Fish Game

I spotted this fish game at the game center. It was pretty interesting looking.

The players sit around this big screen, kind carnival game style.

You then insert some tokens and turn the dial to aim and shoot some fish. If you hit a fish you get more tokens. It’s kind of like gambling only the only thing you gain is some useless prizes. I just thought it was interesting that eight players shared one screen and that it was laying down.

Sakura

The news is for my Street Fighter loving friends. At Tokyo Game Show they announced that Sakura would be a new character added to Street Fighter 4. Above is a scan from Famitsu. I’m excited about this because Sakura is one of my favourite characters in the Street Fighter series. She kind of combines Ryu and Chun Li play styles together. It’s actually going to get me to head to the game center to try out Sakura. Maybe on Monday before work….

EDIT: I went to the game center and played Street Fighter 4, and no Sakura yet. Maybe soon I hope.

My Japanese Coach

This game for Nintendo DS just came out this week. It’s software that teaches you Japanese. I’ve been trying it out and so far it’s pretty good. So far I’ve learned days and months and even though I know hiragana and katakana it have hand writing recognition so it can test you if you’re writing it properly. It’s really good practice for me. It also had a test at the start to determine your level. I was able to do a bunch of questions, so I got to skip over some super easy lessons that I already knew. I recommend it for anyone trying to learn Japanese (Chris that means you!) or even curious about it. It’s a lot more fun playing games than studying with a book.  I’m just glad that somebody finally decided to put something like this out.

Kids Love It

When I was at the mall the other day I saw a grouping of young children keenly interested in some activity in front of the toy store.

What was it they were all so focused on. Well…

They were battling tops or as it said on the machine “Beyblade”! Yes, they had some kind of battle area in which they could battle their own custom tops. It was quite interesting, but also really old fashioned. I remember playing a game when I was a child called “Battle Tops” by Milton Bradley, although they were a lot simpler and cheaper looking than these things. It good to see that children still like simple thing to play with.

Rambo, what mean expendable?

Yes it seems with the latest Rambo movie, John Rambo is indeed making a comeback in Japan. I saw this brand new arcade machine at the Namco Game Center in Diamond City.

Yes, Sega has gone and made a new Rambo game. It’s your typical light gun game, just with a whole lot more Rambo awesomeness. When I first saw it I thought I had traveled through time and gone back to the eighties. However the copyright date 2008 stamped here and there brought me back to the present. My only question is why is this tiny child playing Rambo, and why are his parents letting him slaughter Russian and Viet Cong soldiers. Oh absentee parents today.

Toe Socks

In Japan believe it or not socks with separate toes is common. You can buy them pretty much at any store that sells clothing here. I was curious about them, so I asked some of my students how they were. All of the ones who wore them said they were very comfortable. Being one to try out new things I decided to purchase a pair a Uniqlo.

You can see the label here with a cute drawing of the toes socks. I also got the dry version. Uniqlo has this great line of clothing called “Dry” and it really works good. It keeps itself and you skin dry. My feet don’t never sweat in these “Dry” sock. It’s really good for summer time. Here’s a picture of them on my feet.

At first it felt really weird. Almost like I wasn’t wearing socks at all. I got used to them after a while. They’re especially comfortable when you’re wearing shoes. The only problem with them is when you put them on you have to make sure the toes go in their right holes. You can’t just slip them on like normal socks.

Wax On, Wax Off

I spotted this at the Village Vanguard in Diamond City. A totally awesome Karate Kid figure.

The package declares it as the “ultimate action figure”. I would have to agree. Especially after I took a closer look at it.

I can do “Tri-Action”. Karate kicks and chops are good, but the Mr. Miyagi secret technique “Karate Drum Punch” trumps both of those. Of course this dates the figure to Karate Kid II, where Daniel-san mastered the technique in the final battle against Sato’s nephew. Yes, Karate Kid II is my favourite of the series, can you tell?

Looks Great

In the latest issue of Famitsu they cover the early new from Tokyo Game Show, which is still happening right at this moment. I think this is the only way that print magazines can compete with the speediness of the Internet, a weekly publishing schedule. The news is so fresh, current and new that most of the websites pull info from this magazine. You can always tell, because lots of Japanese game info appears on Wednesday. Which is coincidentally the day that Famitsu subscribers get their magazines.

On another note, this issue had pictures of the upcoming PS3 game Yakuza 3. All I have to say is this game looks amazing!

If you ever wanted to know what Japan is like you should try playing this game. I played the first one, and really want the second one. The area in which you play the game is based on the real city in Japan. You can go to real stores and buy real items that are actually sold in Japan.

Plus there are lots of other activities to do on top of the story, like going to a hostess bar like in the pictures above. This game looks great! Go here and you can see a video from TGS: Gamersyde. Yes, all of those stores in the video are real. So are the drinks shown in the drink machine.

Best Bank Ever!!

I spotted this ad in a recent issue of Famitsu.

It’s a back that has a little display on it, and it keeps track of how much money you put in it. You can then buy items and weapons for you little hero and then go on a heroic adventure. Pretty damn cool! Too bad the text in is Japanese. I think it’s a great way to save up money. One of the weapons is a crossbow for 12000 yen, so you have to save up a lot on money in your bank to get that high powered weapon. Don’t forget you can always click on the picture for a large view of it.

The Emperor Doesn’t Like That At All!

This has been in the news this week in Japan. Apparently a British man decided to take a little skinny dip in the moat surrounding the Emperor’s castle. It’s usually not a good idea to swim naked in public, but it’s really not a good idea to do it next to the monarch’s house. Supposedly he was trying to retrieve a friend’s bag. Check out the hilarity in this news clip.

Since then the man has been released with wrist firmly slapped. Not the best idea to do while on vacation.