At the time I went, there are certain games that I could expect to see everywhere. The most popular ones, you’re almost guaranteed to see them in any reasonably-sized arcade. There’s a few rhythm games of this kind, with a big ring of lights or a row of buttons, but I generally walked past them. One rhythm game we did try was Taiko no Tatsujin. Of course we were familiar with the giant drums, they really stand out. But they’re updating this game all the time, and it’s just so fun; but it can get tiring and the timed song selection always cuts you off while you’re searching. So we decided to bring it home with us in the form of one of the DS conversions; drumming the touch screen, genius!
The hot big-name games at the moment are Pokken Tournament and Dissidia Final Fantasy (not to be confused with the PSP game). Pokken seems kinda like Tekken I guess but with more freedom of movement maybe? I’m pretty fighting game blind so even though I played it I can’t be relied upon to make an assessment. I will say that it needs a few more characters but they are planning that before the home release. It sure looks nice though. Dissidia is a very cool concept, it’s a 3-on-3 3D action game where you get matched up with other human players and um, try to beat them. The character roster is a step down from the PSP games but will be expanded, I hear. It’s a weird new world of updatable arcade games; even in that setting they’re releasing unfinished games and patching them, as is the style at the time. Well, even though I had no idea what I was doing it was good fun, and I hope it sees some kind of release outside Japanese arcades.
Towards the more kiddy end of the spectrum, games that use a physical component are popular. Well, lots of other ones including the two I just mentioned have a system where a player can scan a card and have individual progress, but I’m talking about ones where you have a collection of cards or discs that you can’t play the game without. Pokemon Tretta is one, or Dragonball Discross and Dragonball Heroes. Even tiny game corners will probably have Dragonball Heroes. They’re usually accompanied by gachapon machines where you can get a random disc or card, and many hobby shops also deal in these items. I didn’t play any but I like the look of the Heroes cards and bought one I liked, and also got one as a prize from a bag of snacks.
