The joy of collecting retro games

 

Japan, and Tokyo in particular, are veritable meccas for retro game lovers. 

One of these dedicated game collectors has managed to buy every single cartridge that was commercially released for the Nintendo Famicom, known abroad as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). 

As reported in SoraNews24, Japanese Twitter user @corner_mask says it took him close to 10 years to put together the complete set, which amounts to a whopping 1,053 games. Making the whole thing more impressive is that every single one of those games also has its original box and instruction manual. That’s no small feat, considering that the Famicom catalog goes back all the way to 1983, meaning that a lot of those paper artifacts were destroyed during the period when most gamers were fairly young kids who didn’t always handle their toys very delicately.

Taking a look at the shelves, you can see there was a surprising amount of variety in package dimensions for Famicom games, some of which came in fairly form-fitting boxes while others are thicker, almost looking like stout reference books. You’ll also spot a number of peripherals such as the Family Trainer running pad, Robot/R.O.B., Famicom karaoke add-on, and Exciting Boxing, a game from Konami with an inflatable punching dummy that you wail on while playing.

@corner_mask says that the most he paid for any of those games is about 200,000 yen (US$1,820) for Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament, a title that works with Bandai’s Datach peripheral, and that the total cost of all his Famicom games came out to roughly three million yen (US$27,270).

So what’s next for @corner_mask? He says he plans to track down copies of the ginbako (silver box) Famicom games, i.e. titles that were re-released in silver boxes. He also wants to put together a complete set of Famicom Disk System games. 

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In other news, Sega has been sued for rigging a crane game, and anime director Hosoda Mamoru does not like the way women are portrayed by Japanese animators.  

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Wait, there's more!

Check out my second otaku guide and, if you are interested in non-otaku stories about Japan, my brand-new Substack newsletter, Tokyo Calling. 

Stay away from these arcade games

 

I've always said you should stay away from crane games. 

In my first book, Tokyo Geek's Guide, I wrote the following regarding game centers (i.e. game arcades):

The first floor is crammed with UFO Catchers (crane and claw games), a couple of Taiko no Tatsujin (Drum Master) (a particularly popular game that attracts players of any age and sex) and a few kid’s games such as card-based games. These cabinets are strategically placed near the entrance because they are more likely to attract casual passersby, young couples and families. Originally UFO Catcher was the name of a prize game that arcade industry giant Sega created in 1985 and derives its name from its UFO-shaped claw. It has proved so successful over the years that even today all crane games (including those made by other companies) are called like this. Anyway whatever the type, you’ll better avoid them like the plague because they are nothing but coin suckers. Though deceptively easy, your chances to get one of those cute stuffed toys (unless you are blessed with beginner’s luck) are close to naught. It’s not by chance that revenues from UFO Catchers can be as much as 40 percent of all game revenues at arcades in Japan. 

Now, it seems that one of SEGA’s games is rigged and it has caused the company to be hit with a $5 million lawsuit.

The game in question is called Key Master, and the lawsuit accuses the game of intentionally preventing players from winning any prizes. The hook of this one involves a key-shaped arm that players can guide into a keyhole to net a prize, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. An undisclosed plaintiff claims the game is set up so players will automatically lose a certain number of times before they can win.

Since Key Master is advertised as a game of skill rather than a game of luck, the plaintiff is accusing SEGA of deception.

The Key Master instruction manual goes into detail regarding how it works. A Compulsory Upper Deviation function ensures that the machine will move between 0.4 and 3.6 millimeters so it won’t fit until it’s ready to, regardless of the skill of the user. The default goes up to 700 failed attempts before unlocking a prize.

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In other news, here's an interesting piece about Hosoda Mamoru, one of Japan's best anime creators.

Also, I have launched yet another online project on Substack, Tokyo Calling. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks! 

Hosoda Mamoru doesn't like the way women are portrayed in anime

A very interesting piece about anime director Hosoda Mamoru whose latest film, Belle, has just screened at the Cannes Film Festival. 

Mamoru Hosoda has bones to pick with both Steven Spielberg and Hayao Miyazaki, the other great Japanese animator to whom he is often compared.

Hosoda -- whose brilliantly humane "Mirai" got an Oscar nod three years ago -- has had enough of the way Hollywood treats the digital world and Miyazaki depicts women.

The dystopian tropes about the net that run through so many movies, including Spielberg's "Ready Player One", are not doing anyone any favours, particularly women, Hosoda told AFP at the Cannes film festival, where his latest feature "Belle" is premiering.

Father of a young girl himself, the Japanese master wants to empower her generation to take control of their digital destinies rather than cower in fear.

"They have grown up with the net... yet are constantly told how malevolent and dangerous it is," he said.

"Belle" is his riposte, a spectacular dive into the rollercoaster emotional life of a shy adolescent girl called Suzu, in a 21st century take on "Beauty and the Beast".

- Digital diva -

To her surprise, and everyone else's, Suzu becomes a pop diva called Belle in the virtual universe of an app called U.

Rather than being burned by online abuse and harassment as she acquires billions of followers, Suzu uses her online avatar to overcome the haters and her own hang-ups.

"Human relations can be complex and extremely painful for young people. I wanted to show that this virtual world, which can be hard and horrible, can also be positive," said Hosoda.

Suzu and her computer geek friend are far from the women that usually populate Japanese anime -- which is where Hosoda takes issue with Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning legend behind classics such as "Spirited Away".

"You only have to watch Japanese animation to see how young women are underestimated and not taken seriously in Japanese society," he said.

The director -- whose films are more grounded in social realities than Miyazaki's -- was brought up by a single mother, a rarity at the time.

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His 2012 classic "Wolf Children" is a paean to the fierce independence with which she brought up her little pack alone.

"It really annoys me to see how young women are often seen in Japanese animation -- treated as sacred -- which has nothing to do with the reality of who they are," Hosoda said, with evident frustration.

- Miyazaki bust-up -

Without naming Miyazaki, Hosoda was unsparing about the Studio Ghibli founder.

"I will not name him, but there is a great master of animation who always takes a young woman as his heroine. And to be frank I think he does it because he does not have confidence in himself as a man.

"This veneration of young women really disturbs me and I do not want to be part of it," he insisted.

He wants to free his heroines from being paragons of virtue and innocence and "this oppression of having to be like everyone else."

Hosoda and Miyazaki have history.

The 53-year-old was seen as the natural successor to Miyazaki after he was called in from the outside by Ghibli to direct the Oscar-nominated "Howl's Moving Castle".

But Hosoda walked out midway through to set up his own studio.

The director prefers stories that "show the good and the bad in people. This tension is what being human is all about."

Which is why he was also drawn to bringing "Beauty and the Beast" up to date.

"In the original story the Beast is the most interesting character. He is ugly and has this violence but he is sensitive and vulnerable inside too.

"Beauty is just a cipher. It is all about her looks. I wanted to make her as complex and rich."

That duality is also there in his fascination with the digital world that began with his first hit, "Digimon: The Movie".

"I keep returning to the internet. First with 'Digimon' and then with 'Summer Wars' in 2009 and now again."

And he is more convinced than ever that we cannot keep dismissing it as the source of all evil.

"Young people can never separate themselves from it. They grew up with it. We have to accept it and learn to use it better."

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In other news, my second book, Otaku Japan, is out now. Check it out!

And last but not least, I have launched yet another online project on Substack, Tokyo Calling. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks! 

Conan is back!

I just learned that distributor GKIDS has acquired the rights to 1978’s Future Boy Conan anime, which marks the debut series of renowned director Miyazaki Hayao. The series is set to arrive in late 2021 for the first time ever in North America, and will feature an English dub and an all-new 4K restoration.

While we wait for more, a new website is live for those who want to sign up for email updates and get more info as it’s revealed.

I have particularly good memories of this anime series because I watched it for the first time in Japan, 20 years ago, when my wife was expecting our first child. 

Future Boy Conan takes place in a world where civilization has been destroyed by a terrible war. Conan is born into this new world on an isolated island. His life is forever changed when a mysterious girl named Lana washes ashore, pursued by shadowy operatives who seek to use her to wicked ends.

The directorial debut of Academy Award®-winner Miyazaki Hayao is a landmark in animation history. This delightful sci-fi adventure series, beloved worldwide but never before released in North America, features a new English language version and 4K digital restoration.

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In other news, my second book, Otaku Japan, is out now. Check it out!

And last but not least, I have launched yet another online project on Substack, Tokyo Calling. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks!