Japan

The foreigner’s guide to gaming culture in Japan!

Japan
New round of Japanese PlayStation classics hits PSN-J
June 28, 2010: Cheap old games as a post-World Cup pick-me-up? Not necessary if you're a Japan fan!
Weekly Japanese game sales chart (24/5-30/5) – ANALYSED!
June 9, 2010: And now for the Top Ten in detail...
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force on Xbox 360 – first trailer stomps into view!
June 4, 2010: "The Fourth Is The Force" (and SEGA Japan PR's got a lisp)...
Final Fantasy IX now available for download from Japanese PlayStation Store
May 20, 2010: This was one of the better ones, right?
Two more PC-Engine gems encrusted in PSN-J’s Game Archives
May 19, 2010: A fine brace of shmups!
Yahoo! Auctions watch: bulk buy edition
May 18, 2010: Stacks of games for stacks of yen?
Cave shmup comes to life with resin cast replica ships
May 18, 2010: Ketsui!
Eight new PS classics for PSN-J’s Game Archives
May 18, 2010: Including DonPachi!
Guess SEGA of Japan’s “next 360 action” title and win a prize!*
May 17, 2010: *Prize: the right to feel smug. For 30 minutes.
Prope releases Ivy The Kiwi? storybook
May 17, 2010: Yuji Naka loves cute stuff!
New range of funky Mario T-shirts now on sale at Japan’s Right-on stores
May 17, 2010: One step up from UNIQLO...
Super Mario Galaxy 2 commercials air on Japanese TV
May 12, 2010: Starring a couple of members of boy-band-of-the-moment Arashi...
iPad in Japan: the retail details
May 11, 2010: It plays games, you know...
Hudson releases rapid-fire measurement DSiWare
April 28, 2010: Challenge Takahashi!
Legendary Famicom title Ikki making comeback on PS3 this summer
April 26, 2010: First screenshots show 21st century/8-bit clash
Yahoo! Auctions watch: MEGA RARE edition!
April 26, 2010: Japan doesn't know the meaning of "recession"!
SquEnix brings N64 classic Wonder Project J2 to iMode phones
April 13, 2010: Anime-zing!
King Of Fighters mid-Nineties compilation PSP-bound
April 7, 2010: Ah, the Nineties...
Senko no Ronde DUO on the way
April 6, 2010: Check out the brand new "Commander Style" of play!
Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack -PLUS- due May 26th
April 6, 2010: "Original" + "-PLUS-" = Leona Lewis bonus tracks?
New CD compilation to commemorate 15th anniversary of SEGA’s 32X
March 19, 2010: The sounds of "state-of-the-art 32-bit technology"!
Nintendo of Japan’s Mario Club now hiring game testers!
March 10, 2010: Mmm... minimum wage!
Thunderforce V among new (old) delights on Japan’s PlayStation Store
March 10, 2010: It's all happening down in the Archives...
Your brand new 3D telly for the next decade of Japanese gaming!
February 12, 2010: (Maybe.)
Mario Kart Wii comes to life as Choro Q Hybrid!
February 1, 2010: ...with actual power-up items!
Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II bound for iPhone!
January 21, 2010: Old games Touched up...
New PSN/XBLA After Burner Climax details!
January 21, 2010: Can we have Planet Harriers next, please?
Taiko no Tatsujin due on iPhone at beginning of February!
January 19, 2010: Japan-only to begin with...
J-pop songstress Hitomi Toi contributing to Monkey Ball Athletic soundtrack
January 18, 2010: 一十三十一
Gaijin Gamer’s instant guide to… Japanese TV shows worth recording via PS3 Torne
January 15, 2010: There are at least two...
Mega-rare shmup Kyuin arrives on Japanese PlayStation Store!
January 14, 2010: Another mega-bargain in the Game Archives!
Gran Turismo 5′s Japan release postponed beyond March 2010
January 13, 2010: Now listed as "TBC" again. D'oh!
PS3/360 No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise TV ad hits Japan’s screens
January 13, 2010: Marvelous!
Pac-Man Chinese-style steamed buns now on sale in conbinis Japan-wide!
January 13, 2010: Pac-Man's so sweet.
Yahoo! Auctions watch: inexplicably expensive games edition
January 12, 2010: HOW much?!
Dragon Quest IX to get low-price re-release this March!
January 12, 2010: If you haven't already got a copy, now there's no excuse.
Idolm@ster CD sales break the one million mark
January 11, 2010: Japan loves its guilty pleasures!
New DS Bokujou Monogatari ad builds on Japan’s kawaii agriculture phenomenon
January 11, 2010: Farming is so IN!
Taito’s DS Minna no Suizokukan: full of (sea)life!
January 8, 2010: Call it Everybody's Aquarium.
Tokyo Metropolitan Brass Quintet to perform Dragon Quest IX concert in Tokyo
January 7, 2010: DQ pilgrims need to arrive in the capital by March 1st...
Cash-in jackpot: it’s the Japan-only Michael Jackson PS3!
January 6, 2010: Nothing cynical here. Move along.
Japanese band GreeeeN to pioneer ‘interactive live events’ in new DS title
January 5, 2010: Welcome to the future of J-pop!
Sonic Bowling spins onto Japanese phones
January 5, 2010: One Hedgehog. Ten pins.
Gaijin Gamer’s instant guide to Japanese game companies’ YouTube channels
January 4, 2010: The official lines.
Kenka Bancho 4 gets in-game dumpling crossover action!
January 4, 2010: Gyou-----za-----!!
Takahashi Meijin to make long-awaited comeback as vocalist on new CD album
December 29, 2009: Remixed and Auto-Tuned to hell...
Hot new Japanese (re-)release: The Conbini 200X (Xbox 360)
December 29, 2009: Two pints of Yebisu and a packet of Pocky.
Annual all-night Famicom festival returns to Tokyo in January 2010!
December 23, 2009: Chiptune till the break of dawn!
SEGA’s giant comedy Tetris coin-op drops into Japan’s arcades
December 23, 2009: デッカい!
Hot new Japanese release: Neo-Geo Online Collection Complete Box (PS2)
December 23, 2009: Two volumes, 36 games, 20,000 yen.
Japanese keitai phenomenon Itotooshi now available on iPhone
December 22, 2009: 10 million downloads and counting!
Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) released on iPhone in Japan!
December 22, 2009: No objections, right?
Biggest Christmas bonuses in Japan once again paid out by Nintendo
December 18, 2009: NCL more generous to its employees than Japan Railways, Asahi Beer and Toyota...
Yahoo! Auctions watch: ridiculous Final Fantasy XIII cosplay edition
December 18, 2009: How much would you pay for a pink wig?
XIIImas Eve: Square Enix blitzes Japanese TV with FF ads
December 16, 2009: One day to go.
Hot new Japanese release: Zaxxon (Virtual Console Arcade)
December 15, 2009: Something to keep you entertained until FFXIII.
Final Fantasy XIII Elixir spills into Japan’s conbinis
December 10, 2009: *Drink not guaranteed to Restore faith in series.
Gaijin Gamer’s most wanted Japanese PlayStation Classics
December 10, 2009: On J-PSN please, 'cause discs are minging.
PlayStation Awards 2009: big win for Mohan as SEGA’s Nagoshi leaves audience temporarily blind
December 8, 2009: Dark glasses essential.
Professor Layton’s cinema debut approaches
December 8, 2009: Get down to yer local Toho Cinemas on December 19th, fellow gaijin!
Nintendo re-manufactures, re-releases the original Game & Watch machine
November 19, 2009: ...And gives it away for "free" to its Club Nintendo friends...
It’s the hardwired Pikachu choir from hell!
November 17, 2009: This man has a wife and kids.
Yahoo! Auctions watch: game music and copying device edition
November 16, 2009: It's hammer time!
Four more PlayStation classics arrive in PSN-J’s Game Archives
November 11, 2009: And by "classic" we mean Neko-Zamurai!
The very best of Japanese chiptune, pt. 3: USK
November 10, 2009: "Just a Gameboy musician in Fukuoka, Japan."
New invention informs Japanese parents of the time their children spend gaming
November 10, 2009: Introducing the "Kids Timer" - new worst enemy of Japan's young gamers!
SEGA Japan choreographs horrific Puyo Puyo 7 dance routine!
November 9, 2009: Disturbing on so many levels...
The very best of Japanese chiptune, pt. 2: YMCK
November 9, 2009: Shibuya-kei reborn through the cassette slot of a Famicom...
Yahoo! Auctions watch: rare book/magazine edition
November 6, 2009: Out of print but still in demand.
The very best of Japanese chiptune, pt. 1: XINON
November 5, 2009: Mr. 8-bit Awesomeness!
Do certain games really make the Japanese feel nauseous?
November 5, 2009: Anecdotal evidence suggests a 50:50 split, as well as some funny anomalies...
Get a Porter case for your PSP Go
November 4, 2009: You won't regret it. People will be impressed.
Mainichi Issyo subscription SCANDAL
November 2, 2009: Sony's beloved PS3 service Mainichi Issyo goes subscription-based - pay 800 yen a month, or lose the right to have your PS3 news presented to you by cats...
3D Dot Game Heroes appealing to Japan’s “lost” Famicom generation
November 2, 2009: Something old, something new...
Introducing… the Osaka Game Show 2009!
October 30, 2009: Well, kind of.
Yahoo! Auctions watch
October 30, 2009: Let the bargain hunting begin!
It’s PRINCESS ROBOT BUBBLEGUM!
October 29, 2009: We love her, obviously.
Arcade Adventures: Music GunGun!
October 29, 2009: We hit the game centres to see what's out there beyond forty million Tekken and Street Fighter cabinets, gambling and walls of Answer X Answer quiz machines populated by smoking middle-aged men.
Game Center CX returns to our screens!
October 29, 2009: Season 12 of the awesome Shinwa Arino-presented "Game Center CX" programme kicked off on October 13th - tune your TV to Fuji Terebi TWO now!
5 essential PlayStation games to download from J-PSN
October 29, 2009: If you nip along to your local conbini and buy a 3,000 yen PSN ticket, what will you spend your credit on? Stuck for ideas? Here are five absolutely sublime 32-bit PlayStation games available in the Game Archives area of the Japanese PS Store for just 600 yen each...
Nanikore? – Boku No Natsuyasumi 3
October 26, 2009: Welcome to Nanikore? – an occasional series where I pick something random that I don't understand off the shelves and hope that it turns out to be good, funny, or both. This time...
How to find the Nintendo Building!
October 23, 2009: Every Gaijin in Kyoto's top pilgrimage is to the proud white HQ of Nintendo Co. Ltd. Here's how you get there...
Gaijin Gamer’s instant guide to… the conbini!
October 23, 2009: You're at the conbini. That's convenience store, to the common gaijin. You like games. WHAT DO YOU DO?
Snazzy terebi gemu fashion at UNIQLO
October 22, 2009: Official game t-shirts at daft prices! Bring it on, UNIQLO! (Article not sponsored by UNIQLO.)
Cave 360 ports to be region-free
October 9, 2009: Cave: Bringing hundreds of thousands of purple bullets to a country near you.

 

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