Since today is election day, I'm going to sit at my desk and play Super Obama World. I've always loved Mario, but this is even better. The new (maybe) president jumping over pigs and gathering American flags. Whee!
Play Super Obama World online (Thanks, Jenna!)
And while we're on the topic of silly food you can win from a UFO catcher, here are some fake fried fish (or is it squid?) cakes made to look like the non-existent 100 million yen bill.
It makes sense (kinda) to go to a video game arcade and spent 1000 yen (ten bucks) trying to win a stuffed Pikachu. But this takes claw catchers to a whole new inexplicable, nonsensical level. Why would you spend more than 100 yen to try to win an ice cream cone that you know is 100 yen at the store across the street?
A new erotic video game that's coming out next year called "Love me seriously!" is rumored to have a character modeled after our new Prime Minister Taro Aso. As you can see here, he looks a lot like the guy, and his height (175cm) and hobbies (shooting guns) also match the PM's profile. I think his job is specified as prime minister, too.
Of course, there's a disclaimer saying that any similarities to real characters are pure coincidence. Fair enough. But this rumor has triggered a lot of buzz on 2channel, and I think it's fair to say it surprises nobody that erotic game makers would want to celebrate the anime-loving politician in this way.
Link (Japanese)
Before gamer geeks became a dime a dozen, there was Takahashi Meijin. Takahashi was hugely famous and all over TV from the mid-to-late 80s because he was so good at every Family Computer games. Game software company Hudson actually hired him under the title "Meijin" (or expert)—his job was just to be really, really good at all their games. He can push a button with his finger 16 times per second. If you watch him play, he has absolutely no wasted movements—not even an extra blink, ever!
In this video, he says: "I'm actually pretty clumsy. It's possible that you might be better at the next new game than me." It shows his life story—born in Sapporo, dropped out of college, got a job at a supermarket, then eventually became a game software salesperson in Akihabara. He decided it would help him be a better salesman if he was good at the games, so he went home and practiced until he became the world's first gaming expert. (Thanks, Baker!)
Major League Eating is a new Wii game coming out in Japan on October 14. It's like any other sports game, except the contestants must compete in an eating contest. The idea is to use the Wiimote to carry food to your mouth as fast as you can; along the way, you can pick up items like farts and burps.
The star of the game? Takeru Kobayashi, of course. Joey Chestnut, the dude who beat him for the last two years in a row at the Coney Island hot dog eating contest, is in it too. It's the first video game ever featuring the world's best food fighters.
No word yet as to whether you can shoose to be 22-year old cutsey super eater Gal Sone. She's my favorite.
via Impress Watch (Japanese)
Are you a glamorous-at-heart game addict who wishes there was a little bit more flair to your console? I've seen people put fake diamond stickers all over their DS Lite, but this silver heart-shaped stylus takes fancy to a whole new level. You have to admit that the light blue box with the off-center heart and leather strap is reminiscent of a gift from Tiffany's.
Hard core gamers might want to consider building their next house out of these meticulously carved Game Boy bricks. Each one costs about $30, but it's the exact same size as a Game Boy. More pics after the jump.
I've always wanted to read Osamu Tezuka's classic manga anthology, Phoenix, but it goes for volumes and volumes and would take up too much room in my bag. Well, now, a company called Compile Heart has collaborated with Tezuka Productions and Nintendo to create a DS software that includes the graphic novel in its entirety. It's in Japanese, of course, but what a genius idea to put novels on a DS cartridge, right?
If you prefer the English version in print, it's been published by Viz Media.
Starting in April, board game geeks in Japan will be able to order their very own customized Game of Life from Takara Tomy. Several themed boards will be rolled out over the course of the year. The first will be the Bridal Version. You can put a big picture of you and your sweetheart on the board, and decide what 56 of the 99 boxes on the board say.
Example:
"Taro buys an engagement ring for Hanako. Pay $50,000."
"Taro and Hanako have twins. Collect $1,000."
"Taro cheats on Hanako with his hot young secretary. Pay $2,000 for an apology ring."
"Hanako leaves Taro, and takes all his bank funds with her. Taro pays Hanako $100,000."
The release is timed in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Game of Life in Japan—with less board game competition here, it's really pretty popular. The custom board takes a month and a half to make and costs about $350.
Link (Japanese)
This is a pic of me playing mogura tataki. What is this game called in English again? I can't remember. Mole hunting? Anyway, these arcade versions are alright, but by far the best mogura tataki game ever is on the New Super Mario Brothers cartridge for Nintendo DS Lite. It's one of the mini-games, and in addition to trying to hit as many moles as you can, you have to avoid the Luigi heads that occasionally pop up between them. Tricky!
Sega's new PS3 game titled "Ryu Ga Gotoku" is action-packed warring samurai goodness. It features the faces and voices of some pretty big-name actors and music by hip-hop artist Zeebra. It comes out March 6, 2008 in Japan. More images after the jump.
When I was a kid and my dad would take us on road trips up to Karuizawa, my brother and I played the license plate number game. The rules are simple: Using basic math, make the four digits on the license plate equal 10.
In this case, you could do:
1+2+3+4=10
or
1x2x3+4=10
or
2x4+(3-1)=10
and so on.
Did anyone else play this game? Is it just in Japan or worldwide?
The latest variation of electronic pet is a piece of shit on your desktop that you have to feed, take care of, and watch grow. Pretty much the same as a Tamagochi, except it lives on your computer and it's not conventionally cute. (Although a LOT of Japanese people will find this kind of swirly poo—called makiguso—"cute," which is why this app exists in the first place."
If you can somehow guess your way through the instructions (it's a simple download), you can get your own baby poop here.
via Zaeega
Sony's PlayStation 3 console turned 1 yesterday. To celebrate, the PR people sent all the tech journalists a giant PS3 sheet cake. Lucky me, I got to eat from two PS3 cakes, one at Wired and one at Gizmodo HQ. My homeboys at Giz, Adrian and Brian, even had a b-day party for theirs. (They invited Xbox and Wii, lol.)
I haven't played it yet, but somehow I just feel that I am going to love this game. It's a ski game for the Wii developed by Bandai Namco, called Family Ski. Using the Wiimote and nunchuck as poles, you can zoom down all kinds of terrain—glaciers, moguls, half-pipes. And you even get to customize your avatars—pick one of 24 faces and combine them with your own look: cool t-shirt skier, the trendy matching ski bunny, or the serious slalom racer.
Need a fun game for your next adults-only party? This beautifully designed game from Takara Tomy combines two classic party games—Truth or Dare and Pick-Up Stix—into one, then puts it all together with retro Keith Haring-esque figurines and a bottle of champagne. Here's how it works:
1. Put all the figurines inside the champange bottle.
2. Detach the bottleneck and pour out the figurines into one pile.
3. 1st player must remove one figurine without activating the clicker that's embedded in each one.
4. 2nd player does the same; and so on.
5. If the player makes a figurine click, he must answer the question written on it.
The questions range from deeply personal (What's the worst thing you've ever done? Describe your first love—what was it like?) to constructive and opinionated (What's one thing the opposite sex does that you can't stand? What do you think we should do after this game?).
Right now there's only a Japanese version, which hit stores in October for just $13.
Product page (Japanese)
Pop Quiz: Who do you think won this janken (rock-paper-scissors) match?
A. The human, because scissors can't cut rock
B. The robot, because robot hands can cut anything
C. Neither
Photo courtesy of Yahoo! News
Wow! Street Fighter IV is coming out—Capcom just announced it. Look how cool it is! Apparently it isn't going to hit stores til late 2008 (at the earliest!) but still... the trailer was enough to get me excited.
I used to play a lot of Street Fighter II back in the day. I even named our family dog Ryu (he passed away this year).
(Thanks, Ken!)
For the first time ever in world history, a video game will be sold at drug stores. Starting November 15th, Drug Segami, a drug store chain, will be carrying a Nintendo DS Lite game in stores all over the country. It's called "Kenko Kentei" and it letts players log their health info and recommends exercises and dietary regimes. The software was developed by Yudo, a company started by the guys who created Beatmania and DDR.
Link (Japanese)
What was Shinzo Abe's catch phrase? Where's the newest, coolest airport in Japan? Test your knowledge of the Japanese news online on this virtual Nintendo DS Lite game created by Mainichi and Sega.
It's in Japanese, but if you're up for the challenge, click here.
(Thanks, Rog!)
Remember our reigning Air Guitar champ, Mr. Yosuke Ochi? (Check out his award-winning performance here.) Well, now you can aspire to be just like him with Takara Tomy's Air Guitar game. It has 10 popular American and Japanese songs—Aerosmith, Deep Purple, The Blue Hearts, Southern All Stars—and tracks your performance using infrared rays coming out of the bottom of the controller.
And the great news is, you can now buy it in the US.
If anyone does end up buying it, send me some videos of you playing so I can put them up on the site!
There's a new social networking site in Japan called "Nani Kiru," which is aimed specifically towards mahjongg fanatics hoping to bond across the fuzzy green table and online. You register, log in, and then you answer a series of questions related to the game (i.e. what moves you would make when faced with specific situations). You can even make your own questions for others to answer, and then see how people respond on message boards. It sounds simple and very niche, but apparently tons of people have been anticipating the launch of such a site. More features and apps to come as the site ages.
Link (Japanese)
How well do you know your prefectures? Try your hand at Statetris Japan, the online Tetris-meets-geography game. It's really fun! As you can see from my feeble attempt above, I am having trouble figuring out where Saga Prefecture is supposed to go.
Play the game (Thanks, Raymond!)
OMG! I'm not entirely clear on how this game works, but toymaker Megahouse is releasing its first Air Guitar player at the end of the month. It comes in three colors combos—silver and pink, blue and white, red, and gray—and has songs like Lenny Kravitz' Are You Gonna Go My Way and Deep Purple's Black Night on it. How cool is that? It's only $15. I want one!
Product Page (Japanese)
Here's a trailer to an alleged hentai sex video game. As the YouTube commenters intelligently point out, it gives you no clue as to how you play the game. But the music is good, and so are the angled shots of giant animated boobies.
This arm-wrestling game might look harmless, but watch out! The whole series has been recalled by its distributor, Atlus Co., because several overenthusiastic gamers broke their arms trying to beat their plastic competitor.
The AP reports:
Players of "Arm Spirit" advance through 10 levels, battling a French maid, drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua before reaching the final showdown with a professional wrestler.
Hmm. Maybe you don't need to twist your arm so hard to beat a Chihuahua, guys. In any case, Arm Spirit has been taken off the market, for now, as a precaution.
(Thanks, James!)
I thought the Sudoku craze might have peaked and subsided by now, but no. I was just combing through Vertical Inc's catalog when I saw this book, titled: Oekaki: Paint by Sudoku. It works exactly as it sounds—by solving Sudoku puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty, you end up drawing pictures of things like geisha girls and the Statue of Liberty. Sound like something you or your Sudoku-obsessed mother would want for her birthday? You can buy the book here.
Forever Blue is a new Wii game that lets you navigate through the deep blue sea with your remote. You're a deep sea diver, and you're surrounded by whales, sharks, manatees, and all kids of giant, cool sea creatures. You start on a diving boat that takes you out onto the water—then you step into your gear and go. It's almost like the real thing, sans the icky wet feeling and dizziness associated with real diving.
The graphics are amazing!
Link (via ImpressWatch)
Hahahaha! This game is hilarious. You're a chubby Asian kid with a finger sticking up in the air. Your goal is to avoid the droppings coming out of the pooping star-spangled panty woman above. Must I say more? I don't think so.
Play the game (Thanks, Angel!)
Hot Shots Golf (Minna de Golf, or MinGol, in Japanese) is one of my favorite PlayStation games ever. Well, now there's a PSP app called "Minna no Gorufujo", or Hot Shots Golf Course, that gives your course info on more than 120 of Japan's most popular golfing spots. It'll show you how far you are from the flag, where the bunkers are, etc. You need a PSP and the GPS attachment to use it.
So next time you go golfing with your bosses and coworkers, check for PSPs sticking out of their old man pockets—could be that they're MinGolfCoursing.
Check out this human-sized ad for a new video game that features a 2-dimensional anime girl with 3-dimensional, soft, touchable breasts. What a great way to advertise for a game! The red lettering on the side says: "Bigger is better...isn't it?" The sign below her bust says: "Touch her boobies as much as you want, as freely as you want." And then there's an illo of an excited little man with both hands fondling breasts. The game being advertised is called OPPAI BAKA (Crazy for boobies), and I think it's a PC game about feeling boobies, or something X-rated like that. If anyone has played it, please report back and let me know how it is. I doubt it's as titillating as its ad.
Konami's newest Nintendo DS Lite game is a virtual beauty adviser created by real life beauty adviser Chizu Saiki. The game, called Dream Skincare, comes out on October 18th, and promises female gamers a fun, easy beauty experience. Since many women don't play video games and aren't used to the button controls, the whole game is stylus-driven. Here are some of its highlights:
1. It checks your physical and emotional health every day through a series of questions.
2. You input your body temperature and body weight daily.
3. You put in your daily schedule, and you can even decorate it with stickers or custom-designed icons.
4. You can designate "special days"—weddings, first dates—for which a special skin care regime will be created.
5. You input your daily meals, and it kicks back dietary advice and healthy recipes.
6. There's a face map that shows you where you're prone to get zits and wrinkles.
Link (Japanese)
This winter, expect to see the Japanese population in online worlds multiply as some of the country's greatest animators collaborate on projects to create virtual Tokyos that combine anime-grade visuals, creative freedom, and virtual real estate.
Here's what we know so far:
Studio 4°C—a collaboration of the genius minds behind classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service—is designing a world called "Cyber Megacity: Tokyo's 0th Ward." The press release promises many surprises ahead as the best animators in the world experiment with new media.
Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) and Studio Pierrot (Naruto) are collaborating with gaming companies and news organizations to create "meet me," a metaverse catered specifically toward a Japanese audience. Smart idea—if you know anything about the conception of user-friendly in Japan vs. the US, it's totally different. Plus, with the kinds of creative minds working on this thing, meet-me could just kick Second Life out of cyberspace.
I'll keep you guys posted as I find out more.
Anime News Network (via Jean Snow)
Junior high school kids in Kyoto were in for a treat this week--all 8th graders in Yawata City's public school system were given a Nintendo DS Lite to practice English on. IE Institute, a company that makes educational software for consoles, spent the last three years creating the perfect software for this target group at the request of the local education board. (Coolest education board ever!)
A focus group of 49 students showed that students using the DS for just 10 minutes increased their vocabulary by 35-42%.
There's an English Proficiency Test in Japan called Eiken, which is taken by all but only conquered by less than a third of test-takers. This DS Lite initiative aims to increase that number.
So we have generations of Japanese growing up to speak better English AND a whole bunch of kids with free DS Lites. Everybody wins! This is awesome news.
Daruma otoshi is a traditional Japanese tabletop game in which you stack wooden cylinders topped with a angry-looking wish doll face and then try to kick out the cylinders one at a time, from bottom up, with a mini-hammer. In this rather non-traditional version of the game, six giant foam cylinders sit on a giant yellow base and are topped off with a happy-looking head. Same idea--you have to kick out the layers one at a time with a hammer.
Here, Lara (of coordination skillz video fame) gives it a shot. This photo captures the beautiful moment right before the thing falls almost on her head. Luckily she gets out of the way just in time.
This is also part of the fun we had at Muscle Park last month.
This is me playing the dog walking game. This is arguably the most challenging arcade game I have ever played. Much more so than Beatmania or DDR (j/k, I so don't play DDR) or Street Fighter II. Basically you have to walk on a treadmill while holding this white dog's leash. Walk too fast, and he'll get tired. Walk too slow, and he'll get bored. And when obstacles like the neighborhood bully dog or a oncoming car shows up on the screen, you better steer clear! If you mess up, your dog dies.
I think my dog died in the first few minutes of me playing. In real life, however, I have a healthy 4 year old dog that I have no problem walking. So while this was fun (well, stressful) to play, I wouldn't say it's very realistic.
This game is like Operation, but cooler, more stylish version that doesn't entail putting meat-shaped body parts into a drawing of a man. Take the attached stylus and trace the maze on each cube face--if you mess up, the metal plate vibrates. From toymaker Megahouse.
Out of all the Wii games, I think WarioWare is one of my favorite games to play when you're hanging out with friends in front of the fireplace on a rainy day.
