The best arcade

A new documentary exploring Japan's still-thriving arcade scene is about to hit the 'net.

100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience — a reference to the nationwide shortage of 100 Yen coins following the release of the original Space Invaders — investigates what's helped Japanese arcades stay alive, while those in the West have all-but died out.

Filmmaker Brad Crawford spoke to Eurogamer.net about the thinking behind his documentary:

Experiencing gaming culture in Japan is something that I felt hadn't been given enough exposure. We all know that many of our favourite games come from Japan, but I don't think people realise the level of dedication people have to gaming, especially arcade gaming, in Nippon.

While Nintendo's best known for its home and portable gaming, it had considerable arcade success with Donkey Kong of course, so there may be some interesting Nintendo-related factoids in this documentary.

100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience is currently in post-production, with an Indie GoGo campaign for those who want to get involved.

[source eurogamer.net]