If you are a racing game enthusiast, you will find this stop charming. The game center’s history as a Sega arcade leaves many great classics available to play, from Manx TT Super Bike machines at a mobile rad Game you play sitting inside a mini car. I could have spent at least an hour jumping between the different wheels of these retro machines.
Compared to when we visited the Namco gaming center earlier in the day up the street, the selection of rhythm games, where tapping the controllers to the beat earns you points, was pretty similar. Although in Gigo 3 we were able to play multiple rhythm games without feeling the need to move due to other users waiting in line behind us. It was wonderful to try all the rhythm experiences for the first time and my personal favorite was Sega’s Maimai machine. I was amazed to see nearby players press all eight buttons at precisely the right time along with the music, sliding their fingers across the screen as they racked up combos. I was content to play on easy and accessible difficulty levels, rather than risk breaking them. sweaty.
Another enjoyable experience at Gigo 3 for travelers is the photo booth section. While it’s mostly filled with teenage girls perfecting their makeup, using hair straighteners for touch-ups, and trying on crispy blonde wigs, we had a lot of fun taking photos in the booths and couldn’t stop laughing as the software warped our facial features in ways disproportionate until we looked like ghostly aliens. One booth we tried even had a horror theme with a light narrative as you did the poses.
We put a lot of effort into the games and never went over 5,000 yen (about $33) at any of the arcades in Tokyo. Overall, our experience at Gigo 3 was affordable and magnetic.
If you travel with children
After climbing an outdoor escalator to reach the entrance of 1 house play arealocated in Tokyo’s artificial island of Odaiba, I was surrounded by nostalgic neon tones and the most mechanical arcade games I had seen on the entire trip. Yes, it had a few other options for games, but the main attraction here was a variety of vintage machines, often with some sort of interactive mechanical element. Despite the age and public use, most of the games here were in very good condition.
The space isn’t huge, but around every corner we stumbled upon unique experiences and happily spent handfuls of yen. I used a small chef’s frying pan to smash rodents while the target lights flashed on the screen. My partner and I became overly competitive spinning the cursors and trying to win our ping-pong soccer game. I almost landed three pinballs in a row playing sailor moon-tic-tac-toe theme.
At 1-chome Playland, I saw many families with young children and couples on beauty appointments. The location is easy to miss, right next to other family-oriented options like the Legoland Discovery Center and Tokyo Joyopolisbut it’s honestly worth the train ride alone. We spent an hour and a half testing machines and probably could have spent another 30 minutes on a less busy night.
Just keep in mind that any family outing to this gallery will almost certainly end with a trip to some nearby ice cream shop on the way back to the hotel. It just feels good.
Looking for other Japanese game centers worth visiting in Tokyo? We also enjoyed our time at Namco, Hello Taitoand GiGO#1—All in Akihabara and just a few blocks away. For a more intimate experience, head to Takadanobaba, where the Mikado Game Center It has a solid selection of retro machines and the nearby Natsuge Museum is a fantastic stop for pinball fans.