The World Ends With You is serious about Shibuya

We've always known that The World Ends With You is steeped in Shibuya youth culture, but we weren't aware that the game actually includes real-life landmarks from the reputably trendy Tokyo ward.

However, thanks to Siliconera's Spencer Yip, we now know that the statue to the right is a famous tribute (situated outside Shibuya station) to a real-life dog known as "Hachiko," and that it appears in Square Enix's ARPG -- here, to be precise. Yip also reveals that Shibuya's "Scramble Crossing" has made it in to the game, as well as popular department store "109" (both here -- though 109 is known as "104" in the game).

All of which was news to us, primarily because we're paid far too little to fly to Tokyo. The World Ends With You is far from the first game to feature real-life landmarks (in terms of games on Nintendo systems, Pilotwings 64 had Mount Rushmore, Illusion of Gaia features the Great Wall of China and Angkor Wat, amongst others, Super Dodgeball Brawlers has the Eiffel Tower, and feel free to name more in the comments) but it's still pretty interesting reading up on references that would have otherwise eluded us.

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