This one's for you, Sean

I couldn't help but think of Famicomblog proprietor Sean upon seeing this morning's addition to the Retro Treasures blog, which turned followers on to an eBay auction for a complete-in-box Donkey Kong Pocketsize Game & Watch system.

That said, I can't see Sean handing over the kind of cash that's surely going to be needed to win this particular auction. After all, the bidding's already up to £720 (approximately $1,120) and the auction doesn't end until around this time on Thursday.

All of this could be yours for $1,000 (or more)!

Although I'm sure that's way more than anyone reading this post is willing to spend on such an item, the eBay listing (here) is still worth a look if you're at all interested in Nintendo's Game & Watch products--especially since it includes a number of additional photos of the system taken from different angles.

(Via retro-treasures.blogspot.com)

A sneaky peek into one Japanese game store's retro section

True story: I've spent waaaaaay too much of my free time over the years searching Flickr for photos of Japanese game shops.

As such, I did a little "gay geek jig" when I discovered a post titled, "Anatomy of a Japanese Video Game Store's Retro Section," at one of my favorite sites, Famicomblog.

In said post, blogger Sean walks his readers through Fukuoka's Omocha Souko game store in both words and photos. Discussed (and shown) during this walkthrough: The shop's Dreamcast, Famicom, Gameboy, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Nintendo 64, PC Engine, Saturn and Super Famicom sections. (The pic below is of the Famicom section, by the way.)



Stats of note: The Famicom section is the largest in this particular store (the Super Famicom unsurprisingly comes in second), while the Neo Geo section is the smallest.

Sean has published a series of similar posts that focus solely on the Famicom sections of Fukuoka's many game shops, by the way. Check them out at your leisure here.

I want a Famicom light gun

I'd love to know how many of you rolled your eyes after reading the headline above. It certainly deserves such a reaction--thanks to the ever-changing (and ever-discussed) contents of my gaming wish list (which currently includes everything from a copy of the PC Engine cute 'em up, Coryoon, to the ill-fated Sega CDX).

Anyway, you're probably wondering why I recently added the Famicom light gun--the Japanese version of the NES Zapper--to that list. To be honest, I've had at least one eye on this accessory since I came across one on eBay last year, but it didn't completely capture my attention until yesterday, when I saw the following photo over on famicomblog.blogspot.com.



That tomato-red box houses the more-realistic-looking-than-the-NES-Zapper Famicom light gun, by the way, while the purple cart is a loose copy of Nintendo's Wild Gunman title.

Click on this link to read more about both of blogger Sean's recent purchases. Also, click on this link to see a fantastically retro (and regrettably fuzzy) Japanese TV commercial for this playful peripheral.

Forget Wii Party, I'd rather play the 'Famicom Party Game' instead

Do you have a Famicom, a lot of Famicom games (somewhere between 30 and 50) and two or more friends? If so, you can play the party game that's sweeping Japan!

OK, so it's not really sweeping Japan, but it's popular enough that some folks are filming their "Famicom Party Game" experiences and posting the resulting videos--like the one below--on YouTube.



Note: Although dressing up in Famicom-inspired cosplay isn't required of "Famicom Party Game" participants, doing so certainly seems to add an extra dollop of fun to the proceedings.

For more information on this game, which apparently originated on a Japanese TV show called "Otameshika," check out famicomblog. blogspot.com.

The one and only reason I wish I were in Los Angeles right now

Although I'm really not an LA kind of guy, I wish I could be in the City of Angels this coming weekend. The reason: That's when Giant Robot's "Water Works" exhibition, which will benefit UNICEF and child victims of the earthquake in Japan, will kick off at the GR2 Gallery.

One of the many pieces that will be displayed--and likely sold--during the exhibition is Jude Buffum's Super Mario Bros.-inspired "Minus World."

On Flickr, the Philadelphia-based Buffum says that 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to UNICEF.

While we're on the subject of helping the folks in Japan, Sean over at famicomblog.blogspot.com recently committed himself (in this post) to donating his entire gaming budget for the next year to a charitable organization helping his compatriots.

I don't really have a gaming budget (much to my husband's chagrin), but I am going to donate some money to this cause. If you'd like to do the same, and if you're at all uncomfortable giving money to the Red Cross, a good choice seems to be Doctors Without Borders, which allocates more than 85 percent of donated funds to program activities.

'Tour de Super Mario Bros.'

What do you get when you combine five Super Mario Bros. cartridges (preferably of the banana-yellow Famicom variety), a Fukuoka (Japan) library and a pile of North Korean propaganda from the 1980s? (Oh, and don't forget to throw some planes and trains into the mix, too.)

Why, you get "Tour de Super Mario Bros.," of course.

A few months ago, Sean over at famicomblog.blogspot.com posted the hilarious "Tour d' Excitebike," which included numerous photos of bright orange Excitebike carts as they paraded around Fukuoka. Earlier this week, he continued the series with the aforementioned "Tour de Super Mario Bros."

Whereas the previous tour included trips to Fukuoka Castle and Hakata Bay, this one includes stops at Kyudai Central Library and some nearby planes and trains.

Go here to see more of Sean's Famicom-focused tomfoolery. (Trust me, it's worth a visit just to see his photos of North Korean propaganda from the 1980s.)

See also: 'Tour d' Excitebike'