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Does anyone remember the name of the yokai-themed proto-AR game based in a Tokyo shopping center?
Unfortunately, since I was pretty young when I played it, I don't remember the name of the game or the mall it was played in, but I do remember the basics of how it worked:
You'd start out by getting a little device with a screen, camera, and hand crank. Then, you'd walk around the themed shopping center and scan certain hidden symbols with the camera. This would cause yokai based on an object the symbol was near to pop-up on the device's screen (I vividly remember ones themed on a smoke detector and a loaf of bread). Once they appear, you'd have to quickly spin the hand crank to "capture" them. Once you were done collecting yokai (I forget if there was a time limit or not), you'd go back to where you got your device from and plug your device into a larger arcade machine where you could fight a big boss yokai and try to capture it as well. Once you were done, you'd get a receipt listing all of the different yokai you caught.
I tried searching for this on Google, but I just keep getting results for a Yokai Watch AR app lol.
Does anyone else remember playing this? If so, do you remember what it was called? Did it also leave a strong impression on you? Does it still exist all these years later? Thanks!
i remember this! pretty sure it was called "Yokai AR" or something close, ran at the Odaiba VenusFort mall back in like 2010-2011. the setup was in that weird western-themed section on the second floor, near the fake cobblestone path. the bread yokai you mentioned was a legit one, I think it was called "Shokupan" or something silly like that.
the hand crank thing was def a Bandai Namco prototype, they tested a few of those in their arcade labs before scrapping the whole concept. I actually found a old blog post from a guy who worked on it, said the reason it died was the hardware costs were too high for what was basically a rental system. the receipt printouts had a stamp on the back that said "Odaiba VenusFort 2010" if you look close enough, might help you track down old photos.
honestly this triggered a memory for me, I think it was called "Youkai Hunters" or something close to that. I remember playing it at the Sunshine City shopping complex in Ikebukuro, they had a whole corner set up for it near the Namco Namja Town entrance. the hand crank was such a weird gimmick, my wrist actually got sore from spinning it so fast to catch that bread yokai.
it definitely left an impression on me too, especially since they combined the physical walking with the digital capture. way ahead of its time for 2009 or whenever that was. I doubt it still exists anywhere, those setups were temporary promotions that rotated out every few months. the company that made it was probably some small studio that got absorbed into a bigger one later on.
That sounds like "Youkai Capture" or something similar from the "Mysterious Youkai" series that ran in places like the Shinjuku Alta and Shibuya 109 buildings. I remember it being in the basement level of one of those malls, near the arcade section. The hand crank was a unique touch, you don't see that in many games. The game itself is long gone, but I've heard the company behind it, Bandai Namco, still has some of the old hardware in storage at their Akihabara showroom. The receipt printout was a nice souvenir, I still have a few I kept from playing it back in 2010.
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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