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”We came home.” Sega makes arcade comeback with new game center in Tokyo’s...
Dry your tears, Sega fans. They’ve missed us too. September 20 was a sad day for gamers as Sega’s Ikebukuro GiGO arcade permanently closed its doors. Having been in business for 28 years in one of...
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Aomori tourism council makes super-hard tile-matching game using different...
You better know your Fuji apples from your San Fuji apples. Although it was recently the target of some shade thrown by a certain Sega exec not too long ago, the tile-matching puzzle game Puyo Puyo is...
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Sega builds “world’s fastest gaming PC,” is giving it away for free...
Video backs up claim that this is the fastest PC ever made (by one metric), and also possibly the craziest. There’s an entire generation of young gamers who only know Sega as a software publisher. For...
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Sega name to be removed from all of its arcade branches in Japan as part of...
Sayonara, Sega. Is Sega still in the arcade business? That’s a hard question to answer. Walk around cities in Japan, and you can still spot Sega-brand arcades, with the video game company’s instantly...
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Sega creates free digital omamori good luck charms to help you succeed at...
Characters from Yakuza, Virtua Fighter, and Sonic the Hedgehog want to give you a boost on test day or in your job interview. Game fans got some sad news last week when it was announced that, as part...
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Man threatens to set fire to Sega offices, beat employees’ family members to...
Inability to handle gamer rage leads to arrest. Last week, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Shinagawa Precinct announced the arrest of Akira Watanabe. Watanabe is a resident of Aichi Prefecture, about...
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Sega begins Puyo Puyo Boot Camp to help bring eSports into more Japanese high...
A place where kids can learn their power chains from their stairs. The other day when I came home from work, I was shocked and appalled to find that my kids had failed to stack all the items in the...
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Sega’s old arcades are making money again as new owners announce...
Game centers are back in the black after a 2-billion-yen-plus loss just a year earlier. A year and a half ago gamers in Japan were saddened when Sega left the arcade management business, selling off...
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Sega’s old arcade right outside Akihabara Station is closing, taking takeout...
Another summer, another closure announcement for a landmark Tokyo arcade. Japan is a country with a deeply developed sensitivity to the seasons. Summer, for example, is marked by the joys of the...
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Two Sega fans get married in Japan, win at weddings with awesome Mega Drive...
An edible Sega tower of power to mark the start of married life. Picture a wedding cake. Odds are your mental image is of an elaborate and joyously decorative design, with multiple tiers and finished...
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Is Tokyo’s real-world Kamurocho as dangerous as the Yakuza games’ setting?...
Our ace reporter hits the streets in his Kiryu Kazama cosplay to talk to the people who know Kabukicho best. There are close to a dozen entries in Sega’s Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku/Like a Dragon video game...
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Is real Tokyo as dangerous as the Yakuza video games? Chapter 2: Towards the...
Mr. Sato continues his night out in Kabukicho, the real-world Kamurocho. Recently our ace reporter, Mr. Sato, hit the streets to see if Kabukicho, the real-world Tokyo neighborhood that serves as the...
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Is real Tokyo as dangerous as the Yakuza video games? Chapter 3: Crazy Town
Stories of blood, cockroaches, and the old days of Kabukicho, Tokyo’s real-world Kamurocho. Just about every big Japanese city has a bar district known for its host and hostess bars, but none of them...
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Is real Tokyo as dangerous as the Yakuza video games? Chapter 4: Not Like a...
The fourth and final stop on Mr. Sato’s look at Kabukicho, the real-world Kamurocho. When last we left our intrepid reporter Mr. Sato, he was still in Kabukicho, Tokyo’s biggest host/hostess bar...
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Why don’t hosts in Kabukicho approach our female reporter any more?
Back when she was younger she couldn’t get away from them, so we visit a host club to find out what’s going on. About 20 years ago, our reporter Ikuna Kamezawa could hardly walk through certain...
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Why is there a wrestling ring in the Underground Arena fighting bar in...
Investigating the underbelly of Tokyo in one of its most notorious districts. Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward is famous for being the real-world inspiration for Kamurocho, the notoriously sketchy...
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Turning your car into a Like a Dragon video game itasha can now get you paid...
Kiryu on board. Though they always had their fans, early games in the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series were more or less sleeper hits. It’s not until the last few years that the franchise’s popularity has...
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Sega celebrates graduation season with chalkboard art of iconic video game...
A touching video clip culminates with some famous well-wishers sending a special message to this year’s graduating class. March is the month of graduation ceremonies in Japan. With graduating seniors...
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How to throw off your suit and shirt like a Like a Dragon tough guy, starring...
The iconic scene from Sega’s over-the-top series might look like the sort of thing only video game tough guys can do, but Mr. Sato shows how to do it in real life. On January 26, Sega released Like a...
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Sega successor opens new arcade with a regional craft beer bar inside it
Multiple regional brewers and amazing taiyaki will keep you from getting too thirsty or hungry while you’re at Japan’s newest arcade. No one was entirely sure what to expect when Sega left the arcade...
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