Tokyo Metropolis

What place in Japan has a gazillion flashy lights, dazzling video screens, ear-busting loud noises and is teeming with people pressing their luck on games of chance and skill? Nope, not the pachinko parlor, but a more wholesome (maybe) way of sinking your hard-earned yen into oblivion: Game Centers. These are ginormous video arcades that you’ll find all over the country, usually near train stations and inside shopping areas. Years ago they were limited to the types of games you’d find at a video arcade in your neck of the woods but slowly the advent of a type of game center has appeared to appeal to the masses’ hunger for more types of amusements under one roof. Enter the MegaGame Center! From Archery to Volleyball, They Got It All! Round One is the progenitor of these types of game centers where for one flat fee, you can play different sports all under one roof. Spocha (スポッチャ) is a Japan-coined portmanteau of sports challenge and is the brand that the biggest Round One gaming centers are using to advertise this offering. Only the biggest centers will have the space necessary. However, there are many scattered around greater Tokyo with the Odaiba…