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Video: Joystiq vs. Akihabara
The Tokyo Game Show is now in full swing, but we've actually been in Tokyo for a few days. On our first day in town, we stopped by the Akihabara district, a definite must-see for any gaming fans passing through Tokyo. We stopped by the Gundam Cafe, retro game store Super Potato (again) and, after a quick Pepper Lunch, Yodobashi, seller of electronics, games, and lots of great toys.
Level-5 files trademark for 'Akihabara Black Market'
Level-5 has filed a trademark for both the titles "Black Market" and "Akihabara Black Market," which could mean that the developer of Dark Cloud and Professor Layton might be working on a new game based in the shadier parts of Japan's real-life Akihabara "Electric Town" district, well known as a haven for gadgeteers and fanboys. Level-5 also filed a (probably unrelated) trademark for something called "Cyberanimals." These could be the titles the company is working on with Capcom, and/or they could represent projects planned for the 3DS next year. We'll have to wait and see.
Tokyo Hackerspace gives you the insider's guide to Akihabara in a twenty-three part video tour
Remember when we took you on a sweeping video tour of China's gadget markets? Tokyo Hackerspace has done the same for Japan, with a video guide to that electronics mecca called Akihabara -- complete with Google Maps coordinates. Join them as they test out servo-filled creatures at the RT Robot Shop, dig through Akizuki Denshi for chips, and hit up Super Potato (an Engadget favorite) for stacks of retro game consoles and rows upon rows of classic cartridges and discs. Find one video sample after the break, and twenty-two other fantastic destinations at our source link. [Thanks, Dan]
Epic Games planning gala celebration to open Tokyo office
Fujisoft building in Akihabara [image source] Epic Games has announced the official opening of its Japan office -- on April 15, the company will hold an event in the Fujisoft Building in Tokyo's Akihabara district, and the guest list includes a few gaming luminaries, including No More Heroes' Suda51, Halo Legends producer Joseph Chou and, of course, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney and Jay Wilbur will be there as well. Cliff Bleszinski won't be in attendance -- he'll be delivering an address via video, which we presume will come from the underground bunker where he's working on Gears of War 3. Taka Kawasaki will also be there -- he's the "territory manager" for Epic Games Japan, and he'll give a short address about the purpose of the studio, which will be to handle both licensing and tech support for Unreal Engine 3 in the region with a team hired starting last year at TGS. This will be the sixth such center for Epic, which also operates centers in North Carolina and Utah, and overseas in Poland, Shanghai and Seoul. There was one set up on the far-off planet of Sera, but unfortunately it was destroyed by a giant worm. We're told Sera-based licensees should call Utah if they happen to need engine support.
Reason to live in Japan #2189: There's a festival celebrating the shmup
If you happen to find yourself in Tokyo on February 27, you're ... really pretty lucky -- and we'll be, oh, so jealous of you. That is, of course, if you ride the Yamanote line to Akihabara and experience Microsoft's celebration of shoot-'em-ups for Xbox 360, known as the Shooting Festa 2010. Excuse us: That's the Xbox 360 SHOOOOOTING FESTA 2010! Yep, this is an event solely dedicated to shmups. Upcoming and current releases will be showcased, and you can find a full list of what we won't be playing after the break (because, well, our "trip to Japan" quarter jar kinda got emptied the last time we found an arcade filled with retro shooters). [Via Siliconera]
April Fools: Gag taunts downtrodden Dragon Quest IX fans
As a hilarious April Fools' Day prank, AkibaBlog posted a notice that Square Enix's DS role-playing game, Dragon Quest IX, had gone on sale early, with stores hosting surprise midnight launches. The blog posted pictures from other launch events in Tokyo's Akihabara district, passing them off as images of 2,000 eager gamers waiting to pick up their copies of the game. "The Starry Sky is protected, but the release date isn't," according to a fake marketing slogan. If you happen to be in Akihabara, don't rush over to Sofmap! It's a joke. It seems especially cruel to pick on the people waiting for Dragon Quest IX, who are already grief-stricken over the game's delay from March 28 to July 11, and many of whom are probably crying right now, collapsed on the sidewalk outside of AsoBit Game City. [Via Kotaku]
Mirror's Edge and Mercenaries 2 fail to excite Japan
Anecdotal evidence suggests that neither Mirror's Edge nor Mercenaries 2 took off in Japan. This picture shows stacks of new copies of both games on sale for ¥1,980 ($21). Mirror's Edge was released on December 11 in Japan, and Mercenaries 2 followed one week later. Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are marked down, so the blame for poor sales doesn't fall solely on 360's lowly reputation in Japan. Japan has no rental services, so people tend to buy games, complete them immediately, and then sell them back to stores asap, before the prices are slashed, leading to a precipitous drop in used prices of popular games. Even that isn't the case here -- these games are new, and retailer Sofmap's website shows used copies of Mirror's Edge at ¥4,780 for PS3 and 360, while new copies are marked down to a mere ¥1,980. Would Mirror's Edge have benefited from a lead character redesigned for Asian audiences? Maybe, if that redesign had also encompassed not making the game a first-person shooter.
Deceased Sega Saturn donates skin, peripherals to Atom PC
It's mighty trendy around these parts to say how much you lament the day when Sega caved to the PS2 and pulled the plug on the Dreamcast, but which side were you on when the Saturn was getting tag-teamed by the OG PlayStation and N64? That poor thing never come close to the sales of even its failed successor, yet still sits fondly in the hearts of a dedicated few arcade-minded gamers. Perhaps that's why Japanese modders at an Akihabara shop decided to bring one back to life, ripping its 32-bit guts out and replacing them with those required to support a dual-core Atom 330, including 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM and a 160GB HDD. Even the peripherals have been overhauled, the memory cartridge turned into an over-sized USB stick and the four-button Shuttle mouse receiving a laser transplant. If it could still play Virtual On: Cyber Troopers we'd be getting out our passports.[Via lebloggadget]
The DS Life: Vanilla Beans
Rena and Lisa make up Vanilla Beans, a Japanese pop idol duo with a fanciful style that separates them from typical J-pop groups. The two recently appeared at Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing to promote their new music single with an interesting publicity stunt -- dressed as retro flight attendants, they sat inside a window-fronted truck for passer-bys to watch and wonder, "What in the world are those strangely dressed girls doing in there?"Sitting inside a closed window display all day can get boring, but the two thoughtfully brought something to pass the afternoon.
Ask Engadget: What gadget(s) to get on my one trip to Asia?
We'll be honest -- Dave has run into a magnificent problem to have, but it's still an issue in need of an answer. And before you get too engrossed, may we remind you that you can send in questions of your own to ask at engadget dawt com. "I live in Canada and have relatives visiting Taiwan in the near future. What hawt Asia-only, non-igloo-related gadget should I ask them to grip for me? Thanks!" We're going to take the liberty of expanding this question to involve all of Asia, given that quite a few others are probably headed to Akihabara in the foreseeable future. So, what's the best gizmos(s) to pick up if heading over to the other side for what may be the first and last time ever?
Potential flash cart ban helps R4 sales
Chalk this one up to "we saw this coming," but the troubled waters that flash carts have found themselves in has led to an increase in R4 sales.Nintendo and fifty-three other companies are filing a suit against retailers selling flash carts, demanding that they stop the sales and imports of said cards. According to Kotaku, Japanese retailers in Akihabara are noticing a difference in demand for flash cards already. Regarding the R4, one staffer noted, "The rush in demand has been amazing. These devices always sell well. But this weekend should be staggering, don't you think?" Amazon.jp has also seen a rise in cart sales, which is to be expected.We're sure Nintendo foresaw the immediate panic following the company's announcement, and that's the risk they decided to take -- watching things get worse before they get better. If Nintendo and the others win the suit, though, it will likely be worth their while in the end.[Thanks, supa_s!]
'Porn pink' PSP used to sell PC eroge title
This is all a bit bizarre. Game retailer Toranoana in Akihabara, Tokyo's destination for things electronic, has a display set up within its shop with a "porn pink" PSP. It's got stickers and designs all for promotion of the PC eroge title Dokodemo suki shite itsudemo suki shite ("Love me wherever, Love me whenever"). With a name like that, it is a wonder why this title isn't on the PSP. You know, love wherever ... whenever ... sounds befitting. Anyway, this game isn't really for the PSP -- it's only on there for display purposes. We guess it's cheaper and space-saving to run a demo on a PSP than a PC.
Konami cancels Japan MGS4 launch events after Akihabara tragedy
Konami has canceled its three Tokyo launch event planned for Metal Gear Solid 4 following the tragic events in the tech-savvy Akihabara district yesterday when 25-year old Tomohiro Kato killed four people and injured ten more (via AP). One of the events was to be in Akihabara. Konami cited "safety of participants in mind" as its reason for the cancellations. The launch events planned for U.S. will proceed as planned, according to a representative.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Japanese Metal Gear launch events canceled after fatal stabbing rampage
The Associated Press is reporting that Konami is canceling its Metal Gear Solid 4 launch events after a deadly stabbing rampage. Tomohiro Kato, a 25-year-old factory worker, carried two knives on him when he was arrested. Kato used one knife to stab more than dozen people in Tokyo's Akihabara district, a popular destination for manga, anime and video games.Kato began his rampage by crashing a rental truck into a group of pedestrians, killing three. He then jumped out of the truck and started slashing through the crowd, killing four and injuring ten.Konami has canceled three launch events for Metal Gear Solid 4 in Tokyo, including a scheduled event in Akihabara. Konami stated the cancellation is for the "safety of participants." Other launch events in the US will be unaffected.[Thanks, Budman!]
Special keychains for Japanese God of War event
Need every bit of God of War merchandise ever? Well, this one's going to be hard to get. That is, unless you live in Japan. A special event in Akihabara later this month (June 20th) will promote the still-unreleased God of War: Chains of Olympus, and those in attendance will be able to get this special keychain. In addition, artist YOU THE ROCK will make an appearance. Although the God of War franchise is incredibly successful in America and Europe, it hasn't managed to break through in Japan. God of War II managed to sell about 40k units total on PS2. While PSP is quite the hot system in Japan right now, it's unclear how the Japanese populace will respond to this incredible, but American-developed, game. [Via PSPHyper]
Nintendo pressures Akihabara vendors to pull R4 carts
If you've ever been to the Akihabara district in Tokyo, you probably know that stores there stock R4s. Well, at least they did stock them. Many Japanese retailers, including the online ones, have been pressured by Nintendo to discontinue their support for R4 carts. The extent of Nintendo's threats weren't made clear, but it's likely that they would no longer provide their products to these stores if the retailers didn't remove R4s from their inventories.Nintendo is being naive if they think this is going to help alleviate piracy issues. People who want to pirate games will find a way to pirate games, whether the equipment to do so is out in the open or not. The R4 cart is also not the only means for people to download games -- we're sure Nintendo knows this.All the same, we can sympathize with Nintendo. The fight against piracy is an uphill one, at best, and since there's not much that Nintendo can do about it, they're doing what they can.[Via Kotaku]
Super Mario Galaxy's quiet Japanese launch
Although we still have a little less than two weeks to go until Super Mario Galaxy arrives in the US (and not much more for Europe), Japan got its taste of the game today. Was their mass hysteria, long lines and rabid fans skipping school and work to be the first to own a copy of the latest Plumber Platformer? Not exactly, according to anecdotal evidence from Siliconera.Visiting Akihabara, arguably the mecca for video games in Tokyo, the folks at the site found no such hysteria or long lines, noting instead that most people waiting in queues were there for Xbox 360 games (no, really!) and pachinko machines.We're still wagering, as does Siliconera, that Super Mario Galaxy will be a massive hit for Nintendo in all territories, and that plenty of people reserved the title and are planning to pick it up after school or work today. However, Mario's presences just doesn't seem to cite as much rabid enthusiasm as a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. It'll be interesting to see how US and Europe handle the Mario Galaxy launches on November 12 and 16, respectively.
Crowds lining up for Super Mario Galaxy in Japan? Not so much
Siliconera's Spencer Yip took a short tour of electronic shops in Akihabara, Tokyo's famed shopping district, this morning to capture the masses that've skipped work and camped out in anticipation of today's Super Mario Galaxy release. Considering that this is one of Nintendo's biggest titles of the year and a much-hyped new entry to the company's most popular franchise, you would assume that the head count would surpass or at least rival the crowds that often gather for Dragon Quest titles, right?Well, according to what Spencer saw at the there stores he surveyed, while a few people queued up outside of shops to snatch themselves a copy, there weren't any of the huge lines that we've come to associate with major releases in Japan. In fact, a few of the guys in the photo above were actually waiting on Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360. Perhaps everyone is waiting to pick up Super Mario Galaxy after work? Or maybe everyone preordered the game in advance to avoid the lines?
Japanese game store devises winning formula for keychains
Game|Life's Chris Kohler found these keychains while browsing in a Super Potato store in Akihabara. The store makes them onsite out of-- guess-- old games and keyrings. They'll take any game you want made dangly, drill a hole in it, and keyring get. Seen here: Doshin the Giant for the 64DD, Rockman 5, and some unidentified Famicom Disk System disks.We'd totally buy one. And If there's a market for extremely impractical keyrings like this, that kill classic games in their creation, then we just totally got an idea for a craft. (Hint: it's this idea.)
Kanji Dragon blows through Akihabara
Sunday came and went, taking with it our hopes of ever meeting Kanji Dragon's martial artist. The kung-fu character posed for a few shots at Success Corp's Akihabara event over the weekend, hyping the kanji-training action title. Just looking at the photos and all the fun we missed out on feels like getting crane-kicked right in the heart.Though we didn't get to attend the soiree, it certainly wasn't from lack of trying. We stuffed our Pokemon backpacks with dozens of DS and GBA games, our favorite G.I. Joes, and a plastic baggie loaded with Pringles (these were crushed into little flaky bits before we even zipped our Squirtle bags shut) before heading out to hitchhike a ride to Japan, but we didn't even make it past two blocks before the police picked us up and drove us home. Our parents were pissed. Hissatsu Kung Fu: Kanji Dragon DVDs containing all of the game's promotional videos, including an unreleased action clip, were passed out to attendees. Peek past the post break for another exciting image from the event and a look at the multicolored shirts that were given to those who preordered the title. You might also see us hugging our knees in the corner, sniffling and trying to pretend like we just didn't spend all afternoon crying.
