Comments on: Tokyo PC: Pasokon Gemu!

By: squarebab

squarebab — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:17:13 +0000

Well, this explains Japan’s low birth-rate crisis. Instead of the Japanese government paying couples in cash to have children, they should give them game cards instead. HA!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:45:46 +0000

Oh, yes. You can also check out the latest news update, which talks about some kind of new game mode involving melons.

Watermelons, presumably.

By: Quinns

Quinns — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:33:00 +0000

No way! I had no idea any of the card arcade machines had made it further than Singapore. This bodes well. And also not well, as arcades in the UK are sad, expensive affairs.

By: James Lyon

James Lyon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:38:27 +0000

I saw two of those card-based arcade games in London’s Trocadero the other day: a football one and a horse racing one. Even translated into English they look confusing as all hell, although even saying that I’d probably get more of my money’s worth than the two minutes I spent on House of the Dead 4.

By: Real Horrorshow

Real Horrorshow — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:45:53 +0000

I remember back when I played Battlefield 2, there was a fairly significant community of Japanese players, for some reason.

By: EyeMessiah

EyeMessiah — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:06:58 +0000

Sometimes I just stuff pound coins into my empty fdd bay when I die in Bioshock. The vita-chambers make so much more sense that way!

Has anyone on RPS ever lived the dream of building a PC with arcade emulators into an Arcade cabinet with working coinslots?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:37:39 +0000

Interesting article. I’d have loved to know what those briefly-mentioned importers/big stockists do. Surely there are Japanese localisations of some PC games, or are they all imported American versions?

I mean, yeah, arcades are nice, but this is a PC site, and if I wanted to waste money in an arcade I’d not need my PC :)

By: lgm

lgm — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:01:24 +0000

Awesome article. Any chance of this turning into a regular column?

By: Dorian Cornelius Jasper

Dorian Cornelius Jasper — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:03:49 +0000

Well, Japan isn’t the friendliest place in general, if you get past the most immediate politeness layers. Though you could generally get by with folks being politely condescending, especially if you’re only visiting for a bit.

I can’t say I’m especially a big fan of Japan’s gaming scene. Or their culture in general. (The “no demos” thing is only one of their several consumer-culture quirks that just strike me as terribly silly and impractical.) The pretty pictures pop culture, on the other hand, I actually like quite a bit.
Divorced from their proper context, of course.

One should add that the not-entirely-inaccurately-perceived shallowness in their over-emphasis on aesthetics over substance, such as what manifests in their physical products, does make for some nice-looking stuff. Such as handhelds, which they’ve down pat.

And I’ve gotta say… When I originally read up on HL2 Survivor, I was first amused, then dismayed.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:49:58 +0000

There are a fair number of non-adult “visual novels” on PC as well, and a few other things – a couple of the Ys games (like Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim) originated on the PC, for example.

By: propanol

propanol — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:27:11 +0000

What I don’t understand about Japanese arcades is how people are able to stand the aural assault you’ll be subjected to upon stepping into one. Seriously, noise levels approach around 60dB or more inside most – datacenters are probably more benign to your ears and that’s saying something.

By: Phil White

Phil White — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:40:50 +0000

I just wouldn’t go there on holiday. I don’t think Westerners are welcome, but they’re too polite (mostly) to say anything.

Bushido Blade, though.