If you are unfamiliar with the premise for the documentary, read the official synopsis below:

IMAGINE a world where video games reign supreme. Five story buildings filled with arcade cabinets, old and new, inundate the streets of downtown Tokyo. Welcome to Japan. A place where the arcades of the 80s and 90s not only still exist, but thrive and have evolved into an elaborate, unmatchable gaming experience.

100 Yen is a historical documentary about the evolution of arcades and the culture surrounding it – from the birth of arcades to the game centers that still thrive today. With a predominant focus on the three major arcade genres, Shooting games, Fighting games and Rhythm games, 100 Yen explores the culture and evolution of arcades through the past and present. All filmed on location in Japan, Canada and the USA featuring interviews with industry professionals, game programmers and designers, casual gamers and gaming icons.

In the trailer above, I really like the second last line by Hiro Kawaguhi which reads as ‘arcades allow you a glimpse of something bigger.’  I know exactly what he means and I recommend that everyone check out a few arcades wherever they may find themselves in Japan.  I ensure you that there is something for everyone and you’ll leave a happy person.  Though perhaps your wallet won’t.  n_n

Source: 100 Yen Film – Official

The rules are very easy, but a little confusing and funny thanks to the translations:

• Don’t drop rice !
• Don’t burn rice black !
• Mix rice well !
• Fry the rice in a pan !
• Cook early !

It’s free so just give it a try ;)

1. 300~ 神様 kamisama = God
2. 250~ 宇宙人 uchujin = Alian
3. 200~ 超人 chojin = Superman
4. 150~ 鉄人 tetsujin = Iron man
5. 100~ 達人 tatsujin = Master
6. 50~ 凡人 bonjin = Ordinary
7. ~50 残念 zannen = Disappoint

My record is 175 shakes, which makes me an Iron man! Although I was really an iron man, my arm wouldn’t hurt this much now… On top of that you look ridiculous when you play this game, haha.

※Attention!
・Not bump around.
・Not fly iPhone.

How many moe shakes can you get?

The audio is horrible, but the game itself is quite amusing, so give it a try!

My record so far is 47 chickens in one bowl, what’s yours?

You may remember my pervious post about about Michishige Sayumi lending her voice for MMORPG Dragon Nest. Well now Tsugunaga Momoko is involved in what is Dragon Nest’s “God Idol! Harori Junior-Senior Battle”.

At Dragon Nest’s press conference on January 23rd, 2012 the “God Idol! Harori Junior-Senior Battle” was announced. Sayumi perviously lent her voice to Harori, an in game idol character. The “God Idol! Harori Junior-Senior Battle” allows fans to vote for Barbie-san, Tsugunaga Momoko or Michishige Sayumi to be the next Harori.

Sadly, only Japanese fans are able to vote for their favourite idol to be Harori. If you’re in Japan, here’s the link to vote! In my opinion Sayumi makes a great Harori but then again Momoko looks gorgeous in her cosplay.

Has anyone played Dragon Nest? I played it a few months back and for a free MMORPG I really enjoyed it.

I’ll make sure to post who the winner is when it’s announced! For now enjoy some cute photos of Momoko and Sayumi in their cosplay!

Source: Game Watch

Well, of course you have!  And on November 17th (in Japan; sometime in 2012 for NA and EU), you will have the chance to do that for the first time on the PlayStation 3 platform. Studio Ghibli has teamed up with Level 5 to create a dynamically creative world set to mimic what anyone dreaming of a Studio Ghilbi inspired game would want.

I will admit that I haven’t seen every Ghibli movie ever made, but it would be near impossible to say that this game looks nothing short of stunning and beautiful.  And even though this game is a RPG which is a genre I have a history of never completing, I will do my best to complete when it lands in Canada sometime in 2012.

The main character, a boy named Oliver, finds himself traveling to a parallel world, Ni no Kuni (ニノ国), in order to become a great magician but more importantly, to save his perished mother.

What if you don’t have a PS3, well, you could import the Ni no Kuni Magical Edition PS3 or look into the DS version which was released in Japan back in December 2010.

And because pictures only give you one side of the story, please enjoy the below video which is a nice sampling of what you can expect to see.  Enjoy!

Source: Ni no Kuni Official

Oshima Yuko, my personal favourite member of AKB48. Will be an official beta tester of Square Enix’s latest instalment in the “Final Fantasy” series, “Final Fantasy XIII-2″.

CMs began airing this week with Yuko being invited to Square Enix’s offices and presented with a “Final Fantasy XII-2″ beta disc.

Yuko will represent the players of the “Final Fantasy” series and share her positive and negative opinions about the game as well as lead a team of 12 other beta test players.

As a huge fan of the “Final Fantasy” series and an “Dragon Quest”, Yuko is honoured to have been chosen as a beta tester and voice of the players. “Final Fantasy XIII-2″ will be released in Japan on December 15, 2011.

Source: Nihongogo

We’ve all heard of Japanese dating sims by now like LovePlus for Nintendo DS. Last year AKB48 released their very own dating sim called “AKB 1/48 Fall In Love With An Idol“, which sold over 400,000 copies. On October 6th, 2011 a sequel called “AKB 1/48: If I Loved an Idol in Guam” was released.

“AKB 1/48: If I Loved an Idol in Guam” includes all of Team A, K and B as of June 20th, 2011. To your misfortune, all of AKB48′s members are in love with you but you can only choose one. As everything was shot in Guam there’re plenty of bikini’s to be enjoyed.

The first press “Please Don’t Auction This! BOX” limited edition includes the game, 10 photographs, a 4 disc Making and Fashion Collection DVD set, a Team4 special DVD, a narrow poster for each of the 48 idols, codes to download a PSP custom theme for each of the 48 idols, a Blu-ray with HD versions of every confession scene from the first game, and a special box.

I managed to pick up a cheap Nintendo DS during my last trip to Japan and I can’t wait to pick up a PSP for this as soon as I get the chance!

You can pick up a copy now:

• Normal Edition ¥4980
• Limited Edition ¥6980
• “Please Don’t Auction This! BOX” Limited Edition for ¥12980.

Source: Crunchyroll

At Namco Bandai’s Press Conference on August 23rd, 2011. CyberConenct2 announced .hack//The Movie. A feature length film in CGI based on “The World” a fictional MMORPG.

The .hack// series is where my love for anime and manga began. If you’re not familiar with .hack//, it began on the PS2 in the form of .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine. I still remember trading in my N64 and picking up all 4 games with my store credit.

After the PS2 games were released, anime, manga and graphic novels soon followed. During middle-school when I was first discovering anime, .hack//Legend of the Twilight and .hack//Sign were among my favourites. Over the years even more games in the series were released such as .hack//G.U. and .hack//Link on the PSP in 2007. In Japan only, an MMORPG based on the series, .hack//frägment was released.

Kite, the hero of the series has been introduced to “The World” in many different ways. In the PS2 version he’s introduced to it by a friend. Soon after joining the game a monster with some kind of virus attacks them. His friend’s character dies as he falls into a coma in real life. Around the world other players have been meeting the same mysterious fate. Kite sets off on a journey to figure out the mystery behind the comas and “The World” where he meets “Aura”, an NPC created by the creator of “The World” for the love of his deceased lover as the daughter that could have been, who helps him restore balance to the game. Confused?

It’s difficult to sum up the series. It’s a video game, anime, manga and graphic novel based on an MMORPG? 8 years on, CyberConenct2 are bringing us .hack//The Movie. From the looks of the trailer, the movie will follow a similar story to the PS2 games. Thanks to the lack of backwards capability of my PS3 I haven’t played the .hack// series in a long time :-(

Without much else being said about the series in the past few years, I’m really excited about the movie and the “small game” bundled with the Blu-ray release. After this announcement I can’t help but ask myself if .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine will be re-released. As a childhood memory I’d love to revisit “The World”.

.hack//The Movie is set to be released in Japanese cinemas, January 2012.

Rio Typing is a Japanese iPhone game you can use to test how fast can type on the Japanese ten key keyboard. The goal is to copy whatever Rio is saying as fast as possible and the more levels you clear the harder it gets. Whenever you clear a level, the word or sentence is added to your collection for you to come back and listen to later on. Also worth trying is the practice mode which is basically a text field you can type in, but with Rio saying the characters you type. When you do this you can choose between normal, angry or sexy sounds and believe me, sexy mode is quite hilarious. Just imagine someone trying to read the alphabet out loud and being sexy at the same time.

The app is free and can be downloaded here. If this is your first time using the ten key keyboard you will have to add it manually in the settings (where you usually add international keyboards). And don’t expect to clear too many levels!