What are Japanese arcades like? In the UK you could expect to see those ripped off the cabinet within a week. Plus after a week I don't know if I'd want to put something on with all that ear sweat!

share the wealth!! and earwax!!

I hate it when the ddr machines are set too quiet. It means i can't hear the music, and then i suck.

Nothing new-- The NEO GEO Arcade units had headphone jacks on them. At least they're still providing the luxury.

@PhotoBoy: I don't anybody in Japan would steal them. Vandalism isn't much of a problem here from what I've seen...but I guess I could be wrong.

and topgeargorilla, I totally know what you mean. That goes for all the music games, really - Beatmania, etc. If you can't hear the beat you may as well not be playing.

Eeeewwwww.

Initial D <3

That is all.

Wait, you only pay 40p (£0.4 GBP) to play a game? We have to pay the equivalent of 240 Yen. Not fair. :(

Initially it sounds gross sharing headphones, however our hands are much more dirty. Playing one game can transfer dozens of peoples germs.

That'd be pretty nice. I've been in many arcades where the ddr machines were set so loud they were the only thing you could hear in the entire place.

In the States the problem would be inept users, and parents that let their kids destroy everything in sight.

@PhotoBoy:

At least it'll last you a week. I doubt it'd last more than a day here. Not to mention the questionable sanitation of some people.

Ear wax and ear sweat sharing for your pleasure!

I understand how they can use the headphones in the arcade, look: they are only 100 yen!!

Yummy! Other people's head juice, with the added bonus of failing to hear the fire alarm till its too late!

Head crabs, lots of them.

----

Kinda reminds me of how that Dome Gundam game,

Gundam: Senjyo no Kizuna, has like a headset with a mic, for players to use to communicate with the other players in the same arcade playing. That was pretty cool. What isnt cool is the fact that most of the people who play the game I dont think you want to be sharing the same headgear as them. So thankfully you can unplug them and put your own pair in.

Why don't they just use sound domes like at Fry's?

http://www.browninnovations.com/sounddomes.html

@Irish.Exile: No space I can imagine?

Actually no idea really. I suppose the extra $$$ to install such things would cost more than leaving headsets around.

As many of you have said, that pair of headphones wouldn't last long in many countries outside Japan. But it's not like there are many arcade games coming out of Japan lately anyway.

I wish the Daytona USA cabinets had something similar, I really hate not being able to actually listen to those epic songs by Mr. James and Mr. Mitsuyoshi.

@Youlikeyams:

We do? I thought it's 50p a race? I can't remember how much it is in places like Trocadero. Might be a £1, I forget but near my University, it's 50p. Saying that, it's Stage 2 so eh.

Is Stage 4 not here yet?? I want to play it!!

To everyone:

The fact that something like this would last in Japan, meaning the headphones would be there longer than a week, says something to the United States:

We are F*cked up real bad!

My question is why?

If we are worried about our kids then maybe they need to be punished(after beating the living sh*t out of the parents for letting their kids do it). I know the US is becoming the arm pit of the world, and we think such highly of ourselves(which is also our downfall), but we really need to take a look around and bring back ediquit!!!

Is is so hard to just leave things that do not belong to you the way you found them?

I can see this Arcade in Japan and see everybody carefully putting back the headphones when they are done with them. In the US they would be left on the floor or just plain removed. What is this world coming to?

I'm moving out of this God foresaken place!

To everyone:

The fact that something like this would last in Japan, meaning the headphones would be there longer than a week, says something to the United States:

We are F*cked up real bad!

My question is why?

If we are worried about our kids then maybe they need to be punished(after beating the living sh*t out of the parents for letting their kids do it). I know the US is becoming the arm pit of the world, and we think such highly of ourselves(which is also our downfall), but we really need to take a look around and bring back ediquit!!!

Is it so hard to just leave things that do not belong to you the way you found them?

I can see this Arcade in Japan and see everybody carefully putting back the headphones when they are done with them. In the US they would be left on the floor or just plain removed. What is this world coming to?

I'm moving out of this God foresaken place!

@RetroGamer79: I think I must have drank too much, Im seeing double.

Brilliant, I hate it when I can't hear the awesome Eurobeat over the over machines.

@topgeargorilla: I have NEVER seen a quiet DDR machine... Ever... The thing plays at concert decibels... Even the console version plays like 2x louder than every other game...

Your Arcade owner must have turned the machines down intentionally, I know they weren't low by system settings... They must have thought the music was annoying.

That's one of the wonderful things about this country - stuff just doesn't get vandalised or stolen. There is no way you could do this in the UK or the US, and I will miss Japanese arcades very much when I go back home this summer.

@bobtheduck: I have seen plenty of quiet DDR machines in my time. The volume on them is controlled by two knobs inside the coin door, and some arcade operators do turn them down. You wouldn't be able to use headphones for DDR anyway, they would get tangled up or fall off.

BTW, Club Sega - where are the headphones for IIDX?

@Witzbold: sorry hit submit button twice, but I made my grammatical change before the second submission!

And then *snip* and they're gone.

@RetroGamer79: ;D