Rhythm Games at the Arcade

Ever since I discovered I had plastic mats for Dance Dance Revolution at home for the Wii and could play more frequently than "every time my family went to Niagara Falls", I've been pretty addicted to arcade games. It started with DDR, but after I visited Japan it spread to Sound Voltex, maimai, taiko, jubeat, and more. Although Canada has very few rhythm games compared to the US or East/Southeast Asia, I still play what I can; I travel for ~1 hour (and back) every week just to play Pump it Up.

I think a bit of stigma exists around playing arcade rhythm games because the players there tend to be really good and seem to always linger next to the cabinet¹. This can make it intimidating for beginners to approach, whether it's for fear of embarassing themselves or "obstructing" the other player's session (or something else). It can also lead to feelings of unfairness or resentment since it seems like they aren't letting other people play. As someone on the other side of this, I wanted to talk about some arcade "culture" that has been pretty similar across my experiences around the world.

Most importantly: if you want to play, just ask! Preferably when the person playing isn't in the middle of a song. Or just hover by the cabinet and make eye contact with the person playing once they're done. Most rhythm games let you play 2-3 songs per credit, not just 1, so it might be a few minutes.

In terms of the perceived skill level, people get better with practice, just like playing a sport or instrument. Everyone who looks incredible now also started off playing really easy songs and messing up everywhere. With enough practice (30+ hours), I think anyone can get pretty good. Although I go once a week, some of my friends go multiple times, and we almost exclusively spend credits on rhythm games. They give the most value for my money, since credits aren't free and I'm not interested in redeeming prizes. This means I'd like to optimize as much of my time spent at the arcade playing PIU, so I'll naturally stay near the cabinet and jump on if no one is using it.

However, fairness still takes priority! Often there are multiple "regulars" there, and we have a rotation where we take turns on the cabinet. Anyone new that arrives can join the rotation in the next free space, and we all stay nearby so we keep our spot and know when our turn is coming up. This is why the machine will rarely be free even if you look again later. I tend to let new players go before me in the rotation, but if you don't hover or ask, I'll never know you want to play!

It's all very informal: lots of eye contact and hand gestures, though I've seen the very occasional whiteboard/lineup of cards appear when the rotation gets really big. Otherwise, we want to keep it flexible. Someone might want to take a break, we might not all speak English very well, or it might just be really loud in the arcade.