Arcades, once a common sight in every Japanese town, are experiencing a rapid decline in both popularity and profitability. Last year saw the closure of one of the country's most famous game centers, the SEGA arcade in Akihabara, as well as hundreds of other locations across Japan. These mass closures were attributed to a combination of low attendance and a shortage of new arcade cabinets, both of which were caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, tragedy has struck yet another popular game center - but this time, it isn't connected to Sega selling the entirety of its arcade business shortly following its Akihabara closure. Instead, this Hiroshima arcade was the source of a devastating but thankfully not deadly accident.

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Shortly after 9 pm on June 3rd, a sedan crashed into the front of the Sega World in Ujina, a district in the south of Hiroshima. The driver was identified as a 20 year old man; the car contained four other passengers, all young men between the ages of 15 and 20. Thankfully, neither the passengers nor anyone inside the arcade was injured. The game center itself was mostly empty at the time, likely due to a combination of the late hour and rainy weather. Footage from the scene shows the car stopped just shy of a line of claw machine games.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, which damaged the entire front of the game center and broke several windows. The police currently suspect that, as it was raining heavily at the time, the driver may have been speeding and lost control of the car due to the wet road. It has not yet been announced whether the driver will be charged with destruction of property.

In an interview for Japan's Fuji News Network TV station, a man who witnessed the collision described the sound of the car hitting the arcade windows as "DONNN." Later news coverage of the event would link the witness's description with Taiko no Tatsujin, or Taiko Drum Hero, a popular arcade game that uses "don" to refer to the sound of sticks hitting the center of the taiko drum. Although still mostly associated with arcades, Taiko no Tatsujin recently made its way onto smart phones.

It was announced via Twitter that the Sega World arcade in question would be closed indefinitely beginning on June 4th. It has not yet been revealed whether the arcade will re-open, but gaming fans in Hiroshima are hoping that it will. With so many arcades in Japan shutting their doors, many would like to see this one pull through.

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