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Japan has many things that have gone the way of the mammoth (in other words, extinct) in other parts of the world. Mini-disc players, walkmans, holes in the ground for toilets..... the list goes on. These things that the rest of the world long since declared obsolete are still kicking, even popular, in this Land of the Rising Sun. Another one of these such things is arcades. Not only are video arcades still alive in Japan, they are almost a national past-time. These are not the arcades you grew up on, with a few coin slot machines in the back, and maybe a DDR machine or two populated by teenagers with too much time on their hands. These are literally 7 story temples to the sanctity of gaming in all its forms, from claw games, slot machines, music games, to shooting games. Any type of game you can imagine is within the borders of this holy place, and now they have added a new type of game to this mix.


When my sister came out for a couple months this last summer, we spent a few days in Tokyo before she headed back to the states. My husband heard word of an amazing new game being tested for only a few days at an arcade in the Shibuya district, so we all made the trip out there to see what the fuss was about. It was Metal Gear Arcade, which only happens to be one of Aaron's favorite game series. In 3D. Aaron had to get a ticket and wait for about 30 minutes to demo the game, so my sister and I just watched and took a couple pictures. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out that great, but suffice it to say that Aaron quite enjoyed playing the game, as well as the bragging rights that went along with it. I feel that it's safe to say that 3D gaming might be pretty cool after all.... providing they do something about the stupid glasses.