Cool 3DS Mii-Trading Meeting In Tokyo

This did not at any time actually happen.

Dale North at the ‘toid has given us the intensely nerdy story of an Akibahara 3DS meetup. Some people stood around the games shop and traded Miis, but since others passing by kept joining in, the meetup lasted a good portion of the day.

I imagine a lot of Miis were shared, and in a way, I’m envious. I’m not dying to get my photo taken with Pikachu, but I am into crowds of people I can play multiplayer games with. Rarely do I think to myself, I’d like to share gaming experiences with unknown people, but Nintendo keeps inserting them into our consoles and I keep enjoying it when it happens.

This wasn’t a major event, but it highlights one of my favorite things about living in Asia (and nowhere is it more obvious than in Japan) – a near-complete lack of stigma surrounding videogames. There are some stereotypes about the completely pimply-greasy-chip-hands-and-shirt-hair-stuck-to-your-glasses-nerdy-types, but there’s no shame in gaming here, and almost everyone under the age of 50 seems to play.

For example, on the train, your Nintendogs might meet three or four friends a trip. You’re never far from a Gundam Musou opponent, and it’s actually somewhat chic to plop down in front of a bunch of women you barely know and ramble on about Cooking Mama. Some of them might laugh at you, though, and go back to whippin’ ass at Gundam Musou.