“Behind The Japanese Mask” – Latest Online Book from webooks – Japanese People and Culture

Oct. 10, 2008 - PRLog -- Rent a Hero No. 1 – Sega Dreamcast & Xbox

Playing as super-hero, Taro Yamada, throughout this off-beat action-RPG you’ll encounter bizarre tasks, such as rescuing kittens out of trees, to doing battle with arch-nemesis, Dr. Trouble, in an odd mix of mid 90s suburbia and Japanese culture. You assigned tasks from “SECA” through a “Creamcast”, which alerts you of superhero jobs.

Despite the games American look and feel, this “B-Movie” game never left Japan. The Rent-A-Hero character did however feature in Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix.

Approximate Ebay price – none listed on Ebay at time of writing
Approximate price to learn Japanese – £1000

Dokidoki Majo Shinpan - Nintendo DS

Translated as “Thump-Thump Witch Judgment!” or “Heart-Pounding Magical Investigation”, Doki Doki epitomises the bizarreness of Japanese people and culture, as well as being incredibly daring.

You assume the role of a junior high school student, Akuji, how has been asked by an Angel to locate a witch that has snuck its way into his school. Using stylus, Akuji, or rather more disturbingly, you, must search suspects’ bodies for a “witch mark”. Fitting in perfectly with a Japanese obsession, most of the “suspects” happen to be Japanese schoolgirls.

The Japanese instruction manual advises you to play the game “where no one else can see you”. Sound advice, otherwise it could be game over.

Approximate Ebay price - £20-£30
Approximate time in jail – 5 to 10 years.

Segagaga – Dreamcast

Released on March 2001 in Japan at the end of the Dreamcast’s life, Segagaga is Sega’s swansong before leaving the hardware industry, and is viewed by some as the epitome of what is missing from today’s videogames – originality.

At it’s heart, Segagaga is an RPG but rather than the traditional save the world/princess story, your challenge is to save Sega from the forces videogame makers experience in every day life.

The concept behind Segagaga is not far from the truth at the time the game was released. The Dreamcast’s fate was sealed by the release of the Playstation 2. Similarly, in the game, Sega is under threat from a new videogame company called DOGMA, whose in-game logo has a strong resemblance to Sony’s.

Approximate Ebay price - £50
Approximate time looking for a copy – get a plane to Japan.

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