Tamagotchi are back, back, BACK!

It seems that Tamagotchi just won't die, even if you don't feed them. I thought they'd all died out in the late nineties, but apparently not - the other day I was surprised to discover one of my students nonchalantly playing with her virtual pet during tea ceremony club. I asked her if they were still popular, and she said they were making a bit of a comeback. Sure enough, a quick bit of internet research confirmed that Bandai re-released the nagging computer animals a couple of years ago.

It seems like they're a bit more sophisticated this time around though - they can be connected via infrared so that users can exchange gifts and play games, and taking good care of them earns you "Gotchi" points which you can use to buy things for your pet. There's even a virtual community called TamaTown.

But, of course, the big question everyone's asking is: "Can you kill them through neglect?". Unfortunately I couldn't find the answer, but I did find out from tamagotchi.com that owners can care for their "egg-friend" by "cleaning up after its messes". Lovely.

A Nyu High School student demonstrates her beloved Tamagotchi.

Quakes and dogs

You may or may not have heard, but there was a series of big earthquakes in Niigata prefecture on Saturday, which caused a lot of damage, as well as a handful of deaths. Luckily we didn't really feel anything in Fukui - it was only when I got home and turned on the news that I found out that it had happened. A shinkansen train (bullet train) was derailed at 200kph, but miraculously no one was hurt. The train tracks have seismographs at 20 km intervals which detect if there is an earthquake and automatically shut off the electricity, but the train was travelling over the epicentre of the quake at the time, so the power couldn't be shut off quickly enough. What most interested me though was the fact that this is the first time a shinkansen train has been derailed. Ever. And the trains have been running since 1964. What the hell would Japanese people think of British trains, or "cages of death" as they're otherwise known?

Anyway, apart from the earthquake drama, it's been a pretty funky weekend. I did karaoke on Friday, and treated my fellow JETs to a rendition of "That's what I go to school for" by Busted, complete with well-timed leaps in the "rocking out" style. I never realised quite how filthy the lyrics to that song are. And strangely appropriate considering the levels of behind doors shagging done by the JET community and Japanese teachers. I also played on probably my favourite Japanese arcade game so far - I've attached a picture below. Yes, that's right, you have to walk a dog. Genius.

The idea is that you have to keep your dog happy by walking as fast as you can on a conveyer belt - the faster you walk, the happier the dog is. As you're strolling down the street with your virtual dog you have to use the lead to steer him/her towards potential points of interest, such as bits of food or flowers.

Unfortunately, it didn't simulate your dog trying to shag the legs of passers-by, or shit in the middle of the high street, but I'm sure that's something they'll keep in mind for the sequel. Unfortunately my dog was a little unhappy with me - although I let him chase after a cat, I got him run over three times. Anyway who says I deliberately tried to steer him under that truck is lying.

Anyway, I have to go and teach some English grammar, sayonara! 

Me, walking the virtual dog.

Movies, games and videos

I took my first trip to the arcade on Saturday.

Most of you are probably thinking "Is this the same Lewis? Has he really been in Japan for over two months and has yet to visit an arcade?" Well, yes, it took me a while, but I finally got around to sampling the Japanese arcade experience. And it was mental.

For a start it was called Joyland. Secondly, there were no scary children wearing Kappa jackets. And thirdly it had some of the most bizarre games I've ever seen. By far the best was Drummania, which is a giant pink cabinet with a set of touch sensitive drums - to get an impression of how popular it is, I should tell you that the one I played was the ELEVENTH version. The idea is that you can choose from a list of rather brilliant bubbly J-pop tunes and drum along to the on-screen instructions. It's brilliant fun, and the bonus is that you feel slightly less stupid than when playing those dancing games. I've attached a photo of a Japanese guy playing on it who was amazingly good. He was playing the game on extreme level, and he's obviously memorised every track. He even brought his own drum sticks. I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or to feel slightly embarrassed for him...

By far the strangest thing there was the eight player football game though. I couldn't quite work out how you were supposed to play it - as far as I could tell it was based on stat battles between cards that the players brought along themselves and put into the machine. A bit like a cross between Top Trumps and Match of the Day.

The best bit of the arcade was the Sega "Relax Mission", which was, quite simply, a massage chair. Just in case you need to unwind after a heavy bout of drumming.

And now, the weather... Is it me or has the world weather been going a bit mental lately? Japan has had NINE typhoons this year. That's the most typhoons to hit the country in one year since records began. The last one arrived this weekend, and was the strongest one since 1951, but luckily it veered east at the last minute and hit Tokyo. Well, lucky for me anyway, not particularly lucky for the people in Tokyo.

A rather random result of this is that Fukui has had the highest number of bear attacks ever. The numerous typhoons have knocked all the fruit and nuts off the trees, so the bears are coming down from the hills to look for food in towns. It's got to the point where the local government is issuing primary school children with bells for their walk to and from school, in order to scare away bears. They even cancelled the Katsuyama sports festival this weekend due to the risk of bear attacks. It all seems a little absurd to me - the black bears here only grow to about a metre long at most. Having said that, I wouldn't want to wake up in the night to find one rooting through my refrigerator.

And finally, I watched Love Actually with a load of Americans on Sunday, which was interesting. I had great fun trying to explain to them what Basildon was...

Beatmania - This guy was playing it on the extreme setting. He was playing so fast that I honestly believe that he can see into the future.

The eight player football game. I have absolutely no idea how you play this. 

Games and dressing up

I went to the Tokyo Game Show this weekend. The Video Game Show that is, not Takeshi's Castle. We were going to go on the overnight bus, but it was full so we had to get the Shinkansen (Bullet train) instead, which was a tiny bit more expensive. Well, actually, a lot more expensive, ie 125 quid return, but hey, you have to go on it at least once don't you? The trains are absolutely amazing - they're on time TO THE SECOND. It's unbelieveable. The bullet trains are incredibly fast too, but they're so quiet you'd hardly know you were moving. Plus the stewardesses and ticket inspectors bow every time they come in and out of the carriage, whilst saying "Shitserei shimasu" ("Pardon me for being rude"), then when the train stops they all come out onto the platform to see you off. I really can't see the trade unions in England standing for that.

The game show was nerd heaven - not only were there loads of pre-release games on free play, there were some of the most stunning women I have ever seen. It seems games companies have hit on the perfect strategy for attracting young males to their stands - they simply surround their little corner of the exhibition with jaw-droppingly beautiful models dressed in the skimpiest, most revealing outfits known to man. Generally the formula for these women is as follows - the duller the product you're trying to sell, the more women you employ to drape themselves over it. This explains why the "booth babes" on the Capcom stand were relatively fully clothed and few in number, whilst Taito employed an army of hotpant-clad vixens to sell its shoddy line up of titles. You can tell Microsoft are struggling a bit in Japan, since out of the babe hordes encircling their stand, some were down to just a bikini. Special mention must go to the women flogging Need for Speed Underground 2 on the EA stand though. They managed to keep a small army of male photographers entertained for the entire weekend by draping themselves over a sports car. 

One of the sports car girls, with a grinning Ben in view.

The PSP girls.

The title of this game translates as: "HEAVEN! Boys love attack! Let's get some more!"

In among the women there were actually some games at the show too. For those of you who know or care, the PSP (Playstation Portable) was out in full force, with a launch line up of about 22 games. It's an absolutely gorgeous machine - I'm sure it's going to sell millions. The games were a little ropey though - generally the graphics were fantastic, almost PS2 quality, but none of them particularly stood out, and most were only about 50% finished; a little worrying if the console is going to be launched in December. Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube looked absolutely stunning, and Sega had a great line up too - particularly Sega Superstars for the Eye Toy. It features about 12 games using Sega characters, and they're all fab. I had a go on the House of the Dead game and a particularly embarrassing video of me exists punching imaginary zombies with a big grin on my face.

Lastly, I have to tell you about cosplay. Cosplay is short for "costume play" - basically there are a lot of fanatical Japanese game and anime fans, mostly women, who love coming to shows like these dressed as their favourite characters, then they stand around all day in designated corridors letting people take pictures of them. Yes, it's very strange. But some of the costumes have had so much time spent on them it's hard not to be impressed, especially seeing some of the crazy outfits from Final Fantasy. Most of the costumes were from animes I've never heard of, but there were several Chun Li's from Street Fighter and a couple of Marios, not to mention a Japanese Neo from The Matrix. By far the most disturbing costume of the day was Cammy from Street Fighter - it didn't take us long to realise that the person inside that bottom-revealing leotard was no woman. He was no spring chicken either. The sight of him bending over to stub out his fag has been permanently burned onto my retinas.

Anyway, it was a smashing weekend, but I can see why people who come to Japan just to see Tokyo and the game show get such a weird view of the Japanese. Thankfully the men don't all go out in nothing but a one-piece and camoflauge paint. Well, at least they don't admit to it....

Jill from Resident Evil.

Neo from The Matrix made an appearance.

I've no idea who this guy is supposed to be, but when I approached he shouted "PINCH CLAW!", and struck this pose.

Look! It's the cast of Final Fantasy X!