Arcades in Beijing

[LFCLOUDS]

Howaya,

anyone know of any good video game arcades in Beijing?

Cheers.

[roddy]

What, your mobile phone can't run Pacman?

Never seen one in Beijing. Seen them in Harbin years ago but even then they were taking the machines out and converting them into internet cafes.

[LFCLOUDS]

I actually have quite allot of games with me....but I'm a hopeless fanatic and can never get enough.

That's a shame...I would have thought Beijing would have some good ones.

[roddy]

There might be some, but I find it hard to believe that they would be very successful in the face of PC gaming in internet cafes.

[Catdiseased]

Im not sure if it still exists, but there was a arcade game hall in the cinema on Wangfujing shopping mall, uh, you know, on the top floor of one of the bigger warehouses.

[roddy]

You're right - top floors of department stores often have arcades along with the food court. Can't remember seeing any in Beijing, but might be worth a look.

[onebir]

There were a few around dongsishiqiao in 2003. But even then, they were very quiet, and my chinese friends thought they were dying out under competition with online gaming in the wangba.

If you're interested in what they used to look like, there's a scene set in one in beijing bicycle (shiqi sui de qiche) ;-)

[LFCLOUDS]

There was a good few around Guizhou.....not great....but they had a few good machines.

Also saw a couple in Shanghai though I cant remember where (one of those "I've nothing to do so I'll walk for 6 hours" days.

I saw a couple in the zoo the other day on my way to the aquarium....pretty dismal....but they were mainly for kids.

Interestingly there were people throwing whole packs of crisps at the monkeys and polar bears....and one lady (about 30) was continually spitting down on a bears face....she thought it was hilarious.....the temptation to push her in was strong.

[LFCLOUDS]

Going through my old posts.

I found several great arcades in the end but the best is easily at the top of Viva plaza in Shuangjing, under the UME Cinema.

Far superior to the popular locations at Wangfujing and Wanda Plaza.

[roddy]

There's a blast from the past. Welcome back.

Been to arcades at the Wudaokou and Wangfujing shopping centers in the last few months. They're ok for a post-dinner diversion, but they're far too noisy (and if you're not careful far too expensive) for me to spend much time there. One of them had the original Time Crisis though - which was another blast from the past.

[Prodigal Son]

Have you guys noticed arcades popping up in the last year or so? In Chengdu the number of arcades has more than doubled in a year. Recently one of the biggest nightclubs in town closed and a video arcade took it's place. I'm starting to think they're a cover for something, because they aren't filled with people!