Japanese Drift Master – Rise of the Scorpion is the prelude to a full game coming out in May. It’s an open world racer with drifting, missions and all kinds of event. Check out my review:

The Monster Hunter series has been booming in recent years, with the games getting better and better. Capcom recently launched a new series of figurines, allowing real life collectors to bag the monster of their choice. Those pictured are available for a cool JPY9,900.

The PVC and ABS figures here are about 10-15cm tall, so they won’t frighten the cat, but they’re pretty good for the price.

Including those pictured, there are eight different sets of monsters available. You can also buy an item pack, if you want to remind yourself of those reassuring health items while going about your business.

Check out the shop, here.

The 2023 Tokyo Game Show starts today and runs until Sunday 24th. As usual it features hundreds of exhibitors from Japan and around the world, with a record 787 this time around.

There are various ways to view the event, with livestreams on Youtube from the main show, Microsoft and others.

Expect to see many reveals and surprises along with new features for existing titles. Capcom are showing several games including Resident Evil 4’s VR mode, Ace Attorney Trilogy, and Street Fighter 6

Despite starting today, the show is only open to the public from Saturday, and the 2,300 yen tickets need to be purchased in advance.

The Astro City Mini, a new mini-console, is on the way from Sega and it looks like being a must for all you classic arcade fans.

The news was unearthed by SEGADriven.com, but their Japanese source seems to have been pulled, so let’s hope a more concrete announcement appears soon. They did find a fair bit out about the system though.

It is expected to have 36 games, with these titles mentioned so far:

Alien Syndrome
Alien Storm
Golden Axe
Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder
Columns II
Dark Edge
Tant R
Viruta Fighter
Fantasy Zone
Altered Beast

Some of these games are classics. Who doesn’t like a bit of Golden Axe? Columns and Virtua Fighter are well worth having in your collection and Altered Beast, Alien Syndrome and Alien Storm are worth a revisit.

We’re not sure about the others, but look forward to giving them a try. We’d love to see Outrun, Space Harrier or Power Drift on there, but we’ll have to wait and see what turns up. The most advanced title on the list is Virtua Fighter, which is based on Sega’s Model 1 arcade board. That opens up the intriguing possibilities of seeing Virtua Racing or Star Wars Arcade, but there may be licensing issues with the latter, and Virtua Racing has just seen an outstanding re-release on Switch.

The system features a mini-screen, but there’s an HDMI out so you can hook it up to your TV. There are also ports for extra controllers. You’ll need to power it via micro-USB socket. It also has its own micro-switched joystick and six fire buttons, along with stereo speakers so you don’t need any extras to play on it.

It follows on from the many similar systems such as the NES and SNES Mini that have been doing the rounds lately and selling like hot cakes.

The Astro City Mini releases in Japan for Y12,800. An overseas release will hopefully follow on from that.

PC gamers in Japan have something to look forward to next year. A new E-sports hotel will open in Osaka. Opening in April 2020, it will be the first hotel dedicated to e-sports in Japan and will offer gamers somewhere to sleep, as well as play. With over 70 high end PCs available, it will doubtless become a venue for gaming tournaments, too.

The hotel will open in the geek-friendly Nipponbashi district, full of game shops, such as Super Potato, bars, and host to an annual cosplay parade. The concept images shown here look pretty exciting.

E-sports is getting more popular in Japan, with the Red Bull gaming sphere opening in Tokyo last year. We’ll try and check e-zone out when it opens.

Read more in Japanese at FashionSnap, via TechSpot.

A new Nintendo store will open in Tokyo this year, the first of its kind in Japan. Nintendo already have a store in New York. As well as selling consoles, games and accessories the store will be used for events and promotions. The new store will take up a floor of a Shibuya department store. If you’re a Nintendo fan it will be an essential place to visit.

As Switch sales begin to slow down, we’re interested in seeing what direction Nintendo go in next. There are rumours of a new, portable only Switch coming out this year, but also murmers Nintendo are going to focus more on mobile, or e-sports. Regardless, the shop sounds like a fun place to visit when you’re tired of Akihabara.

It’s been a while since we carved through hordes of 15th century warriors but thankfully we’ll soon be getting the chance to do so again. The latest game in the Musou Orochi series has been announced. Musou Orochi 3 is on the way! Known as Warriors Orochi 4 in the west, the game will get a multi-platform release later this year.

If the game’s roster of over 100 characters isn’t to your satisfaction you’ll be pleased to see new character ‘Zeus’ make an appearance in the trailer.
We’re not sure if this is literally meant to be the boss of the Greek Gods but would expect him to be pretty handy at carnage if so.

Check out the trailer below:

Orochi 3 will be launching on PS4, Switch and Steam and is expected this year on September 27th.
Pre-order the game and you’ll have a few extra choices of costume in which to wreak havoc upon your enemies.

Mental health has been getting a lot of coverage in the media lately and there have also been some interesting attempts by game developers to explore the subject. Recently, we discovered Yumenikki – Dream Diary, a 3D reboot of an old game featuring a Japanese recluse – a ‘hikkimori’ or shut-in. There a many people in Japan who get to a certain point in their lives and simply decide not to go outside any more than they have to. For games to give this subject coverage has to be valuable, so this might be worth a look for anyone interested, or affected by the issue.

[Link]

E-Sports continues to gain in popularity in Japan. Continuing the trend, a new dedicated gaming venue opened in Tokyo a couple of days ago. Red Bull Gaming Sphere aims to provide a gaming space for players, spectators and streamers as well as developers and publishers. This year Red Bull will be running a ‘Monday Night Streak’ involving games of all kinds.

Red Bull have a history of supporting E-Sports in Japan and have been running an East Japan vs West Japan tournament for several years. As well as the traditional online big hitters, games such as Puyo Puyo and Everybody’s Golf also get a look in so they’re doing a good job of catering for everyone.

A Y99,999 prize is mentioned – roughly $900 dollars. We suspect the unusual figure might have something to do with Japan’s gambling laws which have made handing out large prizes difficult in the past, although that may change soon as awareness grows. This kind of venture can only be a step in the right direction.

[link]

Universal Studios Japan will be adding more gamer friendly attractions in 2018. Final Fantasy will be joining the party, with the focus rumored to be on Final Fantasy VII.

Not content with making Nintendo fans dreams come true, next year’s ‘cool Japan’ line up will feature Final Fantasy and Sailor Moon attractions. These will be joined by Detective Conan and Monster Hunter, both of which have featured previously at USJ.

The first attraction we’ve heard about is a mixed VR roller coaster experience that will take players on airships through various final fantasy worlds. We’re not sure what exactly a mixed VR experience will entail. Will we be riding a coaster with a VR headset, or will the VR section take place before the ride? Some of the USJ rides use 3D goggles to enhance the experience but VR will be a first for us and we’re looking forward to checking it out next year.