Monday, March 5, 2012

Japan Feb 2012 Part 5

The Blue Hearts - Mayonaka no Telephone

A story from the previous day I had forgotten to mention.  While at a green crosswalk I started to cross but a white van turned and just about ran me over.  A policeman chased them down on foot.  It was a two part crosswalk passing over a highway so I got a front row view of the policeman giving the guy a ticket and frequent pointing at me to show, "Hey you nearly killed this guy."

This is by far the most photo heavy entry so far.

A new day woken up in Tamachi at Gracery Hotel I again saw the girl off to work.  This time I was taking a dangerous journey deep into the New Jersey of Tokyo, Saitama.  A random forum post had pointed out that there was a Planet Harriers machine there.  Ever since seeing a small blurb about it in video game magazines during the height of the brightest star that was the Dreamcast, I wanted to play it.  Space Harrier, previously mentioned and played in it's true form, is my favorite game of any and all times.  Surely the Dreamcast sequel from the time where Sega could do no wrong would be amazing.

I had been looking for a machine since I came to Tokyo for the first time in 2005.  I had never seen one.  There wasn't any in the casinos in Mississippi where I grew up.  It held a mystical hold of the one thing I haven't played from that era.

So I headed up to the dreaded labyrinth of Tokyo Station and navigated to a train that would take me far North.  I appreciated the chance to not be walking.  I also had a something to keep me occupied.

I'm not even going to attempt what the name of the game.  As I mentioned before I'm certain it's based off an anime license I hadn't ever heard of or seen.  There was a save at what I assume was the final boss and I spent my first train leg trying to beat the boss and failing.  It had a lot better kinetics than I was expecting and was a decent way to kill time.  At least more interesting than Dragon Quest IV which I also tried again and was again just immediately distracted and disinterested.  I wished I had a way to play Game Boy titles and debated buying a GBA SP next time I saw one.

After the Musashishino line took me North and West to Saitama, Minami Urawa had me traveling back South and East.  I pondered if there was an easier way for me to get there than the one I was told to use.  My rental cellphone didn't let me calculate train routes.  The JR Line let me arrive and see my first set of Ikea Japan advertisements for the day.  I considered having a Swedish lunch but Planet Harriers was calling.  That's why I was all the way out here right?

For those following in my footsteps.  I either can find it from the station, or you are on the desolate wasteland that is the otherside.  An Ikea, a giant shopping mall, and dying farmland.  Round One greeted me with the usual array of UFO Catchers including an ice cream one I briefly considered except it was too damn cold.  A bowling alley was on my left.  I headed to the back where they might keep actual games. There was a large pile of broken machinery and my eyes didn't spot PH in it. I also didn't spy PH anywhere in the set up.  I sent Renfrew an email, "It's not here."

I tried to play Guitar Freaks in mourning but my arms immediately became incredibly tired. That game causes me to use muscles I must never use elsewhere.  I searched for a jojo anything in the UFO catcher.  R sent me a response, "Did you try the free to play section?"  I...uh...

Upstairs told me I could pay 1480 yen for 90 minutes.  A employee actually confirmed Planet Harriers existed.  My Japanese again failed me as I debated whether I wanted to pay the money (I choose the weirdest times to be a horrible cheapskate.)  I was alone.  Inside there was soccor and ball pits and archery and at least one game I'd wanted to play for about 10 years.

I figured I should get lunch first.  I went into the decidedly western style mall.  I looked for jeans.  I browsed yet another Uniqlo that had the same stuff every Uniqlo has.  I was in fact wearing a brand new Uniqlo Heattech white v-neck undershirt.  It's back was covered in bloodstains from for whatever reason my back had started bleeding after my shower.  Ruined as summer wear, still usable as an undershirt.  Several of the stores were playing the terrible music that American mall stores play.  "I want you.  I know that you want me too."  There's no conflict there!  I'm not sure why you're singing!

Under Pac-Man I had yakisoba and decided I might as well go play Planet Harriers since I was out this far.  So I found it.  I found it and a more than a few ultra rare cabinets.



Planet Harriers is underwhelming but how could it not be after 10 years?  Well because it had some weird problems.  The stages are in quite a wide circle; you don't have access to the whole field.  Moving your character to the far edges of the screen slowly moves your screen in that direction.  I often had enemies and items just float by completely out of reach.  It's a different take from most games like this.  It's on rails but the wide area means you will sometimes miss or be in less than ideal spots for setpieces.

The other major fault is that it is LONG.  The first stage is six minutes at least.  Checking the playthroughs from the above linked youtube account a full game is likely 40 minutes to an hour.  It might have been in the response to the time.  Looking at any review of 18 wheeler trucker's port to the Dreamcast and they'll mention it's too short.  It was designed for the arcade.  PH is out of place in it's length at an arcade.  It also lacks the definite speedy punch that Space Harrier and most Model 16 have.  It feels very plodding.  Planet Harriers needed an editor.

F Zero AX was thankfully great.  It even had the gamecube memory card slot.  You're sitting at a dentist's chair angle sort of looking up at the screen looking down at you.  Years of not playing had left me rusty on Sega's take on F Zero, but I had a blast twisting in the machine and getting 10th place.

Prop Cycle is talked about sometimes as a great experience.  As you pedal the bike fans blow in your face.  it definitely took me back to arcades years ago.  The whole place did.  It even looked more like an American casino arcade than a Japanese game center.  The Japanese version of Police 911 2 has badass with an afro instead of white dude in varsity jacket we got stateside.  I'm still waiting on Kinect or Move to give me a shooter that is as fun as this game is.

Prop Cycle's controls were hard, but that's understandable.  They need to take the beating of the public and survive.  Similarly Sega Rally's force feedback steering wheel nearly ripped my arms off.  It was easy to turn and yet almost impossible to hold it steady.  I still loved it and the pale projection screen it shown on.

Oddities including seeing some junior high kids totally rock Xevious.  It's amusing how Xevious is such a huge gaming milestone in Japan and we couldn't give a shit about it in the west.  Tokyo Bus Guide and Ferrari were always occupied when I went to try them.  Did you know Konami made a house of the dead clone? The second player has a shotgun!  And there are three players total!

I briefly tried the archery section and failed stunningly awful that it felt sad and pitiful by myself instead of hilarious if I had had company.  I tried PH one more time and played various others and then got on the train back to Tokyo.

Jacks - Marianne

What a poor translation for a school for the disabled.  Or an insight into the Japanese mind?  On the way back to Tokyo the brand new giant Tokyo Sky Tree hung ever present over the horizon.   If you want a view from the behemoth when it opens you are looking to pay a cool 3000 yen.  You should just go to the top of the Shinjuku Metropolitan Building for free.

On a Game Center CX episode Arino and the crew goes to used stuff store called Chiba Kanteidan that is absolutely overflowing with used games.   It looked amazing and every location was too far from Tokyo to plan on going this trip.  Then I found myself on a train bound for Funabashi and trusted that I had looked at maps well enough to remember where one of them was.

The first problem is there are at least 3 stations with Funabashi in the title.  There were two I vaguely knew the location of.  South of Ikea to the east.  I lucked out that Minami-Funabashi was the Funabashi with an Ikea.

The only other thing I could see was a positively huge apartment/mansion complex.  Mansion in Japanese means a large apartment meant for a family.  You usually buy it for a million dollars (no joke), and it has a great view.  Then someone builds another complex right in front of yours and suddenly your apartment is worth a lot less.  One of the adult life in Japan things I'm not exactly looking forward too.

Despite having a complex that held a good 5000 people at least, I didn't see a convenience store or a supermarket.  It always confuses me when there isn't a supermarket by a residential station like this.  Maybe there's one 10-15 minutes away from the station, but none by it.  At least they have a huge field no one is supposed to enter.


And a goat.  Guess the field is for him.

I tried to follow the road but noticed there was a 12 foot sheet metal wall in front of me.  I assume the road was on the otherside and the only thing I could do is travel along it south and hope there was something.  I had sheet metal and barbed wire like the apocalypse or a concentration camp on my left and the ever expansive apartment complex on my right.  And absolutely nothing to help the lives of those people to be seen.  It eventually there were more trees.  The path curved to the left.  I wondered if I was going to need to walk under the highway indies style.
Or Chiba Kanteidan could be right there.  Inside the place was simply overwhelming.  It's like if all of Nakano Broadway was inside a walmart.  And no one opens the windows ever.  I spent far too long in that place and my lungs suffered for it.  There were clothes and manga and CDs and a fuck ton of video games.

Etrian Odyssey 3 - Battlefield (The First Campaign)






The whole place is packed with stuff so it's kind of difficult to take pictures.  I didn't have enough room to back up or a model to give you an idea of how exactly high up that super famicom shelf goes or that fact that the aisle was about two feet wide.








Yes that's just a pile of Dreamcast games for 300 yen total.  Nothing rare.  They had it for all systems.  The SFC sets being the most interesting since you could only see the top game.  I didn't need more random Super Famicom games though.  Oh hey wonder if they have China Drum holy shit they do.  Man this leather jacket is great but a size too big.  What about nudie jeans nah nothing really.  Jojo figurines?  no luck.  Anything in the UFO catchers?  A bunch of anime stuff.  What about cowboy style dress shirts?   Jesus Christ look at that mountain of manga.  Cool VMU's for Persona?  No luck.  Fuck I'm blanking on games to look for and this is too many to just browse.  Oh hey Black Hole Assault the follow up to Heavy Nova a game only I love.  Better get Heavy Nova too.  No you don't you don't even have a Sega CD.  You're just getting BHA because you can't find a working iso on the internet.  Hey Wiis for 8800 yen.  Maybe I'm that stupid.  Oh Yokosuka Jackets.  This one isn't bad why not.  And it's reversible.  Time to find out if I can actually pull off a YJ.  At least in America.

I should get out of here I don't exactly want to be here after dark.  I've always wanted a Fukubukuro and one for 10 PS2 games?  sure.  Alright I guess that's it.  Feel somewhat embarrassed hauling this black bag around Tokyo.  Get back to the hotel and drop all this stuff off and figure out what to do before the girl gets off.


 So I traveled back to the hotel.  I took about 5 minutes of a breather.  I washed my face.  Then it was back out.  No time to waste with only a week in Tokyo.  I decided I could possibly go ahead and do Harajuku in an hour.


Turns out HRJK starts dying around 730.  I'm not sure if that's because of teenagers' curfews or what.  I went there with the intention of trying to find some jeans.  I didn't.  This shop had some stuff I liked enough to take a picture of the sign.  The second floor of ACDC rag had only a few leather jackets this time, and I'm always terrified to check the first floor of the place.  Despite being where I bought my jacket I've worn now for 6 years, 99% of the store's stock is very very girly.  It feels like trespassing to go to that store.  I'm talking frilly ballerina skirts.  I'm talking this store.


First the new go to style seems to be Bolo Ties.  Motherfuckers were everywhere.  The second I absolutely adore and would love to rock but I'd hear "Faggot" and fall over dead the second I walked outside in Texas.  I didn't reach LaForet in time, so I missed out on looking at Nudies that evening.  I did manage to buy two nice cowboy style shirts because they grab shirts from American thrift stores that fit me.  Then at the questionable store of WeGo I found another shirt for all of 400 yen.  Good Job on me.  At a different store I tried on a cowboy hat and for probably the the first time in my whole life a hat didn't look half-bad.  Then I went "Am I seriously considering buying a cowboy hat in Japan to take back to Texas?"

To prove my absolute insanity I walked from HRJK to Shibuya.  I hate Shibuya.  It is not the place for me.  My previous trips to Japan were based around avoiding going to Shibuya.  It was a goal of mine to not have gone to Shibuya.  And yet I was there.  Maybe The World Ends With You eroded my black heart.  So what did I do in Shibuya.  It's shopping districts were also dead, all that was left was clubs including one that would be hosting a huge line of bands in a marathon and one of them was Husking Bee and Holy lord I almost went just for that.  I probably should have for events that will eventually occur.

So I went to the 50 yen arcade.  For the whole time I was an adult in Tokyo I never remembered it existed.  Now I was even more of an adult and played Fantasy Zone in it's basement covered in cigarette smoke still waiting for a phone call or an email.  Of course as soon as I saw my first shop balloon I got that phone call.  She'd be in Shibuya in 10 minutes.  I told her to meet me at the Moai Head.  See Hachiko is always crowded.  Except tonight where Shibuya was strangely empty.

Then we had the eternal problem of Shibuya.  Where do you eat?  Are there good restraurants in Shibuya?  Please share them with me!  We ended up of all places, CoCo Curry.  I like it enough to miss it when I can't have it so it was a decent choice.  I think we annoyed the white dude sitting at the bar by speaking English.  I tried switching to Japanese but the words still weren't coming to me so I gave up.

One of Coco Curry's things is offering special spoons for eating lots of their curry.  They currently had a promotion for a special Street Fighter X Tekken spoon.  In the interest of not adding even more pictures to this post, yes it had Dhalism's head.

After one last quick check of the Tsutaya for deals and steals, taking note of Fast Five having a weird name in Japanese but not remembering what that weird name was we went back to the hotel (yay!)

Next Time:  We try to see a Buddha, I get horribly injured! (don't worry it's not exciting) To Part 6!

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