The Best of the PS Store Summer Sale: Week 2

8 / 6 / 158 / 6 / 15

Who doesn’t love a good sale? While some companies are dragging their feet more on the digital sale front than others (I’m looking at you, Nintendo), Sony has been doing a great job of offering a lot of great deals for PS3, PS4, and PS Vita on the PlayStation Store (aka PSN). The North American PS store yearly summer sale is generally no different, but unfortunately the first week was not the thrilling kickoff I was hoping for. Luckily, they’ve turned it around with week two, which is chock full of super discounts on some great titles! But money doesn’t grow on trees, so I’ve narrowed it down to five games I think are most worth picking up this week.

Yowamushi Pedal: Puchitto Racers Tutorial Video

8 / 5 / 15

I’ve finally ventured into the world of video tutorials! I’ve been meaning to try my hand at recording games on my iPhone, and the newly-released free to play smartphone game Yowamushi Pedal: Puchitto Racers seemed like the perfect opportunity. Since I haven’t seen much discussion of the game in English, I thought it would be helpful to do a tutorial on how to play. Watch and learn!

If you want to download the game for iOS, I have a tutorial on how to easily switch your iTunes account to a Japanese one. Unfortunately I’m not very familiar with Android devices, but if you have one and know how to download Japanese games, please share your method in the comments!

I had a lot of fun doing this video but I’d really like some feedback as to whether or not this is something you’d like to see more of. Would you like more how to play videos or highlights of interesting apps available in Japanese? Let me know! Also, if you enjoyed this video, please share it with your friends! It takes hours to record and edit videos like these, so any support will be a major boost to my confidence and help me make more in the future. Thanks everyone!

Swooning Over: Cardcaptor Sakura Star Key Necklace

8 / 3 / 158 / 23 / 15

I can’t stress enough how much I am loving the current 90s shōjo revival! Of course there’s the always-popular Sailor Moon, but over the past year or two, we’ve also been seeing classics such as Magic Knight Rayearth, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Cardcaptor Sakura receive a slew of all new merchandise and fun promotional items. And when a new line of affordable Cardcaptor Sakura necklaces popped up for preorder on Ami Ami, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. If it were up to me, I’d probably own necklaces of every magical girl trinket I could get my hands on!

Tenso Forwarding Service: Yay or Nay?

8 / 2 / 158 / 19 / 16

Too often I’ve gone on a search for a rare piece of anime merchandise or a niche Japanese video game only to find that it’s not available anywhere that ships outside of Japan. Most fans of Japanese products that live anywhere but Japan itself eventually run into this problem – there are so many items that simply can’t be procured without a Japanese postal address. That’s where forwarding services like Tenso come in; for a fee, they provide eager shoppers with the Japanese address they crave and then forward any purchases to their final destinations overseas.

I’ve heard great things about Tenso from friends who’ve used the service for years, but despite the amount of Japanese products I import, I’ve never actually used a forwarding service myself. I’ve been blessed with having more than a few friends who’ve been willing to be middle men and women for my packages, but to be honest, I feel bad asking for so many favors! So, after many years of relying on friends in Japan to ship my purchases out for me, I’ve finally decided to give Tenso a go. Since I’ve received more than a few inquiries wondering if it’s worth the effort, I’ve decided to write up my complete experience purchasing a PlayStation Vita 2000 from Amazon Japan and forwarding it with Tenso vs. purchasing it outright from various importers.

August Community Game-Along: Point and Click Adventure Games

7 / 30 / 15

A new month, a new theme! Point and click adventure games weren’t a particularly requested genre, but I thought they’ve been overlooked enough in recent years that they’d make a great theme for a slow release month. Bonus: it’s a genre I’m not really familiar with at all, so it’s all new territory for me!

Nier Diary no. 2: Desert Doldrums

7 / 29 / 15

Were you starting to get worried that I’d never continue my Nier Diary journey? Never fear, I’ve been busy playing the game, and I’m happy to report that I have indeed made it past the “point of no return”! In Diary no. 1 I played about 7 hours, and since then I’ve managed to double that time, clocking in at just around 14 hours. Read all my updated impressions after the jump, but be warned – while I’ll be very careful not to reveal any of Nier‘s major twists or story points, if you plan on playing the game and wish to know absolutely nothing past the first few hours, please proceed with caution!

How to Purchase Manga from the Japanese Kindle Store

7 / 26 / 1510 / 21 / 16

Importing Japanese manga can be a daunting endeavor, with exorbitant shipping fees often costing more than the books themselves. While my last tutorial on importing manga lots from Amazon Japan provides a method for decreasing those costs, the obvious other option would be to cut out shipping all together! By purchasing digital volumes of manga and other Japanese books and magazines for the Kindle, you can get everything for shelf price or less, and never have to worry about shipping again.