Fading Frontiers Vol. 3: Korea’s Arcade Cabinet Makers get a Shot in the Arm
At the Sewoon Electronics Market, Arcade Cabinet Makers see a resurgence
In the Fading Frontiers series, we’ve been spotlighting the unique neighborhoods that have been centers of game history in Korea — namely Seoul. Time hasn’t been kind to these neighborhoods, especially recently. In Vol.1 and Vol.2 we visited the once-bustling gaming bastions of Yongsan and Kukje to find that, although merchants in these neighborhoods are hanging-in-there through vintage game sales and personal relationships with customers, the dominance of online and purely digital game sales is readily visible.
That’s why, when I went to the Sewoon Electronics Market in Seoul, I was pleasantly surprised to see it open and full of busy arcade cabinet makers, even on a freezing cold Wednesday in January.
I first visited the Sewoon Electronics market 4 years ago when a business partner and I were thinking of opening the first Barcade in Seoul. We had to pass on the idea, but the process of trying to find cabinets in Korea was a fun journey to go through since there’s actually a lot of history involved.
A blog called Hardcore Gaming 101 has an absolutely fascinating, in-depth write up of Arcade and console gaming history in Korea. Do yourself a favor and give it a read!
The big takeaway from the essay is that, in terms of gaming in Korea, arcades were extremely controversial — even more-so than their American and Japanese counterparts. As was usual at the time, there was quite the kerfuffle from Media and parents, blaming arcades from ruining the youth. BUT, there was also the added wrinkle that Korea was under a dictatorship at the time and, well, the dictator agreed. So arcades were literally made illegal for a brief point with hundreds voluntarily closing. However, by 1983 there 20,000 illegal arcades(!) in Korea, many operating in the backrooms of bookstores.
Soon enough though, games were legalized again and the moral panic disappeared, but the turbulence didn’t. Although games weren’t outright illegal anymore, Korean game companies and arcade owners started getting tons of flak when it came to copyright — both from outside of Korea and internally. Companies such as Samsung and LG which were pushing their own officially licensed versions of the Sega and Nintendo consoles and the scene was full of bootlegged cabinets and cartridges.
I mention all of this because one thing I’ve always wondered is just what the hell happened to all of those vintage cabinets? When you go to Sewoon Electronics Mart, most cabinet types available are the plastic multi-game arcades (500 games in 1, etc). No Donkey Kong, no Galaga, etc…even though they were clearly present in the country. Well, a coworker of mine help me solve this riddle. According to him back in the 90’s, along with the copyright crackdown mentioned above, task forces started going directly to arcades and, if they had knock-offs — which were rife — the arcade had to pay something like $3,000 per game cabinet if they got busted. In order to recoup a little cash before closing, arcade owners would break the machines down and sell the components.
Side note: he also mentioned there was some truth to the moral panic surrounding arcades. He remembers frequently fighting with older kids who would try to bully him for coins, and that the arcade owners tended to be pretty shady characters.
That’s what you’ll find at Sewoon today. A square mile of arcade games — legit and bootlegged — and components. But unfortunately no beautiful, antique cabinets which were gutted.
That said, going to Sewoon is really a trip. Without the history-lesson above, it’s still an amazing time. A huge dungeon filled with PCBs, mother boards, dusty cabinets, and cases containing RoMs for nostalgia-trips like Double Dragon and Bubble Bobble. All of this in a funky old neighborhood filled with maker-spaces and hobby shops.
Knowing the history, though, really puts a face on what’s happening and why the scene is in a state of gorgeous disrepair.
What’s also great is that not everything is doom and gloom. Despite appearances, Sewoon Electronics Market might be doing better business than Yongsan or Kukje. There’s been a big resurgence in the nostalgia for all those bootleg cabinets and Korea is starting to see their own take on the Barcade pop up throughout the country.
The Pandora’s Box 4s has been a huge hit here and vendors at Sewoon can make you a custom bar-top cabinet for about $300-$550.
Although it’s a trend, it was great to see these guys get a shot in the arm!
