Arcade centers in Japan are something of a dying breed. The last years or so saw Sega changing ownership of its arcade centers to GiGO, before shutting down numerous sites including numerous arcade locations in Akihabara, leaving them empty buildings, something Bandai Namco is looking to change.
The company is looking to revitalize the space by opening a new arcade location called Namco Akihabara-ten, at the site where the #4 GiGO / Sega arcade previously stood, right outside of Akihabara station. The company had been operating arcade facilities for over 68 years, and the opening of this arcade center will be the very first arcade center by Bandai Namco to be opened in Akihabara.
It’ll be interesting to walk into the Bandai Namco arcade after the GiGO arcade stood in that building for nearly 17 years, and will mark another reason to visit Japan after March.
▍Bandai Namco Arcade Floor Details
The arcade will occupy approximately 11,656 square feet of real estate with a basement and five above-ground floors. Lets take a look at what the floors will feature in this new arcade center.
■ Basement Floor
The basement of the arcade is wholly dedicated to the new upcoming arcade game Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. 2 OverBoost, The game isn’t yet in Japan as its planned to begin operation in summer 2023, but specifically, at this arcade center, players will be able to try the game out for a limited time. The basement floor will feature 46 machines.
The game will be open for trial from March 1 to March 12. As usual, players will need to pay per session of the game.
■ 1st and 2nd Floor
The 1st and 2nd floors of the arcade will be dedicated to prize machine games, and the area next to the entrance will be an ichibankuji, Banpresto’s brand of toys and figures based on anime and comics.
■ 3rd Floor
The third floor will be dedicated to other games, specifically rhythm games such as Taiko no Tatsujin and other popular titles. An event space is also reserved for local gaming events and other collaborations.
■ 4th Floor
This floor will be dedicated solely to Bandai Namco’s Gashapon machines and will be dubbed the Gashapon Official Bandai Shop, where you can roll for tiny toys based on your favorite games and manga.
■ 5th Floor
Lastly, the last floor will be dedicated to the Decks Stadium, a place for card-game enthusiasts to play, and also act as a store for players to purchase the latest cards from Bandai Namco’s line of card games.
