I have never felt so sad looking at an arcade before..

_Ted_

Wow...that's just. That second picture really is very depressing. But hey, maybe they're having fun. I remember going to an arcade in Kyoto and leaving shortly thereafter only because it wasn't as good as Akihabara's arcades.

Man, I am soooo lucky to have a japanese style arcade in my state. I don't mind having to drive and hour and a half just to play street fighter 4.

lv1shinobi

This is like the 80s in China...

GameDesign

Sheesh, I must really be living the live here in Australia. Especially since my SFIV line averages 2 minutes, or none at all (less competition though).

If they're lucky they might get Tekken....Tag Tournament.

NanatsuYoru

What's REALLY unfortunate is that these poor people will be brainwashed by their government into beleiving that they're playing the latest and greatest in video game technology.

Hac-Hunter

I will never, never complain about the arcades in my hometown in Mexico. Poor guys.

GamerMx

It's weird seeing an arcade so... clean Where's the spilled soda? Crusty Cheese on the floor? Horades of kids abandoned by their parents as if it was some daycare?

Kaizuden

Wow. I thinking... we got it goooooood!

Saliu

Seriously though, those pictures make me very grateful. I mean......damn.

mackincheese

@FullyShadow: Go to the story linked if you really want to feel like shit :(

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@kagebutsu: I just finished looking through the main story and felt a really strange sense of sorrow when I saw that woman sitting down on that chair with part of its back missing. It really set the tone for the rest of the article. The games, the furniture, the building all seem to come from this place that time forgot. Probably more so a place unable to move forward: A true state of arrested development.

During this election year (here in the US), I'm quick to bitch about just how many things were, are, and probably will be wrong with our government but a deep sense of gratitude towards where I live and our political system overtakes me when I see these images.

...and yes, as a person who enjoys games, I feel blessed. The irony of it all is that the country just below them is like stepping through a magical looking glass.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@kagebutsu: yeah it's like how parents complain about the starving children... poor children... we need a game aid for them.

ittekimasu

What, no Street Fighter IV?

SG_Mahonay

the second pic is very depressing.

FullyShadow

We need to invade North korea and help those people asap.

97gsx

@Cmdr.Trehugr:

They certainly have better ones than this!

mikevanpwn

Hey, sweet! Yie Ar Kung Fu, I love that game.

mackincheese

When I first read this I didn't see the big deal. Then I read it again and realized you were saying NORTH Korea. Wow, crazy. They actually are allowed to have fun over there? Whowouldathunk.

TwilightKing

Is that chick playing a... trash can?? O_O

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

lol that's awesome!

gah i hate that America doesn't have any arcades, or at lest descent ones.

Cmdr.Trehugr

Wow.... I feel like an ass for complaining about nit picky things in games now.

kagebutsu

@Hac-Hunter:

i think it would be a neat science experiment to hijack a group of n. korean's, and show them what some "real" games are like.

too bad we would all kill each-other trying to decide which game to show first.

StevenGlansberg

It must have taken about 20 years to localize those games for the N-Korean market. Of course you can't have any English or Japanese show up in any games, that would be unpatriotic; punishable by DEATH

sander_dutch

wow! that SUCKS!

zios33

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Old Video game technology has been blessed with some awesome games, though they're not in the greatest condition there. @Hac-Hunter:

Metal_Slug_Solid

At least those guys HAVE an arcade. In my native town of Stockholm (capitol of Sweden, Western Europe) there are no arcades. Not one. They were killed by cheap PCs, nex gen consoles and WoW.

Sarkath

Wow and I thought walking passed my local arcade was bad. Some of those cabinets look in such disrepair I am suprised they work.

TheNexusRebound

And here I was complaining that Taiko drum master's right drum was unresponsive. Then I felt sorry for them.......untill I remembered all they do over there is grind on MMOs.

Cronoking

Man, I was sad when I saw the state of the buildings and machines, but then I saw Yie Ar Kung-Fu and I felt even worse.

Erwin

By our standards it's a sad sight, but for people who've probably never seen the world of gaming outside of their own censored world, they could be in bliss right now with their imposed ignorance.

Pizookie

I went to Pyongyang through a special permission. It is literally the perfect 80's setting if your shooting a movie. It is sad, the same blood and the same people yet the difference between they sky and the ground.

PsycheE

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): God bless you, okenny. I share your sentiments.

ChiChi_BBQ

i'm so glad i got my xbox 360 shipped to me today, hooked up to my 27 inch hdtv, i would hate to have to wait 10 minutes in line for a crappy flight sim game from the 80's, but when you look at the bright side, i bet they have the best kimchi on the planet, and korean food! soju cheers, daewoo

gstatty

Not many arcades spread around England, or not outside of London at least. I don't think it' big here, people don't go with the intention of playing games but maybe play Time Crisis at the cinema while waiting for the film to start or something...

microhenry

@97gsx: Im telling you, this is the real reason why Starcraft II is being delayed. The minute that game comes out its going to be a zerg rush across the 38th parallel and the South Korean economy just wont be able to handle it.

On the article, I LOVE seeing pictures of North Korea. Especially of things not usually on the designated tours.
Articles like this help put humanity into a people trapped behind a mad dictator. I love it

tmsoftworks

Those poor people, having to play those old games. We need to help them.

Shijirou

Nice, of course it could be some "Retro arcade" which is visited by hard core gamers with some lust for vintage but the kids look so small...Hmm. Oh well, here's some photos of old soviet gaming machines.
Those were perfect for making kids go outside and play, not like capitalistic golden axe shit that made people drop out of college =)

[fufel.info]
[www.15kop.ru]

Zorba

[www.ukresistance.co.uk]

Where the hell is the rest of that body? Next to that little girl, there are shoes, calves, and maybe knees. Where is the rest of it?!?!

Sturmfalke

@Pizookie: Agreed, if you don't know what else is out there, it's not such a bad thing.

At least these people have disposable income to spend, which can't be said of a lot of people in the country.

trailracer

Well... That really put things into perspective. Suddenly, I love all my systems and games even more.

Altersparck

@PAULINK: Indeed, it's like looking at a trick picture.

They certainly look like shoes, but maybe they weren't?

m0re

@Sturmfalke: Wow, that is really freaky.

PAULINK

That looks like the arcade at the Marriott.

boopadoo

How they get the electricity to run the arcade???

Apu

These pictures fill me with sadness... T_T

BPMΣ

blizzard shud get them starcraft to compete with south korea.

xmido

We are living large and didn't even know it.

Chilly Hollow

@Apu: Didn't you hear? They reopened their nuclear plant recently.

boopadoo

This will eat up hours of your night but totally worth it.

[www.vbs.tv]

everybest

The newer systems look pretty good, with sit-down systems and probably sanwa parts (or are they using SK hardware?), which I guess makes it better than most US arcades.
The old systems (most of them), however, are in horrible disrepair. I shudder to think about the amount of strings that must be pulled within the NK government to get into one of these places. How big of a party member does one have to be?

Akin

"And this game, Yie-Ar Kung Fu, demonstrates how crime-ridden China is, that you have to engage in martial combat just to get anywhere. This is why we don't let people leave their towns."

"This game demonstrates the reckless abandon and risk-taking of western drivers, constantly and repeatedly slaying themselves on the highway. This is why we don't let you have a car."

AlienRopeBurn

@Chilly Hollow: @everybest: Thanks for that link. It was enlightening.

Kappuru

Ugh, that's just brutal. At least if I was dictator, I'd put in some decent fucking games. Say, something made after 1992.

Strangelove

@Cmdr.Trehugr:

Tell me about it. I used to live in Pigeon Forge, TN and every few feet is an arcade. Unfortunately, they're the ticket variety and a lot of the games they buy are things people will spend money on there ("The Fast and the Furious" and "Deal or No Deal".) From a business standpoint, it works, but it's so depressing.

On the bright side, lots of DDR mixes to choose from. But the one arcade with a Capcom versus SNK 2 machine took it out. :(

sircrowbar

this is great post on behalf of Kotaku. US gamers are always crying about not having everything they want in every game. I stopped being a fanboy about a year ago and just love playing games for any system. I don't care about who has more of this and more of that. There will always be my favorite but I will leave that to my inner thoughts not on a forum, board, or blog post....great article...!

JorgieX

3D games are strictly for card-carrying party officials. The new machines are tried out by Great High Glorious Chairman first.

Frank

I wonder what those titles read. Something about "Imperialism" and "Death to it", I'm sure.

lumpi

Wow takes me back to the arcades of old. I wonder if most of these are cheap North Korean knock offs???

Cheater87

i feel bad for these people too, but you know what they probably don't know any better.

With abso. no contact from the outside world, you can prob. bring them a sega genesis console and they'd bug out heh.

F22

Just remember, wherever you are at in your lot in life...it could be worse.

Benjo

@Kaizuden: Where's the change machine that never fails to give you only 3 quarters for a dollar? The creepy old guy that is always playing the kiddie games?

FoxyGaz

Damn, the best game they have is Yie Ar Kung Fu...

XbhaskarX

I always feel so sorry for the people of North Korea. >__>

em

dude. IM KOREAN and i just...im speechless. then again, they're just getting fridges to the people (costs like 75 US cents, but takes like months of saving) and tvs that are like DIRT CHEAP to us, but are things these people have to save for months, if lucky.

sigh...i don't even want to know how much it costs to play. UGH.

johyongil

.....at least they can play some games

Vectortuff

God, Kim Jong-il is such a motherfucker. I hope somebody assassinates him. Slowly and painfully.

Placentasaurus

lets all just shut up about the console wars and red rings now. this just makes us look like retarded brats after looking into what north korea has

nofingershaha

This reminds me of that Kyrgyz arcade machine at this year's i am 8 bit show-- it's about 1/2 way down the page here: http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/iam8bit-08/page8.php and I saw it here, too: http://www.mytarpit.com/mytarpit/2008/08/lodown-on-i-am-8-bitpart-the-torchinsky.html

YoAmphisbaena

I wonder how that dude took the pictures, I mean aren't cameras forbidden there? Anyway poverty is relative folks. The people in those pictures are sadly probably one of the better off ones.

Makes me, a poor college student, look like a freaking billionare.

Sutekh

Depressing. DPRK is stuck in a time warp.

tdb

For every picture of North Korea I every see, I can't help but notice how empty everything seems. There are always these depressing and imposing huge open spaces, and it seems that even in this arcade that it the case. It must be such a sad place to live; I have so much pity for the people there.

QuestionableToast

My thoughts go out to the people that lost their lives providing us photos of 1980's arcade machines.

TrinaReinprecht

Wrong! This is like China today. At least the small cities are equally horrible, some even worse. I just traveled 2 months there and saw some stuff you wouldn't believe. Stuff, that acutaly make these arcades look futuristic. Currently I'm in Japan, so seeing stuff like that article and also thinking back at China I feel like.. I'm on another planet. But still, that is not really sad.. want to see sadness check out some of these pictures (probably except the 3$ Vista): http://www.travelmarket.dk/travellog/edit/travelphotos:folder=39638

EvanPhrixus

I feel like crap for complaining about the crappy arcades at the mall near my university. They still suck, but this takes the cake

MaraBroadway