The arcades are the symbol of the history of video games, and after the closure of the SEGA arcades, it will be Bandai Namco to renew the tradition.
Places from other times that it is still possible to see in titles such as the Yakuza series (which you can find on Amazon) and which, especially in the West, are increasingly a legacy of the past.
Although the new releases in the arcade continued to arrive, such as Guilty Gear Strive which also arrived in an arcade version.
But there are those who don’t want to leave that past feeling related to the days in the arcade, and are revitalizing arcades in Japan.
The last bulwark of the arcades of yesteryear was SEGA, with its historic buildings in Akihabara that represented the emblem of the arcades.
The company closed them a year ago to give ownership to GiGo, which has turned them more into slot rooms than video games. But now Bandai Namco is back in the fray, opening a brand new building that will house rooms dedicated to video games.
As SoraNews24 initially reported, the Japanese publisher has stepped forward to reacquire the GiGo building and open its first dedicated arcade called Namco Akihabara.
It will be located inside the Ichigo Akihabara Ekimae Building, just in front of the southwest corner of JR Akihabara Station, and will become one of the new arcades in the neighborhood. To make the structure economically sustainable, there will be other activities, in addition to the arcades with Bandai Namco titles such as Tekken 7 or Mario Kart Arcade.
Namco Akihabara will offer a variety of otaku-oriented entertainment options, leveraging Namco’s merger with Bandai for both gaming and anime enjoyment. There will be fan events and promotions for popular games, with the six floors of Namco Akihabara featuring games of all kinds as well as classic gashapon with Bandai, Banpresto and Bandai Spirits products, among others.
A small return to the past, therefore, for a type of entertainment that risk of being just an easter egg from games like Persona 5 Royal (also to be enjoyed on Switch now).
