Geeks will be praying towards Causeway Bay as group opens giant anime game arcade
There's a new Mecca in town for geeks obsessed with Japanese action figures. Toymaker Namco Bandai tomorrow is opening its first amusement facility outside Japan. Its Wonder Park Plus hosted a ceremonial opening on the sixth floor of the World Trade Centre yesterday morning - complete with a few middle-aged executives from Tokyo in town to cut a ribbon - but its 200 sets of video game machines incorporating popular anime icons such as Gundam, Zaku, Tamagotchis and other comic characters will open to the 'fanboy' community on Saturday morning.
They are more than just fancy arcade-game booths, and there'll be TV screens continually running anime from the Namco Bandai Group. Every inch of the 1,150 square metre space is covered in the 'kidult' culture of Japanese pop culture.
The amusements include eight separate dome-shaped-screen fighting machines, Gundam Senjyo No Kizuna, which allow up to eight players to engage at the same time.
It's the first one in town and they're huge in Japan. If you're a game nerd, you'll know how big this is. But if you're a grown-up, you'll be shaking your head right now thinking this new generation is shot to hell.
Admission to the Causeway Bay theme arcade is free but if you want to play the machines you'll have to buy some tokens.
