The Secret of Earthbound with Lone, Dicefolk

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Tokyo Game Life, a Tokyo-based video game podcast focusing on Nintendo and

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: gaming culture in Japan's capital.

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Your host Mono here to bring you a slice of gaming life from Tokyo.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Gaming translator Lone joins the podcast as we chat about the Secret of Mother 2 aka Earthbound

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: exhibit.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We get into Hobonichi's 30th anniversary celebration for the iconic JRPG, our thoughts

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: on the amazing exhibit, and which clay figure we would steal.

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: In the game section, I check out the rogue-lite monster battler Dicefolk, plus a rundown on

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: the news including my thoughts on the upcoming Nintendo Museum.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's start with Lone and the Secret of Mother 2 exhibit.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Today's feature is on the Secret of Mother 2 exhibit or the Secret of Earthbound which

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I probably called it in the title for SEO purposes, but it's the newest experience

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: from the Hobonichi Mother project happening right now in Tokyo and it might be one of

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the biggest events they've ever done.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Joining me to chat all about this fascinating exhibit is a special guest.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So guest, please introduce yourself.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Lone on Twitter.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a Japanese half-who, so half Japanese, half British, and I went to the exhibit

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: two times.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for having me.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for joining me.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I've only been once, so I'm definitely looking forward to hearing your perspective.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this exhibit has been getting a lot of overseas press, but for the uninitiated,

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: what is the Secret of Mother 2 exhibit?

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So the Secret of Mother 2 exhibit is, well, basically, Itoi and Hobonichi, they

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: dug up a bunch of old files and old figures that were lying in storage for 30 years

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: since Mother 2 was being developed.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Since it's the anniversary year, they decided to show it all off to the public.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So by secrets, it means development secrets.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's hosted by the Hobonichi Mother project, which is an offshoot sub company

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: or just another arm of the Hobonichi empire.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And the event is in their event space on the eighth floor of Parco Shibuya.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And in a past episode, I talked about all the different EarthBound pop-up shots in Tokyo,

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and many take place here.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: But this is perhaps the biggest in terms of importance or notoriety.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, this year is the 30th anniversary of EarthBound, so Hobonichi has been hyping

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: this up for a while.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: What was your reaction to this event being the big 30th anniversary announcement?

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, okay, I guess cut it right to the chase.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: EarthBound is actually my least favorite game in the series.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So my first reaction was, yeah, I hope they do one for Mother 3 or Mother 1.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Looks like I still wanted to support Hobonichi.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Mostly so they do most stuff for the other games as well.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay, I see.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: They were really hyping it up all year.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think even from January or February, they've talked about an event they quote

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: unquote never done before, which maybe wonder what it could possibly be.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But it really is just an exhibit.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: However, the contents of the exhibit definitely fall in line with the idea that they've never

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: done this before because people have never seen this before.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: What do you think about the other 30th anniversary activities they've done so far this year,

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: like the new merch or the concert?

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I think the concert especially was very neat because people from overseas could join

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: in.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just a live stream, so it doesn't matter if you're in Japan or if you're

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: overseas and they had the actual composers and stuff.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: So as much as personally I prefer the real life events, I do think that the stream was

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: probably better overall for the community.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And I always appreciated new merch for a series that hasn't had a new engine in 18 years.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Before we really dive into the exhibit, let's talk about our Earthbound history or

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: our Mother history.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: What's your experience with the game and are you a big Mother fan in general?

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: As with many other people, I first learned of the series through Super Smash Brothers.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So my case was Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Ness and Lucas a lot.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Then around 2012 it would have been.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I saw a let's play of Earthbound and I recognized it as like, oh, it's Ness from

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Super Smash Brothers.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So I watched the full playthrough of Earthbound, then I watched the whole playthrough of Mother

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: 3 and that's what got me super hooked into the series.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I decided, okay, graphically it may not look very good but I'll make sure

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to look at Mother 1 as well.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: So I watched the let's play Mother 1 next.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I actually, and yeah, since I'm in Japan, I was able to buy all the games

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: second hand.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Eventually I played all the games for myself.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I went Mother 1, Mother 2, Mother 3.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So, and yeah, that was 11, 12 years ago now.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've had my ups and downs with the games.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But the thing is like it's because of my unique position being a native

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Japanese and native English speaker in Japan, but also being involved with the

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Western community.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: That kind of means like I kind of realized the other day that I have the best

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: of both worlds.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So being able to access all the mother events, you know, being able to just

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: casually email Hokonichi in Japanese, like the language barrier is nothing.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Whereas I think the Western fans are more united.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot more fan games going around.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot more fan stuff in general.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So if a Western fan wants to do something in Japan, they usually come to me and ask

[00:05:39] for translation stuff.

[00:05:41] So even when I was at my lowest in terms of interest in the Mother series, I still

[00:05:46] had people coming to me.

[00:05:47] So it's like whether I want to or not, I have to be a part of this band just

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: because of the very unique position I found myself in.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think the recent Hokonichi events and stuff, especially getting to meet

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Itoi himself before that kind of reignited my interest in the series actually.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: So I've actually been playing Mother 3.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So now I'm having like a second Renaissance, I guess you could say with

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: the series.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: How did you come to meet Itoi?

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, that was a Hokonichi event.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So that actually wasn't advertised through the Hokonichi Mother project.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think someone in the Japanese fandom just casually mentioned it on Twitter.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Then someone in one of the Discord servers, I mean, they saw the tweet and

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: then they told me like, oh, hey, there's an event where you can meet Itoi.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's a raffle, but yeah, oh, maybe you should try and see if you

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_01]: can win a spot in the raffle.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So I did.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I won a spot.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, so it's thanks to all the Western fans keeping a lookout for me

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: that managed to happen.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I have a very typical Earthbound journey like you.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I first heard of it through Smash Brothers, but I'm older than you,

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I think, so I played the N64 version and I did think who is this NES guy?

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew all the characters except for NES.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And from there I learned about the series and eventually played the game

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and enjoyed it very, very much.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And I actually replayed it on the 3DS around 2018, which I guess is a

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: long time ago now that I think about it, but I am not my whole personality

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: as Earthbound type of person, but I really do enjoy the game and it is truly

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: unique in a lot of ways.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah, that's enough background.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we can get into the exhibit now.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: The secret of Mother 2.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Lone, you take one step into the exhibit.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: What's the first thing you notice?

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_01]: The first thing I made eye on was all the handwritten documents just

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: all on the wall, but I mean, quite literally all of text.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm thinking, well, I'm going to have to note all of this down.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, of course I did wind up noting every little detail, just the

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: things I thought were significant.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: All the text was probably the biggest thing.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Look at all this juicy information.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there are essentially two main types of things in the exhibit.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The original design documents from the creation of the game and clay

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: figures, which are used in promo material.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you've ever seen any Earthbound promo material, they have

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: the real deal clay figures here at the exhibit.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course there's a merch area, which we'll get to later.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we really can't go into detail about what specifically are on

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: the design documents.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Can you shed some light on why?

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, right.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: So I actually emailed Hobo Nichi regarding confidentiality

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: by the documents and I even asked an attendant when I went there,

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: like, Hey, is it okay if I take notes?

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: The attendant said, yeah, it's fine to take notes.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And even in the email Hobo Nichi said, if you want to take notes

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: for personal use, that's fine.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But just don't share them on SNS.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, of course the language is a little vague, so I had to

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: double check for this podcast as well, which they also said like,

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: yes, please don't share the contents of the document or the podcast.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, so because Hobo Nichi told us to basically.

[00:09:13] Yes.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to make Hobo Nichi mad or get some sort of

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: W.R.I.T.E. strike or whatever on the podcast.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So we aren't going to be revealing the quote unquote secret of MOTHER 2,

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but we can at least talk about our general thoughts on the exhibit.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So the design documents, what was your takeaway from how they

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: developed the game or just how games were developed in the 90s in general?

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, right, right, right.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_01]: It started very broad.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I think it like, wow, he totally has a lot of ideas.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And as the game development process went on, he cut the fact,

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: trimmed it down slowly until we got what in the final game.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So it was like he thought he had a very, very strict refinement process.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It's probably the biggest takeaway.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Last episode, I talked about the Dragon Quest Carnival,

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and one part of it is a Dragon Quest 3 exhibit,

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_00]: which also had the original design documents.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I think some were just copies, but a lot of them were the real deal things.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, in both exhibits, the MOTHER 2 exhibit and the Dragon Quest 3 exhibit,

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: you can take pictures of everything except for the documents.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Why the big secret?

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Is there something about game development in Japan

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: where they really don't want to let the cat out of the bag,

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: no matter how much time has passed?

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not stating this as a fact.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_01]: This is just more of a speculation of that.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think it might have to do with the fact that these are Nintendo consoles.

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So I know Nintendo is known for being very strict within the industry.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, and I do know that Nintendo is pretty hush-hush about the development secrets and stuff.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, I suspect it might have something to do with Nintendo, honestly.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Like a company like Sega, for example, is known for being way more open.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So if it does about a Sega game, for example.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, once again, it's just a theory, so I could be wrong here.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: But I do think that they would probably be way more open about,

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_01]: say, photo taken or sharing stuff on social media.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Itoi is not shy about making money.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think there's eventually going to be a big The Secret of Mother 2 book

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: with scans of all these documents?

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Or is it just going to be this exhibit and then it's done?

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I actually emailed Itoi about that as well.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't ask them to create an artwork for Mother 2.

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I just told them by that when the foreign fans first saw the trailer,

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: they thought it was an artwork and they were getting very excited

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and all wanted to purchase it.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, so they actually didn't directly mention

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: the artwork part in their response.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I just sort of nudged them and said, like, you know,

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: hey, people are very interested in buying something like this.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, they didn't confirm or deny anything.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So take that as you will.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I mean, I have been asked about that

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: confidentiality thing, I guess it's because, you know,

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Itoi wants people to pay money to get in.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: But honestly, the fact that re-entry is free,

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: the fact that you only need to purchase the tickets once,

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's not really about the money,

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: if that makes any sense. Right.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think Itoi is more doing this

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_01]: appreciation for the fans more than anything.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about the clay figures.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, these are the real deal clay figures from the Earthbound Promo Art.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And remarkably, they are still in incredible condition

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and on display for everyone to see.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, you can actually take photos of these.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can't take photos of the documents, but these you can go to town.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you feel about being able to see the figures in the flesh

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: or in the clay, I guess?

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Bit of a tough question for me because,

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_01]: because like Mother 3 figures flat out don't exist.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So I can't say that I thought it was Mother 3, I feel this.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But if it was Mother 1 stuff, I probably would be like,

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, well, I've seen this in the instruction manual

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: or some old PR thing.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: But because it was Earthbound, it's just like neat.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Was there any figure that really stood out to you?

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I think probably the Frank one,

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: because they even modeled his eyes, but they didn't have to.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's not in his sprites.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Like these weren't supposed to be for display anyhow,

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_01]: but they did. They went the extra step anyhow.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for me, I think Ness is pretty hard to beat.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: He's got that confident pose.

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And I quite liked, of course, Master Belch

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and Starman, of course, and Dr.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Andonuts with the donut is great as well.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And above the figures of the playable characters are sketches of them

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: with some notes, and you can take photos of these at least.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you have any takeaways from these sketches of the characters?

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen similar sketches from like other games as well.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So they have like a lot of specifications for like

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_01]: how the characters are designed, what their body proportions are.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I was focusing too much on the characters.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: During my trips to exhibit, I was more focused on the documents,

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: unknown information more than anything.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So you've got the documents, you've got the figures.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And in the last little area, they also showed some promo material

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: from both the Japanese and US releases of Earthbound,

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: which aren't secret, but it was fun to see them in person.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Was there anything in this section that really grabbed your attention?

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. So yeah, my very first thought was, oh, I've seen this before

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: in person.

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's because I'm acquainted with the Japanese collector Koala.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: He's a YouTuber.

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: He's the biggest mother collector in the world.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think he showed me like the videotape and like the blue poster.

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I remember thinking, like, how did she even manage

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_01]: to get a hold of the videotape?

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: So that wasn't even sold in stores.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, they had like the Rula and stuff as well, which,

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah, it was Koala had also showed me.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So that was my first thought, like, oh, yeah, Koala has those too.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I was going to kick out of them showing like the English

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_00]: or the American versions of promo material,

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: because, of course, in America, Earthbound was very famously

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_00]: like the marketing wasn't very good.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's so different visually from the Japanese advertisements.

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Even the name is just totally different.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think Japanese people, they must be like, oh, what is this

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: when they see the American promo material?

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think that was the 90s in general.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, like Kirby looks happy in the Japanese box

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: off, but angry at the American one, stuff like that.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The last section of the exhibit is a merch shop,

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_00]: which has mostly items they've sold before at other Earthbound

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_00]: pop-up shops. But there were some new things here as well.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Did you nab any merch on your visits?

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah, this time I got the Life Noodles for the biggest thing.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And I finally bought the books with all the dialogue from the Mother Games.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yes.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the Life Noodles, I mean, it says two servings, but

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_01]: each serving is actually pretty hefty.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's like, I thought, like, oh, these are quite expensive for noodles.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, they're pretty high quality and

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_01]: each serving is quite a bit as well.

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that just buys the price.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And the mother books as well.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember the cashier said, like, oh, be careful, the books are very heavy.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So instead of just one paper bag, I got like two paper bags.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And I thought it was really neat that the books came in

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_01]: on Escargot Express cardboard box.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, that's so cool that I can throw out the box even I kept the box.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, yeah, even so, it doesn't like fix the box is cool.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_01]: That's how cool it was.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, I guess it's more like it's just such a nice attention to detail.

[00:16:40] It feels like a waste to throw it out.

[00:16:42] Like it feels like part of the collection.

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_01]: True. Yeah.

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_01]: So it felt very different from just looking at the scripts online

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: just because of all that small stuff.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the noodles are part of the 30th anniversary, I guess, activities

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_00]: where they are noodles from Gunma, which I guess is famous for udon.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like a lot of prefectures and cities are famous for udon.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how so many can be famous for it, but these are,

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess, imported from Gunma.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So maybe that's why they're expensive.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And I guess you will live longer than I will since you ate them.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't. So that's something to look forward to.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to get a T-shirt, but my size was sold out.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_00]: But a cool thing is that they did have the vinyl nest figure on display here,

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_00]: which was announced recently, and it's only available via lottery currently.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's about 30000 yen.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So a bit too pricey for me, but I'm happy I at least got to see it.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm very satisfied.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Did you enter the lottery to get the nest figure?

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't pay that much for it.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: What about if it was a Lucas figure?

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I would if it was a Lucas, yes.

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a misconception with the nest figure.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like it was going to be only available in the lottery.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm glad it's going to be available normally for everyone else after.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. So what were your overall thoughts on the exhibit?

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Did it meet your expectations?

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Was there anything else they should have added from the development of the game?

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_01]: If anything, there was too much information to take in at once.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Because my first visit was on a weekend.

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And OK, yeah, I had reserved, but, you know, I felt a little bad,

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: like stayed there for as long as I did.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I was worried that one of the whole audience

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: was going to tell me to leave.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So I would, you know, so the place wouldn't get too crowded.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_01]: But thankfully that didn't happen.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I had to go back a second time because there was stuff I missed.

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, first time because there was so much information.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And and honestly, there's probably still a lot of stuff I missed.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It does probably take several hours to physically

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_01]: copy down every single word written there. Right.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, OK, being all serious with you,

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I probably would if it was Mother 3 and especially if it was Earth 64.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Other people are documenting it and stuff as well.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, I guess from my perspective,

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I probably enjoyed the Porty, the King Pocky event of one that I think

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Itoi Mita agreed to especially, but that's a bit different.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_01]: But I'm sure, yeah, fans of Mother 2 probably would get a huge kick out of this one for sure.

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it was a pretty amazing exhibit,

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_00]: especially just to see the journey from paper to the actual video game.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we have project management apps.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_00]: We've got stuff like Adobe and Figma to help us visualize things.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But back in the day, you had paper and then sometimes graph paper.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And that was it. That's how the game began.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So I have a lot of respect for the devs who worked

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: in those days where everything was just so analog.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, there's a ton of new information here that we really can't talk about.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm sure we made public one day.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But if it's not, I'm glad I got to see it in person.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And even just to see Itoi's handwriting just scrolled on some paper

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: is really cool to see.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But if you're in Tokyo before September 8th and love EarthBound,

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I would definitely recommend the exhibit.

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So final question, if you could take anything from the exhibit

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and keep it in your home, what are you taking?

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Probably the rare blue EarthBound Mother 2 poster.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Just because Koala has told me how rare it is.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I personally know the value of it.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So it should be so cool to have that just casually on my wall.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, oh, yeah, this is one of the rarest piece of Mother much ever.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for me, I think I definitely want to take that nest figure.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: That's an easy choice.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It would be cool to have Starman in my home as well, just keeping watch.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But speaking of things you can sell, they might make some plastic

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: versions of these clay figures down the line for us to enjoy.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: But until then, you can see them act the exhibit.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So Lone, thank you so much for joining me.

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Where can people find you?

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can find me on Twitter.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_01]: You can find me on a bunch of other ground related discord servers.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I think the EarthBound 64 Mother 3 one and Mother Uncle one,

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the remake of Mother 1, which I translated into Japanese.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's your thing. Go for it.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, those are the ones that are most active on Twitter as well, I guess.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Great. And the links to everything will be in the podcast description.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So listeners, check it out.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Lone, once again, thanks for joining me.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for having me.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm mostly just waiting for Zelda.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So I have been tackling my backlog a bit.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I definitely want to do a random backlog buster segment on the podcast

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: in the future, where I just run down all the random games

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I played this year that I've really never talked about on the podcast.

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But I actually did pick up a 2024 game on Switch recently.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Dice folk.

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a roguelite monster battler from the developers

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Tiny Ghoul and Leap Game Studios.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Tiny Ghoul's first game and Leap put out Toonch,

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_00]: which is a roguelite action game.

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Can't say I'm familiar with their backgrounds, but the publisher

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is Good Shepherd Entertainment, which has published a lot of indie games,

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: including Monster Train, which is another roguelite deck builder.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So rogue. The word of the day is rogue.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I have been on a roguelite kick recently because my current game

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_00]: of the year is Bellatro.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So I got to thinking, well, is there another game like Bellatro?

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Dice folk is sort of adjacent and got good reviews, so I picked it up.

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Some have said it's a roguelite Pokemon.

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And no, it's not quite that.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: You do build a team of monsters, but there's no training

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_00]: or leveling up or evolution aspects.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The monsters are just the characters you fight with

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and are fairly static in how you use them.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The fun comes from changing out your team and equipping items

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: that give them special abilities.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Like many similar games, the joy comes from customizing

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_00]: your team to your liking and experimenting with what they can do.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Is this a deck builder roguelike?

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you don't just have a deck of cards,

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_00]: but you do customize a team, a team builder roguelite

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: or any of these things words.

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But if you played a few of these rogue games,

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_00]: the format is pretty similar.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You're on a map that's node based and you can freely visit different parts.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not like Slay the Spire where you need to pick a route.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: You can easily encounter everything on the map at your leisure.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_00]: The goal is to beat the boss of the map and you move on to the next one.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And you do that via turn based monster battles.

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The battles may seem like a typical JRPG style turn based affair,

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_00]: but there are so many twists that results in a genuinely exciting battle system.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You've got a team of three monsters

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and you're often fighting against another team of three.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I said earlier that the abilities are often more important than stats,

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's because monsters have very specific abilities that shape how you play.

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Like one monster attacks automatically every time an enemy rotates out of the lead.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Another monster attacks enemies every time you rotate,

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: or some monsters cast status effects on other enemies at the beginning of the battle.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Figuring out the synergy between monsters is the key to battle.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Each team has a lead monster, or I guess I should call them Chimera,

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: because that's what the game calls them.

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And this lead Chimera delivers the attack.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But you're not just picking attack and trading elix back and forth.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: What you can do in each battle is determined by the titular dice in Dice Falk.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You start off with three dice and each side has an ability.

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This could be an attack or a rotation,

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_00]: which switches out the lead Chimera or a guard or really any number of things.

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So for instance, you could have two attack dice and one rotation dice.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_00]: That means you can attack twice and switch out the leader once.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: You can also use them in any order.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can do attack, rotation, attack or rotation, attack, attack or whatever.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And since they're dice, what you have each round is a bit different.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Rotating monsters in and out is also a huge part of the game,

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: since you can build a team around essentially just switching out

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: your monsters around the battlefield.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, one of my absolute favorite elements of the game

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_00]: is that the enemy also have dice and you can choose which dice to use when.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_00]: So you are selecting your enemies moves, in a sense,

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_00]: something I don't think I've ever seen in any turn based battle system before.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Before you can end the turn and re-roll all the dice,

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_00]: you have to exhaust all the enemy dice.

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But you can be very clever with this to ensure that you take

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_00]: as little damage as possible or even no damage at all.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, you can rotate out to a weaker monster and have them attack

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: or make an enemy monster use a move that incapacitates them,

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_00]: meaning they can't attack again, then use the enemy attack dice,

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_00]: which does nothing since the monster is exhausted.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of interesting things

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: you can do to make the enemies waste their turns.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The core battle system is incredibly strong

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and allows for different strategies, depending on how you customize your Chimera.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's certainly a lot of customization options.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Chimera can equip items which give them stat boost or special abilities.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You'd also customize the dice faces

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: that give you different techniques in the battle.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, you have to switch out monsters during each run.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You always start with a generic team,

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: but each map has three monster statues and you need to pick one.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: However, you only see them one at a time.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you pick the first monster you come across,

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: you'll never know what the other two monsters are.

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's OK to just nab the first monster

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_00]: if you're really confident or need to swap out a teammate.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But team synergy is of utmost importance.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_00]: You need to think about your build, what you're trying to focus on during each battle.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I had a great run where I just had one monster equipped

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: with a ton of activation items, which builds up points.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And when you get to 10 activation points,

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: they do an absurd amount of damage to the boss.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I also had a run that was focused on extra damage whenever somebody rotated.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Another run based around burn, which lets you do extra damage per attack.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Like any good roguelike, there's many ways to win.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's fun to figure out a build and see it pay off.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The final boss creamed me the first time, but the next time I fought it,

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_00]: none of my monsters even got to half health because I had an awesome setup.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_00]: This is what you want from these types of games.

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The ability to completely break the game in some way

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_00]: or absolutely crush an enemy you had trouble with earlier.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a really clever deck builder, team builder, whatever this genre is,

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: since the battle system is so creative and offers a great deal of customization.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But I do have some complaints.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_00]: For one, I don't like starting with the generic team each time.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It would be more fun if you could draft a team of three at the start,

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_00]: which lets you focus on a build faster.

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, each run is pretty long, probably an hour or so.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a roguelite.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So even if you lose, you still earn something,

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_00]: mostly unlocking new monsters to use the next time around.

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But I've been bilateral peeled and those runs are about 20 minutes or so.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet it still nails the feeling of getting significantly stronger.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying every roguelite should have a run that should be 20 minutes

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_00]: max, but what if that was the rule?

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the game would be even more fun

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_00]: if it basically just wiped out the first map,

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: giving you three strong monsters at the start.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you can get going much quicker.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, going back to Bellatro, the decks you unlock

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_00]: come with some interesting advantage right out of the gate.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So it feels like you've already earned something from the first round.

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: In Dice Folk, it really does feel like you were just starting

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_00]: every run the exact same way.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not until the later maps where your team really kicks in.

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And by then, you're almost done.

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So sad to say it's not the greatest game there ever was or ever will be,

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but it is a very solid roguelite with an absolutely stellar battle system.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And I would love this battle system to be implemented

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_00]: in a traditional JRPG, for instance.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and I totally forgot to mention about the art,

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's a very clean cartoon art style.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think the monsters look pretty distinct, which is hard to do.

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_00]: They are more like JRPG enemies than Pokemon.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But there are a lot of very strong designs.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I like Escaval, which is kind of like a big beetle

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_00]: with a giant blade on the top of its head.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Dice Folk is 15 bucks on Switch, not a bad price,

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and it will probably take you a couple of runs before you beat the final boss.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And even after that, you can mess around with all the trials,

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_00]: which have more customized rule sets and focus on unlocking more Chimera.

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Definitely put Dice Folk on your radar if you're into

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_00]: what is this genre called again?

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Monster rotating dice roguelites.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go with that.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_00]: That's all for games now for some news.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_00]: We got an unusual Nintendo Direct, a Nintendo Museum Direct

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00]: highlighting the soon to open Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The direct got a lot of attention,

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_00]: despite the fact that most people are probably nowhere near Kyoto.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: But with the boom of tourism in Japan, I can see a lot of people

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_00]: thinking about trying to swing by on a future trip.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a 13 minute video where Miyamoto guided us through the museum,

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: which is in the same location as their old factory in Uji back in the day.

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Not too dissimilar from how Nintendo approached theme parks,

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the museum is also focused on interactivity and playing games.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Miyamoto showed off the second floor first, which is kind of a weird thing to do.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: But who am I to tell Miyamoto what to do?

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's mostly just a product display

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_00]: of all the Nintendo games throughout their history.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Some eagle eyed folks have spotted that it may include

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: every single Nintendo developed game and even titles that they only published.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_00]: There are huge bright displays with game boxes from both

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_00]: the Japanese and US versions, with enormous controllers hovering above them.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: There's even a giant Virtual Boy controller,

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: so Nintendo isn't shying away from that part of their history.

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_00]: This floor also has many of their pre video game items

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_00]: ranging from the board games to baby strollers to light guns.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Something tells me the dirty cards aren't in here as a display area.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It looks very expansive and clean,

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: but the fact that all their pre game stuff is just shoved into one big case

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_00]: is a bit worrying.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The game displays also just seem to be that displays.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_00]: There's no placards or information anywhere.

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The main criticism I've seen about the museum is that

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_00]: are you going to learn anything about Nintendo after you visit the museum?

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Or will you just look at a display and say, hey, it's Kit Icarus?

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's very possible that there could be some informative app,

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_00]: since having info on every single game in multiple languages on the display cases.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's no room for that.

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_00]: We did see some sort of app, which I'll get to later,

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00]: but they really didn't highlight it in the direct.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_00]: On the website, it says that they are shared with, quote,

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00]: little explanation, which is not very reassuring.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_00]: It's more of an art display than a museum, if you think about it.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_00]: That's fine for Nintendo hardcore, so we'll probably know

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_00]: every single game in the case.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But again, going back to the question,

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00]: will you learn anything at the Nintendo museum?

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_00]: But outside of just having a bunch of old stuff, there are many interactive

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_00]: activities highlighting Nintendo's history on the first floor.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Many of them take influence from the AR integrated projection

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_00]: mapping exhibits that are extremely popular in Japan these past few years.

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Think Team Labo or Borderless.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, Pokemon Colors, which I did talk about on a previous episode.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The big one they highlighted was Hyakunin Isshu,

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_00]: which is a traditional Japanese set of cards with poems written on them.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Though the game highlighted is Utakaruta, where someone reads

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: one of the poems on the cards and the players have to find the card first.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Ironically, on their website, they list the game as Shigure-den,

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: which is the name of their Hyakunin Isshu DS game.

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's kind of a deep pool.

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's here where you see somebody use an app.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if this is the Nintendo museum specific

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_00]: app or something different.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Other projection mapping games include using the Zapper

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: or Super Scope to shoot Mario enemies on a screen.

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is literally from the Pokemon Colors exhibit,

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_00]: except this one looks like it works way better.

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_00]: The website also highlights a lot of activities that weren't in the direct,

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_00]: like a game and watch where you use your body, the Love Tester returns

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and Ultra Machine, which is like a batting cage.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, there's even an Ultra Hand game here, too.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_00]: The main event, though, is the giant controller area

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_00]: where you can play on humongous versions of the Famicom, N64,

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Wiimote and more.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_00]: This is by far going to be the most popular activity,

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's definitely the most photogenic.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Out of all of them, I want to try out the N64 controller

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER_00]: or just moving that giant joystick.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be great.

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a bit of small text here

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_00]: where every visitor gets 10 coins via their ticket card.

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And playing these activities cost coins.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And they say you can't do all the activities with 10 coins

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's no way to buy more coins.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So you cannot do everything in one trip,

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_00]: which is kind of an odd thing to say outright.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_00]: For many people, they would go to the Nintendo museum

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: once in their entire life.

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So you need to decide now about whether you want to play

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_00]: with the Ultra Hand or the Love Tester.

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: This probably helps reduce lines for activities, though.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't want some absurd hour long wait just to use the giant Wiimote.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to the interactive elements,

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Nintendo really nailed it.

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of their history is incorporated here

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_00]: from the cards to the toys to the games.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a great modern reimagining of classic entertainment.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and I forgot to mention there is an area

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_00]: where you can play Hanafuda, including this awesome looking hybrid

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_00]: between a tatami mat and LED electronics.

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can even make your own Hanafuda card,

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_00]: which is such an awesome idea.

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, there is a merch shop, although it's unknown

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_00]: what will be sold here.

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And a small cafe that advertises the Hatena burger,

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_00]: which has 270,000 combinations.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I love burgers, but I'm not super creative

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_00]: when it comes to these build of burgers.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm done.

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Are they going to have crazy Nintendo themed options?

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Wario garlic, Yoshi eggs?

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It opens October 2nd.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You can only get in via lottery for now.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And if I had to predict it,

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I think they would do the lottery for many, many months.

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Even when they move away from the lottery system,

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I imagine they will still keep the reservation system,

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_00]: meaning you probably have to reserve at least a month

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_00]: ahead of time, like with the Pokemon Cafe.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So don't think you can just waltz in there on the day

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_00]: during your trip to Kyoto.

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very excited to visit the museum eventually,

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_00]: but it does feel like a mini theme park

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_00]: instead of a proper museum.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_00]: You could do a ton of stuff with just Nintendo's history,

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_00]: like a big exhibit solely about Hanafuda

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_00]: or showcasing prototype hardware

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_00]: or showing off the design documents for classic games,

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_00]: like with the Mother 2 exhibit.

[00:33:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to see things I've never seen before,

[00:33:48] [SPEAKER_00]: but Nintendo wants you to experience

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_00]: their curated history via play,

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_00]: which I guess fits with their philosophy.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I probably can't go this year, but I would do my best

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and try to nab somebody who went to pop into the podcast

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and tell us all about it.

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Pokemon World happened in Hawaii

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and it was fairly light on game announcements

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_00]: outside of Pokemon TCG Pocket getting a date October 30th.

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_00]: A trailer showed off a bit more of the game.

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, it really does mostly just look like

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_00]: a card collector game

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_00]: instead of something like Pokemon Marvel Snap.

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very interested to see how streamlined

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_00]: the battle system is.

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody pointed out that they say you can battle

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_00]: against the AI or with your friends.

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So is there matchmaking?

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's very possible that there is zero matchmaking

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_00]: for the battle portion of the game.

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It could really just be CPU versus somebody next to you.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be majorly disappointing for me

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_00]: since that was the element I was most looking forward to

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_00]: because I do like playing the Pokemon TCG as a card game,

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_00]: but realistically,

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to play against somebody I know in real life

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_00]: or go through the effort to make a competitive deck.

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_00]: But these card collector apps are very popular

[00:34:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and I can see this game bringing in a lot of whales.

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm definitely going to at least try it out

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and I might even put some money into it

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_00]: just to see what it's like.

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'll report back on a future app of the podcast.

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe I'll be totally absorbed by the game

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and you'll never see me again, who knows?

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Last bit of news, some Tokyo happenings.

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku Nishiguchi

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_00]: will hold a metaphor demo on September 1st.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Play it and you get a clear file,

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_00]: the most valuable item in all of Japan.

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Yodobashi Camera has actually been doing

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_00]: these pre-release demos quite a bit frequently

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: as of late.

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a Yodobashi Camera game show not too long ago

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_00]: where you could play stray in a few other games

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_00]: right outside their store.

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love for this to become more of a thing

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_00]: since I love that store and it's not insanely crowded.

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So if I can, I'll try to play a metaphor.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Other Tokyo stuff, there's a pop-up shop

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_00]: for Exit 8 at Parko Ikebukuro.

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I haven't seen the products yet,

[00:35:37] [SPEAKER_00]: so I'm not sure exactly what you can buy,

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but if you need Exit 8 merch, it's there.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It is pretty fun to see how much this game

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_00]: has blown up in Japan,

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_00]: but it did seem to make a big splash in the West,

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's definitely a game worth trying out.

[00:35:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, we can wrap it up.

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks as always for listening.

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_00]: on your favorite app.

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Leave a five-star review as well.

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It really helps with visibility.

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_00]: This podcast is also available on YouTube,

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER_00]: so like and subscribe there as well.

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm on Twitter, threads, Blue Sky, Instagram.

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Just search for Tokyo Game Life

[00:36:06] [SPEAKER_00]: or find the links in the podcast description.

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_00]: If you like the podcast,

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_00]: be sure to share with your friends

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and on social media.

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_00]: If there's anything you want me to talk about or cover,

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_00]: don't be shy.

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Just message me on Twitter.

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The next episode will be on September 8th.

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_00]: See you next time.

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Mata ne!