portasapone: Aiuto, Non riesco a smettere di acquistare giochi giapponesi che non capisco e non giocherò mai
Le funzionalità di Soapbox consentono ai nostri singoli scrittori e contributori di esprimere le loro opinioni su argomenti caldi e cose casuali che hanno in mente. Oggi, Gavin riflette sul motivo per cui sta spendendo tempo e denaro importando curiosità Nintendo dall'est che non è nemmeno sicuro di giocare…
Tutto è iniziato con Morita Shōgi 64.
Se non hai familiarità, questo è un gioco di shogi (scacchi giapponesi, se ti piace) per Nintendo 64 sviluppato da SETA. Naturalmente, non è mai stato rilasciato in Occidente, con il fatto che si tratta di un sequel di un gioco di lancio solo in Giappone e che mostra una variante degli scacchi giapponesi. Questo non è un affronto al bel gioco dello Shogi, solo un riconoscimento che se hai intenzione di rilasciare un gioco simile agli scacchi sul mercato intenzionale, meglio per i tuoi profitti per renderli semplici vecchi scacchi.
Morita Shōgi 64 è venuto su uno stile unico di cartuccia N64 (o "Cassetta".’ come erano conosciuti in Giappone, mi è sempre piaciuto). Una sporgenza sporgente sul lato posteriore consente un piccolo slot per il cavo Internet sulla parte superiore. Sì, se hai collegato il gioco a una linea telefonica, potresti giocare a shogi online sul tuo Nintendo 64 alla fine degli anni '90.
As you can see, è abbastanza pulito. Ed essendo "abbastanza pulito".’ è tutto ciò che serve per convincere qualcuno come me a tuffarsi su eBay e iniziare a premere "Guarda".’ su molte cose: è qui che iniziano i guai.
Come molti di voi avranno senza dubbio sperimentato, tutto ciò che serve è un tocco innocente di "Aggiungi alla lista".’ pulsante e nove volte su dieci riceverai presto un'offerta con uno sconto modesto, in genere 5-10%. Non è molto, ma se l'articolo ha già un prezzo ragionevole, è una tattica sorprendentemente allettante per farti premere il grilletto su qualcosa che tu davvero non serve ma che è, yes, dannatamente pulito. 10-20 giorni dopo (tipicamente), the best type of package arrives at your place of residence — a parcel from Japan.
If you’ve never bought an item from a Japanese seller, it’s no exaggeration to say that the care and attention lavished on even the smallest parcel is, generally speaking, a cut above sellers based elsewhere. Non fraintendermi, I’ve received beautifully wrapped, properly protected items from other countries — and I’m certain it doesn’t apply to all Japanese sellers — but I’ve yet to receive anything that hasn’t arrived in perfect condition, neatly and precisely packed.
And that beautiful Japanese customs label makes the whole thing feel luxuriously exotic, troppo; forbidden, anche. These mysterious video game jewels were never intended for the lowly, sweaty-handed likes of me! That ‘Not For Resale’ stamp on every Japanese Nintendo game I own is proof positive that this particular item shouldn’t be in my possession. What can be more tempting than that?
Così, I carefully sliced open the parcel, peeled off layers of expertly-taped bubblewrap, and finally held my illicit prize aloft. Sì! I now possessed Morita Shogi 64.
And on my shelf it went. I pensare I fired it up once just to check it worked, but I honestly don’t remember. I was probably willing to trust that it was in full working order. The terrible truth is that it really doesn’t matter.
Most game purchases I make will definitely get played. The NTSC version of Corsa dell'onda 64 was a real education in PAL slowdown that just had to be sampled, and I fully intend to enjoy every last one of the JP Game Boy games I’ve acquired when I get an afternoon to myself. Privo di & Punizione was an even more essential pick-up — a seminal Treasure rail shooter that never released in the West. Bene, except on Virtual Console on Wii. And Wii U. And on Nintendo Switch Online a few months after I shelled out for the NTSC cart. Hey, that box art though, amirite?
My latest import arrived recently. Ottieni l'Assassino's Creed Valhalla Hati Wolf Mount durante l'Inarrestabile Action Sale Zion’s amazing EarthBound video and the accompanying ‘Mother’s Day’ articoli Team NL assembled in early May, I decided to finally pick up the N64 ‘Definitive Edition’ of Mother creator Shigesato Itoi’s fishing game, Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1. What can I say — I liked the look of the yellow cover, and the idea of Itoi-san teaching me to fish appeals.
Pesca (the real-life variety) is something that started appealing to me over the last few years. I suddenly realised that the idea — for most fisherpeople — isn’t to head out onto the water and ‘hunt’ a lunker while wearing a funny hat, but rather to sit in the sunshine, breathe in great lungfuls of fresh air, enjoy the sound and motion of the lapping water, and tap your foot on a cooler of glistening, ice-cold tinnies. Pesca, as I see it, is an excuse to get away from it all in the great outdoors; bagging some dinner at the same time is an optional bonus.
The very small amount I know about fish and fishing, tuttavia, viene da Chex Quest HD esiste e Animal Crossing. Con questo in testa, I thought perhaps the genial Itoi-san could introduce me to the basics before I go to the considerable trouble and expense of procuring waders and rods and all that game, all in the hope of enjoying a quiet beer on a lake. Nobody enjoys putting their fingers in slimy worm buckets, certamente?
The plan, allora, was to fire up the game alongside the Google Translate camera app — which still remains for me a wondrous piece of Star Trek future magic — and see if I’ve got what it takes to best the (digitale) bass. But if I’m honest with myself, will this ever actually happen? Bene, I would have to dig out and set up my Japanese N64, and ideally, I would want to do it through a CRT so lag doesn’t hamper the development of my angling skills. So I need to get one of those flashy PVM monitors, which could take a while.
As the guardian of two small humans, I’m not blessed with an abundance of free time anyway. Infatti, it’s far more likely that Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1. and its poppin’ yellow cover will only ever be enjoyed on the shelf. Which it will! But buying games with little or no intention of actually playing them? I’ve been there before, although at least I could read the text in those games if I ever get to fire them up.
As if that wasn’t enough, I researched the fishing game some more and chanced upon a certain peripheral produced by ASCII specifically for Itoi’s N64 angler. Naturalmente, I took one look and before you know it the Watch button had been hit and the offer came through…
It’s not too late for me to come back from the edge of this particular abyss. My Japanese Nintendo collection is still comparatively slight — just a handful of exclusives really! Madre 3, Captain Rainbow, uno di Custom Robos, the JP version of Metroid: Altro M with the awesome box art, a couple of Famicom Disk System games, a few others. It’s tasteful! I haven’t spiralled into acquiring the entire 64-bit mahjong catalogue just yet.
Appealing to my Nintendo Life colleagues in hope that they’ll talk me down is about as helpful as you’d expect. The aforementioned Zion was as psyched as I was about ASCII’s Itoi fishing rod. And let’s not even talk about Mr McFerran’s collection, often showcased on his enviable Twitter feed. One look at the retro collection housed at Nintendo Life HQ is enough to make any red-blooded retro gamer weep. Weep, and then crack open the eBay app and scroll yourself to sleep in the wee small hours.
X is the latest thing I’m eyeing — once again, primarily because I like the look of the box. Actually, that’s not quite correct. X is a thoroughly noteworthy first-party Game Boy release from Argonaut which did incredible things on a system that shouldn’t have been able to handle it. I picked up the DSi sequel recently on the soon-to-be-shuttered DSi store, so there’s a gap to be filled in my collection, giusto? “Worth owning for its historical value alone,” a colleague reassures me. Sì. As a Nintendo fan, it’s surely my solemn duty to have this on the shelf. *Adds to Watchlist*
Gioca, inizi con una tavola e un sogno: il tuo obiettivo è diventare il prossimo Skate Wizard di Radlandia? Well of course I could. But it looks awful pretty just on the shelf.
Feel free to share your more exotic and/or inexplicable game and peripheral purchases from other territories with a comment below. No judgements — we’re all friends here.