Author Topic: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)  (Read 16413 times)

Equites

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The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« on: July 16, 2010, 11:18:06 PM »
I flew out to Tokyo for a weeks holiday on the 3rd July, and thought this would be a good opportunity to try and source some spare Flashboy bulbs for my beloved Namco Starblade.

I managed to find out from someone that the best place in Tokyo for electronics and electric items is a busy place called Akhibara. It was just a five minute ride on the subway from Tokyo Train Station. Once I arrived at Akhibara I started to try and find where the interesting shops were.

Ah ha! I am on the right track;


Finally I arrive at the Taito Game Station, must pose here and get a photo taken;


It was not long before I found a shop dedicated to selling just lights, all kind of lights, every kind of light you could imagine but I could not see any Flashboys. I try to ask the shop owner, but my Japanese is no existant so it was tough trying to explain.

So I leave the shop to try and find another.  However, along the way I could not resist visiting some arcades and dropping some Yen into them;








I also shot some HD video footage of the arcade if anyone is interested, it was SHMUP heaven.....

Still no sign of Flashboy, but I did stumble on the new XBOX360;


Hang on a minute, whats that I see???


Yes! Its a Japanese sign with Flashboys on top of it! Now I can take a picture of them and use them to show the lighting shop owner, in the universal language of pictures!


I show the Japanese lighting shop owner the Flashboy picture on my camera and he directs me to another shop, at last I have found it!!


They were 4800 Yen which was about £45, but hey if you need them you need them!


DarthNuno

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2010, 11:55:06 PM »
Thanks for posting that story Equites... totally ArcadeLifeStyle!  :-* :-* :-*

Out of topic, but ...it's still great to see classics games playable, even if it's not in their original cabinet...but hey, it's better than nothing  ;) By the way I would be curious to see what's inside these cabinets... because theses games showed (After Burner, Space Harrier or Galaxy Force) use analog controls... and these new Japanese cabinets are often (if not always) ready for jamma when they are not dedicated. So, original hardware inside with dedicated controls/setup inside or not? It would be interesting to know  ;)

I love that quest... and the happy end, 'coz you finally get the lamps  8)
My price was better by the way  ::) I paid 50€ per Flashboy (including shipping and incoming taxes)... see my FLashboy story right here, but I presume you've already seen it  ;)
I'm happy to see you finally got them, congratulation.

Regarding your trip, no encounter with Starblade or other great games? Note I even don't mention Galaxian3  ::) ...because If you played it over there, I'm sure many pictures of 'THE THEATER' would be already displayed on this topic  ::) ;)

Don't hesitate to post more pictures from your trip  ;)
« Last Edit: July 17, 2010, 12:00:37 AM by DarthNuno »

Equites

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2010, 12:06:43 AM »
Thanks DarthNuno

I had a blast on the Space Harrier, Afterburner and Galaxy Force II, they appeared to be Sega Lindbergh cabs which had been modified to run these classics. However, the quality of the work was very factory, only downside was that these cabs use a LCD display.  I much prefer the CRT in my Afterburner upright.

I noticed that the controllers were from the popular Namco Gundam Pod Arcade game seen here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1QkjYnac4A

I have some HD footage of me playing Afterburner, I will get it uploaded.


Equites

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2010, 12:09:14 AM »
While I was there, the most popular arcade game was 'Project Diva', the locals were queuing up to play it.

http://kyourankyodai.com/2010/06/24/project-diva-arcade-dreamy-theater-out-now/

I never saw any Starblades unfortunately, and the Arcade Museum with the Galaxian3 was not open during my time in Japan, maybe next time.


« Last Edit: July 17, 2010, 12:19:06 AM by Equites »

Superully

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2010, 08:35:33 AM »
congratulations, a well-told exciting story with a happy end. those flashboys look impressive!
« Last Edit: July 17, 2010, 10:26:07 PM by Superully »
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Vnera

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2010, 08:04:14 PM »
Akhibara! its holy ground for electronic nerds and gamers! Would love to go there.

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2010, 12:29:49 AM »
I would love to see a video of a Flashboy in operation (uuuuh, this really sounds too weird) , just to get an idea what it does. I have the feeling that a much cheaper regular fire alarm flasher may produce the same result....

caincan

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2010, 11:41:05 AM »
I have some HD footage of me playing Afterburner, I will get it uploaded.

 :P  a word is a word.   please upload this :)   i'm curious too about these Vewlix "tuned" old arcades...  (it's good to see your picture of 3 !    the only one i saw some months ago was about an isolated  Afterburner2)

Equites

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2010, 07:01:56 PM »
I have some HD footage of me playing Afterburner, I will get it uploaded.

 :P  a word is a word.   please upload this :)   i'm curious too about these Vewlix "tuned" old arcades...  (it's good to see your picture of 3 !    the only one i saw some months ago was about an isolated  Afterburner2)

There you go.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gKYOPQSEXI

scr33n

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2010, 07:07:07 PM »
There you go.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gKYOPQSEXI

Wooowwwww !!!!  :o :-* :-* :-* I want an Egret II  :-* :-*

Thanks for the video !!!  :spaceace:
PROJECTS FROM SCRATCH:

Galaga - PacMan - Donkey Kong Red Cab - Track & Field Upright - Tempest - Burgertime - Gyruss - Defender - Track & Field Cocktail - Robotron 2084

RESTORATIONS:

Q*bert - Timber

Superully

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2010, 07:44:54 PM »
Wooowwwww !!!!  :o :-* :-* :-* I want an Egret II  :-* :-*

scratch-built? ;)

i can't help it, but those modern-day japanese arcades have no soul at all! where's the atmosphere that an original arcade had back in the days?
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

scr33n

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2010, 07:58:19 PM »
scratch-built? ;)

 :o ;D :lol: No no don't worry  :lol: :lol:

i can't help it, but those modern-day japanese arcades have no soul at all! where's the atmosphere that an original arcade had back in the days?

Yes Ully you're totally right ... but I love vertical Shoot'em up so much and ... Egret II is the right choice IMHO  :P
PROJECTS FROM SCRATCH:

Galaga - PacMan - Donkey Kong Red Cab - Track & Field Upright - Tempest - Burgertime - Gyruss - Defender - Track & Field Cocktail - Robotron 2084

RESTORATIONS:

Q*bert - Timber

funkycochise

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2010, 08:27:34 PM »
Wooowwwww !!!!  :o :-* :-* :-* I want an Egret II  :-* :-*

scratch-built? ;)

i can't help it, but those modern-day japanese arcades have no soul at all! where's the atmosphere that an original arcade had back in the days?

did you ever played on such a cab ?
I would never said that they have no soul.  ;D
they have this little oriental "kawai" feeling that suits so nice to jamma boards.
In my humble opinion, they are the best way to play, especially because of their "Sit Down" playing position.
Back in the days, I only played on generic upright cabs (except driving cabs)
In fact it's not a lie to say that we played more on bootleg board and unpersonal cabs.
So, except few huge successful dedicated cabinets, most of us only discovered dedicated cabs only a few years ago.

So spitting on japanese cabinets, when they are the only one that survives, is just dumb.


funkycochise

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2010, 08:38:42 PM »
Quote
There you go.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gKYOPQSEXI
Taito Hey's shoot em up floor, akihabara.
could recognized that fluorescent ceiling blue lights between thousand, now  ;D
And it's always so damned loud and noisy.
You can stand there more than half an hour, just beacsue of that.
By the way thanks for the video.

Those modern "remake" of sega classics are a bit strange, compared with the dedicated, motored original cabinets.

DarthNuno

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Re: The hunt for Flashboy (In Tokyo)
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2010, 09:01:27 PM »
There you go.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gKYOPQSEXI

Woow! Thanks for the Full1080HD video  :-*

Yes, I didn't remember that Egret II was so cute  ;)
Even if these Japanese cabinets are not my favorite trip, I really appreciate to play on it when I have the opportunity.
What's better to play a modern shmups on a such vertical/giant screen  :-*

Hey, on the video, one of the best vertical shoot'em'up "a la Xevious" : STAR FORCE  :-* :-* :-*
Did you see the high score on this one  :shock: :shock: :shock: