Category Archives: General

Event, General

Pokémon Cafe Tokyo Reservation Guide

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Photo Credit: GameTrader.SG ©

There is a new Pokémon Cafe that opened in March 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. This unlike the previous Pokémon cafe, is a permanent cafe located in Nihonbashi area and is not a pop-up cafe. If you are traveling to Tokyo and also a Pokémon fan, this is a pilgrimage you must make. However, the cafe is not available for walk-in. Follow our guide here on how to get a reservation. For a review of the cafe, read about our experience here.

Getting a reservation

Pokémon cafe is still very popular having open just recently. Booking can only be done via their website and not possible via phone or other methods. Also the website is available only in Japanese. But fret not, here is our guide to make the reservation.

Step 1. Visit the reservation site.

The reservation site is at https://reserve.pokemon-cafe.jp.

Press the button indicated below to start your reservation.

2. Select number of guests

Tip: Reservation is only for max of 4 guests. If you have a party of more than 4, simply book multiple slots. However do note the reservation is tagged to a certain timing and each timing has limited slots, so be sure you make the reservation in quick succession.

3. Select a date

Once you have selected the number of guests, a calendar will pop out below.

The dates that are greyed out means it is full (red box) or the date is not yet open for reservation. You can only select those that are white in color (green box).

Tip: You can only reserve up to a month in advance. Seats are rather limited and can be full fairly quickly. To be the earliest, at 6pm Tokyo time, a month before the date you wish to reserve, visit the reservation site and you will be one of the first to access the booking for the date.

4. Choose a timing

5. Enter your details

This is likely the hardest part for non-Japanese speaker. Basically, you have to enter 1) your name, 2) your phonetic name in ‘hiragana’ (a type of Japanese writing), 3) your contact number and 4) your email.

A sample of filled details:

The mobile number enter should be a Japanese number but you may enter your own country number. The form checks for 10 number characters, so you might want to ensure you enter only 10 number. Alternatively, you can use the number of the hotel you will be staying in. For the 2) phonetic name, just head to http://japanesetransliteration.com, type in your first name and copy and pasted the hiragana into the field.

6. Optional purchase and confirmation

At the next page you can opt in to buy some of the merchandise.

You will need to prepay using your credit card. Click next to continue.

Finally at the confirmation page, click the button above to confirm your reservation.

You are finally done! You should be receiving a confirmation email about your booking.

To be continue…

Read our next post for a review of Pokémon Cafe.

Photo Credit: GameTrader.SG ©

Details of Pokémon Cafe @ Tokyo

Address:〒103 – 0027 Nihonbashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 11-2

Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building 5F

Phone number 03-6262-3439

■ Inquiries concerning reservation

Reception hours: Monday – Friday (excluding weekends and holidays) 11: 00-19: 00

Phone number: 03-6277-5102

Email: pokemon-cafe-cs@sld-inc.com

Business hours: 10: 30 ~ 22: 00

Last order: for Food | 21: 00 and Drinks | 21: 30

Event, General

Bak Kut Teh Ramen & IT Show 2018

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Usually, we don’t do food review. However, today, we will be doing our first food review of the limited-time Bak Kut Teh Ramen from Keisuke at Suntec. By the way this is not a sponsored post in case you are wondering. This unique fusion ramen will make a good lunch for you when you visit the IT Show at Suntec this weekend.

Bak Kut Teh Ramen is created by the Founder of Keisuke, Keisuke Takeda which is launched in conjunction with the upcoming Ramen Teh movie by Eric Khoo. You can read more about it on Mothership. It’s also worthwhile to note that Ippudo does have its own rendition of Bak Kut Teh inspired Ramen.

Now on to the food…

I was a bit surprised by how well presented the dish was. Perhaps my expectation isn’t high to begin with. After all, we are all used to order Bak Kut Teh at hawker center where the meats are just stacked up randomly in the bowl of soup. Like the other type of Ramen from Keisuke, I can see that extra attention has been put into placing the ribs and vegetable. The bowl is kind of unique by itself too.

However, the three pieces of You Tiao do look a bit out of place as I’m used to seeing larger portion of You Tiao with Bak Kut Teh. Otherwise, the You Tiao is crispy and crunchy, and goes very well with the soup. In fact, it’s even better than at some specialized Bak Kut Teh shop that I have been too!

The soup itself is delightful and at the same time surprising. Knowing that you are eating Bak Kut Teh Ramen, it should not come to your surprise that the soup indeed taste like our local Bak Kut Teh with a familiar peppery flavour to it. What surprised me was that the soup has a slight taste of Tonkutsu! So while it taste familiar, you will also get a feeling that the soup is not something you have tasted before.

The Bak Kut aka pork ribs looks tough on the outside, but they are actually very tender. They slip off the bone fairly easily and together with the dark soya sauce, it will certainly delight your taste buds.

Overall, we really recommend this Ramen. It is only available till 30th April 2018 and only at the Keisuke Ramen branch at Suntec. I saw many who ordered this Ramen dish today at the restaurant. And do be warn that it is a fairly big portion. Perhaps enough for two ladies to share. As for me, I left with a stomach full of Bak Kut Teh warmth.

IT Show 2018

The yearly IT Show 2018 is now happening at Suntec till 18th Mar. The Keisuke Ramen branch that sells this Ramen is just nearby.

Address:

Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo

•#02-391/392 Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038983

• Mon-Fri: 11:30~15:00 / 17:00~22:00
Sat, Sun, PH: 11:30~22:00

•65-6337-7919

PS: There is a PlayStation booth at level 6 where you can try out games like Shadow of the Colossus and Monster Hunter. Be sure to check that out if you have time.

General

Super charge for ACG (Anime, Cosplay, Game) events in SE Asia

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If you like the yearly Anime Festival Asia and GameStart, you will be happy to know that the organizers of both events have just announced their strategic alliance. SOZO, the organizer of the popular regional Anime Festival Asia, will team up with Eliphant, organizer of the much-loved GameStart, to bring about greater offering for anime fan and gaming fan in Singapore and SE Asia.

What it could mean for us?

We are big fans of both AFA and GameStart. Over the years, both events have constantly get better and bigger. We have always wonder, wouldn’t it be nice to have a AFA plus GameStart event for both the Anime and Gaming fans? Cosplayers from both camps can meet together and it would be so much fun to see the two communities coming together. With this announcement, we can expect this year AFA to have a greater emphasis on gaming such as Esports and GameStart to have more manga/anime exhibitions and activities. “Southeast Asia emerges as one of the fastest growing markets for gaming and content, we recognised that both AFA and GameStart audiences have diverse interests in both gaming and anime. With our partnership, we hope to work closely to bring even more exhilarating content and holistic experiences to both fanbases across the regions,” said Shawn Chin, Managing Director of SOZO and founder of Anime Festival Asia.

Also we can expect more events in the South East Asia region. For a start, GameStart will be expanding to Indonesia this year, its first foray into Indonesia with the support of SOZO. “We are extremely excited to be able to bring our event to various regions, with the support of our partners. We are determined to support the regional gaming industry, especially in esports and game development. We are positive that our partnership will provide more events and enable us to bring awesome content to both gamers and anime fans, ” said Elicia Lee, founder of GameStart Asia and CEO of Eliphant Pte Ltd.

We hope that with the alliance, we can see more ACG events in Singapore and the larger SE Asia. This announcement is definitely good news for many who enjoyed gaming and anime. We will be on a lookout for what both SOZO and Eliphant have in store for us this year.

Event, General

Final Fantasy Cafe In Singapore

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Singapore is having her very own Final Fantasy Cafe. From now till 10 February, come down to Watanabe Coffee at Shaw House Orchard road which has been transformed into a Final Fantasy Theme Cafe.

Things to Eat

While the full Watanabe Coffee menu is still available, the only special Final Fantasy dish is the Moogle Curry And White Stew set (Kupo!) with a choice of a Moogle Drink Or Materia.

Both drinks are flavoured drink. Nothing really that special. As for the Curry Rice, it was decent but not something that you would want to keep coming back for. My Moogle’s face is a bit distorted as well. Otherwise, it would have looked more like a Moogle.

Things to See And Try

The entire cafe is decked out with Final Fantasy poster and standees. Outside the cafe, you can take pictures with standees of well known Final Fantasy character like Sephiroth and Lightning.

Three PlayStation 4 loaded with the Dissidia Final Fantasy NT are available for you to try. The original Dissidia was only released in Arcade around Japan. It’s basically a fighting game where you can play as characters from the Final Fantasy universe. This game is not your typical Final Fantasy RPG but would definitely appeal to fans with affinity for fighting games.

Things to Buy

Even if you are not eating, which you can probably skip if you are not into themed cafe, there are things to buy as well. The plush toys are really popular. When we were there, the Cactuar, Moogle and Tonberry were all sold out. We were told by the staff that they maybe restocking but are unsure of when.

Things to Take Home

There are free coasters given to each diner. I ordered the Moogle set and got two! The coasters come in a few designs but are given at random. A free poster is given out to each customers as well. As of the time of visit, only two posters are available for choosing from Final Fantasy XIV which we thought Dissidia poster maybe more appropriate.

Worth it?

Overall, it is worth the trip only if you are a Final Fantasy Fan. The food is a bit overpriced as of most theme cafe and a bit underwhelming. If merchandise is your thing, it’s also a bit disappointing that most stuff are out of stock. Hey but if you are truly a fan, you would have come earlier to get them.

We came during lunch hours and there isn’t much of a queue. The same cannot be said for weekends. Nonetheless, given a week more to go, do visit the cafe if you have the time.

Details

Pop-up Date: 24 Jan – 10 Feb 2018

Venue: Watanabe Coffee (350 Orchard Road Shaw House #01-00)

Final Fantasy Menu: Available from 11 am onwards

Opening Hours: 8:30 am to 10pm (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun), 8:30 am to 11pm (Fri, Sat)

General, Retro Gaming

Who is Street Fighter M.Bison?

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Who comes into your mind when you see this name?

Does the evil psycho kinetic general comes into your mind first or the heavy punching slugger type boxer?

For most people, they may associate the name with the former. However for some, M. Bison is a boxer.

Take a look at the screenshot from Street Fighter 2. It was a match between E.Honda and Vega. Yes Vega, not M. Bison. So who is M. Bison then?

This is M. Bison, the all-too-familiar boxer from Street Fighter. But wait…

M. Bison is now the General and Balrog is the boxer?

Both versions of the Street Fighter II are authentic. The first version we have shown you is the Japan version while the other is the US version.

The boxer in Street Fighter was originally named M. Bison. The ‘M’ refers to ‘Mike’ and hence Mike Bison. Sounds familiar? Because it is. Mike Tyson, Mike Bison, both names even rhymes.

When Capcom localized Street Fighter II for the US, they decided to rotate the name of the bosses in Street Fighter II for fear of legal liability of M. Bison the boxer. So the name of the boxer was changed from M. Bison to Balrog. In fact three characters name were swapped.

Photo credit: ringsandcoins.com

In the latest Street Fighter V, the Japanese version still keeps the same naming convention.

So don’t get confuse by the names. Just understand the history.

Event, Game News, General

GameStart 2017 – Every Game You Can Imagine, It Is There.

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Main Stage of GameStart 2017

Board game, card game, console game, retro console game, mobile game, indie game, VR game or any type of games you can think of, you can find them at this year GameStart 2017. Let’s take you through a tour of the highlights at this year GameStart 2017.

Bandai Booth

Dragon Ball FighterZ

The much anticipated Dragon Ball FighterZ has previously received many positive reviews from media when the trailer was first released at E3 2017. It is touted as one of the most faithful adaptation of the anime into game.

The game itself looks as promising as the E3 trailer. At times, you would even think you are watching the anime. The queue to try out the game was constantly long but it was definitely worth the wait especially for the Dragon Ball fan.

Taiko no Tatsujin (太鼓の達人)

Taiko no Tatsujin game was also available for visitors to try out at the Bandai booth.

PlayStation Booth

The biggest booth of all, a multitude of PS4 games were opened up to everyone. If you tried out all four booth, you can get to win a small token prize much like this year IT Show 2017 PlayStation Booth.

PlayStation Booth

Get behind the wheels of Gran Turismo Sport in a futuristic Tron-like pod.

Gran Turismo Sport

By now, most of you might have tried out PlayStation VR before. We tried out Farpoint VR. While refreshing to try out a FPS on PlayStation VR, the combination of running and shooting in the VR world was too much for me to take. After a 3 minutes gameplay, I’m already feeling dizzy.

PlayStation VR

Doujin Market

Another of our favourite was the Doujin Market. There are many great artists in Singapore. There is where we can support them by buying their work. Rachta Lin is one of artist whom we really like her work and her works were  available at this year GameStart

Doujin Market

eSports

SEA Mobile Major

There are two main stage for the eSports lover. SEA Mobile Major took place at one of the stage featuring ShadowVerse. Mobile gaming has indeed come a long way in eSports from the days of Angry Birds.

At the other stage, players battle each other at many popular fighting game such as Street Fighter V, Marvel VS. Capcom Infinite and Tekken 7.

SEA Major 2017

Hitting the groin is allowed in the world of eSports!

SEA Major 2017

Tabletop Game

A huge area was dedicated to tabletop games. Even if you are not a fan of tabletop games, you can just check out some of the impressive miniature models in games such as Warhammer.

And of course there are many fun-loving cosplayers at the events itself that makes the whole experience even better!

FF XV Cosplayers

 

Event, General

Get ready for Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention 2017!

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This year the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention or better known as STGCC is officially into it's 10th year! Last year, we covered the events on the ground going from enjoying the music and dance at the Akiba Pop Stage to taking pictures of wonderful cosplayers.

We are especially excited with the new Good Game Experience Zone (GGXP). And we are talking about an entire hall dedicated just for the zone! Also for STGCC 2017, gamers who are not interested in other section of the show can buy the GGXP and Akiba zone tickets at just $9 (or $7 online) for a 1 day pass.

Of course, who can miss the cosplayers going to the event. We will be sure to take tons of photos for STGCC 2017. Guest cosplayers include Iori Mori from Japan and Siu Tao from Taiwan.

So mark your calendar; the event is from 9th Sep to 10th Sep 2017 at the Sands Expo and Convention. Tickets are now available online at http://www.singaporetgcc.com/Tickets_Merchandise/

More information at http://www.singaporetgcc.com/

Look out for our event coverage on GameTrader.SG blog come 9th Sep.

General

PlayStation Booth at IT Show 2017

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This year, Sony PlayStation has a booth at IT Show 2017 (16 to 19 March 2017). There are three experiences for players to try out.

Complete all 3 experiences and answer a simple survey to get an instant win lucky dip. Remember to get this card from their staffs who wear blue PlayStation T-Shirts.


The first game at the booth is Nioh, a samurai-kills-zombie action game.


The game was tough. I was killed in less than 5 minutes into the gameplay by a lone zombie. Maybe the player before me set the difficulty level to extreme.


Next up the new Horizon: Zero Dawn game that have received rather good reviews thus far. The game is set in a post apocalyptic world where human exists as primitive tribes hunting down machine beast. You got to try it for yourself.


Lastly the PlayStation VR. This is the second time I have tried the system. First time was at GameStart Asia in 2015. There are two booth for the VR. One features a simple Playroom game while the other is a sit down deep ocean experience.

After earning all the stamps, I got myself a free gift! Yes we are that ‘cheapo’.


The PlayStation booth is on the 4th level of Suntec Convention hall right at the left wing of the hall. IT Show 2017 is happening now from 16 of March to 19 March 2017 at Suntec Convention Center.

Game Industry News, Game News, General

MapleStory Launches 5th Job Advancement After an Almost Ten Year Long Wait

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Flame Wizard
SINGAPORE: The wait is over. MapleStory, the free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, has released the much-anticipated 5th Job Advancement that will entirely change the gameplay of MapleStory. The patch is  for download since 16 November 2016 and it is live since 23 November 2016.

The 5th Job Advancement promises to break down boundaries, bridge new connections and boldly change the way players experience the game. New 5th Job skills will be introduced to all 39 characters a week later on 23 November, opening up endless play possibilities, with countless permutations and combinations for players to create the perfect game strategy.
For the very first time in the game’s history, the damage cap limit will be removed. In addition, the levelling curve from level 60 to level 200 has also been altered. This means that the experience that players require for levelling up will be significantly reduced, allowing them to quickly level up to gain special skills and strength, and making it easier to reach the 200th level required to unlock the 5th Job.

Commenting on the new patch, Quang, Managing Director at Asiasoft, one of the biggest publishers of MapleStory SEA, says, “We are extremely excited to roll out the 5th Job Advancement which players have been waiting for, for almost ten years. With a new boss, Lucid, a new continent, Arcane River, a new area, Chew Chew Island, and various revamps, the game-changing patch is definitely worth the wait. The new patch demonstrates MapleStory’s commitment to creating unique gameplay experience for every player.”
As one of the biggest games in the region, MapleStory has a wide base of active players in Malaysia and Singapore, MapleStory is ranked even higher than the most talked about games that exist today. With its consistently strong presence in both countries, its impressive 2D graphics, limitless cosmetic options and a wide variety of skills really embodies the concept of crafting your own unique gameplay experience.

New skill system - V Matrix

New skill system – V Matrix

 Key features of the V Patch

This patch will include updates such as:

  • New 5th Job skills introduced to all 39 characters
  • Levelling curve from level 60 to level 200 is reduced. This means that the experience that players are required to gain for levelling up, is significantly reduced
  • No damage cap limit
  • New skill system (V Matrix)
  • New Arcane system and equipment and a new level 200 Arcaneshade equipment set
  • Greater content rewards – players will receive better rewards in Party Quests
  • New continent such as Arcade River, Road To Extinction, is released (1st gateway to Black Mage)
  • Revamp of the User Interface – wider and cooler screens and customized adjustable quickslots
  • Expansion of inventory – each tab now has the capacity to store 128 items. Previously, each tab could only store up to a maximum of 96 items.

You can of course get the upgrade now at http://www.maplesea.com/ today!

Win Huggable Pink Bean Plushie!

 

Win a Pink Bean!

Check out our facebook contest here! This huggable Pink Bean Plushie is up for grab! Just comment on the Facebook post in the link by 9th Dec 2016 to stand a chance to win this cute plushie.