Photographs from a small group of islands
Due to the upcoming Japanese release of online role-playing game Nostale, model Azusa Yamamoto took part in a promotional event in Tokyo on Thursday, with the 25-year-old donning some role-playing-like regalia.
As Yamamoto-san’s outfit amply proves, the game perhaps predictably involves wandering around with the likes of swordsmen, archers and sorcerers. None of whom it seems have adventures near the beach and sport bikinis.
Which is a shame.
The surprising availability of the PlayStation 3 in both the U.S. and Japan has been well documented — although they do appear to be selling in Tokyo, albeit at a rather more sedate pace than perhaps predicted.
Yet despite this, and the fact that the new PlayStation is region free for gaming, one optimistic Akihabara outlet has outrageously opted to try and sell an imported PS3 for the truly preposterous price of 128,000 yen (1,082 dollars) — just over double the price of an identical Japanese machine.
Needless to say it remains unsold.
Tempted?
(click image for higher-res rip-off)
With only days to go before the Japanese release of Sony’s much vaunted and even more delayed next-generation games console, PlayStation pandemonium is very likely to hit the streets of Tokyo this weekend — or at least electronic outlet environs. Yet with apparently only a measly 100,000 80,000 machines available from the get-go, this is about as close as the majority of gamers will get.
Which isn’t necessarily all that near, with crowds of kids (both big and small) desperately clamouring for a 3 minute go of gaming goodness. Although as impressive as the PlayStation 3 may be, whether it’s actually a whole 50,000 yen worth of fun remains to be seen — from afar…
Perhaps not entirely grasping the concept of escapism, Bandai, creator of the hugely successful Tamagotchi, is set to release Ant’s Life Studio in November — a virtual ant farm that requires its ‘owner’ to build nests, feed the queen and avoid getting eaten by hungry spiders.
The insects humdrum existence and work orientated lifestyle however is being aimed at Japan’s masses of stressed out salary men, a group whose equally humdrum office existence and company focused life appears to disturbingly mirror those of ants — virtual or real.
Not that Bandai seems deterred by such similarities, with a spokeswoman for the toy maker optimistically claiming, “Stressed-out employees can keep it on their work desks and be comforted just by watching the ants work. By watching them work, they can take their minds off their own work for a while.”
On the plus side though, Ant’s Life Studio does allow the building of up to 100 different nests, adding an element of choice and freedom more than likely devoid from the lives of the game’s targeted audience of desk—chained dependants.
The Xbox 360 may be the current king in Europe and North America, but in Japan, Microsoft’s supposed Sony silencer is floundering — badly. With lackluster sales right from the start, the next-generation nonstarter is arguably dead and buried already; paltry sales of just over 1,000 units in the 3rd week of June amply proving this, especially when compared to the 25,467 PlayStation 2s shifted over the same period.
That said, when it comes to promotional events, Microsoft can still attract a good crowd — in particular when scantily clad models are involved. Pin-up queens Natsuki Yoshihara (right) and Haruka managing to wow avid gamers over the weekend with their prowess at the wartime epic ‘Call of Duty 2’.
Decked out in casual gaming attire, the two young ladies impressed the surprisingly all-male gathering with their joystick mastery and — with the addition of a few excited squeals — how quickly they managed to get their characters to release their load.
Young Yoshihara-san later claimed that the game’s voice-chatting feature had gripped her attention. The audience however confessed to being gripped by matters a little closer to hand.