Bizarre Japanese Arcade Machines

Video arcades are still a popular hang-out in many parts of Asia. I've been in arcades from the bright lights of Seoul to the darkest depths of Borneo. Especially in megalopolises like Seoul and Tokyo, video arcades are a blindly gaudy array of neon and a cacophony of bleeps, tweaks and insanely cheery tunes, played over the thumping beats of lightening fast fingers tapping out multi-combos. Giggle girls tumbling out of insipid pink Hello Kitty photo-booths, adding the finishing touches to their cutesy group photos. Couples huddle together in rows of mini Karaoke booths, recording their own demos to up-tempo backing tracks of the latest J-pop tune. In among the zombie killing and pumped-up beat-'em-ups are some strange looking machines. No joysticks, no buttons to tap, these things have controllers that are massive drums, table-tops that tip, trend-mills, and the bottom half of a woman, derrière in the air, asking to be poked between her pert cheeks! Welcome to the world of weird arcade machines.
Perhaps the most infamous of bizarre arcade machines is Boong-Ga Boong-Ga, based on the school-yard prank in both Japan and South Korea of poking people up the bum with your fingers. Yeah I know, it sounds weird, that's because it is. In Korea the practice is known as "Dong Chim", you can read about it in the blog post Weird Traditions: Dong Chim, I posted. The practice is known as "Kancho" in Japan, and the game Boong-Ga Boong-Ga (sometimes called Spank 'em in English), is the world's first simulator of the practice. The game was developed by a South Korean company for the Japanese gaming market, and unleashed on that market in 2001. 

The premise of the game is that using either your own fingers or a large finger shaped controller, you have to poke the controller buttocks, which represent a series of on-screen characters. The characters that you must "punish" are an ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, the mother-in-law, a con-artist, a gangster, a gold-digger, a prostitute and... wait for it... A child molester! I know, as if the whole thing wasn't weird enough already, the characters add a whole new dimension of creepy. Going further down the weird rabbit-hole, the game also dispenses cards that rate the players, and for best players the machine will dispense a small plastic trophy in the shape of a cute little pile of poop.
Taiko no Tatsujin (or Taiko Master), is an arcade machine that appeared in 2001 that simulates the traditional Japanese art of Taiko drumming. When I say "simulates", I mean it in the loosest sense. As Taiko is a serious Japanese art-form (aren't they all?) that involves very physically fit drummers, who beat out outstandingly hypnotic rhythms on large drums. There are hypnotic elements to "Taiko no Tatsujin", but there more about the cute little anime drum character bouncing around the screen, while the player bangs away at the drum controllers to chirpy little theme tunes from Japanese animated TV shows.

Basically it's like Guitar Hero World Tour on huge amounts of LSD, which this game by famed arcade game manufacturers Namco actually preceded. Following visual cues on screen, players are supposed to beat out a rhythm that wouldn't go amiss on the main-stage of the Fuji Rock Festival. Helping young Japanese and Koreans unleash their inner rock god, and release all the pent-up frustrations of life in socially uptight cultures. So grab your sticks, and get beating!
Cho Chabudai Gaeshi (Super Table Flip) is actually a personal favourite from 2009. Another one that goes in the category of being a stress relief game. I guess you could call this a "dinner table simulator", as the controller is literally a small dinner table. The very simple premise of the game is that the player beats on the table top with their fists, as they do so the characters and objects in the virtual room on the screen react to the thumping. Eventually as the timer runs out, and at the optimal moment, the player must flip the "controller" table towards the screen. Causing the virtual table on-screen to do the same, sending the contents flying across the room and covering the characters in food. That's it, that's really all there is to it. Simple, crazy fun! What more could you ask for?
Tablecloth Hour is the most recent of the bunch, first appearing in 2010. Whoever thought of turning the "tablecloth trick" of pulling a tablecloth from under the objects sitting on it, into an arcade game? Erm... The Japanese of course! We've all seen the trick performed on TV. We may have even attempted it at home, much to the dismay of our parents, as mother's best crockery went flying in the air, and smashing to the floor. And still despite failure after failure, we all have the secret desire to pull at a tablecloth whenever we see one. (I say "we", I mean "me!) Well here's an electronic version of the trick where no-one gets hurt, and nothing gets damaged, apart from on-screen. Unfortunately though, if you are successful on Tablecloth Hour, it's more likely that you'd try it in "real life". (When I say "you", I mean "me"!) 
Inu no Osanpo (Walk the Dog) is one of those rare arcade games, that has been developed with a female market in mind. Not that only women walk dogs, far from it, but this game is a game with no hint of aggression in it. No prodding, beating, tipping or pulling. Just a sedate dog walking simulator, that even comes with a treadmill for added realism. The object of the game is to make a dog happy by taking it for a walk. The leash on the life-size plastic pooch at the front is used to turn the dog left or right, avoiding obstacles that appear in your path. Once the game starts, the player must literally begin walking on the treadmill, but it doesn't move automatically, like the treadmills in the gym. The player has to force it to move with their feet, speeding up and slowing down as the game progresses.

The game was released by Sega in 2001. I guess walking a virtual dog is easier than having a real one in Japanese apartments that are notoriously small, or packed with multiple generations of the family. Players also get to choose what breed of dog they virtually want.
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