Just a few points in case anyone asks. I could have put this stuff in the video, but I didn't want to drag it down. "Palace Za" in English would mean throne. Za just means a place to sit. Adding the English word palace to it makes it sound glamorous, but to us, it just sounds weird. Many theatres in Japan used this name. Nikkatsu is/was a film company. So under that name, the theatre only showed Nikkatsu films. When other films were shown there, the name was changed. The theater usually showed 2 or 3 movies at a time. This place was built just after the war and so you should not imagine a modern day cinema. Many of these places, even today are just one room spaces, enough to fit 100-200 people and the screen scattered about on different floors. It's not very clear what the inside was like, no photos exist, nor a floor plan. I tried looking for aerial photos too, but no luck. The block that this building was on changed a lot, it looks like houses were across the street in the 50s-60s but by the 80s other buildings had gone up around it. Also it looks like there used to be 2 way traffic on that street. Today, its one way and has so many pedestrians on it, it's not worth driving on. Its possible that the building changed or extended over time. Also in Tokyo when several small buildings go up over time, they will often connect with bridges and corridors. By the time Palace Za closed, there was a bridge to the Loft next door. It could be that when Toru talks about a long hallway, one could be walking into what is technically another building, even if you don't go outside. The building in its place still stands. It is 8 stories with 2 more floors underground. The first floor was a bank in the 90s, a clothing store today. Palace Za moved into the 7th and 8 floors, and renamed itself Cine Palace. Because the entrance is half a block away, it had a different address. That closed in 2018 but a new theatre took over, Cine Quinto. Oh, and did you see all the cool movies playing! Akira and Wall Street!? What a double feature!
@RabbitEarsCh
4 ай бұрын
I thought it was amazing that the one best shot you get has them showing Akira! What a weekend to be there at Palace Za.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@RabbitEarsCh that was just by luck. Who knows why someone took a picture there that day.
@FeralInferno
4 ай бұрын
Great detective work on this one and a fun piece of history!
@Prodmullefc
4 ай бұрын
This kind of march of time kinda sucks sometimes. When I lived in Los Angeles I was super excited when I found out a lot of the most iconic locations from Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs were all real places that weren't a very far drive from me. But the catch was that most of them were now completely gone and replaced with other stuff. The diner from Pulp Fiction is now an Autozone (or O-Reilly, one of those).
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
For me the super heartbreaker is the one bowling alley in Kingpin is now a bed bath and beyond.
@CarletonTorpin
4 ай бұрын
Great forensic investigation!
@madamantiou
4 ай бұрын
Always great to see a GTV upload!
@Justin-Hill-1987
4 ай бұрын
Pac-Man was on its way to becoming one of the "killer apps" of the early 1980s...
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
It was!
@Diablokiller999
4 ай бұрын
Something a government should've made a move, to assure that this historical place is preserved as games history :)
@markm.9968
4 ай бұрын
I can only wonder how many quarters I fed into machines playing Pac-Man. 🤣 Awesome upload, have a great weekend GTv! 🤙
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I know the indirect answer, all of them! Have a great weekend 🍓
@EvaFull
4 ай бұрын
(Pours out some of my Soda/Pop for all the arcades of yesterday) 🫗🫗🫗🫗
@CriticalEatsJapan
3 ай бұрын
Good detective work on this one. And did you actually film some of that street footage?
@GTV-Japan
3 ай бұрын
Yeah. Whenever needed I can always dip into my personal photo roll
@Riz2336
4 ай бұрын
Hell yeah I have a pac-man tattoo, I won't say I'm good at it but I think it's a fun old school game
@Dariothehungry
4 ай бұрын
GTV, not to sound like a broken record, but fantastic video. ✌️
@dilbertfish
4 ай бұрын
I appreciate your dedication to one of the greatest. Thank you.
@mightyfilm
4 ай бұрын
If this was over here, that theater would have been either a bank or a condo complex that no one can actually afford to live in. That's what happens to EVERYTHING over here eventually.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I know! I can’t even afford my current cardboard box!
@broken1394
4 ай бұрын
Columbo would be 💯 proud of you. 🔎 Great upload. 👻👻👻👻
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Columbo is big in Japan! Just call me the Gaming Gumshoe! Thanks for watching 🍓
@supsollc.3647
4 ай бұрын
Puckman yep sounds about legit
@EoR_2B4GOT10
4 ай бұрын
While not my favorite arcade game of the 8-bit era. It probally is the most important. I always preferd Dig Dug
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I’m all in on Rally X! It’s more addictive than crack.
@lovemadeinjapan
9 күн бұрын
Did Dug has some nice non-linearity to it. That is why I like Mr. Do even better. You can approach it in various manners.
@virtualpaintstudio
4 ай бұрын
Great detective work, Sir! I'm actually more interested in the location where the first machine was built and tested for the first time. I Love stories about development. Thank you for all of your awesome videos!😁
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
You got it! Thanks for the support on day one!🍓
@CHanafuda
4 ай бұрын
Greetings, that was a great video about the actual location of the Pac-Man test site in Japan, by the way, you mentioned that Iwatani explained that May 22 was not the release date, that's something that always happens when it comes to an Arcade anniversary. They confuse the test day or announcement day thinking that that is the date of its official release and proof of this is Donkey Kong, many believe and continue to believe that its release date was July 9 but in documents about arcade dates in Japan, official flyers and newspaper advertisements showed that Donkey Kong was released in August 1981 along with another Nintendo arcade game, Sky Skipper. That was all, greetings from Captain Hanafuda🎴👺♠
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Yes. His actual words describe that. He went on more about it saying that because many people say May 22, it’s just become his birthday. I suppose July 1-7 is more accurate🍓
@ChromeColossus
4 ай бұрын
Terrific and informative video, thank you! Were you a bit under the weather recording the VO for this one? You sounded just a tad different than usual to me, but maybe I'm just losing my mind with age.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Oh really? Hmm. No I’m fine. I just always sound like that.
@SwashBuccaneer
4 ай бұрын
You always do such thorough research for your videos. This was a really cool video.
@badassmotha2k
4 ай бұрын
I didn’t like the new Bandai Namco logo until you used it for your channel bug. Thank you
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
You’re welcome and thanks for using the proper term, bug! That’s what I called the png file that it was!
@ericspratling9252
3 ай бұрын
Great detective work! The past is another country that we can't even visit.
@GTV-Japan
3 ай бұрын
As the saying goes “the past is a foreign country” 🍓
@GimblyGFR
4 ай бұрын
These detective-esque videos rule. Man, you can take a relatively simple topic and make really interesting content out of it. I wouldn't have minded if you included all those extra points in the video. Anyway, excellent as usual. Thank you very much for the upload!
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Cheers! I wanted to make a short and simple video, that hopefully gets passed around but I often go on tangents about Japan that I think nobody really understands. The secret is GTV is not supposed to be a “gaming channel” it’s a channel about Japanese stuff that just happens to intersect with games! 🤫
@GimblyGFR
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan I find those tangents about Japanese things very, very interesting. Probably more than the gaming aspect. I love Japanese culture, and since it is very likely that I'll never get the chance to travel to Japan, videos like the ones you make (with the perspective of a westerner living there) are fascinating to me.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@GimblyGFR cmon over!! It’s fun
@GimblyGFR
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan Believe me, I'd love to. And my daughters, too! But since we can barely make ends meet on a regular basis...
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@GimblyGFR ah I see. I’m sorry. It is quite an investment to get over here. I’m basically stuck here for the same reason. But I’ll keep delivering and hopefully it gives you a bit of an escape. I have one video idea that’s fully non gaming and historical so I think you’ll like it.
@vitacilina555
4 ай бұрын
Love to see it!
@mydjsobad
4 ай бұрын
I walk by that location all the time and have shopped in the Loft right next door so many times in the 10 years I've been out here. It's cool to be able to see it in a different light now! It's also crazy to think how much arcade history Shibuya has that's just completely lost to time now. Not too long ago I dug up pictures of a club that I used to go to all the time in the Dogenzaka area that showed its previous life as an arcade in the 90s and it looked like such a wild spot. It's a shame that there are hardly any arcades in that whole area at all anymore.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
That’s cool to hear! Same here. When I was looking this up and saw the address I was like hmm I’ve been there then it was like oh there! Really?! Then I found pictures of the old place and it was just weird to see how it changed. There’s a photo book called time slip 1984-2021 where it’s nothing but side by sides of how Tokyo was 40 years ago. I recommend!🍓
@vix_in_japan
4 ай бұрын
This is exactly why I love your channel :) You do your own research and the passion shines through.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Thanks for the support! 🍓
@nicholascooney
4 ай бұрын
They took the Pac-Man and other arcade machines outta the McDonald's where I live 😢
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I’ve never seen a video game in Mickey D’s!!🍓
@nicholascooney
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan I'm from and still live in The OC, California. it was in Buena Park near Knott's Berry Farm and the area where Kevin Smith filmed Clerks II. Had other great games too like House Of The Dead and Mario Kart Arcade GP. The McDonald's remodelled and got rid of the arcade area :(
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@nicholascooney wow that’s something else!
@lhfirex
4 ай бұрын
I'm pretty sure I walked past the building that replaced the old Shibuya Palace Za theater a few times when I was living in the Tokyo metro area.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
That block has all kinds of great stuff so I’m not surprised a few people have said this. Even though it’s kind of “out of the way” of course now it’s all just huge buildings back to back with no personality. On the other side is Parco. I’ve been there a few times recently
@lhfirex
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan I don't live in Japan anymore, but what's funny is, I didn't really go to Shibuya that much when I went to Tokyo. Spent a lot more time in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku/Harajuku (usually walking across the two areas, and maybe stopping in that one Imperial garden that's open to the public) and Akihabara. But man did that screenshot of the building that replaced the theater look very familiar. I think I would've liked the movie theater experience in the Palace Za, though. There's something really great about those smaller movie theaters as far as the viewing experience goes.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@lhfirex same here. It’s just a pain to take that train line down there because if you don’t live on that side you have to change at Akabane. But the other side including Akiba is a straight shot. Shinjuku Times Square is a pretty nice place too. I remember in 06 when the first Krispy Kreme opened and the wait for a donut was 3-4 hours! 🤯
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@lhfirex I also like experience of the movie. Going there with the public and seeing something. A singular story for about 90 minutes and when it’s gone it’s gone. Something else takes its place and the world keeps moving along with it.
@dodgykebaab
3 ай бұрын
….its been torn down now. Ah, puck.
@GTV-Japan
3 ай бұрын
Yes. Certainly. 🍓
@progresojentv
4 ай бұрын
Wow cute 🥰..nice sharing Sir ❤❤
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
You’re welcome! 🍒🍓🍊
@ShinSeikiEvan
4 ай бұрын
This game was absolutely mindblowing when it came out. I was very, very young at the time. I was always disappointed that the home versions of the game were so inferior. And I was so happy what the Saturday morning cartoon came out.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Yeah even on the 7800 and NES they weren’t arcade perfect. Always bothered me. 🍓
@MrBelmontcain
4 ай бұрын
cooooooooooooooool
@FerintoshFarmsPhotography
4 ай бұрын
I wonder what the changes were
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
In that same interview he said the changes were very small. Basic just the speed and how the ghosts move. Easier or difficult I don’t know.
@BeIlG
4 ай бұрын
Another amazing video!!! I love your content so much!!! Thank you for uploading!!!
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoy it!
@KLegyyn
4 ай бұрын
Weirdly, I also prefer Pac-Man with his long nose. . I don't know why, it looked charming to me. . .
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Pac-Man is a foreigner.
@thewingedavenger1007
4 ай бұрын
Imagine walking out of a cinema, disappointed by some rubbish Japanese B-movie, and by pure chance getting to be the first person to play Pac-Man!
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
That person probably never realized it! The biggest movie of the time was Kagemusha but maybe that was one sold out so they had to watch something else.
@sa3270
4 ай бұрын
Imagine being the first person up there to see Puck-Man. You wouldn't even know to be excited about it, because you wouldn't have heard the hype.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
It wouldn’t click until much later. If ever. 🍓
@Embargoman
3 ай бұрын
Then Midway published it in the US and called it Pac-Man instead of Puck Man because vandalizes will turn the P into an F.
@GTV-Japan
3 ай бұрын
There’s always one guy!
@vincently1995
4 ай бұрын
What happened?
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I don’t know.
@darktetsuya
4 ай бұрын
wow I never thought about how the debut of pac-man went, very interesting!
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
There’s also a TV commercial out there from 1981 with Paccy promoting New Rally X it’s pretty interesting 🍓
@lpstweetytv5242
4 ай бұрын
Good show, Mr. Holmes 🕵♂️
@CushionSapp
4 ай бұрын
I thought you were going to reveal that the place was destroyed from an earthquake or tsunami.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
No! But if there was a tsunami in Shibuya it would be a huge problem
@RabbitEarsCh
4 ай бұрын
Great investigative work!!! I was half-expecting you to show up filming on location to the new spot. When I'm next in Shibuya again, I should take an otherwise innocuous looking picture of this new structure...
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I thought about it but we’re overrun with tourists now and it’s nothing spectacular. Just a big grey rectangle. But that block has the Nintendo store the Capcom store Pokémon center and some other stuff too. The movie theater that wasn’t torn down is there too. That theater is like a dome thing on the 4th floor above the Disney store. It’s really a busy area even though it’s up the hill from the crossing.
@RabbitEarsCh
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan Shame, it's probably the most significant thing on that block for video games but it's already so dense that it doesn't make a lot of sense to get the shot when there's so much around. I didn't even know there was a Pokemon center in Shibuya, I only knew the big one in Ikebukuro. I feel like I got lucky ending up there last September - everyone in Tokyo talks about being overrun by tourists and I guess I just barely missed the huge wave that started right after!
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@RabbitEarsCh I seriously walked through Akiba in April and saw not a single Japanese person. I was shocked. The Pokémon center, Nintendo store and Capcom store are all in the same building. Parco or the one next to it. They’re all smashed together and interconnected so it’s easy to get lost.
@DontKnowDontCare6.9
2 ай бұрын
Billy Mitchell has the original machine. LOL
@GTV-Japan
2 ай бұрын
Ew.
@uncledot1868
4 ай бұрын
The world's first introduction to an arcade legend.
@SIDEKICKDUSTY
4 ай бұрын
Anyone know what the movie being advertised on that magazine cover is? Looks cool. Reminds me of Ran, but 1980 is way too early for it to be Ran
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Kagemusha was released in April 1980!
@SIDEKICKDUSTY
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan ah, ok, thanks GTV. Kagemusha is a good one, too
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@SIDEKICKDUSTY yeah actually by chance the one photo of the big building with Shibuya Takazuka was playing Kagemusha at the time. You can see it in the photo! 🤯
@SIDEKICKDUSTY
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan cool! I always like the pictures you find from the time you're talking about
@Morgil27
4 ай бұрын
Even more than the location, imagine finding the first person to actually _play_ the machine.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
She would’ve been quite the cool lady! Even if she’s a baba now.
@Morgil27
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan So you know it was a "she"?
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Yeah! After all, ladies first!
@Morgil27
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan Touché
@jimmykewley8386
4 ай бұрын
I miss arcades
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
They’re still around. Nothing but good memories. ⚾️
@sa3270
4 ай бұрын
They would cost at least a dollar in today's money.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
Still 100¥ which is about 66 cents these days
@jimmykewley8386
4 ай бұрын
London, UK has suffered, but still has one or two arcades. There is one place that has a good compliment of retro machines, other than that it's DDR and I can't be doing that! GTV rules
@Ratralsis
4 ай бұрын
I guess I'm glad you didn't leave me hanging and got right to the twist in the title.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
What do you mean?
@Ratralsis
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan That the place where Pac-Man was first played is gone forever. You found it, but, TWIST, it's gone forever. So I didn't spend any of the video thinking about how I could plan a visit to it or anything. Look, not all my comments can be winners. Probably most of them aren't.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@Ratralsis well yeah but the title is just “The Original Pacman” 😀
@Ratralsis
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan the title of the video, I meant. "But...yeah...it's GONE FOREVER!" Having now explained my joke not once but twice, I shall retreat into the shadows until your next video and see how I do then.
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@Ratralsis yeah but that’s just stupid nonsense KZitem makes you do. That’s not the true title. They call it a title but it’s just teaser text next to the video. I always put the true title in the video. The next video is going to be pretty good I hope! All about one of my favorite Atari eras
@mekman4
2 ай бұрын
Great Stuff, as always!
@GTV-Japan
2 ай бұрын
Thank you! Cheers!
@mekman4
2 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan No problem!
@ekurisona663
4 ай бұрын
try to go back and figure out when super mario bros. (nes) was released in the usa : (
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
I thought that was already done? 🤔
@ekurisona663
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan my understanding is that we don't have a way to conclusively determine the smb nes release date in the u.s. - was something found? thx gajillionaire
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@ekurisona663 no nothing was found but after trying many times no one came up with an answer.
@ekurisona663
4 ай бұрын
@@GTV-Japan yeah : (
@GTV-Japan
4 ай бұрын
@ekurisona663 it’s all right really. Doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of the universe :)
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