Oct 7, 2013 - 2 min read

Namco Land

Video Game Amusement Center Japanese Style

By Michael Flemming

Community writer

Namco Land in the Ryukyu Aeon Gushikawa Shopping Center in on the extreme northern end of the second floor

The token machines and the ticket machine for the ball pit look like this

The ball pit is 300 yen for 20 minutes which isn't necessarily a bargain, but is cheaper than losing money in the skill crane games

An inside perspective from the Namco Land ball pit

Japanese skill cranes have large claws and take a special touch, patience, and loads of 100 yen coins to master

There's a large variety of skill games at Namco Land that tempt you to retrieve the treasures within

There is a four player Super Mario Brothers Wii that's a blast to play with friends

The cavernous back portion of Namco Land contains many slot, playing card and pachinko machines that are for amusement only, there is no gambling at Namco Land

Small kids will love to play the games that integrate playing cards into the strategy

Older kids also love to play the games that intergrate playing cards into the game strategy

There is a vast array of these types of games in which special tokens are inserted to try to win back the same type of token; if you are skillful the tokens can be turned in for snacks or prizes

There's a half dozen fashion and fantasy photo booths in the back left side of Namco Land

Video game amusement centers in Japan aren't too far departed from arcades found in America, but they are full of delightful surprises that are uniquely Japanese.

I recently revisited the Namco Land in the Ryukyu Aeon Gushikawa Shopping Center in Uruma City with a pocket bull of unused tokens from a previous visit. Namco Land amusement centers are packed with several hundred games and activities, everything from video games, skill cranes, slot machines, rides, ball pits, photo booths, and those—what do you call them— games-where-you-put-in-tokens-and-try-to -get-tokens-to-fall-out games.

The tokens are only used for the games in which getting more tokens out is the object for which snacks and prizes can be gotten from the awards counter, or perhaps everyone just plays until their tokens are depleted, I am really not sure after all this time. The rest of the machines in Namco Land operate on 100 yen coins, which are comparable to one American dollar. If you plan to spend any time at an amusement center like Namco Land I recommend watching a few good skill crane players before trying it yourself, and definitely try the photo booths.

The booths are themed in fashion, power ranger or anime designs. For a few hundred yen you - or you and as many family and friends that the large booths will accommodate - can select from several design templates, poses,and photo sizes, then customize the photographs with several stylus pens by writing on the touch screens. Namco Land is open during mall hours from 10:00 ~ 22:00 daily.