You know those crane games they have inside movie theaters and sports bars in North America? The ones with the seemingly impossible-to-get Batman stuffed toys? They're huge in Japanese arcades. Who knew?
Certainly not me, so it's a good thing I had a chance to finish reading through Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers during my "holiday break." The first chapter details the strange culture of crane games, or "UFO Catchers" as they're somtimes known as in Japan. It's a world where skill, not luck, factors into whether you'll make the catch, so much so that heated claw-machine competition exists. Seriously.
Written by Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft with contributions from former Wired Game|Life writer Jean Snow, Arcade Mania is 192 pages of an educational and entertaining account of Japanese arcade history and culture. From rhythm games to popular fighters to sticker machines, Arcade Mania does an amazing job of covering it all, with fun facts, interviews, and more. There's even tips from a professional crane-game player, in case you're set on actually grabbing that plush Batman from your local Red Robin's claw-machine.
Oh, and for those of you scared by words, there's plenty of pretty pictures to look at, too. The book is available for purchase online at Amazon, or you can get more info at the book's official Web site.
Contest:
7:00 PM on 12.26.2008
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Most of the GameCenters I went to had at least half (if not all) of the bottom floor dedicated to them. The thing is, almost all of them set out 1 or 2 prizes on an inclined surface for you to get, as opposed to the dozens-of-plushies-in-a-tub style seen at movie theaters here.
That and the prizes on japanese machines are figures, statues, and irresponsibly large candy bars- all we get here are lame plushies.
I'll probably be forced to pick this book up, it sounds really interesting.
Thanks, Nick!
A good friend of mine went to Japan last year and was blown away by the massive amount of cool arcades, alive and well, there!
Too bad they didn't survived here... Dammit.
Oh yeah - I was in Denver, earlier this year, and they had one of those crane game/UFO catcher claw machines in this grill/bar... Only instead of a super, lame stuffed plush to capture you could "claw" a live lobster! It cost two bucks, per try, and the place would even cook it for you, upon a successful capture!
I had never seen something like that!
Ever.
Any of you DTOID heads seen something to that effect?!