Drecom [J] Has released the new social game application “Monster Arms” for the American App Store.  The support language is English so unfortunately it can’t be downloaded from Japan.

“Monster Arms” is a real time strategy card game where you make an original deck and collect character cards while completing missions.  It has social components such as battling with other players to get treasure, or teaming up to challenge against bosses.

Translation authorized by VSMedia

Tags: iOS, Japan, Social game, USA, VSMedia // Add Comment »

When Japanese blogger @nekomura_otako posted her rough sketch of this Smartphone accessory idea on Twitter.

“I would like to have cat-shaped earphone-jack parts like this.”

She did not expect that so many people liked and wanted it. But the Twitter buzz promptly found a company who offers to make it production. The mock-ups have arrived now.

This design plan “Cat-type Plug Accessory(tentative name)” becomes “this” \(゜∀゜)/

Some people challenged to build at home, too.

Tags: Japan, Joke // Add Comment »

I never saw this kind of Japanese font. All Chinese letter has stroke number by side, so if you set the font on your browser and OS, you may always check the right stroke order.

The sample text means “Chinese letter’s stroke order”

The font is avaiable here.

via Modern Syntax Blog

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This week’s Japanese Web/IT related news which we did not write as a dedicated article.

Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated.

• Amazon Japan Begins Video Games Trade-In. US Amazon’s one is since March 2009.
• Twitter Releases Feature Phone Client [En], 2.5 Years Later For Japan [En]
• “Hello Call” – Laundromat Washer Machine Calls You When It Is Done –

  
  

• Ministry of Foreign Affair Begins Twitter PR Targeting Youth
• Xevious x Sprite Game via Cnet Japan Wired [En]
• The World First Laser AR Head-Up Display(HUD) Car Navigation To Be Sold In July By Pioneer

  

• Hatsune Miku Version PS Vita [En]
• Virtual AR Mixed-sex Bathing App For Android Released

  via IT Media

• “I stole your iPod!”, @qoo9qoo saw when he woke up at school

  

  It turned out to be his birthday prank by his friends.

• Naver Line Takes In Celebrities – Starts With 7 Talents/Units
• NHN Japan’s LINE for Windows Has A Dreadful Bug To Remove Whole “Program Files” On Uninstall – when you had installed non-default folder. Bug fixed days later.
• Some Docomo Androids Listed As End Of Production Only Within A Year including Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.0 reference model
• Idol M@aster On Mobage Releases New Set Gacha After Kompu-Gacha Self Regulations News Rush
• Consumer Agency Defines Fake Reviews By Shopowner (so-called Stealth Marketing = Sutema) Is Bad – still not so restrict like US FTC
• Gree’s Doriland To Become Animation
• Google Bans Nifty’s Android App Which Cache YouTube And Niconico Video For Offline
• Actvila’s subscribers are 520,000
• Bic Camera to acquire majority in Kojima: Nikkei | Reuters [En] Nation’s #5 electronics chain-store purchases #6, becomes #2 next to Yamada
• KDDI Launches Flat-rate Music Service LISMO unlimited for iPhone. The service is not restricted within KDDI iPhone. non KDDI iPhone user can use it as well.
• Social Game Vendor Klab Uplisted To TSE First Section From Mothers – fastest upgrade in TSE history. Klab also announced to buy back 3.27% stocks
• Right To Be Projected On Tokyo Gundam Cockpit At Yahoo! Auction
• Accused Upskirt Photo Taker Eats Up His Memory Card Just Before Arrest, denied the charge

If you want to know any specific news more, but unable to find them in other English blog/media, please let us know.

Tags: Japan IT Links // Add Comment »

Nikkei Business Online, an online version of business magazine under Nikkei group, on May 15 after the midnight reported that Mixi, one of Japan’s largest social networking service, a direct local competitor of Facebook, is on the table to sell itself.

Some social networking competitors, such like Gree and DeNA(who runs Mobage), who had turned over Mixi recent years in number of registered users and corporate values mainly by social games, were being proposed to participate in the bidding secretly, sources closed to financial interest told to Nikkei.

The share to be sold off Nikkei says is 55% of the company owned by the Mixi founder & CEO Kenji Kasahara. He established Mixi in 2004 and soon that becomes a giant business based on real friends network and advertising sales.

On May 5, 4 days ago, Mixi announced a board reshuffling, including Akinori Harada’s steps down from the co-representative director & vice-president, he has been leading Mixi’s recent major measures like Mixi Pages, Mixi Mall, etc.

Mixi promptly issued a short release saying “There are no such truth reported on a certain media.”

See Also:

Asiajin » A Summary of the Latest Studies about Japan & Social Media

Tags: Japan, News // Add Comment »