This article is from WeChat official account: Animation Academic lie (ID: babblers) , Author: if the wind, editor: other side, the original title: “closure , Bankruptcy… Can’t sell around the animation, are they all the pandemic? 》
On August 30, due to the impact of the epidemic, a 17-year-old SEGA Akihabara Building No. 2 was regarded as one of the representative buildings in Akihabara, Japan(hereinafter referred to as Sega Hall 2) walked off the stage of history in a sigh.
Sega Hall 2 in a prime location
As we all know, Akihabara in Japan is a mecca for the world’s two-dimensional culture lovers, and is regarded as Japanese ACGN culture(animation, manga, game, novel ), one of the must-check locations in Japan.
Here you can see maids wearing all kinds of maid costumes “soliciting” all over the street, a dazzling array of animated shops around, and dazzling neon advertising.
One of the eye-catching landmarks of Akihabara-the scarlet Sega No. 1
The maid “soliciting” on the street
It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the place where the world’s most “dimension wall” has broken through, and the protagonist of this news, Sega, has 5 large game centers in Akihabara, and each of them is located Prime location.
Although the closure of Sega Hall 2 seems to be a matter of the game industry, it does not mean that Sega has been a devastating blow, but if you consider the Japanese Game Hall(also known as game arcade or game center) is inseparable from animation merchandise, we can try to broaden our horizons a bit: how much impact this epidemic has brought to Akihabara ?
Or from a more macro perspective, in relation to the recent developments of the Japanese animation commodity market in recent years, the epidemic may not only be a short-term pain for the Japanese animation commodity market-it may also accidentally expose and exacerbate the already deeply buried Deep-seated problems in the Japanese animation market.
tears of the times
The famous Japanese game company Sega has 5 locations in AkihabaraLarge game hall. From Hall 1 with a history of more than 20 years to Hall 5 opened last year, the bright red signboard of Sega Game Hall has become one of the most important symbols of Akihabara.
Among them, Sega Hall 2 was originally called “Sega Akihabara GIGO” and is located near Akihabara Station in Chiyoda District, Tokyo.
The distribution map of Sega’s 5 game halls in Akihabara
The building where Sega Hall 2 is located is the “Handa Building” built in 1984, because Akihabara was originally a famous electrical street in Japan. Sales), so the Handa Building was once the location of the “First Home Appliance Akihabara Original Store” in a large electrical appliance store.
In 2002, the parent company of “First Home Appliance Akihabara Original Store” closed down, so in October 2003, “SEGA Akihabara GIGO” opened a store on the site of the original store. In fact, Sega’s five venues in Akihabara were all built on the “remains” of the original home appliance mall.
Fate linkage game
“GIGO” represents the uniqueness of its store. As one of the flagship stores, this large entertainment center with 7 floors has a landmark exterior. Even in 2017In order to unify its game hall, Sega officially renamed it “SEGA Akihabara No. 2 Hall”. Most Japanese people still call it “Sega GIGO” affectionately.(セガギーゴ).
It is precisely because Hall 2 is located in the prime location at the intersection of Wanshiqiao Intersection, the land price is very high. And compared to other branches, its location is a bit “off”. Many people will not deliberately detour to Hall 2 when leaving Akihabara subway station, but prefer to go straight to Akihabara where Hall 1 is located. Center pedestrian street. These two reasons may be the main reason for choosing to close Hall 2.
2008 GIGO period map (Zhongzhong Street is Akihabara Center Pedestrian Street)
Tourists from “Country” exclaimed “Is this the game hall of the Metropolis?”
The reason why this article starts from the game hall is because there is a big difference between Japanese game halls and the so-called arcade shops in China. It is well known that Japanese uncles are addicted to “Baiqing Ge”(パチンコ), but it is actually a gambling game, and young people have more pastimes It is the game hall.
EVA’s Pachinko
The types of game machines in the Japanese game hall are very rich, including claw games, card games, firearms games, somatosensory games, music games, and fighting games. If you want, you can even play horse betting games, and these games are all You can bind a personal account and have an online ranking. Many people are happy to refresh the ranking.
In addition to these, what is more important is the inseparable symbiosis between Japanese game halls and animation merchandise. To a certain extent, the game console itself is a part of animation commercialization.
Sega limited animation merchandise