100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience (2012)

The arcade once was part of growing up. I remember a time when the shops were not open on Sundays and as a teenager I would head to the couple of arcades that were around regularly. I always enjoyed pinball games and I can’t even imagine how much money I spent on playing Sega Rally. It was a time when home consoles were popular, but as they became more powerful and the differences with the experience you could get in the arcade became smaller, the need to go to them decreased. It was inevitable for the arcade cabinets to disappear, only to be replaced by slotmachines. Although I might not have visited them anymore I always enjoyed the bombardment of sound and color, a place where you would forget about the outside world (just like in a cinema). Currently I only know of one arcade in The Netherlands so they have gone the way of the rental store.

There is a place where the arcade still is part of the culture and that is Japan. I remember visiting the country some years ago and with a huge jetlag visiting some. They overwhelmed me and it was almost too much to process, but I enjoyed experiencing such a place again. This documentary takes a look at the Japanese arcade culture from its humble beginnings where whole arcades would be filled with only one game up to the current arcade landscape.

What becomes clear when you watch this, is that tastes have changed and that the hardcore arcadegames like shooters have become a niche, only being enjoyed by a handful of hardcore fans. Special arcades catering to these people exist, but they arr struggling. This documentary manages to capture the essence of what makes the arcade such a great experience as it is a place to meet other people and challenge each other. Of course it is possible to do that online behind the controller of your console, but the experience is very different. 100 Yen looks at rhythm games, fighting games and the aforementioned shooters. Various developers and players are interviewed and through these conversations it is clear there is still a lot of passion about keeping these places alive.

Something which I did think stood out was that at several times the documentary looked at the arcade industry in the U.S. When your documentary is about the Japanese Arcade Experience (which it clearly states in its title), it is weird to see a part about someone setting up his own arcade bar in Las Vegas. I get the inclusion, wanting to show that there is still a need for arcades outside of Japan, but it felt out of place. It also does not spend a lot of time on the history of arcades in Japan. Space Invaders is mentioned, but not much more. When it comes to fighting games the focus seems to be on Street Fighter, but not the evolution within the genre. Although I did enjoy watching this documentary I did not feel 100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience could completely and successfully capture that experience.