12.29.2012

Japanese New Year's card apps

"Nengajou(年賀状)" is a Japanese New Year's card. It's still the Japanese year-end and New Year important customs. However, it is very troublesome to make it. Many Nengajou design software was released until now. However, it is hard to use even it, especially elderly people.

Therefore many Nengajou design apps are popular this year in Japanese App Srote. These are apps ranked free ranking Top100 of the camera apps.

FUDEMAME NENGA 2013
FUDEMAME was one of the popular New Year's card design software, but it became the smartphone apps this year.

OSHARE NENGA - The best New Year's card
This resembles photo collage apps.

Shashin de Nengajou 2013
This resembles photo decoration apps.

Rakuraku Nengajou
This resembles photoframe application. However, the feature is that New Year greetings are designed beforehand.

Nenga Pic Frame
This resembles photoframe application, too. However, text inputting is possible.

Digipri Nengajou
This has all the elements of camera apps such as the collage, decoration and frame.

New Year's card of the Fuji Color
This is official apps of a famous photo print company. we can order a print from apps.

Character Nengajou
We can use the frame of the character of popular Anime.

You would notice. These are developed in know-how of the camera apps. Camera apps simplified the design using the photos. Anyone can easily make a cool image using filter, frame, stamp and collage function. photoshop and illustrator are unnecessary:) These Nengajou design apps are optimized to postcard size. Furthermore, they have the design subject of traditional Nengajou. We can post the image which we designed to Facebook and Twitter even if we do not print it on a postcard. Camera apps gave a change in the form of Japanese customs.

12.28.2012

Card battle is disgusting! What is the next Japanese social game?

Japanese social game industry overflows with a "card battle game" now. Dating sim, RPG, Comic, Anime, Console game etc...Every contents become the card battle social game. However, users begin to get tired of it. Therefore developers grope for the social game of a new style.

Gungho showed one of the answers for it. This is "Puzzle & Dragons".


Puzzle & Dragons brought a puzzle into J-style card battle. It bring a fresh game play, and it breaks through 5 million downloading in Japan.

However, it was copied by many developers because It was popular.




Therefore Kayac released the social game that took in pinball in new social game platform for smartphone Bushimo. It's "Bound monsters".








It may resemble Puzzle & Dragons at some points. However, the biggest charm is that the battle with monsters is pinball(or billiards?). Monsters attacks enemies with a ball. However, the ball has elasticity and bounces when it hit the wall. We must attack enemies while thinking about the rebounding of balls.



Furthermore, the placement of enemies is complicated whenever a level advances. Is this action game? puzzle game? or J-style card battle? It has those all charm.

12.27.2012

Gangnam Style? No, it's "LINE Style"


NHN Japan's messaging application "LINE" is very popular. It's popular now in not only Japan but also East Asia, North America, Middle East and Spain. Therefore they perform various tie-ups abroad.

 
This is tie-up PV with Korean singer PSY. Dancing characters are so cute! The stamps of PSY are sold in the LINE stamp shop.


In addition, hip-hop group Far East Movement let LINE come up in PV.

And LINE train runs now in Taiwan.



12.12.2012

I made "Nameko" figure

I wrote articles about Japanese popular smartphone game apps "Nameko Saibai(Mushroom Garden a.k.a. Funghi Gardening Kit)" several times until now.


Japan is filled with the goods of Nameko now. However, we must make the thing which we want with oneself heartily. Therefore I made figure of Nameko.










Named "Miso soup of Nameko". The wooden bowl is genuine. Nameko is made by epoxy pate, and the miso soup is made by epoxy resin. The tofu which is in the miso soup are made by paper clay.

The articles of all making are placed in my blog media "vsmedia".

No.1
http://vsmedia.info/2012/10/02/nameko_figure1/
No.2
http://vsmedia.info/2012/10/08/nameko_figure2/
No.3
http://vsmedia.info/2012/12/11/nameko_figure3/

All of they are written in Japanese, but you may understand a process if you watch photos.
Here is the photos of all processes. Here is the photos of all processes(The thing which I did not use for articles are included).
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.497018096994212.125632.195197613842930&type=1&l=e28897ed22

12.01.2012

Which do you like? JP style vs. North America localization

Voltage is a developer of Japanese representative dating sim application for women. Now, they release various dating sim application for not only Japan but also the global market.

 See also:
Localization for North America of Japanese dating sim for women

Their U.S. subsidiary released new iOS application for North America markets recently. This is North America localization title of the Japanese style. Let's compare both!

This is an original Japanese version "怪盗X恋の予告状".









When this comes to the North America, it becomes in this way...

My Lover’s a Thief





The basic design is based on a Japanese version. However, it becomes completely "real". Which do you like?