Image: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane
Soapbox’s features allow our individual writers and contributors to express their opinions on hot topics and random things in their head. Today, Gavin reflects on why Nintendo spends so much time and money on curiosities from the East that he’s not even sure he’ll play …
It all started with Morita Shogi 64.
If you don’t know, this is a shogi game (Japanese chess, if you will) for Nintendo 64 developed by SETA. Naturally, it was never released in the West, as it was a sequel to a Japanese-only throwing game and featured a variant of Japanese chess. This is not a disdain for the good game of shogi, just a recognition that if you are going to launch a chess-like game in the intended market, it is better that your bottom line is an old chess.
Morita Shogi 64 had a unique style of N64 cartridge (or “Casset”, as they were known in Japan; I’ve always liked that). A bulky bulge at the back allows for a small wired internet slot at the top. Yes, if you connected your game to a telephone line, you could play online shogi on your Nintendo 64 in the late 1990’s.
Images: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane
As you can see, it’s pretty clean. And being “pretty tidy” is all it takes to get someone like me to dive into eBay and start clicking “Look” on a lot of things; this is where the problem begins.
As many of you have no doubt experienced, just innocently tap the “Add to Watchlist” button, and nine out of ten times you will receive an offer with a modest discount, usually 5 to 10%. It’s not much, but if the item is already reasonably priced, it’s a surprisingly tempting tactic to get your trigger on something you don’t really need, but yes, it’s pretty neat. Between 10 and 20 days later (usually), the best type of package arrives at your place of residence: a package from Japan.
What a crime (Image: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane)
If you’ve never bought an item from a Japanese seller, it’s no exaggeration to say that the care and attention paid to even the smallest package is usually a cut above sellers who rely on other sites. . Make no mistake, I’ve received well-wrapped and properly protected items from other countries, and I’m sure it doesn’t apply to all Japanese sellers, but I still haven’t received anything that hasn’t arrived. perfect condition, packed with care and precision.
And this beautiful Japanese custom label makes the whole set feel luxuriously exotic as well; forbidden, even. These mysterious video game gems were never meant for humble, sweaty people like me! This “Can’t Resell” label on every Japanese Nintendo game I have is positive proof that this particular item should not be in my possession. What could be more tempting than that?
So I cut the package carefully, removed layers of bubble wrap with expert tape, and finally kept my illicit prize. Yes! He now owned Morita Shogi 64.
And on my shelf it went. I think I turned it on once just to make sure it worked, but I honestly don’t remember. He was probably willing to trust that it was in perfect working order. The terrible truth is that it really doesn’t matter.
Most of the game purchases I make are sure to be played. The NTSC version of Wave Race 64 was a real PAL slowdown education that only needed to be tested, and I intend to enjoy all the latest JP Game Boy games I’ve purchased when I have an afternoon for myself. . Sin & Punishment was an even more essential pickup: a Treasure rail shooter that was never launched in the West. Well, except for the Wii virtual console. And Wii U. And Nintendo Switch Online a few months after paying for the NTSC cart. Hey, but this art box, amirite?
All of these have been played (or will be played), don’t worry (Pictures: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane)
My last import came recently. After Zion’s amazing EarthBound video and accompanying articles on Mother’s Day that the NL team put together in early May, I finally decided to pick up the “definitive” N64 edition of the creator of the sea Shigesato Itoi, Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1. What can I say: I liked the look of the yellow deck and the idea of Itoi-san taught me to fish.
Fishing (the variety of real life) is something that started to appeal to me over the last few years. I suddenly realized that the idea, for most anglers, is not to go out in the water and “hunt” a lunker with a fun hat, but to sit in the sunlight, breathe big lungs of fresh air, enjoy the sound and movement of the dripping water, and tap a fridge of shiny, icy cans with your foot. Fishing, as I see it, is an excuse to get away from it all outdoors; Dining at the same time is an optional addition.
Images: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane
The small amount I know about fish and fishing, however, comes from Ocarina of Time and Animal Crossing. With that in mind, I thought maybe the great Itoi-san could get me started on the basics before I get to the important issue and expense of getting waders and reeds and all that play, all in the hopes of enjoy a quiet beer on the lake. . Nobody likes to put their fingers in slimy worm cubes, right?
So the plan was to start the game with the Google Translate camera app, which is still a wonderful piece of future Star Trek magic for me, and see if I have what it takes to improve the bass ( digital). But if I’m honest with myself, will this ever happen? Well, I would have to dig and set up my Japanese N64 and ideally I would like to do it through a CRT so that the delay does not hinder the development of my fishing skills. So I need one of these eye-catching PVM monitors, which might take a while.
As a guardian of two little humans, I’m not lucky enough to have much free time anyway. In fact, it is much more likely that Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri no. 1 and its yellow cover are only enjoyed on the shelf. That will be! But buying games with little or no intention of actually playing them? I’ve been there before, although I could at least read the text of these games if I never turned them on.
As if that wasn’t enough, I researched the fishing game a bit more and came across a certain ASCII-produced peripheral specifically for Itoi’s N64 fisherman. Of course, I took a look and before you know it, the View button was pressed and the offer arrived …
Oh Snow (Image: Nintendo Life / Gavin Lane)
It’s not too late for me to get back from the edge of this particular chasm. My Nintendo Japanese collection is still relatively sparse, just a handful of exclusives! Mother 3, Captain Rainbow, one of the Custom Robos, the JP version of Metroid: Other M with awesome box art, a couple of Famicom Disk System games, a few more. It tastes good! I haven’t purchased the entire 64-bit mahjong catalog yet.
Appealing to my Nintendo Life colleagues in the hopes of displeasing me is as helpful as you might expect. The aforementioned Zion was just as excited as I was about ASCII’s Itoi fishing rod. And let’s not even talk about Mr. McFerran’s collection, which is often shown on his enviable Twitter channel. A look at the retro collection on Nintendo Life HQ is enough to make any red-blooded retro player cry. Cry and then open the eBay app and go to bed early.
X is the last one I’m looking at, again, mostly because I like the look of the box. In fact, this is not entirely correct. X is an Argonaut Game Boy release that did amazing things on a system that shouldn’t have been able to handle it. I picked up the DSi sequel recently at the DSi store that will be closing soon, so there’s a gap to fill in my collection, right? “It’s worth having just for its historical value,” a colleague reassures me. Yes. As a Nintendo fan, it’s definitely my solemn duty to have it on the shelf. * Add to watchlist *
Play it, you ask? Well, of course I could. But it looks really nice just on the shelf.
Feel free to share your most exotic and / or inexplicable purchases of games and peripherals from other territories with a comment below. No judgments: here we are all friends.