Tag: Japan

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Japan Nonsense Video Games

On The Launch of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

I thought this might be interesting to people here stateside. This will mostly just be a picture post, but I will give a little context. Monster Hunter is an action-RPG by Capcom in which you take the role of a, wait for it, monster hunter. The game consists of quests and leveling as well as armor and weapon upgrades. It sounds typical, but there is a large community aspect to the game. I think this is why Japan is so gaga over the game. Japan has a different structure as a country. People commute daily, and most people do something during the ride. Since the population is so dense if your chosen activity to pass the time happens to be playing a handheld system, you can probably bet someone else is doing the same. This lends itself to people questing together without the aid of the Internet. Internet gaming is actually not that popular in Japan as it is in America. Think how big Xbox Live is here. That install base does not exist over there.

Not to delve too far into the reasons why Monster Hunter is popular in Japan, but suffice it to say it’s on par with Pokemon. The latest edition, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for PSP, was just released on December 1st to great acclaim. It was announced that Capcom shipped over 2 million units within the first week, which is impressive. This doesn’t tell how many were actually sold to consumers, but that is a pretty huge number. I accumulated some pictures people posted on twitter and I kind of wanted to post them here to show the popularity it has. All credit to the original photo takers. I apologize for not writing who I got them from. If you recognize it as being yours (and you won’t because I have the smallest readership in recorded history) just let me know and I will be more than happy to give credit where credit is due.

*Update*

According to recent numbers from Famitsu (Famous Japanese gaming magazine) Monster Hunter Portable 3rd sold 2.14 million units in 5 days. That is sold to people not shipped to retailers. That is insane!

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Game with Special Edition Drink

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Limited Edition Monster Hunter Portable 3rd PSP

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Monster Hunter Shirts at Uni-Qlo (A chain of popular clothing stores in Japan. Think the Gap)

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Monster Hunter Phone Charms with Uni-Qlo Shirts

Categories
Video Games

On Final Fantasy Demystified.

If you know anything about video games you probably know that the American numbering system for the Final Fantasy series is less than ideal. Back in the “golden age” of gaming of the 8-bit and 16-bit systems Japan was the #1 producer of video games. That usually meant there was lag time for localization from Japan to the States. During localization things got a little confusing, and most people were non-the-wiser. The Internet was pretty much non-existent and video games rags (see magazines) were the only source of information available and since they mostly aware of the localization, there was very few leaks of information in the differences. This lead to some pretty crazy changes in games, changes that would not fly today because they would be smeared all over the Internet.

One notorious culprit of localization gone mad was the Final Fantasy series. In America, we had Final Fantasy I,II,III, then VII. What happened to IV, V, IV? I remember that was a big question when VII came out. Where were our missing games and why didn’t we get them!?! There also was the possibility that Square just jumped to VII, but then why do that?  Turns out there isn’t a really easy answer and you have to wade through some information to get the whole story. (I know I’m not the first to do this, but I aim to be the best) Luckily, I did that for you and did it in easy to understand graphics.

First here is the timeline of mainline Final Fantasy releases through today.

Now you will notice that the North American releases are pretty spread out up until VII, but thats because some games were left out in the numbering. Basically, Square or Nintendo decided that the Japanese Final Fantasy II and III were not OK for American release so they skipped ’em. With Japan on III and North America still only having I they released Final Fantasy IV on Super Famicom (SNES) in Japan and it came over to the states as Final Fantasy II as it was our first Final Fantasy since the first one on the NES. Then Japan released Final Fantasy V, but again it never made it over. So, Japan is now on V and we still have only 2 releases. Come Final Fantasy VI in Japan. This actually did see a western release as Final Fantasy III. Then it defaults to normal as the next North American release is Final Fantasy VIII; same as Japan. It’s pretty ridiculous to follow so I made another graphic to illustrate it. All the red lines tie their Japanese to North American counterpart. I included all the Japanese and North American box art to show the contrast.

Eventually, all the Final Fantasy’s have made their way to the shores of North America, in some form or another. Here is an image that shows when and in what forms the missing Final Fantasy’s made their debut in North America. (I also included the lag time we had to wait for them. Thanks Square!)

I hope this cleared things up for some people even if you couldn’t be less interested. This is not only for you guys, but it helps me remember too. Thanks for reading. Check back if you need affirmation that I indeed don’t have a life.

Categories
Video Games

On Peripherals That Never Made It Over (Part 1).

If I haven’t mentioned it, it bears mentioning. The reason I study what I do (engineering, computers, Japanese) — it’s all due to video games. When I was growing up Japan was the country that was the mecca of all video gamedom. Almost all the bests and classics came from Japan, not to mention the god to which I prayed, Nintendo, was a Japanese corporation. So, in tandem my interests in both computers and the Japanese culture grew into the obsessions they are are today. They sometimes manifest them in ways as we see today, where I am going to gush about an experience I never got to have (really, as you will learn, not many did.)

That brings us to the Satellaview.

Now what in the world is a Satellaview. Well, it’s an add-on for the Super Famicom (SNES) that was released only in the land of the rising sun. Great! It was basically a satellite driven modem that was stuck on the bottom of the Super Famicom. Who cares?? Well, let me do some name dropping, Zelda, Mario, Excitebike. Excited? If you are not than maybe this article isn’t for you (please, don’t stop reading). Here is a little photo just so you can stop wondering what the danged thing looks like.

Check out that chunky thing! Sexy, thy name is Satellaview. This system used a broadcast technology already in place in Japan aptly named “Broadcast Satellite.” This was one of the many precursors to the modern day Xbox Live or PSN. It offered games, tournaments, news, and magazines to subscribers. It’s nearest cousin was the Sega Channel (another sweet add-on I missed out on). Come to think of it, there were basically the antithesis of each other — Sega Channel was on Sega Genesis (Mega Drive for everyone else), only in the USA, and through cable; Satellaview on the other hand was on Super Famicom (SNES), only in Japan, and was received through satellites. Weird revelations! Anyway, the Satellaview was released in 1995 and ran all the way until 2000 which is longer than I expected. It had specific times in which you had to play due to the other broadcasting that happened on the satellite system. It’s claim to fame was in the fact that it had versions of games that were only available on the Satalliview such as BS Zelda no Densetsu, and Excitebike Buzz Mario Battle Stadium (What a translation!). These were exclusive to the platform and drove sales and interest in the system years later.

BS Zelda no Densetsu was a subsection of games for the system called SoundLink. In addition to this being a 16-bit remake of the original Zelda title because it was a SoundLink game it would broadcast full audio which would often consist of narration for hints and clues.

Now why did this not get widespread adoption?

Well, partly due to this tangle of rediculosity. The above image is a diagram of the item’s need and wires need to play the Satellaview. Yowza! Let’s do some quick math, because we all love math.

(all costs are estimates)

BS Tuner: $330.00

Satellaview: $140.00

6-Month Subscription: $50.00

BS Dish: $75.00

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Total Upfront Cost: $600.00

That quite a large upfront cost. I can tell you that there is NO WAY that I would have been a happy subscriber even if I was in Japan in ’95.

Luckily, some of the experience has been preserved thanks to the emulation community. Many roms are available for satellaview games with minor hitches. For example, any SoundLink game does not contain the broadcasted audio because that was a direct feed and was not embedded in the remaining memory packs.

I will leave you with some videos of the Satellaview and gameplay. I hope this was even a little bit enjoyable. I enjoy gaming history thoroughly and passing it on is the best way to keep it alive.

All images were taken from Wikipedia and are sole copyright of those owners.