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When Paul and I were in Japan the first time we played a game called Taiko Drum Master in the arcade and man, it was awesome! The second time we went, we had friends Rick and Jacy with us and it was even more of a blast. Above is a little video vignette Paul made of our arcade fun times!

Taiko Drum Master is a game that doesn’t get a lot of love in America, which is sad because it’s really fun. I’ve been addicted to this game for a while now and have it for the DS. I play it a lot and get weird looks sometimes in public. I love the Japanese tunes even though I don’t understand most of them.

On the oft chance that it does come to the states, the publisher feels the need to replace the Japanese tracks with American music, which also is a shame. It didn’t have a huge following and honestly, why would it? It’s populated with songs by Brittany Spears and whatever pop emo band is all the rage.

I know it came to the Wii in Japan but what I was unaware of was it came with a drum. This is the second title in the series and was released on November 11th. I’m more than likely going to import it, I mean it looks like too much fun not to. Sure, it will be region locked, but that’s the beauty of the Homebrew Channel, that shit doesn’t matter, you can play whatever you want!

While we were in Tokyo we purchased Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. It released the week we were there and we had to get it. I loved the Fatal Frame on the original Xbox and had looked forward to the sequel. PURCHASE MADE! However, when we got back to the states we promptly found out that we couldn’t read Japanese. DURP! Luckily a recent patch was made by fans that converts all the subtitles in the game to English.

So many games get released in Japan and stay there do to poor popularity in the states, however, that’s nothing new and again, a shame. Games like Katamari Damacy are the rare gems that seem to transcend borders in their kookiness. Muscle Man March for the Wii seems to be another one.

Anyway, you can purchase Drum Master from Play Asia with or without the drums. Personally, I want the drums. The ability to relive our vacation in Japan is well… You just can’t put a dollar or yen amount on that.

P.S. Don’t forget we’re recording tonight!