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R P G A M E R - S P E C I A L R E P O R T
Things are about ready to start. I found out last night that the majority of the Westerners staying at this hostel in Tokyo are here for the purpose of covering or attending the TGS as well ;) One thing that does separate this event from E3 is that admission is open to the public for an incredibly reasonable 1200 yen per day (~$10.75 USD)
I like this not necessarily for the international experience but for the fact that I get to talk shop with a bunch of gamers again. Despite my initial motivations for coming to Japan being rooted in gaming, very few of the Japanese people I know are interested in the genre (or, for that matter my Japanese/their English ability is limited enough where the subject doesn't come up), so to be in and around people who admire the country for this particular subculture is refreshing.
Today I took advantage of the small break to visit Odaiba, a recently developed entertainment district on the south end of the city. Here are some pictures, including the Rainbow Bridge and the quirky Fuji TV Headquarters Building (in itself a tourist attraction).
Odaiba aside, gaming's home is in Akihabra, of course. I strolled through the area tonight, so hopefully this picture collage gives you some idea of what the area is like if you've never been there before.
Akihabara is still the mecca of all things gaming as far as I'm concerned (the first place I visited as soon as getting off the plane on my first trip to Japan last year), but as this is my fourth visit to Tokyo, it's not necessarily new anymore either. Then again, there's plenty of eye candy to see, and plenty of arcades to challenge other gamers (and usually get brutally beaten in the process).
Today saw the release of the white PSP as well, which is in addition to all of the other news/announcements that have been coming out as of late. Personally, I'm excited for some of the new titles announced in the Tales series, as well as Xenosaga Episode III. However, the idea of getting to play an XBox 360 two months before general release to the public is really, really appealing. Given my love for console RPGs, Sony is still my personal favorite, but a shift in titles could change that. It happened to Nintendo before, so you never know.
That's it for now. Tomorrow is the business day, and while admission isn't open to the public, RPGamer will be in there providing the inside information. After all, if we can get into E3, we certainly can get in here!
Oyasuminasai. (Good night).
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