5 posts tagged “rant”
This email was originally posted to, and read out live on Orange Lounge Radio.
So you know that Sony opened the PC version of the PlayStation Store in Japan only for now, right? Well, there's something decidedly dodgy about how they check to see if you're allowed to access it.
When I tried to access the store, I managed to see the front page and usage FAQs, but as soon as I tried to click on a game, I got an English message saying "PlayStation Store is not available in the selected country or region". This is rather odd seeing as, you know, I live in Japan. I took a screenshot showing the error message alongside an IP Geolocation result.
Now you might be thinking that since I was using a Mac, the error message was just a badly-worded way of saying "use Windows, fool!"
But no! Even on Windows I get the exact same error. Then Sakurina suggested I try changing my system's language settings to Japanese. Lo and behold, it now works.
There are several reasons why this is retarded. First, regional settings on a machine should make NO difference to a website. Second, it's borderline racist as it implies anyone who doesn't have their computer set to Japanese (ie, native Japanese people) shouldn't have access to the site. Seriously. I'm a registered resident of Japan, and I have the legal right to access the store. It's ridiculous that I'm barred because I have my computer set in a language I'm more comfortable with!
Does this mean that any native Japanese person can access the Japan store from wherever they are in the world just because of their computer's language setting?
How dare you, Sony.
Japan's group mentality and inefficiency bothers me a lot. A recent example of this corpped up this week. As you probably know, RFID cards are really taking off here - train tickets use them, arcade games use them, shops use them, and you can even have them on your phone. Having a stored amount of money on your card to spend in shops is a great thing - it means you don't even have to carry a wallet around, just a single card.
Edy was the first such service. Put money onto card, use card in shops all around Japan. It's great. Then JR (the state rail company) created Suica, which can store passes or cash to use on the JR train lines around Tokyo. You can also buy stuff in shops with it - and many retailers in the Tokyo area accept Suica instead of Edy.
NTT DoCoMo thought that although a stored-value card is useful, what would be more useful is a credit service. And so iD was born - buy stuff using your phone, and it all gets charged to your phone bill. Tower Records has iD in all its branches, as do many other shops. Most shops now have both Edy and iD.
HMV of course wasn't happy with either, and decided to join QuicPay, a rival service which I have seen nobody using, EVER. Of course, since I shop at HMV frequently, this is annoying. Thank goodness convenience stores aren't so stupid! Lawson use iD, AMPM have Edy, as do Poplar and a few others. Only Seven-11 has so far resisted the RFID card craze. Until this week. So, what did it go for? Edy? iD? Suica?
"Nanaco". A card which only works at Seven-11.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE. The idea of RFID is that you have one card which substitutes your wallet, not a wallet full of RFID cards that will probably interfere with each other. It's ridiculous and absolutely useless. But it makes perfect sense in Japan.
Another example? Take Suica - developed by JR in the Tokyo area. The Metro and Bus companies wanted a card too. So - we have several transport companies serving the same area. We have several companies with the same kind of ticket machines and entry gates. We have several companies who are used by millions of people every day, often on the same journey. The solution is obvious.
Create a new card, with a different brand, but exactly the same features as Suica. EXACTLY the same features. Oh, and make sure the two are interoperable. PASMO cards can be used on JR lines, and Suica cards can be used on the Metro and Buses.
WHY.
London has over 5 different Bus operators, Underground lines, Trams, even urban rail services. And they all use the SAME card - Oyster. But no, Japan has a group mentality. For the PASMO companies, JR was an outsider, so they couldn't possibly use the same card. Seven-11 could easily have used Edy or iD. But no, they're different companies, and we can't possibly have that.
Japan, get your head out of your arse. I want to be able to use ONE card in shops all around the country. I want to be able to use my bank card on ANY ATM in the country, not just one in my home prefecture. I want to be able to book Shinkansen tickets in Fukuoka (you can only book them in Tokyo because JR West is a different company from JR Kyushu... even though the Shinkansen stops in Fukuoka). I want CONVENIENCE, dammit.
I will go to Tokyo later this month to see my parents again. This will be the first time I see them in over four months, so it's something that's long overdue. Unfortunately, my holiday period coincides with the end of the school year, meaning that now is the perfect excuse for companies of all kinds to jack up prices.
Blue Dragon is out tomorrow here in Japan.
You've probably noticed that in Japan, electrical and phone cables are hung from poles postioned in the middle of the street. And I do mean in the middle of the street - since there are hardly ever any pavements, all that protects oncoming motorists from these poles is a reflective vest on the pole itself. Hardly what you'd call safe.
Then again, why put the cables out in open, in the air, on poles which must fall down extremely easily during storms and earthquakes, two natural disasters that Japan is most acquainted with? A wise man would say "would it not be worse if they were buried underground, making repair a lot more difficult in case of an emergency?"
To that I say "bollocks".
