FEPY

Lets continue this roundup by focusing on iPhone gaming. If you’re a casual gamer, you’ll be really satisfied with the current line-up of iPhone games. But for the hardcore gamer, I don’t they’ll be giving up their PSPs or Nintendo DSs anytime soon. But for most people, iPhone gaming can supplement those times when you have a few minutes to kill.

I chose these games because they all have good production values and more importantly, they offer a lot of fun and replay value.

1. Aurora Feint - A nice puzzle game with an RPG twist. Your typical match three items of the same symbol. While other puzzle games stay with that scenario, Aurora Feint offers weapons and spell upgrades that will keep players coming back for more. An amazing game that also happens to be free.
2. Motion X Poker - Video poker comes to the iPhone. In order to roll the dice, you have to give your iPhone a shake. In most cases, a quick flick of the wrist will do. Combine addictive gameplay with excellent presentation and you have Motion X Poker. A good deal at $4.99.
3. Puzzloop - The visuals and sound effects rival those arcade puzzle games from the late 1990s. Think of it as a circular version of Bubble Bobble. It’s a fun game, but be warned…even early levels can prove difficult to clear. The $7.99 cost is a bit pricey but given the high production values, I think it’s worth it.
4. Toy Bot Diaries - A fun platformer with touch of Bionic Commando. Surprisingly, the control scheme is well optimized for the iPhone touch controls. Is it the second coming of Super Mario? No, but it’s lot of fun nonetheless and well worth the $3.99 price tag.
5. Galcon - Strip out the everything but the base framework of a PC RTS and you have game that both novices and veterans can appreciate for its primal gameplay. Add the fact that they recently added multiplayer and the $9.99 cost will be a lot easier to swallow.

I currently have more than one page of games on my iPhone. But these are ones I keep coming back to. Games that receive honorable mention include: Trism, Chopper, Texas Hold’em, Dizzy Bee, VS Chess, and Tris.

Interested in more iPhone related posts? Consider subscribing to Apple Otaku. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

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Meet Rabbit-kun, a plastic trash sack with pink eyes, an X-shaped mouth, and a pair of bunny ears that double as handles. Designed by Tokyo-based creative group MAQ, Inc., Rabbit-kun aims to inspire a more responsible attitude toward waste by providing a cute and stylish way for people to carry their trash home after a day outdoors. Whether it’s a picnic in the park, a hike in the mountains, or a day at the beach — or any place without public trash cans — Rabbit-kun is charming enough that you might actually enjoy carting your garbage all the way home.

The bunny-shaped sack is the latest in a line of eye-pleasing Garbage Bag Art Work trash bags by MAQ. Their previous creations include a series of color-coded bags imprinted with patterns of trees, fish and flowers, which are designed to add convenience and character to neighborhood garbage collection points.

Another bag, which features a life-sized illustration (by Lily Franky) of trash-loving Oscar the Grouch, was designed in collaboration with Sesame Street as part of an environmental awareness campaign for children.

For now, these bags are being distributed free of charge at select outdoor events, as well as to volunteer cleanup groups and schools.

And for animal lovers, MAQ offers the Mottainai series of bags featuring images of teary-eyed penguins, seals and polar bears, which turn the neighborhood trash heap into a friendly reminder of the fragility of our planet. A portion of the profits go to the Green Belt Movement (a grassroots environmental NGO established by Kenyan political activist, environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai), which has planted millions of trees across Kenya to prevent soil erosion.

Garbage Bag Art Work trash bags are available at various locations in Tokyo or at the Mottainai online shop (Japanese).

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The Ooishi Hyoroku Monogatari, a largely fictional story featured in picture scrolls in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, tells of a young warrior and his encounters with trickster foxes posing as yokai. According to the National Museum of Japanese History, the story takes place in 1624 in Kagoshima, where a group of notorious young warriors have assembled. When a rumor circulates about shape-shifting foxes that have hoodwinked some people in the area and shaved their heads, the men decide to test the courage of one of the young warriors, Ooishi Hyoroku, by sending him on a mission to capture the mischievous creatures.

When the foxes hear about this mission, they transform into eight different yokai to frighten the young warrior:

Uja

Minobajo

Mitsume Koen

Nurarihyon

Hobeni Taro

Teremenchippei

Konotsukitokko

Nuppeppo

Hyoroku flees in fear each time he encounters one of the monsters. After he finally catches a pair of foxes, his father suddenly appears and urges him to let them go. Hyoroku then finds that his “father” is actually a fox in disguise — but only after he is tricked into eating sweet dumplings made of horse droppings.

Later, the foxes appear as Buddhist monks and trick him into shaving his head. In the end, though, Hyoroku successfully captures two more foxes, and his comrades honor his achievement by making him breakfast.

Several versions of the Ooishi Hyoroku Monogatari scroll remain in existence today. A scan of an entire scroll, dated 1801 (author/illustrator unknown), is viewable online at Waseda University Library.

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Considering how packed the nation’s pachinko parlours are, and in particular at the weekend,

some of the popular pastime’s premises are rather aptly named. Especially, it would seem, for those trying to escape the pressures of work, or, in this predominantly male dominated world, the wife.

Yet, for a gambling game that seems purely random rather than relying on any real skill, this could be an almost matchless moniker.

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Appropriately named pachinko?

Originally from Tokyo Times

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These retro cameras from Superheadz, called “Blackbird, Fly” are reminiscent of the twin lens reflex Rolleiflex cameras from the olden days, only these cameras take 35mm film rather than the traditional medium format film used in the originals. But, in honor of the originals, these new cameras produce square images (just smaller) so you retain that full retro feeling when you’re looking at the results. Trends in Japan tells us this camera will sell for under $100. Maybe they’ll be out in time for the holidays.

More on retro cameras:
LOMO retro cameras
Fisheye camera #Two

If you’re nostalgic for your old Rolleiflex . . . the Blackbird, Fly is coming soon

Originally from Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

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Don’t you just hate it when you fall in love with a gadget that’s not available in this country? I’m a big fan of tokidoki, as faithful readers already know, and love my beautiful handbag, jewelry, belt buckle, and other accessories designed by Simone Legno. Therefore his limited edition tokidoki, PC - exclusive for the Japanese market and which can only be purchased on Fujitsu’s website - is killing me.

But the good news is that this FMV Loox eco friendly computer will be available state-side in the next six months and should retail for around $1,100.

While your shopping, I mean, browsing the tokidoki site, check out the evocative painting Simone created for the “This One’s For The Children of Sichuan” charity auction to benefit children affected by the disastrous earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province of China in May of this year. (An impressive group of artists and vinyl toy companies have come together for the charity auction which will take place online with live auctioneers from Friday, August 21st to Sunday, August 31st.) Give till it hurts.

Tokidoki mini-laptop

Originally from Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

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I am always amazed and amused by these things, no matter how many I see.

“Though the dog barks, the procession moves on!”

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Still more North Korea propaganda posters

Originally from Japundit

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For something really different this weekend, here are three videos showing Tamasaburo’s performance of Sagi Musume, with English voice over comments.

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Kabuki: Sagi Musume

Originally from Japundit

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Growing up amid the radioactive ashes of war, children in 1940s Hiroshima had little to smile about… until the Kabaya "Hippo Car" cruised through their shattered neighborhoods. Sixty-plus years on, an updated custom sound truck still roams city streets, dispensing sweet caramels to a new generation.

Hiroshima’s Hippo Car, Dispensing Sweets and Dispersing Sadness

Originally from Inventor Spot - Inventions, Innovations, and Interesting Ideas for the Inventor in All of Us

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One day after a wild Japanese macaque caused a commotion at Tokyo’s Shibuya station and escaped back into the streets, police have received multiple reports of monkey sightings in the area.

According to this TBS video news report, which refers to the search effort as “Operation Capture Monkey,” the Japanese macaque was observed at various locations in the Harajuku/Omotesando area near Shibuya early this morning. Police armed with nets roamed the streets of Omotesando after at least one person reported seeing the monkey climbing a pink building. Others reportedly witnessed it scurrying across power lines. In addition to the sightings, a local resident found tomatoes and eggplants missing from his garden. He believes the monkey was responsible.

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