video games

This past Labor Day weekend, I took an opportunity to drop in to check out Austin’s only coin-operated Japanese arcade, Arcade UFO and chat with co-owner, Ryan Harvey. Then quite coincidentally, world-famous otaku Danny Choo posted his article on Japanese Arcades on Monday. Here are some pictures (and a video slideshow) and the interview I did with Ryan.

When did you open Arcade UFO?

Crissy and I opened Arcade UFO on August 29th, 2008 after months of preparation.

What was your inspiration for opening this business?

My primary motivation for opening the arcade was … to have a new arcade to play at!

How many machines do you have?

At this time, we have 35 machines housing over 25 games. The reason for the discrepancy here is that many of our versus games run head-to-head style like a real Japanese arcade (in other words, each player gets their own screen to play on).

Why Japanese games?

Japan is simply the primary country that is still producing quality, coin-operated arcade games at this time. We don’t shun Western releases, but it has been many years since a high-quality Western arcade game has been produced.

With even the instructions in Japanese, do your gamers ever have a problem figuring out how to play your games?

There are essentially two types of players that play in arcades. One type is the people who are visiting to try out something new and different. They’re not necessarily concerned with learning every technique in the game before playing, and that’s fine. The other type is a more hardcore gaming audience, and Japanese instructions are not a hindrance to these players at all. There are huge forums in English dedicated to tactics and strategies for Japanese arcade games. There’s also the advent of Youtube, which can be a great guide for players without needing to read a single word.

What would you say are your top 3 most popular games?

Lately, Street Fighter 4, Blazblue, and DJ Max Technika have been our most popular titles. I think that’s because these games are perfect in an arcade setting, and all three are extremely fun at high-levels!

I can imagine that arcades have a bit of a challenge competing against modern console games. What do people miss out on by just playing console games?

I believe that the groups of people playing modern console games are not necessarily the same type of people that would play arcade games. That being said, there are players who delve in both worlds (myself included). The number one thing that console-only gamers miss out on is definitely the challenge and competition afforded by an arcade environment. It’s very rewarding, and you can get direct feedback on in-game difficulties from other people. In a close second is the camaraderie involved in a real-life arcade setting. There’s nothing quite like socializing with a crowd of like-minded gamers while you share a hobby. UFO’s community is the most friendly and tightly-knit group I could have possibly hoped for, and most of the regulars are or have become personal friends of mine outside of the gaming world.

I see that you top the list on SaveTheArcades.com. How can people help you win?

They can visit Arcade UFO and talk strategy with us. We’d post it online, but we’re afraid the other arcade supporters would utilize our strategies! Failing that, just play Zapataur as much as possible until October 6th. Every point counts, and we will reward Austin by making the best arcade in the U.S. even better!

Here is a video slideshow of my trip to Arcade UFO:

Arcade UFO from Austin Otaku on Vimeo.

To check out Arcade UFO for yourself, swing by and play a few games. They are located at:

3101 Speedway
Austin, Texas 78705
North of the UT Austin campus, south of 35th Street

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