Would you like to taste the adrenaline in the real life, on a real road? I think everyone is accustomed with Nintendo and of course, everyone must know the popular game “Mario Kart” brought to us by them. Now, you can have a taste of it in your own マリカー(MariCar)! A must do if you`re…

Think of your favorite video game. Who is your favorite character? Maybe it’s the brave Link from The Legend of Zelda games, Cloud from the widely known Final Fantasy VII, or the famous, star-collecting Italian plumber, Mario. Chances are that you’ve at least heard of a game character who’s from Japan! Although the United States,…

It’s that time of the year again when Nikkei Trendy releases a top 30 ranking of the hit products in Japan for the year, i.e. between October of the previous year and September of the current year, based on three aspects: sales, novelty, and influence. This ranking is a good indicator of what’s hot in…

If I asked you to name a video game, what would you say? The Legend of Zelda? Super Mario? Metal Gear? Ask anyone to name the first video game that comes to their head, and it’s fairly likely that their answer will be a game or character that originated in Japan. This country has been…

Waiting can be annoying and boring for a lot of people but is often hard to avoid. When you fly internationally, you probably arrive at the airport several hours early to ensure you don’t miss your flight. It’s significantly more difficult when traveling with small children, as they can be even more impatient than adults…

You must have already heard of the upcoming collaboration between Universal Studios and SUPER NINTENDO WORLD. Although there’s no actual date when it will be opened, Universal Studios Japan (ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン) wants the plan to materialize before the opening of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (東京). Part of the plan is the rumored opening of…

With the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo seems to be on the upswing after a very troubling period. It is hard to remember that in the late ’80s and throughout the ’90s, Nintendo was on top of the world. It was seemingly indomitable. They could crush any competitors, and they often did. Yet,…

When I was little and just learning games from my older brother, I would watch him and his friends play our NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) for hours at a time. I remember watching him beat all of Super Mario Bros. 3 in one sitting (no warps). I remember watching him play The Legend of Zelda,…

One of the earliest games I can remember playing, apart from Super Mario Bros. (スーパーマリオブラザーズ), was Castlevania (悪魔城ドラキュラ). I can still remember the opening of the original game. You play as the brave Simon Belmont (シモン・ベルモント), you march to the front gates of Dracula’s castle, which you can see in the backdrop, epic music plays…

The Dragon Quest franchise is one of the longest running and most important JRPG franchises of all time. Its effect on the entire genre of video games cannot be overstated. The original Dragon Quest on NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) essentially created the JRPG, without it, there would be no Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Pokemon, or…