Happiness in Honolulu

[schadenfreude]

So I'm living and working in this city for almost three weeks before moving west towards better (?) pastures, and I'm wondering if you fine gentlemen (such as the Supreme Leader, who I have learned through old posts has lived here) have any gaming recommendations for me while I am here. I was hoping the significant Japanese influence would lead to arcades everywhere, but instead the most I have seen so far is some bilingual signs and bizarre pseudo-Japanese foods with Spam in them. If you guys can offer me any cool gaming or Japanese-related activities to do, great; otherwise, I will be surfing (drowning) and resorting to playing crappy Nintendo handhelds since I don't have a great TV at the moment. Thanks in advance!

[Gaijin Punch]

Oh, man. Condolences. The extent of my gaming there was done in the form of a couple of guys meeting up and playing PCBs and whatnot. Not sure if EOJ is back there (he pops in from time to time). I know at least one other guy is likely still there, but perhaps not gaming so much. That was a while back.

The Japanese influence is a weird one. Lots of neon signs advertising porn (unedited!!!!) and as you said, Japanese food w/ SPAM in it. Other than that, just a vacation spot for Japanese. It's like when you go to South East Asia and everything is in English for tourists.

[schadenfreude]

Eh, it's been pretty decent so far! I spend most of my time working or doing outdoor activities anyway, so whatever time I have remaining is fine to spend on these crappy games. I have actually been playing some GB/GBC games I enjoyed in my younger years as well as some new ones that seem interesting to me, though no matter what the game, it's hard to play for more than 10 minutes at a time due to hand cramps (though thank god for the backlight on the SP! I feel like I am cheating given the bullshit I had to put up with back in the old days). Maybe I'll add some impressions of them in the games forum and watch the tsunami of excitement wring out an inundation of interested repliers.

Regarding the Japanese tourists, one funny site I've seen on many occasions from the waters of Waikiki goes like this: A Japanese couple walks along the beach, then the woman helps the man disrobe to his swimming trunks and watches him swim for 10 minutes or so. She takes pictures of him while he swims and smiles and laughs and just barely gets her feet wet from the tide. Then the man comes back to shore, she helps him dry off and dress, and they walk off together. In general (and I noticed this in China as well), Asian men go to beaches to swim, and Asian women go there to at most wet their feet on the beach and take lots of "pretty" pictures they can tweet to their twatty friends.

[Gaijin Punch]

They must be in their 30's. The J-girls in their 20's are usually building sand castles.

[Limbrooke]

Oh, man. Condolences. The extent of my gaming there was done in the form of a couple of guys meeting up and playing PCBs and whatnot. Not sure if EOJ is back there (he pops in from time to time). I know at least one other guy is likely still there, but perhaps not gaming so much. That was a while back.

Matt of old school custom supergun building was by Hawaii way many moons ago. I wonder if he still calls the islands home. Otherwise, I don't see many users in Hawaii these days on game forums, not that I browse much anymore.

They must be in their 30's. The J-girls in their 20's are usually building sand castles.

For shame...

[Gaijin Punch]

He got out of games soon after I arrived, mainly b/c he spent most of his time underwater. He's Canadian, but he loved Hawaii (and was studying marine biology). Unless he had visa issues, I couldn't imagine him leaving. That was ages ago though, so who knows.

[EOJ]

Honolulu gaming! Ah, the good old days. I still have fond memories of gaming parties with Gaijinpunch and Wanderer (and occasionally Matt). Eating pizza and flailing away at Espgaluda II or Mushihmesama (PCBs, of course!). There's another guy there I met once, I forget his name but he was on the Neo-Geo forums. He was a big fan of Shinobu Yagawa's shooting games and he was the only guy I knew that had actual arcade cabinets in his apartment, as the rest of us did the supergun thing. Anyway, there's not much to do there in regard to Arcades, but I wonder if Toys'n'joys is still open on Waialae Ave? They stocked a lot of import games, I think I bought Ibara there a long time ago.

[Gaijin Punch]

Long time no see - glad to see you're still alive. Where do you hang your hat these days?

[EOJ]

Long time no see - glad to see you're still alive. Where do you hang your hat these days?

I'll send you a PM.