100-Yen Apocalypse: Sensorial Experiences of Zombie Play in Japanese Game Centers

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between players’ exteroceptive senses and videogame systems in the setting of a public game center. I address the zombie arcade game Left 4 Dead: Seizonshatachi (Neilo 2014), drawing on field observations of the game in situ and at play in the physical environs of two Taito game centers, as well as my own researcher gameplay. I discuss the spatial and sensorial context of the game’s intended play experience, composed of unsettling smellscapes, variable lighting conditions, insistent noise pollution, and distraction by other customers. This play context is analysed as a space that mirrors the senses of disorder, contingency, and bodily vulnerability that lie at the heart of fictional zombie encounters. I contend that Left 4 Dead: Seizonshatachi and similar arcade experiences involving zombie texts accelerate the affective, narrative, and experiential tendencies of zombie media and intensify their impact for players.