Location: 4/F of Seaside Mall in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan
Report date: February 2013, updated September 2014

Report by John

Our roving reporter John first reviewed Itchome Shopping Street in Odaiba a year ago. Now he returns to see what's new and how the games have stood up since his last visit.

During the Chinese New Year holidays in February 2013, I visited Tokyo with my wife on our leisure trip.

On day two, after leaving Toy Sapiens, we continued to our fourth and final pinball location of the day - Odaiba Itchome Shopping Street. This is my 'must-go' pinball location each time I visit Tokyo, since it the single location in the city with the greatest number of pinballs.  In addition, my wife can go to her favourite fashion shops while I am playing pinball. 

We arrived at the Seaside Mall in Odaiba in the evening.

Seaside Mall in Odaiba

Itchome Shopping Street

Entertainment Street

Iron Man guards the entrance

There was a total of ten pinballs and a mini-golf game:

• Big Hit (Gottlieb, 1977)
• Batman (Data East, 1991)
• Harley Davidson 3rd Edition (Stern, 2003)
• The Lord of the Rings (Stern, 2003)
• Surfer (Gottlieb, 1976)
• Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Gottlieb, 1992)
• Star Wars (Data East, 1992)
• Street Fighter II (Gottlieb, 1993)
• Grand Prix (Williams,1976)
• Hook (Data East, 1992).
• Little Pro (Bromley, 1990)

This time, I found two new machines: a Grand Prix (Williams,1976) and Hook (Data East, 1992).  I first saw Grand Prix when I was a child and of course my memory of it is quite vague. As for Hook, I had only ever seen one in a YouTube video.

Other than these two, I of course played my lovely pinball Big Hit. Unfortunately, the flippers were quite weak and therefore I could not get either a high score or a replay this time.

Other than pinballs, I also spent some time playing the video games Donkey Kong, Operation Wolf, and Super Hang-On.  These last two were famous games of the late 1980s when I was a secondary school student.

Operation Wolf

Donkey Kong

Super Hang-On

This time, I found that there was a larger number of games than last time I visited in early 2012. The Odaiba Itchome Shopping Street is a definitely fun place for everyone, whether you are a pinball lover or not.

We left around 8pm, and then took a onsen bath at the Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari in Odaiba.

Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari in Odaiba

Finally, day two of this trip ended at 10:00pm.

UPDATE - 29th September 2014

There hasn't been much change since my last visit in February 2013. Only one new machine - a Satin Doll - has been introduced into this centre during the past eighteen months.

Satin Doll

There was a total eleven pinballs, as follows:

• Big Hit (Gottlieb, 1977) - condition: average
  
  
• Surfer (Gottlieb, 1976) - condition: good
  
  
• Satin Doll (Williams., 1975) - condition: average
  
  
• Grand Prix (Williams,1976) - condition: good
  
  
• The Lord of the Rings (Stern, 2003) - condition: good
  
  
• Harley Davidson 3rd Edition (Stern, 2003) - condition: good
  
  
• Batman (Data East, 1991) - condition: good
  
  
• Street Fighter II (Gottlieb, 1993) - condition: average
  
  
• Star Wars (Data East, 1992) - condition: average
  
  
• Hook (Data East, 1992) - condition: average
  
  
• Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Gottlieb, 1992) - condition: average

The first seven machines: Big Hit, Surfer, Satin Doll, Grand Prix,
The Lord of the Rings, Harley Davidson & Batman

The next three: Street Fighter II, Star Wars & Hook

Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World

All of the machines were kept in conditions ranging from good to average. It is still a paradise for pinball lovers like me, and I stayed there for around two hours.

Here is some additional information about Retro Game Centre at Odaiba Itchome Shopping Street:

• Transportation: A two minute walk from Odaiba Seaside Park station (お台場海浜公園駅) on the ゆりかもめ line, or a five minute walk from the Teleport station 東京テレポート駅 on the りんかい line
  
  
• Business hours: 11am - 9pm
  
  
• Website: www.odaiba-decks.com
  
  
• Comments: All of the machines were in good/acceptable working condition.
  
  

© Pinball News 2013