I went to Japan! (Patreon)

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.