Got time to kill?
Visit one of Hong Kong’s game arcades
Natsuki Arita
In the 1980s, Hong Kong game arcades had a sleazy reputation of being cigarette dens catered to high school delinquents and old men with gambling vices. Nowadays, game arcades are a niche location amongst youngsters, all the while still remaining a safe haven for the old men that like to test their luck.
Due to the rise of home video game consoles such as Xbox and Playstation, the need to leave your home for hours of gaming fun is nonexistent for most. Today, the ‘smoker’s den’ reputation of game arcade’s is slowly shedding off and the arcades continue to be a husk of nostalgia to people who grew up here, steadily refocusing their gaze and modelling themselves after Japanese game arcades.
Many would argue that Hong Kong game arcades represented a significant chunk of history for the modernization of our little island, others would shrug and tell you that there are much more meaningful sites to visit. But the fact remains that Hong Kong game arcades have always been and will continue to be a place that strives to provide hours worth of unbridled, competitive fun.
For those slow days with an untimely 4 hour break between classes, or for those days where maybe you just need some time off and don’t feel like doing that assignment due in two days, drag some friends along to one of these game arcades and cash in for a bout of good old fashioned trash talk and crushing your friends’ sense of self.
GAME CENTRE
B/F 1 Jubilee Street, Central
Opening hours : 10:00AM to 8:30 PM
Located near the mid-level escalators, this little gem is easy to spot thanks to the bright neon red sign that beckons you to venture down into the basement floor. The location is fairly small but boasts a large number of games that scream nostalgia. The plastic chairs and stools are quite fun to scoot around when moving from game to game, especially if you’re lining up and you want to take a seat and spectate. While it is the closest option to campus in Central (just before the mid-level escalators begin), it does close the earliest out of all the options on this list.
Like most arcades in Hong Kong, they tend to smell faintly of cigarettes despite not being able to see any remnants of anyone having actually smoked one. An arcade mystery, I suppose. The lady at the front booth is used to first-comers and she will gladly introduce you to the mechanics of how to pay for the games. Most of the games are fairly inexpensive ranging from 2-4 HKD, with some of the more expensive ones ranging from 6-8 HKD.
Game Centre hosts classic retro games such as Virtua Tennis and Battle Gear 4 as well as some Street Fighter copycat games from South Korea, truly a nostalgic but wildly competitive selection.
SMART GAME
1/F, 5 Fa Yuen Street (2 floors), Mong Kok
Opening hours: 9:30 - 2:00AM
Unlike its contemporaries, Smart Game is not a basement arcade. It has two floors but you’re probably better off sticking to the first one, (the second is mostly for gambling games in the company of sleepy old men – unless, that’s your thing).
This arcade is a little harder to find, as it blends right into the restaurant street with no flashy sign to let you know where to go. The first floor is very kid-friendly, you’ll typically find young teen boys surrounding the Initial D Arcade Stage games as they cheer on and tease their friends. People do smoke right outside the arcade entrance though, so it might seem a little stand-offish at first but I promise that once you enter the arcade it’s 100% cigarette free.
Some noteworthy games on the first floor are Taiko no Tatsujin (the quirky Japanese drum beating game), Initial D Arcade Stage, Mobile Suit Gundam, More Street Fighter-esque games (like The King of Fighters), some very futuristic looking games like JuBeat, and the newer installments of BishiBashi.
The second floor focuses on gambling and might not be worth the visit unless you’re a gambling fanatic. There is a multi-panelled horse racing gambling game, World Champion football, as well as luck slot games like Arowana and Viking Legend.
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GAME ZONE
B/F, Mong Kok New Town Mall, 65 Argyle Street, Mong Kok
Opening hours: 10:00AM - 2:00AM
Game Zone is considered Hong Kong’s best video game arcade in Hong Kong for its wide range of inexpensive and fun games, large size, and proximity to the MTR station. It’s just a quick 3 minute walk from Mong Kok’s D2 Exit, which makes it an extremely attractive pit stop for any and all players.
It does reek of cigarette smoke a little but the selection of games here is absolutely worth it, it’s by far the best location on this list. They aren’t skimping out on the music games and the multiple panels here, they mean business. This location is typically extremely crowded and loud, to a point where human voices and arcade game noises are pretty much indistinguishable from the other.
You can tell that some of these people are heavily impassioned about these games, I’ve never met a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) fanatic until the day I walked into Game Zone – this guy did the whole song on ‘difficult’ without even looking at the screen! I felt like I was watching a prodigy at work. People are constantly yelling and slapping machines furiously (for games where you really do have to slap the machine to win) and it’s a completely electrifying atmosphere. Some people are so enamored with these games that they bring their own gloves to play. It's a little chuckle worthy but you’ve got to admire the dedication.
Some noteworthy games that Game Zone has is DDR (among many other music based games), Taiko no Tatsujin, Soccer games, Mario Kart, Horse racing games, BishiBashi, Gundam Mobile Suit, Danz base, Drum Mania, Time Crisis, Future Tom Tom, Guitar Hero, and some tactical battle games.
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SILVER CORD GAMES AND AMUSEMENT CENTRE
30 Canton Road, TST
Opening Hours: 8:00 AM - 2:00AM
This location is only a 3-minute walk from TST Exit A1, making it a good time waster if you’re in the area. It’s size is comparable to the Game Centre location, but with more gambling games and slightly less variety for people who just want to sit down and smash buttons for fun.
Silvercord does seem to have those basketball hoop games (Dream Shooter) tucked away in the corner, but no one seemed to want to play it – I couldn’t tell if they were out of order or if they just weren’t that popular anymore. They do have the classic Gundam Mobile suit games, Taiko no Tatsujin, Killer, BishiBashi, and a game called ‘Everyone can dance with this’ which seemed like a very false promise to me.
A good sign of whether or not a game arcade is worth visiting is by gauging the amount of people playing. Unfortunately, Silvercord was pretty barren and it seemed to me that most of the people who came in to play weren’t so intent on spending a long time here. In any case, if you’re fiending for a quick game just before that dinner reservation – it’ll fit the bill no problem.
Honourable mentions
These next two locations are either too far from campus or not technically defined as ‘video game’ arcades, but they’re still a good place to kill time and are distinctly unique arcades by the Hong Kong standard.
AMERICAN POOL
13-15 Man Tai St, Hung Hom
Opening hours: 8:00AM - 12:00AM
American pool is a uniquely designed arcade centre, and while you most definitely won’t find a pool table – there is an impressive assortment of classic international arcade games as well as asian arcade machines to play with. The whole place is dimly lit, with a bunch of neon lights barely lighting up the room and a nicely tiled black and white checkered floor, mimicking that of a classic American diner.
Out of all the arcades listed, American pool has the most impressive Pinball machine selection designed based on your favourite franchises, like Batman The Dark Knight, Star Trek, Transformers, The Walking Dead, etc. You’ll find other classics like Initial D, Border Break, Groove Coaster (made by the same people who made Space Invaders), Super Mario Bros, Castlevania, Wild West, Western Express, and Wild Fang. They’ve even got a small new-fangled VR sniper game section.
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Courtesy of James W. / 2017
NAMCO
Shop 3–11, 9/F Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok
Opening Hours: 11:00AM - 11:00PM
There are tons of NAMCO locations around Hong Kong, and you’ve most likely been enticed by the claw machines and jingly music when you walk by one. The biggest NAMCO location in Hong Kong is in Langham Place in Mong Kok, filled with claw machines, photobooths, and tons of gacha games.
NAMCO provides a lot of the Japanese arcade games used in many if not all of the arcade locations listed above. This location is not technically an arcade by Hong Kong standards, but it’s much less intimidating for those who aren’t really up for a competitive round of Street Fighter. The objective of the games in NAMCO locations is pretty straight forward, and you don’t need to learn a lot of commands or rules to have a good time here. Some of the more notable games you might be interested in are Pac Man Air Smash Hockey and the Rainbow Bridge coin toss. This place has more semblance to festival games that you might come across at a school fair, rather than an arcade.
If you like anime, video games, and other things ‘Japan’, NAMCO is a great place to spend your money at a chance to win anime merchandise and to live out what it could be like visiting a side of the road Japanese claw machine parlour.
Courtesy of ULifestyle / 2019