www.ukresistance.co.uk/2008/09/inside-north-korean-arcade.html
INSIDE A NORTH KOREAN ARCADE A man took these photos inside an amusement arcade in Pyongyang, capital of North Korea. They will make you very, very grateful that your local still has a functioning SEGA Rally and that you are not from or stuck in North Korea. They will also stop you from complaining that one of the steering wheels on Daytona USA isn't very responsive any more. They will stop you complaining about having to wait five minutes for a go on Street Fighter IV. They will also stop you complaining about having to pay 2 for a go on OutRun2. They will stop you complaining about the fierce punch button being a bit temperamental. They will stop you complaining about the state of the decor.
And I thought I was slumming it in the Ilfracombe arcades the other week playing a Daytona with no sound and stuck on the 4th viewpoint and a Sega Rally where all you could see was "Insert Coins" burned onto the screen...
So Justin, was this on one of them government guided tours? Just think, in about 10 years time Sonic 1 might have filtered through, and those lucky North Koreans will be playing it for the first time ever....
All North Koreans are fed up of dying of starvation while playing ancient broken video games... they'd love to go to the south so they could die of starvation playing Ragnarok Online in an internet cafe instead.
So the government pays for anything you want, education, housing, sports facilities, but they also tell you what to think, where you can go and who you can't be seen with. We have massive freedom of choice, but what a price we pay. Goes to prove the old saying "You can't have everything, it's one or t'other."
but that previous comment was utter bullshit, written by some student with no idea of the real world. and let me ask you what that "massive freedom of choice" really is in the UK?
They didn't seem embarrassed about the age of the machines in the arcade. And most likely they didn't give that much of a shit about arcade games. It was generally very hard to tell what they were thinking, or what they thought we were thinking. They have no access to foreign media or any source of information other than the official government line. They need permission to travel anywhere within the country (and travel outside of the country is only for very elite party members), and generally questioning the government in any way is punished harshly. As for the supposed advantages, well I would doubt that their education, housing, and social welfare services are more generous than in the UK. You are sure as hell not going to get the dole for doing nothing there.
Justin (if you're still reading the comments), these pictures are fascinating! If you do have any other pictures of your trip to North Korea online then please do post the address, I know at least I would love to see 'em.
Don't you have to approve the posting of these pictures with the travel agency before putting them up? That you're not supposed to write about it or put any photos up afterwards.
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