in the U.S. really gave me the upper hand playing in Japan. The match I lost on would have the winner determined by whoever got one punch or kick in first since we were in a 2-2 match each with only 1 sliver of life left poking and blocking like crazy. I made a mistake in blocking high and got caught off guard by a fake out and low attack, unfortunately the arcades here don’t allow video footage so this epic match wasn’t recorded… best loss ever in my opinion.

This brings me to the one BIG negative thing about arcades out here. They have a no photography or video taping rule. I have tried to sneak pics here and there and have had to be all ninja like in getting the few pics that I WAS able to obtain, but for the most part they don’t allow this in ANY arcade ANYWHERE in Japan. It’s really disappointing since there are some awesome players out here that really deserve recognition.

A big plus in the arcades out here, besides the fact that they have every game that you could ever dream of inside, is that they are also VERY clean! They keep the arcades clean and well maintained and on top of that they also provide hand wipes at every game so that you can clean your hands after playing. No worries about getting sick from playing SF4 or Guitar Freaks for hours at the arcade. I love it! I wish we could be a bit more like that in the U.S.

Well, tomorrow I’m off to Akihabara to do coverage for GirlGamer.com so make sure to check the Machinima youtube page for updates. I’ll post videos that I’ve done once they’re up! Until then, I’ll keep dreaming