One of the things I am really enjoying about Tokyo is how intricate and lively the stations are. American mass transit systems tend to allow only for a newsstand at the major stations; London is slightly better with vending machines near the tracks. But Tokyo has shopping malls surrounding and inside the transit system. The Shinagawa station alone has bookstores, CD/DVD stores, and a whole dessert-focused food court (among other dining options) beyond the turnstiles.
A 20 minute train ride later brought us to Harajuku. While a Wednesday trip doesn’t provide the opportunity to gawk at dressed up teenagers (they tend to come out on Sunday), it did let us explore an area that seems to be a cross between (in NYC terms) Fifth Avenue and the East Village.
The two main shopping streets run parallel to each other and both start at the station. Omotesando is the Fifth Avenue side – lots of international stores like Ralph Lauren, Gap, and Chanel.
Omotesando is also where you can find KIDDYLAND, a six store toy store that has been serving happiness since 1946. It’s a worthwhile stop, if for nothing else to see how much floor space various franchises take up. (Pokemon gets about 30 square feet on B1, while Peanuts/”Snoopy Town” gets an entire floor.)
Outside of KIDDYLAND, a bakery turns out fresh baked Hello Kitty pastries with various fillings. A bag of 10 is about $4.
A few blocks north from Omotesando is Takeshita Dori, a pedestrian only shopping mecca. This is the Harajuku you may expect, with ridiculous clothes and accessories and throngs of people. There’s a number of restaurants as well, but most people seemed to be queued up for one of the many crepe stands that all smelled delicious.
Our last major stop for the day was in Ikebukuro, a fairly commercial district where the train station is sandwiched in between two department stores: Seibu (apparently meaning “west area railway line”, located on the east side of the station) and Tobu (apparently meaning “east area railway line”, and naturally located on the west side of the station).
(A quick aside: there are ads practically everywhere for Seibu’s WE LOVE BARGAIN sale, and the TV commercial has aired so much I may start impulsively buying Kumi Koda’s music. The ad is damn cute.)
We took lunch at a Korean buffet on the 3F of Tobu Spice2, which required a lot of gesturing and *sumimasen*-ing. On the other hand, it was cheap and tasty. If nothing else, I am appreciative for the patience of the Japanese for those of us who know next to no Japanese.
We then crossed back through the train station to the east side, and made our way to Sunshine 60 Dori – another pedestrian mall shopping strip. We unfortunately didn’t find anything terribly unusual, so we beat our way back to the train and returned to Shinagawa.
For dinner, we opted for the set menu Mizu no Uta, a few blocks from the hotel. Sitting at the counter, we were treated to some of the best tuna I’ve ever tasted – perhaps too much of it. We started to run out of steam around the time we were grilling our own thin strips of tuna, and when a fried rice course came out immediately after, it became a struggle. Still – great food, and I can now cross the “sushi/sashimi” off my Tokyo food checklist. Now I just need to find a proper bowl of ramen and some tonkatsu.
While we’re away, we’re lucky enough to have friends in our building looking after poor ol’ Buttons. But after glancing at a picture of him being kept company, we pouted *just* a little. It’s hard being on the other side of the world from a beloved pet.
But we must not forget: this is Tokyo, where there is a solution to nearly any problem. So when serendipity struck in Harajuku in the form of a perfectly placed advertisement, we knew what we had to do.
There are prerequisites and rules, of course – mandatory hand washing and sanitizing, no picking up the cats, no outside food, etc. But you do get your choice of complimentary cat toys to use to attract the attention of the cats.
Is it a silly way to pass the time? Sure. But I love the idea that if you are away from home, unable to own a pet, or otherwise animal deprived, there’s a place you can go that directly solves that problem.
Count us as fans. A few more pictures are up on Flickr.
(For people with other tastes in pets, you can rent a dog at Odaiba’s Puppy The World, or have a stop at popular bunny cafe Usagi To Cafe in Nagoya.)
Traditionally, it doesn’t start until after Christmas, but with increased competition in the digital download arena, they decided to throw the switch early this year.
With so much on sale, it may be difficult to reconcile the reviews with what’s on sale. Never fear – I’ve taken a stroll through my Steam account and bring you this set of recommendations. This isn’t meant to replace my inevitable “Games of 2009” post, but a lot of the games here will be there.
Some caveats/notes before I start:
1. Prices may change at any time during the sale, which runs through January 3rd. There are some daily specials on the front page, so do take a look there. As I write this, Grand Theft Auto 4 is $7.50, which is nearly a no-brainer – but this guide is largely limited to the regular sale prices.
2. Recommendations are largely based on game quality/enjoyment, but consideration has also been given to how much of a discount each title is at. 2009 titles are certainly favored as well. This isn’t to neglect some good older titles that are only mildly on sale – there’s only so much I can focus on. For a true quantitative look at how much love I’ve given each game, check my Steam Community games page. (This is also a fantastic way to become disgusted with me very quickly.)
3. Steam does require Windows, so if you’re OS X only, this may be the time to put the effort in to a Boot Camp install or some virtualization. Remember that buying things for a Steam account keeps them in your account for perpetuity, so pre-loading an account for your inevitable Windows gaming future isn’t a waste of money.
## The Games AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity($10 -> $7.50) – besides being the Best Named Game Of 2009, it’s also a slyly addictive base jumping game. You’ll curse and scream and pray that you don’t break every bone in your body as you bounce off of buildings and try to nail the landing. Altitude($10 -> $7.50) – this has been my obsession over the last week. Easy drop-in/drop-out network dogfighting, with classes (like TF2!) and perks (like COD!) and a vibrant community. Added bonus: buy this, create your account, and it’s portable to any platform, including OS X and the web version. Batman: Arkham Asylum($50 -> $33.50) – the best superhero game in years. Everyone remains shocked that a mostly unknown studio turned out something this beautiful. Haunting, full of things to explore, and possibly the best 3D Metroidvania title I’ve ever played. (Of course, if you can drop another $20, you can get every Eidos game on Steam including Batman.) Borderlands($50 -> $33.50) – the best role playing/first person hybrid since Deus Ex, perhaps. Certainly with four player co-op, it’s hard to argue. If you have a bunch of friends, buy the four pack to knock the price to ~$25 a copy. Braid($10 -> $2.50) – lavished with so much artsy praise, Jonathan Blow’s puzzle-platformer is hard to have not at least seen once, even if it was in Soulja Boy’s video review. Not much replay value, but that first run-through doesn’t disappoint. GRID($30 -> $15) – I’ve never gotten into the DIRT series, because I’m not particularly interested in off-road racing. GRID keeps you on the pavement, looks gorgeous, and handles fantastically, even if you’re not using a racing wheel. Indigo Prophecy($10 -> $3.40) – are you all a-quiver over Heavy Rain? Try Quantic Dream’s well regarded (although bizarrely scripted) predecessor. The opening scene in the diner alone is worth $4 of entertainment, so the value proposition is high. (Also, the only game I’ve ever played with a mental health bar where if you are too socially inept, your status goes to “SUICIDAL”. Really.) King’s Bounty Gold Edition($45 -> $30) – I haven’t played Armored Princess yet, but I really enjoyed The Legend as a fairly open strategy RPG. Somewhere between a character driven RPG and a turn based war game. King’s Quest Collection($20 -> $5) – I cut my gaming teeth as a kid on Sierra’s stuff. I still associate the smell of invisible ink with failure, because inevitably I had to turn to hint books. Here, you can get all seven classic adventure games for less than a buck a game. WELCOME TO MY HUMBLE ABODE. (Space Quest Collection is also $5, if you’re more the Roger Wilco type.) Left 4 Dead 2($50 -> $37.50) – there was a lot of debate whether this really qualifies as a sequel, and not just an add-on pack. Having clocked about 17 hours on it – it’s a sequel. And it’s really good. Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast ($10 -> $2.50) – okay, the network play is completely busted at this point, as Sega pulled down the servers ages ago. Still – it’s Outrun. And it’s as fun as you remember. Plants vs. Zombies($10 -> $7.50) – I was incredulous when I heard Popcap was making a zombie game. I was even more incredulous when it included adorable cartoon plants. Still, it works. Who am I to doubt Popcap? Best tower defense game this year. Red Faction Guerrilla($40 -> $20) – Volition really nailed the potential joy of a sandbox game where you are focused on destroying buildings. After the hell that was the Saint’s Row 2 PC version, I was hesitant, but this is solid. Street Fighter IV($40 -> $30) – yeah yeah yeah, Super Street Fighter IV will be out sometime next year. But you can play this one *now*, and it’s still the gold standard for fighters this year. Torchlight($20 -> $10) – a very competent Diablo clone. No multiplayer, but a solid experience with some nice touches. Trackmania United Forever Star Edition($40 -> $20) – Nadeo’s long-running casual racing series may be one of the biggest secrets to US gamers, especially since it hasn’t gotten any significant love on consoles. With addictive gameplay, simple controls, and a mammoth community providing content for it, it’s a good pickup for anyone who likes arcade racing. Trine ($20 -> $8) – very pretty but hard to describe. Is it a action game? Sure. Fantasy environments? Check. Robust physics puzzles? Indeed. Definitely worth the $8. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut($40 -> $13.60) – before everyone started going crazy over Dragon Age, everyone was nuts for The Witcher. It’s a deep, lengthy RPG that is sure to suck up lots of your time. World Of Goo($20 -> $5) – this game has had so much praise heaped upon it that I nearly didn’t list it as some sort of anti-hype backlash. But it really is a wonderful little puzzler, and should not be ignored in the off chance you don’t already have it.
## Budget-Minded Recommendations
Keeping in mind that people may want to budget themselves, here are some general recommendations for how to flex standard currency denominations. (Be aware that I cannot read your mind about what you might already own.)
$10 isn’t much to work with at all, but it will get you Outrun 2006, World of Goo, and Braid. Nothing terribly deep, but consistent thrills all around.
$20 says “I’m willing to give up a pizza for entertainment”. I can admire that. Between Trine and Torchlight, you’re looking at about 20-30 hours of gaming.
$50 says “I’m ready to commit to this whole PC gaming thing”. The perfect $50 four pack is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!, Altitude, The Witcher, and Red Faction Guerilla. Alternately, grab the Eidos Collector Pack and get two excellent games, a handful of very good games, and assorted other detritus.
