Hong Kong and Tokyo November 2011 - Part 1

I visited a few arcades in Hong Kong and Tokyo in November 2011, and I will write a series of posts about it here on Slowcade. It's interesting to see how the arcade scene is changing also in Asia. A lot had happened in Hong Kong since my previous visit five years earlier. I was sad to see that my two favourite large arcades (in Metroplaza, Kwai Fong and New Town Plaza, Sha Tin) had disappeared, and I was left having to look for new places to play. It looks like it's going in the same direction as the rest of the world. Kids stay at home playing consoles, and the game arcades are replaced by fashion shops and cinemas.

If you ever find yourself in Hong Kong, here is a useful list of game arcades:
Translated by Google

Time is passing fast, and November 2011 is beginning to seem like a distant (but very happy) memory. I hope that I'm not mistaken with the locations and experiences, but please excuse me if I mix up now and then.

It's not easy finding the few large game arcades left in Hong Kong. They used to be in virtually all shopping malls, but nowadays you can walk for an entire day and only find the occasional small place. My wife luckily found the list I mentioned earlier, and we decided to check out a couple of them. The first one we visited was the New Golden Star, in Tsuen Wan's Nan Fung Centre 3rd floor.


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Gambling games, coin pushers and cranes are increasing in popularity, but the rows and rows of candy cabinets are trying to hold their ground. What's really nice (and in this day and age, surprising) about Hong Kong is that one credit usually costs 1 HKD. If you look that up, you'll find it's something like 0.1 USD, so you can stay there playing for a whole day without spending a big amount.


There is a strict "No photos!" policy in most of the game arcades, so I had to be stealthy and quick when taking pictures. Some of them may be blurry and less good, but please bear with me. 

New Golden Star is reasonably well kept. It's not very large, but most of the games are working properly, and they have the occasional interesting title.

Sengoku Basara X, evidently powered by Windows

Huge Monopoly coin pushers

Gambling games and card games

Some rows of candy cabs

There's usually a healthy mix of racers, and the most common cabs in Hong Kong: Sega Blast City and Versus City

You can win (and waste) tokens on these tables, trying to catch fish swimming around on the screen

(Time Crisis) Razing Storm and another shooter

Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield

These pods were in virtually all of the game arcades, but I rarely saw anyone actually play

They take up a lot of floor space, so I guess they must be popular

Gambling had certainly taken a much larger portion of the floor since my last visit five years ago

Non-working cabs were placed near the entrance, which made the first impression a bit untidy

These two were placed behind the non-working cabs, so they weren't easy to get to