Kawasaki Warehouse – Location Report, Japan

arcadeheaven October 17, 2008 9

Wow, I have just got back from Japan and made a fabulous discovery whilst I was there:

Kawasaki Warehouse

This incredible arcade has been built from the ground up to look like a disused, run-down warehouse complete with rusting doors and peeling paint but is in fact a fantastic site with some great games. The site has some neat touches like the front doors that appear to be rusted shut but open when you approach to reveal a red tunnel which looks like a bit passageway to hell. As you approach the second door you are blasted by a smoke machine. Inside the lighting is great (dim but really asmospheric) and flickering neon signs and faded posters cover the walls. The site is over several floors with Bingo (!!!), an arcade and a Darts bar. I have to say I only had a couple of hours free and never left the arcade floor itself.

Amongst the highlights were:

Original Retro cabinets  (All in great working order)

  • Street Fighter
  • Virtua Racing Twin
  • Outrun DLX
  • Hang On
  • Super Hang On
  • Pro Monaco GP
  • After Burner DLX
  • Space Harrier DLX
  • Darius
  • Gauntlet 4 Player
  • Rad Mobile DLX
  • About a dozen cocktail cabinets
  • Daytona 2 (4 Player)
  • Virtua On (Loved this on the Dreamcast)

In addition I got to play some great recent and new games:

  • Street Fighter 4 (Got my ass kicked at least 20 times by some guy!)
  • JuBeat – Really interesting game and very funky cabinet
  • Afterburner DLX (Played it before but never linked)
  • Halflife Survivor (Just couldn’t get used to the controls)
  • Initial D 4 (Good fun!)

If you get the chance I really recommend setting aside a couple of hours and heading over there. It is about 10 minutes walk from Kawasaki train station.

POSTED IN » Arcade Games, Beat-Em Ups, Classic arcade, Half-Life, Japan, Jubeat, Location Review, Outrun, Retro Arcade Gaming, Street Fighter, Street Fighter IV, Super Hang-On, Virtual On
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9 Comments »

  1. Sudha October 17, 2008 at 6:57 pm - Reply

    By looking at these pictures this arcade looks awesome.
    Now i started dreaming about it…

    Thanks for sharing the pic.

  2. SaraAB87 October 17, 2008 at 11:09 pm - Reply

    They should put the old afterburner next to the new one, the same with outrun, it would be interesting. I will let my friend who is in Japan right now know about this place.

  3. Shaggy October 18, 2008 at 12:07 am - Reply

    Awesome report pointything, it looks like you had a good time. 🙂

  4. ferrarimanf355 October 18, 2008 at 1:29 am - Reply

    That four-player Daytona USA 2 setup is a thing of beauty. Too bad about Sega not making a Daytona USA 3…

  5. Molloy October 21, 2008 at 10:43 am - Reply

    I’d say there’s a good chance they’ll make a Daytona 3 soon. It’s probably Sega’s most successful game that they haven’t updated yet.

    I hope to goodness when they do update it they make sure it’s AM2 or one of the other Japanese teams make it. Sega Rally 3 was boring. It didn’t have the exaggerated Sega-ness.

  6. SaraAB87 October 22, 2008 at 12:14 am - Reply

    Lets hope that if they make a Daytona 3 that we can actually find it in US arcades..

  7. pcb_revival October 28, 2008 at 9:16 am - Reply

    Ontopic .

    That arcade as great character – have not seen it before on the internets.

    How long as it been operating?

    Offtopic.

    I think its a given that a new Daytona will arrive at some point – hopefully via the Japanese teams.

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