(Almost) Live From Hell City. Part 1 - My Japan Diary

Pyongyang

http://www.pinkbullets.co.uk/blogs/live-from-hell-city-part-1/

Hope the powers that be don't mind a separate thread for this. I'm hoping it provides an entertaining read as well as some small grains of knowledge for future travellers to Nihon.

I'm in the process of serialising my 'memoirs' of my short, but fun time in Japan. It's not sequential events, more cutlets of relevant parts of my time in Japan. Not just gaming-related stuff either.

There will be a LOT more to follow, not just articles is all I will say for now. Also stay tuned for a couple of world exclusives (literally) that are semi-related to these posts.

I hope you like this first part and find it interesting.

djsim101

Very good read man, keep it up:)

You sound very like myself, 32, intro retro games, married

Wife......what love......we are going to Japan

Pyongyang

Thanks a lot, glad you liked it. Indeed when marriage arrives its on par with having your gaming purchases stalked by Retr0gamers ma. :pac:

jetblack1981

Go to super potato?

Steve X2

I'm sure he did, no card carrying Arcade and Retro member goes to Tokyo and doesn't visit/spend loads at Super Spud.
Hit us with some Super Spud pics Pyongy my man

unky chop chop

Good on ya man...Jealous as hell.

Ohh the start of your blog is serious Stephen King stuff .

"It’s a somewhat balmy night, the alarm positioned about a micrometre away from my left ear chirps in to life, bellowing revolting, hideous noise down my ear canal, vibrating my brain and awakening me from my slumber"

Booker prize winner there:)

Pyongyang

jetblack1981 wrote: »

Go to super potato?

Steve SI wrote: »

I'm sure he did, no card carrying Arcade and Retro member goes to Tokyo and doesn't visit/spend loads at Super Spud.
Hit us with some Super Spud pics Pyongy my man

All in good time, I've a rake of stuff to get through but want to make sure it's done right.

I've actually got a pretty interesting story about Super Potato. It'll be revealed soon enough.

Glad ye all like the scribing so far. I've just got to find the time to get it all put together now!

Pyongyang

I've added an extra photo now, after lots of sifting through snaps.

Jack burton

Excellent read...so your 32, looking well!

I would love to see that Gundam in person.......some day!

jetblack1981

So what was the story on pratia maith?

Pyongyang

jetblack1981 wrote: »

pratia maith

jetblack1981

Super potato
The irish has gone I guess

Pyongyang

http://www.pinkbullets.co.uk/blogs/live-from-hell-city-part-2

...and here is Part 2.

safetyboy

I can still hear arkanoid overpowering Darius here pyongers!

Andrew76

Great read Pyong. Watched the video again and it's just awesome to see and hear so many cabs, candies and woodies, under the one roof. Brilliant.

Pyongyang

Cheers Andrew, glad you enjoyed it. Seems the good folk at Mikado and Taito enjoyed it too judging by the Twitter alerts I received this morning!

o1s1n

Only after looking at the video now. It's Mecca really isnt it? Amazing. Nice little glimpse of Raiden 2 there at the start

Pyongyang

Absolutely. It's the best game centre I've ever seen anyway, so personal choice it's the best game centre on Earth. I've a lot to compare it to as well, I grew up in the arcade holy land of the east. Clue: Blackpool is often touted as the arcade holy land of the north west.

Unfortunately I didn't get to check out Eibisen but that game centre is a bit off the beaten track. So is Mikado I guess. Eibisen is apparently home to Gods such as Clover-TAC et al.

As cool as that would be to see, it would be like HEY!, you'd never get to play any games. Mikado boasts a big reputation though, with it's tournaments and visits from Superplay Gods.

Sure when I met TZW in MAK Japan he said he plays at Mikado too because (and these are his words) that they have the best selection of games.

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

Absolutely. It's the best game centre I've ever seen anyway, so personal choice it's the best game centre on Earth. I've a lot to compare it to as well, I grew up in the arcade holy land of the east. Clue: Blackpool is often touted as the arcade holy land of the north west.

Unfortunately I didn't get to check out Eibisen but that game centre is a bit off the beaten track. So is Mikado I guess. Eibisen is apparently home to Gods such as Clover-TAC et al.

As cool as that would be to see, it would be like HEY!, you'd never get to play any games. Mikado boasts a big reputation though, with it's tournaments and visits from Superplay Gods.

Sure when I met TZW in MAK Japan he said he plays at Mikado too because (and these are his words) that they have the best selection of games.

Plus, Mikado also offers half price gaming most of the time these days. So your 100 yen(or 50 as the case may be) goes twice as far

Pyongyang

There's also that, yes.

Not all of the games drop to ¥50 though. The premium titles, such as Saidaioujou were still ¥100. Worth it though as we've to wait until 2013 for the XBOX version.

Pyongyang

Here's the official DoDonpachi Saidaioujou trailer for XBOX 360, followed by the announcement from Cave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfWXtACGy1g

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

Here's the official DoDonpachi Saidaioujou trailer for XBOX 360, followed by the announcement from Cave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfWXtACGy1g

Will that be getting a PAL release or is is jtag fodder pyong?

Pyongyang

Japan-only so far. Unless Rising Star perhaps pick this one up?

Regardless, for me it's a day-1 pre-order. Not seen it up to pre-order yet though. I'd also get the LE edition too as it'll likely come bundled with the soundtrack.

Why is that important? Two reasons:

1) The soundtrack is excellent.
2) The soundtrack that is currently available, and an extremely limited pressing, sells for anywhere between €80 and €200 depending on condition.

Something else to feed my reset glitch XBOX360S anyway.

Myrddin

Its all about region free goodness

Pyongyang

EnterNow wrote: »

Its all about region free goodness

I doubt DDPSDOJ will be region free, if I understand correctly the costs to do that are astronomical. With Cave cancelling their Vita project and reporting losses I can't see it happening to be honest. Let's hope it is region free though.

The main thing is to keep supporting companies like Cave, they're a dying breed.

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

I doubt DDPSDOJ will be region free, if I understand correctly the costs to do that are astronomical. With Cave cancelling their Vita project and reporting losses I can't see it happening to be honest. Let's hope it is region free though.

The main thing is to keep supporting companies like Cave, they're a dying breed.

Lol no, but what I meant was, your console is now region free & thats all that matters

As an aside, why is it expensive to make a game region-free?

Pyongyang

EnterNow wrote: »

Lol no, but what I meant was, your console is now region free & thats all that matters

As an aside, why is it expensive to make a game region-free?

Ah yeah, of course. I now have 3 region free consoles as of yesterday, thanks to the legend that is TouchingVirus.

I might have misread it, but I'm sure I saw somewhere, possibly SHMUPS forum, that Microsoft don't exactly make it cheap to make a title region free, or put a game, dlc or update patch on XBL.

It's part of the reason folk waiting for the PAL Under Defeat HD are delighted the update will be on the disc. G.Rev have had an awful time getting the update out and it's believed this is due to the sheer costs involved.

Microsoft don't make it easy for the little guys. It's such a niche market to appeal to anyway, which is why fans of niche genres need to support these small-size developers.

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

Ah yeah, of course. I now have 3 region free consoles as of yesterday, thanks to the legend that is TouchingVirus.

He's good isn't he

Pyongyang

EnterNow wrote: »

He's good isn't he

Actually, I have 6 modded consoles now. 1 XBOX 360S, 1 NTSC-U PS2, 1 Dreamcast, 1 PS1, PC Engine Duo R and you did my Mega Drive remember?

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

Actually, I have 6 modded consoles now. 1 XBOX 360S, 1 NTSC-U PS2, 1 Dreamcast, 1 PS1, PC Engine Duo R and you did my Mega Drive remember?

Yep I do indeed. The thing is, they're all mods that actually improve the functionality of each console, as opposed to 'my console iz modd3d' type mods.

Whats done to your Dreamcast again the region mod is it?

Pyongyang

Dreamcast is fully loaded. 50/60hz switch, mod chip and a BIOS flash.

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

Dreamcast is fully loaded. 50/60hz switch, mod chip and a BIOS flash.

Ooh hardcore Must get a chip for my own actually. I've the 60Hz switch & bios mod done too.

Pyongyang

I got mine from Robert at Console Goods. It works just grand. The only reason I flashed the BIOS was to change the boot up logo from PAL blue to NTSC-J (and U I guess ) orange.

Not sure if he still sells them though...

o1s1n

Pyongyang wrote: »

Actually, I have 6 modded consoles now.

He has nothing on Enternow . Check out all the stuff he's modded for me!

Megadrive 1 50/60Hz/overclock
Megadrive 2 50/60hz
Sega 32X 50/60hz
Snes 50/60hz (and a nice little LED! )
Sega Nomad screen & battery mod
Amiga cap replacement
Vectrex cap replacement
PSone Modchip
Gamecube region switch
Dreamcast region switch

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting about. I'm beginning to run out of consoles. Must start sending him on kitchen appliances next. 60hz toaster ftw!

Pyongyang

o1s1n wrote: »

He has nothing on Enternow

I say we drop ImmediateEntrance and SolderGod in to a pit and make them fight to the death.

I may be clutching at party straws here, but the PS2 could be the decider. When SolderGod tells you "installing a PS2 chip is difficult boss", you have an almost spiritual awakening, like that episode of The Simpsons where Homer ate an astronomically hot chilli.

It is only then, that you understand the true nature of the beast and bow to those that have mastered the art of soldering*.





*and can mod two PS2's in one sitting in a single afternoon like they were having a cup of tea.

o1s1n

Megadrive overclock - that is all!

Myrddin

Hey I've done PS2's too ya know But in reality my skills are definitely inferior to Solder God's, TV is a masterclass in the art & a true and true gentleman to boot. The PS2 is almost as tough as they get soldering wise.

The list of what I've done is in my sig with logs & pics for everyone to reference if they fancy a bit of diy. Hardest mod I've done would be a PS2 chip install but I done it before I started making logs. I've stopped doing them though as they're a total time-sink & risk of borkage is high

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

Megadrive overclock - that is all!

The actual work involved in that was easy, what was hard however, was figuring out the wire lenght/signal attenuation sweet spot. For reference, shorter wires = good. Took a fair bit of trial & error that

Pyongyang

My PS2. Proof, if any were needed, of the PS2 and it's soldering difficulty factor:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=80449037&postcount=509

That was my PS2 chunky. It worked fine, but we found out the problem wasn't the install, it was my drive unit which was ruined.

I'm keeping the PS2 as an HD Loader unit (you'll understand why in the next week or so... ). The PS2 slim is NTSC-U, that is now home to the modchip and will be taking it on the chin like a true champ!

Anyone who tackles the PS2 modchip and wins is a solder genius in my eyes. One for the bravest of solder soldiers.

Myrddin

Pyongyang wrote: »

(you'll understand why in the next week or so... ).

Banned.

See you in two weeks















*oh wait, I'm not a mod here...you win this time yang..but watch your back

Pyongyang

That wasn't a mysterious GET! post....... or was it? Oh fu.......

*END TRANSMISSION*

vangoz

Thanks for the heads up on Mikado, heading to Japan on Thursday and will be staying in Shinjuku for a few days. Cant wait to pay it a visit

Pyongyang

vangoz wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up on Mikado, heading to Japan on Thursday and will be staying in Shinjuku for a few days. Cant wait to pay it a visit

Enjoy. There is a great ¥270 restaurant next to the Golden Gai entrance. Stop in there if you are nearby. Then head up to Takadanobaba and buy me a Heavy Metal Raiden t-shirt!

o1s1n

Pyongyang wrote: »

Then head up to Takadanobaba and buy me a Heavy Metal Raiden t-shirt!

Those tshirts are great, I want one too!

Anyone know how the hell you buy one?!

http://gogo-tour.mi-ka-do.net/goods.php

vangoz

Pyongyang wrote: »

Enjoy. There is a great ¥270 restaurant next to the Golden Gai entrance. Stop in there if you are nearby. Then head up to Takadanobaba and buy me a Heavy Metal Raiden t-shirt!

Sweet, I'll keep an eye out....... for the restaurant of course. Thanks for unwittingly introducing me to Heavy Metal Raiden!

Pyongyang

No probs, they have a YouTube channel too, excellent muzak.

Donald7948

Japanese really makes great robots

vangoz

Pyongyang wrote: »

No probs, they have a YouTube channel too, excellent muzak.

Already found, listening to it in work now. Are those videos taken in Mikado?

Pyongyang

No, though HMR have played a few gigs there I think. You can buy tickets at Mikado though from the little shop upstairs.

The t-shirts are hanging on rails as you go up the stairs.

I want a blue one!

vangoz

So do I, we cant risk bumping into each other with the same shirt. Any other retro gaming cover bands I should kniow of?

safetyboy

vangoz wrote: »

So do I, we cant risk bumping into each other with the same shirt. Any other retro gaming cover bands I should kniow of?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OKOAgffd8s