PAX East Recap: Conclusion

[Here's the last post of my PAX East series. Hope you enjoyed it!]

Conclusion

Leaving the convention center I still felt that I had missed doing some things, but all in all I was satisfied. Although we didn't partake in any of the console or PC games in the freeplay rooms and didn't stop by a lot of the booths, we did have a great time overall. It seems that we spent a lot of time at the Nintendo and Pokémon booths and the handheld lounge, but I was able to attend the majority of the panels I wanted to. We also were able to accomplish our main goals like play the 3DS, get a bunch of people on our C-Gear, and talk with some industry folk.

One thing I would have liked to do is network with more people. During the weekend I only talked with people I had already met and didn't put the effort into talking with new people. I rushed to put together some shoddy business cards on Wednesday night for the Made in MA party on Thursday night, but I only ended up giving one away at PAX and getting one in return. Next year I want to purchase real cards rather than procrastinating and making some cheap ones at home and I'd like to actually do some serious networking.

As for things I learned this year, I think getting in line early is a key thing to know. We assumed that we could show up 15-30 minutes early to a panel and be able to get a seat. It turned out that we had to wait an hour or more and were just able to get in. Having 65,000 people trying to attend 4 or 5 panels running at the same time can cause some traffic. Looking at the schedule ahead of time and planning what panels you want to see is a great thing to do. Ultimately, you need at least 2 hours between panels if you want to see it all and not have to leave halfway through to get in line for the next.

Along the lines of making plans ahead of time, looking at the expo map and getting oriented early is important. Although we glanced at the map beforehand, we were really confused all day Friday because the map didn't properly reflect the layout of the convention center. If we had stopped and studied the map a little better I think we would have been oriented better. What we did right was make a mental list of the booths we wanted to see in the expo hall which prevented wandering and getting lost. It also gave us a goal of where to go when, when to get in line for panels, when to eat, etc.

And on the topic of eating, don't plan on eating at the convention center. It's not that there isn't food, it's that it's unsurprisingly expensive. We learned not to buy $3.00 bags of chips and brought our own, but we could have prepared and brought sandwiches or something instead of spending $10-$15 a day on food. I mean, it was delicious food, but we could have saved a lot of money by bringing more snacks.

So, having learned these lessons we should be able to plan better for next year! As my second PAX East experience it wasn't as good as the first but I learned more about playing the convention game. To summarize, this is what we should do next year:

• Make a panel schedule; allow wait-in-line time
• Learn convention hall layout/map
• Make an expo hall schedule
• Bring food! Don't buy!
• Try out new things (console freeplay, tournaments, etc.)
• Network with industry people
• Have fun!

And to conclude, here are some weekend Pokémon stats:

-Number of Pokéwalker Steps:

• Day 1: 11,792 Steps
• Day 2: 10,403 Steps
• Day 3: 8,658 Steps
• Total: 30,853 Steps (About 15.42 miles of walking)

-Number of people encountered on the C-Gear: 365*

*Includes multiple encounters with the same people

PAX East Recap: Day 3

[Where did this month go? Regardless, here's a new blog post.]

Day 3: 3/13/11

Last day of PAX East means do everything you wanted to do this weekend that you didn't get a chance to do before it's over. Luckily for us, there was only one panel we wanted to see on Sunday and it didn't start until 4:30PM. So, we hit the expo floor one last time to play some games. First up was Dance Central at the Kinect booth. I did not partake in either dancing nor Kinect-ing, but Melissa and Amanda played and got free t-shirts. The guy staffing the booth looked as if he had been dancing all weekend and he seemed to know all the moves for every song (poor guy).

Next we hit up the Nintendo booth one final time. This time I stayed in the booth area to try a few 3DS games, including Kid Icarus: Uprising, Street Fighter IV 3D, Pilotwings, and the built-in AR (Augmented Reality) game. Playing the AR game made me want the 3DS slightly more, but not enough to spend $250 on it. Unlike the previous two days, there were actually free 3DS beanies given away on Sunday which was a neat surprise. Of course, we also strolled around the Pokémon booth to take a final look and snap some photos.

The two other games that I played were Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD and Monday Night Combat. I had played Monday Night Combat last year and thought it was great, but I still hadn't purchased it a year later. I think the next time Steam puts it on sale I'll pick it up. I hadn't played Clash of Heroes before but I knew Capybara Games worked on it and the previous DS title of the same name. It's a pretty awesome game and lots of fun but not the type that I usually play. I am, however, looking forward to picking up the Capy-published Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for the iPod Touch later this month.

As we have learned so far, when we have free time we play Pokémon in the handheld lounge. Sunday was no exception. After wandering around the expo hall we headed back to our beanbag hideaway. We hung around here for a little bit and then got in line for "Start Your Own Damned Company" panel with Chris, Ichiro, Eitan, and Scott from before and a new addition of Damian Isla from Moonshot Games. This panel was similar to yesterday's "Just Because You Have an Idea..." panel except it was directed towards starting an indie video game company. Like Scott's talk on Friday, this one helped me decide that I want to stick towards the art of game design rather than the business side of it.

And with that, our PAX East weekend was over. What? So soon? Yup, unfortunately the time had come for us to head home. Leaving the Cat Theatre after our last panel we took one last walk around the expo hall, took some final pictures, and headed home.

(Next up, a conclusion!)

PAX East Recap: Day 2

[Oops, lost track of time and missed my "write a new blog post every day" plan. Anyways, here's day 2 of PAX East.]

Day 2: 3/12/11

Saturday was another pretty early morning, since the first panel we wanted to go to was at 10:30AM. We got to the convention center around 9:00AM and got in line at the Wyvern Theatre for "Just Because You Have an Idea, You Are Not a Game Designer." The panelists here were Ichiro Lambe of Dejobaan Games, Chris Oltyan of Dire Wolf Digital, Eitan Glinert of Fire Hose Games, and Scott Macmillan of Macguffin Games (once again). This panel, similar to "I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A GAME!!" from last year's PAX East, consisted of the panelists answering audience-submitted questions and arguing with each other about the right answer. They agreed that having ideas is different from being an actual game designer and that if you want to be a game designer you should go home and actually make games. This panel was not only informative but also very humorous as always.

With little time between the end of the first panel and the start of our next panel, we decided to get in line early and play Pokémon Black & White to pass the time. Next up was "Geek Parenting," a panel about raising kids as a geek parent when your child may or may not share your hobbies and interests. I know, I'm not a parent yet and probably won't be for a while, but it seemed like an interesting panel since me being a geek parent in the future is certain. Although it was fun and interesting (even though we didn't win any of the free stuff they gave away) I had hoped that it would be more about tips for raising your child with geeky-ness rather than just "I play games with my kid sometimes."

Like the day before, we spent some time in the handheld lounge playing Pokémon to pass the time. Since the next event we planned to see was the Saturday night concerts at 8:30PM we spent a decent amount of time relaxing on the bean bags and making progress in Pokémon Black & White. The large number of people playing Pokémon in the lounge was very conducive to using the Entralink function and getting lots of Passing Survey results in Black & White. While we did spend 1 or 2 hours out of 4 free hours we had in the handheld lounge, we felt the need to walk around.

We went back to the expo hall for a bit and ended up wandering back to the Nintendo and Pokémon booths again (big surprise!). I wanted to try another 3DS game, so we got in line and played once more. This time I tried LEGO Star Wars, again, not knowing that I could have tried others during the same visit. I also played the Pokémon TCG Online demo again and I was surprised at how addicted I had become. While in the expo hall we bumped into a few friends and also were forced to buy a beanie from the Mega 64 guys... Good times!

As we walked around and checked updates on the PAX East Twitter page, we figured it wasn't really worth waiting 3 hours in line for the concert, especially if we had to leave halfway through to go home. Luckily, the concert was to be broadcast on TV's around the expo hall and on a projector in a special room. Unluckily, the Omegathon contest of giant Jenga took up most of the time we were there and we could only catch 15 minutes of the music... The time we would have spent waiting in line was put to other uses, though. After eating dinner at the food court we spent some time watching people play Dance Central. The two people that were up when we stopped by were pretty good, but the best dance we saw was by the Minecraft Creeper that got up after them. So, although we missed most of the concert we were able to make good use of our time and have fun before having to go home.

Day 2 is over! How's that happen? We didn't have much planned for the last day of PAX East so we tried to make good use of our final hours of the convention. Day 3 was full of actual game playing on the expo floor, more Pokémon in the handheld lounge, and the end of PAX East 2011!

(Next up, Day 3!)

PAX East Recap: Day 1

[Well, it looks like I ended up being late with this after all. Luckily, I remembered to take notes each day so that writing this post would be easier, more accurate, and more detailed than last year's post. Day 1 is looking to be pretty long so I'm going to split this post into four separate ones (Days 1, 2, and 3 and a conclusion).]

Having already gone to PAX East once before, I sort of knew what to expect and how to prepare for a full weekend of pure video game convention. The Conventionist app for iPhone/iPod Touch was pretty helpful for finding out where and when panels were being held and for a portable mini-map of the convention center. Looking at the schedule ahead of time and planning before the convention really helped us figure out what we really wanted to do and when we would be doing them.

Day 1: 03/11/11

The first day of PAX East started really early. We got up at around 6:30AM and got into Boston around 7:00AM. By the time we got to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center there was already a mega line out front. We waiting briefly outside in the dense fog until the doors opened at 8:00AM, at which point we funneled into the convention center and got in line for the 10:30AM keynote.

The keynote itself didn't actually start until around 11:00AM, but we enjoyed playing Pokémon during the time waiting in line. This year's speaker was Jane McGonigal, who's presentation was "a death-defying, life-changing, epic monster keynote." The main message of the keynote was that playing video games helps us achieve real-world goals, changes how we think (for the better), and makes us affect the people around us positively. Jane's point of view is that if more people played video games for an

hour or day we could change the world for the better. The keynote was very interesting and uplifting, especially since games are being more widely accepted into popular culture.

After the keynote we walked down to the main expo hall to see what there was to see. We did a preliminary walk around to the Pokémon and Nintendo booths to see what was being offered, but didn't check out much else then. At the Pokémon booth, the new Pokémon TCG Online game was the only thing being displayed, and there was no free swag to our dismay. At the Nintendo booth, there were several Nintendo 3DS systems with various games being demoed and free Pokémon Black & White pins being given out on the side. We waited in line and demoed a few games (I tried out Dead or Alive) and then left. I didn't find out until Sunday that we had the ability to wander inside the booth a little bit, demo a few games, and then leave. We made up for it later in the weekend, though.

At this point, around 2:00PM, we were pretty hungry and we headed to the food court. Of course, all of the food was really expensive, but it was good enough to almost be worth it. We spent $17 and got nachos, a burger, a hotdog, and a bag of chips. I've had better burgers but the nachos were tasty. We learned to never buy $3 bags of chips again and brought our own from home on Saturday.

After hanging out in the handheld lounge for a bit, we got in line for our next panel. This panel was Scott Macmillan's "Death of an Indie Studio" in the Wyvern Theatre. Scott talked a little about the history of his late indie company, Macguffin Games, and also gave advice about dos and don'ts when starting and leading an indie studio. The most important lesson I took away from it was that art and business are two separate poles on the spectrum of making games, and that I would like to focus on the art side of the spectrum in my career (I am not a business-oriented person). It was very informative and gave me more insight into what it takes to start an indie game company.

Leaving the Wyvern Theatre we headed back to the expo hall to spend some time before the final panel of the day. We revisited the Nintendo and Pokémon booths but spent more time at the Pokémon booth this time. I played the Pokémon TCG Online game for a while, but ultimately lost against the computer player. It had been years since I tried playing the card game and the automated online version encouraged me to get back into it. Once the beta opens online, I'm going to be all over it! In the expo hall we also walked by the Boston Indie Showcase booth, to check out Snapshot, Smuggle Truck, and Blinding Silence, two of which are by current and former WPI IMGD majors. All of the games looked great and you should definitely pick up Smuggle Truck to see the level I created for their level design contest. :)

The last panel of the day was called "Game Design is Mind Control." I was anticipating it being about game design elements that tap into the mind of players in order to elicit some sort of play style or reaction but it was more general and very informal. It was an entertaining panel, especially at the end when the two panelists auctioned off a dollar with two rules: 1) The winner pays his bid and gets the dollar; 2) the second place bidder pays his bid but gets nothing. In the end, the dollar sold for about $4; the second place bidder admitted that he kept bidding because he "didn't want to spend money." It was an interesting experiment to see what illogical things people will do in a game space given a certain set of rules.

Our day ended with a trip to the handheld lounge again where we went to wait for our ride home. We found some beanbags near a set of outlets to charge our electronics and used surrounding beanbags to make a mini fort. Right before we left we met up with a friend from school and he seized control of our construction.

The first day of PAX East was great. We were able to scout out the expo hall a little bit and get familiar with the convention center as a whole. The map was a little confusing and we were pretty disoriented at first, but by the end of the first day we knew our way around pretty well. Even though we planned what we wanted to see we still had to cut some panels out of our schedule due to long lines. We learned our lesson on Friday which helped us decide our schedule for Saturday and Sunday. Friday, just like all of PAX, went by pretty fast but there were still two days left!

(Next up, Day 2!)

Getting My Act Together

I haven't been as productive as I would have liked recently, due to my tendency to procrastinate and my recent obsession with Minecraft. I have, however, been working on art for the Virtual Joust project I'm working on for the Higgins Armory Museum, for which I've been working on a medieval knight model for the past few months. Unfortunately, I haven't been getting much else done...

Starting today I will be giving up Minecraft for a bit to start focusing on more important things, like getting a job. I knew I'd get addicted to Minecraft when I heard about it towards the end of last year, but didn't think it'd be this bad. For my final days I decided to build myself a big 'ole Egyptian pyramid and lock myself in it just like in the olden days, and maybe one day I'll be resurrected and a little less addicted.

One of the big things to happen in March was the release of Pokémon Black and White today. I got my copy of White as soon as the doors opened at Toys 'R' Us and have just began my new adventure. I've decided for this iteration of the series that I will not be using Serebii, Bulbapedia, or any other Pokémon database/site to aid my journey through the storyline. Since I had purchased the Japanese version while I was overseas this September and played through the main storyline I figured it would be refreshing to see the game through new eyes (an experience Game Freak was aiming to create). It'll also be great to see how the competitive community begins to evolve with a new generation of Pokémon, moves, abilities, and strategies.

The second big thing to happen this month is the second annual PAX East convention. Last year was great and I'm expecting this year to be even better. I have my badge and I'm ready for this weekend! Unlike last year, I'll try to be good with updating my blog each day of the convention, rather than after it's all over. Expect lots of pictures, Pokéwalker step counts, C-Gear totals, and more.

I'm also hoping to post more of my art, progress on my flixel game, links I've found useful, and other stuff. I feel as though I don't post enough about art and games and that's what this blog is supposed to be about! March shall be the month about getting back on my feet and being productive!

Tokyo 2: This Time, More Games (9/16/10 - 9/21/10)

On our second trip to Tokyo, we indulged ourselves with lots of video game-related activities. The main attraction this time was the annual Tokyo Game Show. We bought tickets for both public days, with a special access ticket on the second day to get us in early. Besides TGS, we also checked out some arcades in Shinjuku, walked around Akihabara, ate at a McDonald's decorated for the new Pokémon games, and found our way back to SEGA Joypolis. All in all it was a great time, especially since we could explore on our own schedule without having to go to a virtual reality conference.

September 17th, 2010: Like last time, we took an overnight bus to get to Tokyo. It was just as uncomfortable as before, and it dropped us off really early on Friday. We were able to leave our stuff at the hotel and explore until check-in time (which was 2:00PM), so we went exploring in Shinjuku. There, we found various arcades and played a bunch of games, like a giant robot fighting simulator game, some rhythm games (DDR, Pop'n Music), and electronic darts. We got back to the hotel in time to check in and relaxed on our comfy hotel beds for the rest of the night.

* * *

September 18th, 2010: Saturday was the first day of TGS, so we got up early (well, somewhat early) and got to the convention hall area at a decent time. The train station was packed, and the walk to the convention hall was a mass exodus of Japanese and tourists. We waited in line for a couple hours just to get into the hall, and it was even more packed inside! At one point, it was so

crowded that I was moving by being pushed, and I almost fell down (and onto other people) more than once.

Despite the crowds, there was a lot of good stuff to see. Many big companies had booths, like SEGA, Konami, Sony, and Microsoft, and there were some smaller companies, too. As with every convention the big companies were showing off their new products to hype up attendees into buying their products: Sony had a bunch of PlayStation Moves; Microsoft had women playing the Kinect; Konami, SEGA, and others had demos of their new games. Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn't usually attend TGS, so there wasn't a booth with Nintendo games. There was, however, some merchants selling products like Nintendo plushies, so they did have a small presence.

Another big part of TGS is the cosplay area. Many men and women (but mostly women) dress up as their favorite game characters and pose for photographs for the many attendees. Japanese cosplaying is serious business, so the costumes are all professional-level stuff. The convention hall even had a dressing room and designated backdrops for cosplayers. Japanese men, who know the routine, stand in line at the person they want to photograph and take turns snapping pictures. Cosplaying is just one of those things that are a strange part of the Japanese culture.

Since our special ticket was for Sunday, this first day was mostly scouting out games we wanted to play tomorrow. I did play a few games today, but the majority of the things I tried were played on Sunday. We managed to get to the Pokémon Center in Tokyo after the convention, however, to pick up a copy of the new Pokémon games, Black and White. Saturday night was therefore committed to starting this new game.

* * *

September 19th, 2010: Using our special pass, we got a new bag of goodies (including a t-shirt and pin) and early access to the convention hall. We got to avoid the large line of people that we were stuck in yesterday, and we had about a full hour to scourge the hall before the mass of people came in. In the allotted time we had before doors opened for regular guests, we played double the number of games we had played the day before over the course of the whole day. Needless to say, the $30 ticket for Sunday was definitely worth more than the $10 one we purchased for Saturday. The rest of Sunday was mostly walking around the convention hall like the day before. Having played a bunch of games and got a bunch of free stuff earlier we were satisfied with the event. I definitely took home a couple pounds of swag over two days of convention...

* * *

September 20th, 2010: The last thing we wanted to make sure we did in Tokyo was visit Akihabara. We definitely found it, but I don't think we saw most of it. It seemed like it was much smaller than Den Den Town even though Den Den Town is supposed to be a smaller version of Akihabara. Regardless, we found lots of arcades with UFO crane games in them and other familiar games. The only other thing we did in Akihabara was visit a maid cafe. It was quite the experience, just because it was so much different than anything you would find in the States. The food was a little expensive, but I guess you pay for the whole visit. I shared a plate of ice cream and pancakes with Jared I, who had the maid write "Dry Bones" on our plate. Overall, it was a unique tourist activity that is one of Akihabara's specialities.

* * *

September 21st, 2010: On our final day in Tokyo, we travelled back to the mall area we found last time we were there. During the previous night, we had ventured back here to find the Pokémon McDonald's and today we spent some time eating and playing our new games there. We walked around the mall briefly once more and then ended up back at Joypolis. We decided to buy the first-level discount ticket which gives you about six hours of time before they close (last time we only had four hours, which wasn't enough time). We got to go on many more of the rides, as well as some that we went on last time. It definitely made up for what we missed the first time we went.

* * *

I would say that our second time in Tokyo was more enjoyable than the first. We were there for fun this time and we had more time to see what we wanted to. (We also weren't dying from a 13 hour volcano-climbing hiking trip.) I know we definitely didn't get to experience everything that Tokyo had to offer, but we were satisfied nonetheless.

(Whew, that was a big one. One more Japan blog post to go! Check out all the photos here and here!)

A Little Slice of Tokyo (8/23/10 - 8/27/10)

Soon after the lab trip we travelled to Tokyo for the IVRC Finals at Miraikan. Our side project that we've been working on since before we arrived in Japan made it to the finals, so we were able to present it at the conference in Tokyo. The conference itself was three days, Monday to Wednesday, but we stayed for the rest of the week to look around and to climb Mt. Fuji. We stayed in a fairly nice hotel on Tokyo Bay with a beautiful view of the city, including Tokyo Tower close by. The hotel was also a five minute walk from the Pokémon Center, which was a nice perk.

August 23rd-25th, 2010: The three days that we spent at Miraikan for the IVRC were fairly regular. Monday was set-up and Tuesday and Wednesday were presentation to the public. Our project was パランガ (Paranga), the Virtual Flipbook. As the name implies, it was a device that simulated page flipping and animation that you get with a flipbook. We had some issues with our device throughout the event, and only one worked for half of it, but we were able to show it off without any major issues. There were some official judges going around and taking notes who decided which awards would go to which project. There were also boards where visitors could place stickers for their favorite project. At the end of the second day the main awards were announced, and at the end of the third (last) day the winners of the "audience choice" awards were announced. We ended up winning the Maywa Denki President's Award (presented to us by Maywa Denki himself), which I feel like was more of an "honorable mention" than a real award. There wasn't a monetary prize, just a certificate and an odd musical instrument called an Otamatone. It was still better than what I was expecting, which was nothing! It was cool to see the different types of projects that other people brought to the conference, especially since we were pretty much thrust into this project without any background of the contest. I think we did pretty well, given the circumstances.

* * *

August 25th, 2010: After the IVRC was over, we decided to walk around for the rest of the night to visit some local places. Obviously, the first place I wanted to go was the Pokémon Center, and we walked there first since it was close to the hotel. The store itself seemed smaller than the one in Osaka but had much of the same merchandise. The one thing that stuck out was the table for playable demos of the new games, Pokémon Black and White. There weren't many people/kids in the store or at the demos because the store was closing in less than an hour, so I was able to hop on one of the DS systems quickly and play without the pressure of other people in line. I really enjoyed what I saw and played, and I definitely will be purchasing a Japanese copy when it comes out on September 18th.

After eating ramen at a small restaurant for dinner, we debated whether we should go back to the hotel to plan our Mt. Fuji trip or take the monorail to the large mall and SEGA Joypolis that we discovered the night before. Although, in retrospect, it would have been better to plan out our Fuji trip I have no regrets about our choice to check out Joypolis. At first, I assumed that it was merely an arcade with a few rides like the one in the HEP Five building in Umeda, but I was only partly correct. Joypolis is a 3-floor amusement park with about 20 rides, many arcade games, and some gambling games. Unlike the one in Umeda, this Joypolis has some large rides, including a fake snowboard halfpipe and a small roller coaster. There are also some "virtual reality" games, like racing and shooting games. We were totally surprised when the giant entrance doors opened and we walked inside because we were not expecting it in the slightest. At first, the ¥1,900 discount ticket still seemed expensive, but I think it was worth every yen.

* * *

August 26th & 27th, 2010: On Thursday we started our day fairly early to travel to Shinjuku where we would catch a bus to the Mt. Fuji area. Instead of resting up for our hike we made the mistake of walking around Shinjuku looking for arcades. We found several of them and played some games which was nice, but all that walking left us tired and not fully prepared for our Fuji encounter. The games I played were the usual Rhythm Heaven game, DrumMania (which was much harder for me than Rock Band drums), GuitarFreaks, and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (I actually printed my "license" card this time for ¥200 extra).

After visiting the ¥100 Shop, waiting a little while for our bus, and riding the bus for about 2 hours, we arrived at the 5th station on Mt. Fuji. This station is one out of the 9 that are located along the trail to the summit, and most climbers start here and continue to the top. I started the hike in my usual clothes (shorts and t-shirt) because I enjoyed the cool weather that we experienced due to already being about 2,000m up the mountain. As we got closer to the top, I resorted to putting on my sweatshirt but I kept on my short for the entirety of the hike. I don't remember much of the hike up because it was really repetitive and dark, plus I was already tired and mainly focused on climbing rather than thinking about anything else. We took frequent breaks along the way, and we took the time to look back down the mountain at the clouds and other hikers, up at the distance we still had to travel, and up at the stars we wouldn't have been able to see from the city. As we got closer to the top it got harder and harder because of the lack of sleep, lack of energy, and lack of oxygen. Somehow, we managed to make it to the top (and at that point I didn't actually know it was the top) and were able to rest for a bit before sunrise, despite the biting cold and supreme exhaustion.

The sun rose at about 4:30AM and we had the best seats in the house (3,776m about sea level). Instead of seeing it rise above the ocean or normal horizon, it seemed to rise out from the clouds, illuminating everything as it found its place in the sky. Once it was up we could truly see all of the clouds and smaller mountains surrounding Mt. Fuji and the actual number of people that were on the summit. We took some time to take pictures around the crater but didn't stroll around the top to look around because we weren't really in the mood to do anything other than go back home. We had been climbing for about 7 hours and were not looking forward to another 5 hours of walking back down. The descent sounds like it should be easier than climbing up, but it was probably just as difficult because of the steep slope and tiny rocks that afford slipping. I witnessed a few people falling and slipped many times myself. It was not an enjoyable experience in the slightest, but the view of the clouds and mountains below us helped make it better. At one point near the end of the descent, the clouds were actually sweeping up the mountain and onto the trail, giving us a refreshingly cool breeze that I would have loved to bottle up and take with me. By the time we reached the 5th station again, my knees and feet were killing me and I was covered in a thin layer of dirt from the downward trail. We took another bus back to Shinjuku, travelled back to the hotel to get the luggage we stored there, and waited several hours for our overnight bus back to Osaka (all without sleep...). I was able to pass out on the overnight bus back home, but it took some time for me to get back into my regular sleep schedule. It was a good thing we ended our hike on a weekend!

(Check out all the photos from our Tokyo trip here and here!)

Reach for the Sky Building (8/1/10)

Oops, I haven't updated my blog in a while. I've been keeping busy with lab trips, presentations, and other stuff for the two projects I've been working on for my MQP. Anyway, here's a summary of last week's events.


August 1st, 2010: For the first day of a new month, some of us took a trip to the Umeda Sky Building and some other places near the train station. It was a trip we had been planning on taking for a while, and we finally had a free weekend to visit.

Getting to the Sky Building was easier than we thought. We took the train to the station between Juso and Umeda, and we could see the Sky Building as we got off the train. From the station, we just walked towards the Sky Building until we got to it (which took about 15 minutes or less). At the base of the building there was a large event going on; tents and chairs were set-up, along with a small stage and some penguins (for real). There was a small pool with a penguin swimming around in it and another penguin standing on a small table surrounded by blocks of ice. The penguin on the table wasn't very happy to be there, judging by how it pecked anyone who pet it (its beak was taped so that it wouldn't bite anyone). We pet the penguin and continued on,wondering what the heck this event was. We soon learned that it was some sort of Michael Jackson event, which didn't help us understand why there were penguins, but they seemed to fit in for some reason.

To get to the top two floors and roof observation deck, we had to take escalators up to the 3rd floor, an elevator up to the 36th floor, and then a big escalator to the 39th floor. Access to the top floors costs ¥700 but it's totally worth it. The 39th and 40th floors have out-facing windows with a great view, and there's an even better view from the observation deck. There are pictures on the inner walls of other "sky" buildings, such as the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings in New York (classified as "Sky Musical"). On the roof there are signs for the cardinal directions and large fences for preventing falling customers. One segment of the roof is the Lumi Deck, were lovers can sit at night and be illuminated by the city lights. The surrounding fence is covered in heart locks that represent the promise of a loving couple. I'll definitely be going back someday, but not by myself. When we were done at the Sky Building, we took an underground path that led back to the Umeda train station. We passed the first First Kitchen we ate at and the Yodobashi department store on our way towards the station, which let us know that we weren't lost.

Our next two stops of the day were the Pokémon Center - Osaka in the Umeda Center Building plaza and the HEP Five department store. Of course, I was super excited to be going to a Pokémon store in Japan and we finally made it! Unfortunately, one of the stickers on the window said no cameras so I wasn't able to take any pictures of the cool stuff inside. Out front there was the "Pokéwalker Corner", where you connect your Pokéwalker with a staff member, scratch a scratch ticket, and get a small item for free. I got a small plastic folder with the Generation II Pokémon on it. There was also an automatic gifting machine inside that sent an item to your Pokéwalker when you connected with it. I'm not sure what the criteria for obtaining items is, but I got TM 34 (Shockwave). We looked around for a bit at all the cool stuff they had; there were t-shirts, plushies, cookware, game-related items, toys, and lots of other Pokémon goods. When we were finishing up looking at stuff, a timid Japanese teen who came up to me and connected her two Pokéwalkers with mine, and her Nidoking and Nidoqueen met up and play-battled with my Furret. I will definitely be returning to the store to purchase souvenirs for people (and myself) at some point before October.

Our last stop of the day was the HEP Five department store that we kept seeing and hearing about. It's hard to miss, what with having a large red ferris wheel on top. The building itself has 9 floors, with the first 6 being mostly clothing stores (and as a result, being filled with lots of young women). The 7th floor has some food stores and access to the ferris wheel, and the 8th and 9th floors are devoted to Joypolis, a SEGA-owned arcade and amusement area. Of course, we headed straight to the top to see the arcade which didn't disappoint. Not surprisingly, the likenesses of Sonic and his friends are posted everywhere, from change machines to height-requirement signs. There are several "rides" inside the amusement area which we didn't explore (they were ¥600 each for admission) but one was a hanging cab that moved into a room with a large movie screen to simulate an adventurous flight similar to those virtual roller coaster machines. Another ride involved riding in a car and shooting things around you, but I don't know if it was simulated via screens or was an actual ride like those in Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. I got to play two games in the arcade: the arcade version of Rhythm Heaven and Mario Kart Arcade GP. Each game was ¥100 which isn't too bad; Rhythm Heaven allowed three games to be played and Mario Kart allowed one race.

After I played Mario Kart, we went down to the 7th floor and bought tickets for the ferris wheel. It costs ¥500 per person and each ride is about 15 minutes each. When we were there the ride was pretty empty, as were the lines to get to the ferris wheel. We were able to purchase tickets and instantly hop in a car. One of the cool things about the ferris wheel cars is that there is an iPod dock behind the seats on one side. Luckily, I had my iPod Touch on me and was able to put on some Sonic music from the Genesis era. There were also stickers on the windows on four sides to tell what sights could be seen from the ride. From where I was seated, I could see the Sky Building and the Namco arcade that we saw a few weeks ago but didn't end up visiting. We had actually planned to visit the Namco arcade while we were in the area, but after the ferris wheel ride everyone was ready to head back home. And once the ferris wheel ride was over, we did just that. Overall, the trip was a success and we learned that there are some cool places worth revisiting that are not too far from where we live.

(Check out all the photos from our trip to Umeda here!)

(Next time: Fireworks and a trip to the historic city of Nara! Coming soon!)

Adventures in Den Den Town!

June 19th, 2010: For our first weekend trip in Japan, we went locally to Nippombashi, also known as Den Den Town because of the plethora of video game, manga, and anime stores in the area.

We left the house around 10:00AM and walked to the Sakurai train station. We took a train to the wrong station (Shinsaibashi, was it?) and ended up walking the rest of the way to Den Den Town. In the small underground shopping area that we walked through after getting off the train, we had lunch at a small ramen shop. I got the cheese and tomato ramen, which is pretty much just pizza ramen. It was very delicious but a little spicy. At first I thought it was just the temperature, but towards the end it was still making my lips tingle. For my first ramen experience in Japan, it was great.

After eating, we left the underground shopping plaza and started walking to Den Den Town. Along the way, we passed by several temples that were all in a line. On one side of the street, there were ancient temples and graves, and on the other (where we were initially walking) was modern day shops and other buildings. It was interesting to see the clashing time periods displayed on the same street. I took many pictures of all the different temples we passed by, and I had taken about 100 pictures before we even got to Den Den Town!

As we were approaching Den Den Town, we could tell it was the place we wanted to be. There were many signs, including a giant one with a Gundam on it. As we got closer, we could see many familiar characters and many colorful stores. We decided to just go at it by walking down one side of the street, stopping at various game stores. Our main goal for our trip was to find and purchase a used Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and some GameCube controllers. A secondary goal was to find a rice cooker for the house and potentially a microwave.

We stopped in almost all of the game-related stores we passed, each one being similar to the last but each being slightly unique. For example, there were some modern department-type stores that mostly sold new games with some used classics and other stores which specialized in only retro games. To my surprise, many of the used Famicom, Super Famicom, and Game Boy games were all in their original boxes! I would assume that the store sealed the box back up, but the fact that they had games in their original boxes in very good condition was fantastic. Many of these stores also had a lot of game-related non-game items like keychains, figurines, and other toys. One store even had original Game & Watch systems, but they were extremely expensive.

I had an absolute blast looking at all the game stuff, most of which is unobtainable in the States. I had to resist the urge to purchase everything that interested me, but I did buy two things. The first thing I bought was a Pokéwalker case (that consists of a rubber case and a strap with a clip) for 780¥. The second was a Japan-only DS game for 980¥ called Irodzuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip, a sequel to another non-North America DS game called Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (which is what I thought the game was when I purchased it). When we got back, I started a list of things that I should get when we go back, such as the original Pokémon Green for 300¥.

We ended up finding a used Wii and used copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. I was pleasantly surprised that the store clerk unpackaged the Wii box and let us make sure that everything was there that needed to be there. We also bought four GameCube controllers, each a different color, for about $20 each. I decided to fully purchase one (the orange one) instead of just splitting the cost so that I could take it back home and have a fairly newer one. We didn't, however, purchase a rice cooker that day; we went to another department store in Umeda to get that and a microwave. When we were done shopping and looking around, we hopped on the train and rode back to Sakurai Station. At the end of the day, my Pokéwalker read 21,444 steps, which is roughly equivalent to 10 miles worth of walking!

Everyone else really enjoyed the trip, even if it was a lot of walking. I expressed interest in coming back a few more times before we leave in October, and the others thought it was a good idea. I'm not sure when we'll go back, but at least I know what kind of cool stuff exists there!
(Check out all the photos of the trip, from Temples to Triforces, here!)

(Next time, Week 2: "Getting into the Swing of Things"!)