Only typing can save your life

I can't even begin to tell you about all of the strange games and contraptions in the arcades of Tokyo. I've seen rows of Tekken 6 and Pachinko games that go as far as the eye can see. I've seen two foot deep fish ponds in which you catch carp for points to win prizes. I've seen crane games where you have to pluck a beating heart of a recently slain pig.

Ok – not so much on the last one. But the rest were accurate.

My favorite game among all of the experiences I had was the game called "The Typing of the Dead". It kind of goes like this: there are a bunch of zombies wandering around this town and you and another guy have to run around killing them. Only you don't have machine guns or knives or poison arrows. No, you've got a keyboard. Monsters burst out of boarded up windows and manholes with the word "kanamatasufishu" under them and you have to type it as fast as possible. Get it right quick, you "shoot" the monster and get a rating A-F.

The best part about the game is that they actually animate the heroes with keyboards and Sega Dreamcasts strapped onto their backs into the plot.

Maybe in a zillion years I could imagine zombies raising from the dead, eating my family and wandering through the streets in a murderous torrent. But there's just no way I could see someone coming to the rescue with a Dreamcast and a keyboard. You couldn't even make it a modern gaming system?

But hey, you're in Japan in a 6 story arcade and you just finished fishing for carp to win a plastic tiara. Suspension of disbelief isn't too much to ask for 100 Yen. Just don't even think about challenging me head to head in a match – two people already tried that and left with sore fingertips.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Asia, Japan