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"Namco Bandai is shuttering between 50 and 60 arcades in Japan, and it's laying the blame squarely on Nintendo's shoulders. \"A lot of the types of games that people played at an arcade can now be done at home,\" said company spokesman Yuji Machida. Namco figures that Japanese kids are saving up their pocket money to buy the latest and greatest Wii game or accessory, which is clearly unacceptable. Sega Sammy also has plans to close about 100 of its arcades, but there's no word of finger pointing from that camp. While we're certain the Wii's popularity has a little something to do with it, perhaps Japanese gamers are just beginning to learn something their American counterparts got down years ago: why leave the couch? Ever?[Via Joystiq]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/08/namco-blames-wii-for-arcade-closures-in-japan/>