Hi all,

Sorry to have kept you all waiting.  The weather here in Osaka has been rather cold and it has been snowing on and off for the last few days now.  During these last few weeks I’ve had to learn how to layer up, keep dry, and stay indoors.  I know that several of you are rather familiar with this lifestyle, but this has been a whole new experience for me, a California boy.  Despite the weather, Capcom still took the cake in Japan video game sales for the last week.  Monster Hunter Portable 3rd continues to burn up the charts with over 4MM units sold, while the new Gyakuten Kenji 2 (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2) was the top seller with sales of over 130,000 units!  Click below to see just how hot these titles are right now here in Japan.

Between the two titles, Capcom continues to have an ever strong presence here in the Japan video game scene.  In fact, you cannot walk into any one of the several electronic stores here without seeing a display (or two, or three) or some kind of advertising for Monster Hunter Portable 3rd or Gyakuten Kenji 2.  Below is one of the several displays that one can find in Yodabashi Camera.  This display not only features a large TV with looping trailers and several pieces of key art, but also has space to show sample product, two small cases with mini cardboard models of the game’s monsters, a small section dedicated to Monster Hunter Frontier (X360), and another small section set aside to cross promote Gyakuten Kenji 2. 

In addition to all of the in-store elements, there is also space set aside in the Umeda Yodabashi store just for these players to come together and hunt.  Though this is a normal scene in front of train stations and in cafes, this was the first time I’ve seen people gather in a store just to play the game together.  As you can see in the image below, the store has taped off this area and used a “monstrous” piece of key art to create a space that is inviting to hunters of all levels.  This was taken on a weeknight but you can only imagine how busy this place gets during the weekends…

Whether you’re commuting on the train, sipping coffee at a cafe, or even just doing some light shopping in a department store, people playing on their DS or PSP can be seen everywhere.  And if you happen to just glance at their screen while passing by, the chances that any one of them is playing Monster Hunter or Gyakuten Kenji 2 is extremely high.  Just yesterday I was at a cafe where over half the tables had at least one person playing on a PSP.  Would you be surprised if I told you that every screen I passed on the way my seat was of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd? I didn’t think so.

At any rate, things here continue to be busy and I have only just started to make new friends here in Osaka.  Work continues to pick up but I will do my best to keep you all updated.  Out of curiosity, I would like to ask you all what you want me to write about in these blogs.  I cannot talk about specific projects or office life (at the moment), but everything else should be fair game.  Just keep it within reason.  Please let me know in your comments or feel free to send me a PM.  I look forward to hearing from you all and will have another update for you soon.  Take care!