By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
One of Japan’s most famous boy bands, 14-member all-male pop dance group Exile, served as an inspiration for a new social game that just landed on GREE. Dubbed Ex-Samurai Senzoku, the game lets players team up with a samurai (an Exile member in avatar form) and conquer towns in medieval Japan...
CyberAgent‘s gaming subsidiary CyberX today announced that one of its hit social games on Mixi, Hoshizora Bar Town (Starry Sky Bar Town), has made its way to GREE for Japanese feature phones. As the name suggests, Hoshizora Bar Town is a “bar management simulation”: players set up...
Tokyo-based Tonchidot today announced the release of Kamitsuku on GREE, a social game that lets the player take on the role of an apprentice on their way to become a “god”. Users compete with other players to create a powerful civilization from scratch. Tonchidot says that in the game...
In 2009, Tokyo-based PHIRIA DESIGN landed a surprise hit with the “Bijin Tokei” (hot girl clock) app, which shows random Japanese girls holding up a sign that displays the current time – and nothing else. The company launched Bijin Tokei on various platforms (i.e. the iPhone)...
It took them a while, but GREE today announced the release of smartphone versions of three of their hit social games, namely fishing game “Tsuri Star” monster-raising game “Monpla” (Monster Planet) battle action game “Kaizoku Koukoku Columbus” (Pirate Kingdom...
Tokyo-based mobile social games maker Mobile Factory (English company website) announced a new game that’s now available on GREE for feature phones in Japan. What’s special about “Eki Dash” is that it’s a location-based social game (although it’s not the first of...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry