Gallery: Japan’s gaming centers provide joy for the kid inside

While in Hiroshima, Japan for a week, I couldn’t let the time pass without visiting a game center or two (what we call “arcades” in the US). I visited Taito Station, a massive 6-floor game center on the central Hondori shopping arcade, which caused me to have bulging-eye syndrome. Because it was mid-day during the week, it was mostly empty, so I had time to snap a few photos and marvel in its grand weirdness.

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ars.AD.queue.push(["xrailTop", {sz:"300x251", kws:["bottom"], collapse: true}]);Taito Station is organized by gaming maturity level: starting from the first floor's cute-and-easy crane games, upwards to casino games (it also gets smokier as you go up), then to physical/sport and “starter” video games, and as you reach floor 4 and 5, you’re pretty much in shooter game heaven. But be careful before stepping onto floor 6!

When I could tear myself away, I headed down Hondori to Animate, a massive Manga/anime shop, which also offered a large amount of card games. Card games seem to be very popular in Japan, and there were also a few smaller shops around the city catering to card gamers only.