Game center

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Akihabara GiGO (Sega game center)

A game center (ゲームセンター, gēmusentā^?) (sometimes shortened to ゲーセン, gēsen for "ga-cen", the contraction of game center) is a hall, or a multipart hall (like the famous Sega Joypolis amusement parks) dedicated to arcade video games.

In the '80s and '90s, the most famous game centers were the Sega game centers (including the later, famous, GiGO) and the lesser Namco amusement centers.

1 Professional video arcades
2 Major game center operators
3 Game center appearance in media
4 See also

[edit] Professional video arcades

Contests are often organized in game centers, with promotional prizes to get, including licensed plush toys (Last Bronx), key holders, lighters or keshis. With the quick development of network battle modes (due to built-in Internet functions integrated to cabinets) during the late '90s, early '00s inter-game centers contests are even possible in Japan and Hong Kong (Battle Gear 3).

The personal of Japanese game centers is known for its professionalism, e.g. an employee cleans the cabinet board with a wet lingette, as soon as a customer left it, in order to prevent microbes spreading from a player to another.