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I went to Japan!
🕑 Added 2016-07-10 06:49:19 +0000 UTC Hello! This week, Pocket Gamer sent me over to Japan for a few days to see an upcoming mobile game. And as a humongous nerd who has been semi-obsessed with Japanese stuff forever, it was pretty damn rad.
I only had a handful of hours to spend in Tokyo before and after visiting the developer, but me and my PG boss Glen packed in as much as possible.
I went to Akihabara, which is the big nerd Mecca. Just endless shops devoted to tech, games, anime, manga, and whatnot. Plus, a few shops that you absolutely don't want to stumble into by accident. Yeesh!
It's a bit of a maze so I'm glad I did some research on the best shops beforehand and took a map. We managed to find the five main game shops - Super Potato, Mandarake, Friends, Trader, and Retro Game Camp - after some smart navigation.
And yes, I bought video games. Really pleased with a sexy boxed copy of Sin and Punishment on the N64 for £25. Most of the stuff in Aki is a tad overpriced as they know it's where all the tourists go, but that was a bonafide bargain.
We also tried to go to Nakano Broadway which is supposed to be a cool video game mall but by the time we got there (10PM) it was mostly shut. So we just wandered around, soaking in the atmosphere.
That includes more vending machines and gachapon machines (those little capsule toys) than you can count. Pachinko plazas, UFO catchers, and arcades (we played Taiko Drum Master). The Shibuya scramble crossing where a sea of people walk across 5 zebra crossings all at once.
And Sushi shops and sake bars. Convenience stores packed to the rafters. Funny signs and cute mascots everywhere. (Seriously, everything from the bus stops to the train ticket machines to the customs area at the airport comes with a cute animal mascot).
The thing that kept hitting me was how well the Yakuza games managed to capture the city. I almost died when I saw a wall of coin lockers. Sadly, I couldn't find a key on the floor to open one up and retrieve a special baseball bat.
Anyway, it was a flying visit and trying to make use of every spare minute - jet lag be damned - means we were pretty knackered most of the time. But well worth it - a fantastic trip and one of my favourites so far.
It will slow down videos a bit (and I'm off to Develop next week too) but should be fine to get everything done (two GMTs, the Ocarina Boss Keys, and all rewards) this month.
Comments
SHAMANWOLF 1594
Japan is amazing...
Nice man also lucky was it good there guys
Game Maker's Toolkit
yah, an incredible experience. can't wait to go back one day
Dan Root
Oh man, I'm planning on making some sort of temporary move to Japan. Was it great?
Ossian Olausson
Wow that does sound super rad! I hope i too can go to Japan someday it's definitely top two or three on my bucketlist
That's great to hear that you managed to get around as much as possible while in Japan. First time I was there we had so much trouble locating Super Potato and Friends, but it was worth the hunt :) It's a shame Nakano was closed as it's an awesome place to find little gems, while also getting an 8 flavour ice cream from Daily Chico. I hope you get to go again in the future as it's definitely a place you'll want to spend days/weeks exploring! Hopefully I'll get to bump into you at Develop and say hi :)
