Aria 4: Wishing

We had decided the previous day that today we would end up going to Tokyo DisneySea, but I had an errand to take care of first...obtaining Mushihimesama Futari for the XBOX 360. This game is the first CAVE developed shooter that was deliberately deprived of its region lock in order to gauge popularity of its titles in the US and Europe - apparently a lot of people in the West made noise on the internet after DeathSmiles was released with NTSC-J region lock intact. This change of policy is a big deal, so I wanted to make sure I grabbed a copy of Mushihimesama while I was here. Plus, I really wanted to be able to play through the game without having to worry about being bled dry of my yen by the difficult bullet patterns in the later stages.

We started walking towards Shinjuku station at around 8:30AM JST. The stores around there don't open until 9:30 or later - and to my dismay we arrived at the shopping area around the station at around 9:00. No problem - we grabbed some delicious curry udon and cold soba from a restaurant down the street and by the time we were finished, Yodobashi Camera was open for business. I got in, got the game, and then got out. Then we headed to Shinjuku station for the journey to Tokyo Disney Resort.

The journey to the resort required changing trains at Tokyo station, which went smoothly. The entire trip out there cost us 320 yen each, which wasn't too bad. It was about 20 minutes from downtown Tokyo out to the resort in Maihama. Getting off the train was like stepping into a bizarro version of Orlando, Florida. We exited the station (which was all decked out in Disney decor) and headed to the monorail, only to find - much to our dismay - the same yen-eating ticket machines that guard the entrance to every other train in the country of Japan. "Wait," I said to Lisa, who was about to swipe her card in the machine, "this can't be right. They can't CHARGE to use the monorail..." After some looking at the signs, all of which were conveniently not in English, it became clear to me. Oh yeah, they were charging to use the monorail. 250 yen a pop, in fact, unless you wanted to buy a "commuter pass" and ride as much as you want for 650 yen. Keep in mind that, as I said above, it cost us 320 yen each to ride the trains 25 km+ to Disney, but to ride a monorail that's 3-4 km long at most, it costs 250 yen?!

I thought, "Fuck this, we're walking". So we walked. For about 10 minutes. And found Tokyo Disneyland without incident. But...DisneySea, the park we actually wanted to go to, appeared to be out of reach for us without having to fork over the yen to ride the monorail. What a scam.

So we went back, paid our yen, got on the monorail and rode to DisneySea. First of all, something about the Tokyo Disney Resort. They have it set up so that if you want to visit both Disneyland and DisneySea, you can't do it on the same day with a 2-day pass! You have to choose one day for one park, and one day for the other park. In order to get around this, you have to buy 3+ day passes (or pay for single-day passports to each park, at 5800 yen a pop). My theory is this is to prevent overcrowding in both parks due to day travelers coming from Tokyo, but it also probably generates massive amounts of revenue from the people that absolutely must see both parks in one day, and honestly - there really isn't enough to do at either park to warrant a full day on its own. Fortunately, that particular "gotcha" didn't apply to us, as we were ONLY there for DisneySea.

So we entered the park, and immediately something struck me as bizarre. We were definitely in a Disney park, but - this being Japan - all the signs were in Japanese, and unlike Epcot - where the different "worlds" had cast members from each country represented in the park - there wasn't anything like that here. Everyone was Japanese. Which was fine - it was relatively amusing to see our two "Italian" hosts try to teach us hello and goodbye in Italian when the pronunciation is warped by Japan... "Aribedeiruchii".

But then we hit the "American Waterfront" world in the park, and it suddenly went from weird to weirder. They were putting on this cheesy show in the center of the park, and suddenly Mickey Mouse comes out and starts speaking perfect Japanese ... but HE SOUNDS LIKE MICKEY MOUSE. It was really strange. Then he started dancing to Madonna, which was still all in English. I swear, guys, I can't make this stuff up. I guess this is how the Japanese feel when playing through the International versions of Kingdom Hearts.

Speaking of Kingdom Hearts, just a few minutes walk away from that cheesy musical review, we found it. Tetsuya Nomura's inspiration for the favorite snack of the residents of Twilight Town... Sea Salt Ice Cream!!! Now before you say "Ewwww", keep in mind that this delicious treat merely consisted of vanilla ice cream with a little bit of additional sea salt added. So it tasted sweet, but salty at the same time. And it was really good. It's kind of a shame though, it didn't look like I thought it would have... In Kingdom Hearts, the ice cream was shown as bright blue popsicles. IRL, it's just a dish of vanilla colored ice cream. Disney needs to correct this and serve Sea Salt Ice Cream the way it was meant to be served: as a bright blue popsicle that will send the Roxas and Axel cosplayers coming in droves...

Anyways, after that we rode Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull - which was one of the best rides I've been on in a long time and definitely the best movie-based one I've ever seen, bar none. It was worth the agonizing hour long wait as we saw people who purchased "Fast Pass" tickets outside the ride (yet another Tokyo Disney money grab) skipping merrily past us towards the front of the line. But it was worth it. They stick you in a huge ATV that can hold about 16 people, and send you racing through the temple - with special effects and crazy sights happening at every turn. The track itself had some hills but was mostly flat. The ATV generated all the twists and bumps on its own, culminating with a slight drop occurring just as a boulder rolling forward was about to hit us. Honestly I wish I would have ridden twice - it was that good.

After a couple more hours of exploration - and trying out a few more of Tokyo Disney's culinary treats, we headed back to the gateway to the resort, and attempted to get dinner at one of the restaurants outside. But all the restaurants had the added "Disney Tax", charging upwards of 2000 yen for a single entree, except for one little katsu place called Trail and Track near the corner of Ikspiari. I had reservations about this place, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it out. We were seated, most of the restaurant staff could speak decent English, and I felt completely at ease in a restaurant for the first time in a while. But my danger sense started tingling when they asked me whether I wanted "rice or bread" with my chicken katsu. BREAD?! With KATSU?! Uh oh....

Sure enough. I get the plate of katsu, which was drenched in something that certainly wasn't katsu sauce. The sauce tasted like Chef Boyardee Spaghetti-o's sauce. Yuck. Then there was the side of potato salad (WHY?!) and the nappa cabbage, which would have been great if they didn't coat it in an American style mayo-based dressing. Barf... Worst. Meal. Ever. Lisa didn't seem to mind it as much, and this restaurant did in fact serve pretty decent freshly made diner-style cream sodas, so it wasn't a total loss.

After eating dinner, the entire Ikspiari mall was lit up, and the Wishing Tree illuminated as a teenage girl rang the Wishing Bell. For a brief second - just a second mind you - I felt what may have been a sparkle of the magic of Christmas, even as commercialized as it has become. We then returned to Shinjuku, played some Death Smiles II (with villain Satan Claus) at the local game center, had some desserts at what could best be called a Japanese Denny's, and went to bed early. I thought I was catching a cold, because I had a very difficult time getting to sleep and my throat was sore.

Aria 3: Matsuri

The early crashing was a bad idea. Between the nervousness about my presentation and the slight (but not overbearing) presence of jet lag, I was wide awake once again at 4AM. Although Tokyo is the TRUE "city that never sleeps" the fact of the matter is there really isn't that much to do that early. So we ended up watching "Good Choice" (a.k.a. News with Penguins) yet again, and then ventured out around 7AM to pick up some bento boxes for breakfast. I wanted to try Royal Host, but we decided it was probably best to avoid hotel prices for subpar Western-style breakfast. After picking up the bentos at a 24 hour place and returning the hotel, both of us ended up asleep. Fortunately I set the alarm clock ahead of time, so I wasn't late for my meeting.

I woke up in time, showered, got dressed and was out the door by 10AM for a 12PM meeting. I was very worried the subway system would be confusing and I'd end up getting lost - but, on the contrary, the subways are actually easier to use than a lot of the trains in Tokyo. I arrived in Hakozaki roughly 45 minutes early, and got a few brief moments of solitude that reminded me of my first trip to Japan. IBM Hakozaki is located right next to a small park with a fountain, trees, and some benches - a perfect place to relax or take a walk before the meeting, and I sat for a few minutes taking in the sights and sounds of a busy Tokyo morning. I had originally planned to go get a coffee to kill some time, but I didn't really need to. The air was pleasant, the park wasn't busy, and I had a few moments away from the chaos of central Shinjuku - time to gather my thoughts in preparation for my presentation.

I won't discuss the presentation much, except to say that I got all the answers I wanted and made some more connections with folks here in Japan - which is exactly what I wanted to do. I showed the team a picture of my basement, so now they all think I'm a game otaku. But I have a girlfriend, and friends, and a social life ... so that isn't possible (in the traditional sense of "otaku"). In any case, I did find out a few interesting things about how our IBM colleagues in Japan work...

1.) You think your cube lacks privacy? Try sitting at a long table, with a spot for your laptop and a few books - with coworkers on each side, no walls separating you. It kind of amazed me that in a culture where everyone is supposed to be heads-down in their work, the environment seemed very open - albeit a bit cramped. I suppose I was expecting cubicles out of Equilibrium or 1984, all looking the same, stretching for miles, with no personality whatsoever. Nintendo of America also had a similar setup with their cubicles, so this isn't the first time I've seen an environment like this.

2.) Their caf is light years ahead of Rochester. Most of the food items are Japanese (sorry Dave and Chad), but there was a large variety, everything appeared to be prepared fresh, and it was (comparatively) quite cheap. They also offered free cold or hot tea with each meal, and had two types of cafeteria: one caf of the traditional sense (like what we have), and one where you sit down and they bring you the food restaurant style. We're really missing out here!

3.) Everyone dresses up. No sandals and T-Shirts for IBM Japan. Suits are the norm, and at the very least you want a shirt and tie. Though I was told that khakis and a collared shirt would have been fine, showing up in that attire would have made me feel incredibly underdressed.

After returning to Shinjuku via the subway, we went to Hanazono Shrine to check out the festival going on. For those unfamiliar with a typical Japanese matsuri, think Minnesota State Fair - but take away the cows and wild rice and replace them with with yakitori and other Japanese foods. They did have fried stuff on a stick, fried chicken a.k.a. Kara-Age. But most of the other finger foods they served were not fried. There was yakitori (chicken skewers), candied bananas, several types of Japanese pastries, yakisoba noodles, squid skewers, and a lot more.

We then headed towards Nakano Broadway, in hopes of locating some fighting game posters for the basement. Our search ended up empty, but Lisa did find a couple pairs of knee-high Japanese socks that fit her. She was a little upset that she couldn't figure out the size and wanted me to ask, but that store was packed full of Japanese women that gave me strange looks or ran away every time I took a step into one of the aisles - not to mention my Japanese regarding women's clothes sizes is nonexistent.

So we went to Nakano Broadway, and all we got were two pairs of socks...

Aria 2: Changes

Waking up to our first real day in Japan, the first order of business was to get our bearings. The fact we were staying at a different hotel than last time, and the fact that half the signs on the restaurants in the area were Korean was more than enough to make me a bit nervous. So we walked around Korea Town for a bit, and noticed that it had to be garbage day, because every business had bags and bags of garbage piled up on the side of the road. Giant crows were pillaging the garbage, and there were quite a few homeless people (some of which seemed to have swine flu or something from the amount of coughing and wheezing that came from them). We grabbed breakfast at a Yoshinoya and went vending machine window shopping for drinks. I was really uncomfortable in this filthy area - it went against everything I knew of Tokyo thus far. It was run down, dirty, and sparsely populated (although that changes later in the day), and I really never felt comfortable there. Something about the whole place just felt...uneasy.

We found some Pepsi NEX again - delicious - and then went back to the hotel. Eventually, we ended up in Akihabara with Travis, where (with Lisa's permission) I took him to... THE MAID CAFE! This was the same one I went to last year, so I knew exactly what to expect. They gave us an English speaking maid, and we each ordered one item on the menu. I helped with communication when the Japanese-only maids would come over and talk to us. The food we ordered wasn't bad (two parfaits and an iced coffee), but obviously overpriced and the 700 yen "sitting fee" really didn't help much either.

Those of you familiar with Otaku culture might find this interesting. I asked the maid in Japanese to explain to Travis the concept of "Moe" in Japanese. She refused, saying "meaning is difficult in English". We explained it after the fact, although I'm still admittedly a little confused on it myself. There doesn't seem to be sexual connotations to moe, but it's not entirely innocent either. Kittens are apparently not considered to be moe, but catgirls are. So yeah, I don't quite understand...

On the streets of Akihabara, which were shockingly busy for an average Monday, there was a group from Cave holding a playable demo of Mushihimesama Futari, which comes out on Thursday. They had promotional posters there while they were setting up, and I asked if I could have one - but they said no. It turns out they needed them to tape all around the demo table, apparently. They did end up giving out some swag (a plastic Mushihime fan) but by the time they started the demo there was already a line 15 people deep to play it, and all of them looked like they knew what they were doing, so I decided not to wait in line.

Instead, we went to Akihabara HEY, where I tried out - for the very first time - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. Now, of course, since the game just came out last week, every machine was booked on at least one side, so I had to challenge someone. I picked the easiest looking opponent and sat down to play, selecting the character I have the most experience with, Jin Kisaragi.

Big mistake.

Continuum Shift has changed the way Jin plays - completely. The Ice Car no longer travels across the screen and is only useful now as a combo tool. jB doesn't combo as well either, although 6C -> 5C -> jB -> -> C -> uC -> 5D still works (though it does look different). I didn't get a chance to combo much, because none of my moves were behaving as I expected, and so I got Nihonjin smashed right off the machine by a below-average Carl player. The fact he was playing Carl only added insult to injury. Japan - 1, Gaijin - 0.

And if you didn't understand any of the above paragraph, don't worry, it doesn't apply to you anyways. :-)

I did a little more window shopping and eventually ended up at another arcade with Continuum Shift, where I managed to knock someone playing Haku-Men off the game. I was floored by my combo-filled performance with Jin, although I still tried to Ice Car across the screen due to force of habit and usually ended up eating a combo for my negligence. Regardless, I won. Japan - 1, Gaijin - 1. "Now," I thought, "I can finally get some practice with the new mechanics of the game by beating up on some stupid computer opponents." HAH! Not in Tokyo, my friends. Not in Tokyo.

For those unfamiliar with the habits of your average Tokyo arcade-goer, they behave like this. When you see someone not playing against a human opponent, they are more often than not just toying with the computer. Either they aren't picking the character they are most experienced with, or simply playing through the game without really trying. So you hop on, and you trounce them. Normally, in an American arcade, getting trounced so handily is usually enough to make the trouncee get up and leave the game, fearful of losing any more money or ego. But not Nihonjin. Oh no. These guys are hardcore. If you beat one, they will wait about 30 seconds and then - like clockwork - immediately challenge you again. (Remember, in Japan, you can't see your opponent since the machines are back-to-back). When this happens, you are screwed. In that 30 seconds of time before the 100 yen coin hit the machine, your opponent was doing his best Son Goku impersonation, powering up and unleashing his latent Nihonjin Powers of Destruction (tm). When that second game begins, you will be fighting a completely different beast...and you will not come out of that match with a victory. Guaranteed.

And that's what happened this time as well. After trouncing Haku-men and noticing the person at the machine behind me failing to get up, 30 seconds into the match against the CPU I get pulled into a versus match against...a CARL. Another Carl. Who handily gave me my ass on a silver platter to the tune of an almost double-perfect. That puppet was moving so fast across the screen I could do nothing, and that stupid clap trap had me beat before I even started my offense. Japan - 2, Gaijin - 1.

There were a few more things that happened - we found a way to walk to Shinjuku station without going to Shin Okubo, we found a festival serving street food at Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku, we found a beautiful Christmas lights display that was actually pretty amazing, and I ended up wanting to crash early because of the presentation the next day, which wasn't a universally well-received decision. I think I've rambled on enough for now. More interesting stuff to come.

Aria 1: "EXACTLY like last time...."

This trip started out promising enough, until we get on the plane. I had camped the seat reservations for days in advance, trying to secure a seat with at least a little more leg room. Alas, everything was gone save for one "exit row" seat on the right side of the plane. Now, common sense should have told me that there must be a reason why that "exit row" seat was left unbooked, even though NWA was charging $50 more for it as part of its "coach choice" program. So I assume I'm getting some sort of an exit row seat. Only...not. They consider the first row behind the actual exit row as "exit row seats". Great. So I ended up with a $50 seat that's the same as any other seat, except I'm directly in front of the exit row, which means maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that on THIS 13 hour flight, I won't have someone reclining into my lap.

Of course, that would have been too easy, right?

Lo and behold, here comes Douchie McDouchebag 2.0, all 350+ pounds of him, wearing a Kansas City football cap, with his small Japanese wife half his age in tow. He lets out a hacking cough, glares at the seat in front of me, turns around and flies into the seat with the force of an anvil, causing my knees to pound against the "cloth" that makes up the seat. HE HAS THE FUCKING EXIT ROW AND YET HE HAS TO RECLINE ALL THE WAY BACK?! And this continued, for the next 13 hours. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, he was farting. He was blasting me and the other people behind him with an array of Silent But Deadly's following every single time the bastard was served a meal. Fortunately this time I skipped the food, so I didn't end up feeling as sick or bloated as I usually do after a cross-continental flight, but that was a small comfort after all the discomfort I went through.

Seriously. If you see the hat at the top of my entry in front of you on a future Japan flight, get out of that seat. I mean it. No matter what it takes, don't sit behind him.

And then we landed. I thought the troubles were over, but no. See, I wanted to stay at the same hotel as last time, because it was a really nice hotel. The internet wasn't cooperating, so I settled for a hotel "10 minutes walk" from one of the train stations. Yeah, right. 10 minutes, my ass. With luggage in tow, it took us more like 30, and now with both of us sore and tired as hell.
In fact, Lisa is snoring over there, I think I'll be joining her shortly...

三番目の東京旅行始めましょう！

Here we go again. Third time's the charm?

Let's see...

Plans on deck:

Tokyo DisneySea

Akihabara, of course

A presentation at IBM Japan

Soba deliciousness at the birthplace of this wonderful noodle

Namjatown/Ikebukuro

NINJA Akasaka (we HAVE to do this)

Maid Cafe shenanigans with another friend from IBM

Another 13 hour plane ride...................... *grumble*

In the words of a certain well-known Italian plumber: "HERE WE GO!"

Potent Portables

Earlier this year during my trip to Japan, and again during this year's holiday shopping season, I've come to a realization: console games are dead.

That's an overstatement, of course. But more accurately, the kinds of games I used to enjoy from Japanese developers on console have migrated to portables. Though portable systems most certainly have their place, this is a distressing move. Not only does it imply that the Japanese console market is weak, but it also squeezes modern sequels and new IP (such as Dragon Quest IX, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Valkyria Chronicles II, Dissidia) onto last gen (or worse) hardware. The way I see it, the current-gen consoles (the 360 and PS3) have three distinct advantages when compared against the portables.

1.) Graphics/processing power

Next-gen graphics capabilities are a no-brainer. But the bigger innovation (other than more "shiny") is that the extra processing power the consoles provide can be used in other, more creative ways to generate new kinds of gaming experiences - no goofy controller required. Many more characters on the screen, better AI, and more.

2.) Online integration

Especially in the case of the 360, there are so many things you can do by integrating online experiences into your titles. Everything from typical multiplayer games, to co-op modes, to interesting interactions with other players (like in Demon's Souls). The portables are doing some experiments with this as well - and in some ways are better equipped than the consoles for these kinds of interactions. But more often than not these opportunities get squandered. Most games that could use online integration never get it.

3.) Experience/comfort

This is the big one. This is why I'm so mad at the Japanese developers. I love Japanese RPGs. I love playing them for hours, leveling up characters and participating in an incredibly involved storyline full of twists and turns set to an orchesteral soundtrack. What I don't love is playing a Japanese RPG squinting at a 2'' screen, its orchestral soundtrack muffled by the tiny speakers of my DS Lite. If Japanese developers are going for immersion, the absolute worst thing they can do is develop a big-budget RPG on a portable platform. I'm really looking forward to Birth By Sleep - but it's so uncomfortable to play my PSP for any length of time that I probably won't end up finishing it. A shame.


Alas, all three of these advantages are no match for the cost of development. To a Japanese developer, spending $5 million to develop a PSP title for a fairly large userbase is MUCH more lucrative than spending $30 million for a 360/PS3 (or even multiplatform) title that stands to return a fraction of the sales of the portable titles. What this leads to is an incredibly vapid software selection for the consoles - particularly in Japanese games. It broke my heart to be walking through stores in Akihabara and looking through the PS3 library - more than 2/3 of the games being offered for sale were from American and European developers. Again, this isn't the 360 displays I'm talking about here - there were actually MORE Japanese-made games for sale on 360 (yeah, I don't get it either).

In every past generation, the Japanese game development industry has dictated the pace and platforms that made the industry more successful. Yoichi Wada of Square Enix was recently quoted in an interview as saying how a one-console market (i.e. one "winning" console) is ideal for Square Enix. Unsurprising to say the least, considering the publisher was probably less than happy at the prospect of having to develop a version of Final Fantasy XIII that will run on Xbox 360 for the North American and European markets. If it were up to Wada, the marketplace would have welcomed the PS3 with open arms as the PS2's de-facto replacement as "the" gaming console.

Differences in gaming habits, cultures, and the wildcard Wii effect have caused the exact opposite scenario. PS3 winning in Japan (landslide), 360 by a wide margin in the US (bigger than PS3's Japan lead), and a deadheat in Europe. This means that third party exclusives have pretty much become a thing of the past. This isn't necessarily a very welcome environment for Japanese companies, who are used to "doing what works". Portable systems are pretty much the only place they can continue to "do what works" - but in doing so, they isolate a huge portion of their userbase.

A perfect example: Valkyria Chronicles II. The first game was released to PS3 with amazing reviews but tepid sales both domestically and worldwide. Fans of the game were very vocal and demanded a sequel...which Sega eventually announced - with a platform shift. The series would be getting an aesthetic downgrade and will be appearing on the PSP. They justified it in interviews later, claiming a market need for a platform shift. Completely unsurprising.

Look, I'm aware this is the way things are going now. So here's what I'd like companies to do in the future. Make your portable more compatible with your home console. I want to be able to connect my PSP running Dissidia or Birth By Sleep to my PS3, which will upscale the image and run it on my big screen TV. I want to be able to control it with my DualShock 3. And I want to play it online. Technologically, I don't think this is impossible. I just wish they'd realize how big of a need there actually is for this kind of product...