Wow... Rara Racer

Rara Racer is an art game. You should play it. It is about 3 minutes in length. There are Mac and Windows versions. It is a game about nerdy people on the internet talking about games. Or something.

NSFW warning: it includes porn references. If that doesn't get you interested to play it...

Yamagata, New Years 2009

To ring in the new year I visited Yamagata prefecture on the northern part of the main island of Japan. After a three hour trip by bullet train, I was greeted by a winter landscape and beautiful mountains.

The calm and crisp atmosphere was quite different from Tokyo. Though there weren't many people,

and they weren't getting much use out of their bus stops, it was a refreshing change of pace.

From the father and son team doing some free skiing on a small incline in a parking lot,

to the ducks meandering in a local pond,

there were many opportunities to relax and take in the sights. That is, as long as you are able to handle the cold.

The weather didn't stop me from enjoying some bizarre ice cream flavors though. Burdock root and rice being a highlight.

However, I didn't try the curry udon in a can I found in a local vending machine. The sign makes special note that you can buy your canned noodles with cigarettes together as an added convenience. What a combination.

Full gallery here.

Box2d is a lot of fun

Click in the box to give Flash focus first:



Your goal is to shoot the ragdoll into the little box on the right. That's it. Press space to bounce the bridge and 'r' to reset if you get stuck.

I hacked this together in about an hour using some of the demo code from the Flash version of Box2d. I haven't had this much fun playing around with code in a while. Box2d is a 2d physics simulation library that is straightforward and easy to use. It has support for various primitive shapes, a couple of joint types, and continuous collision detection for fast moving objects. It's also open source. Kudos to the developers.

Goofing around with this feels a bit like being 12 years old again and experiencing the high of putting together my first text adventure game in QBASIC. Great fun!

Oh and by the way, if you notice the ragdoll acting a little goofy near the left "cage" post it's because I added some invisible upward force there to make it easier to win. Sometimes it backfires a bit.

Click here to play in a bigger window.

Polysics are Awesome

This is in no way a new video but I was just watching again for the first time in a while and wanted to share it. The music video for "Electric Surfin' Go Go" is as insane a Japanese video as one could hope for.

I saw them live in 2007 in San Francisco with my buddy Parm and it was a great time. If you like off the wall rock music and have the opportunity to see the Polysics I recommend it!

Tokyo Tower from Hiroo

Taken on Christmas Day using the iPhone and the Toy Camera application. You can just barely see the tower at the top of the street in the distance.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone is having a healthy and happy holiday. Tokyo does Christmas very well, at least in terms of decorations. The photos below were taken in Shinjuku near Takashimaya.

Here's to a successful 2009!

-Mark

Kirin Strong Seven

Kirin Strong Seven

"This hard and clear taste brings you the great feeling!"

You've got to love Japanese beer, nay happoshu, advertising that emphasizes the alcohol percentage as the primary sales point.

And the taste? Hard and clear. I didn't feel so great after drinking it though...

You Have To Burn The Rope

In a brilliant statement against the challenge of modern videogames Mazapan brings us You Have To Burn The Rope.

See if you can figure out what to do. If you are having a hard time, here is a snippet of a FAQ by Rock, Paper, Shotgun's John Walker:

You have to burn the rope.

Good luck and have fun!

Club Nintendo's True Purpose

Nintendo of Japan's Club Nintendo program is pretty cool. You register your games to earn points and then you can use those points to choose bonus goods. Sometimes they have special consoles or even games that are created just for Club Nintendo. As the image above says, it "was founded for all the Nintendo Game Players to feel more pleasure." I give my full support to their noble cause.

It looks like it is coming to the US too. If you are a Wii or DS owner you should consider signing up. I just received cool little calendar, unannounced, for being a member. Membership is free.