Purikura! Print Club Fun!

While in London The Ashes and I stumbled upon a shop full of Print Club machines. In Japanese it's known as Purikura, which is really just a Japanicized version of Print Club... yeah it's really not that creative. If you've ever done those photo booths that take four pictures and print them out it's sort of like that. Well it's sort of like those photo booths on crack and pixie sticks. You have about 8 pictures taken and then you are prompted to choose your favorite six. After the selection you are given menus full of crazy, uber-cute Japanese clip art in order to decorate the pictures. Using the pens and touchscreens you pick what you want and where to put it. All the while there's peppy music, colorful designs and a sugary female Japanese voice prompting you to do... well I'm not sure. I'd only read about them online before, so it was pure luck we came across the shop.

It was one of our days in London and we were having fun exploring near Covent Garden when we happened by a shop full of "kawaii" imports. Browsing around I noticed some rather large machines in the back of the shop and upon closer inspection we saw they were Purikura machines. "What the hell, why not?" we decided and gave it a shot. Getting in the booth we were met with... Japanese, naturally. So we asked the employees for help figuring them out. Here's the thing though, they were Chinese and knew what they were doing only slightly more than we did. It was comically delightful as both us and they tried stumbling our way through the directions. Eventually we got it figured out and took our pictures. When it came time to decorate them we had some fun! There were foolish time limits which rushed us to make decisions in a language neither of us spoke, but even that added to the experience. Ridiculous pictures + uber-cute Japanese clip art + travel adrenaline + fits of giggling = FUN.

Here are a sampling of the pictures we took. The quality is poor, but only because the scanners at UMaine suck panda balls.
























































The craziest thing about these machines? One of the main developers and purveyors of this hobby in Japan is Atlus! Atlus! One of my favorite video game companies. The one that brought the likes of Odin Sphere (which I'm gonna play, fo real), Persona series, Devil Summoner and Devil Survivor.

World ~ Atlus

Lately I've been getting back into a game I purchased a few months ago, Persona 4.

It's the fourth game in the Persona series and moreso it's part of of the overarching Megami Tensei series. I started playing it when it first came out, but I got busy with other stuf and it sort of fell to the side. Now I've decided to pick it up and finish my run through.

As I've started playing it I've realized how much I love this game. It's murder mystery story is alright if a little bit weak. It's the characters that is the games strength. Chie, Yosuke, Kanji, Rise, Nanako, and Yukiko... they're all so real. You really get a sense that these characters are real people. There are plenty of moments where you get to see slices of real life with believable conversations. It's unique for a video game. It's not constant epic speeches regardless of the situation. It's people, real people. These "S-Links" are a vital part of the game mechanics but it never feels forced. It feels natural.

In anticipation of inevitably finishing the game I was inspired to purchase two more games. Revitalizing my love of the Persona series with the fourth edition I was felt it necessary to pick up the third. Persona 3 FES is the definitive collection of that game featuring both the original game and the epilogue chapter.

It runs on basically the exact same system as Persona 4, so I look forward to jumping right into it after I finish my current game. I managed to pick it up for a decent price as well.

Along the same line as this would be my second recent purchase, Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzonoha vs King Abaddon. Queer name right? The book was actually not bad... okay stole a line from Family Guy there. I've played very little of the rest of the Megami Tensei series, but from the little I've got into this game I'm liking it. The combat system is a really fun and active style. The devils in this game are equivilant to the personas in that series. It takes place in a sweet 1920s or 1930s style Japan. It seems like I'm going to enjoy it, maybe not as much as the Persona series overall. Plus I got it packed with this awesome Jack Frost as Raidou plush.

Yeah. Friggin awesome. He's currently the guardian of my room.
Atlus has made some great decisions when they release these games stateside. First, they give us the goods. Persona 4 came with a soundtrack CD that had some decent tunes. Second, they bring us the games. Persona series 1-4 (except the first part of 2), Digital Devil Saga, NOCTURNE, Devil Summoner and Survivor. Third, they do it for the FANS! They know who loves their games and they cater to that crowd. Fourth, quality over quantity. Hell quality over mainstream appeal.
So thanks Atlus. I am covered for months with these games I just picked up. They are also certain to be quality gaming sessions.