The English-language version is due on the American wing of PSN next month, but for those of you who just can’t wait to play a disc-free version of what is undoubtedly one of the good’uns in Square Enix’ hit-and-miss series of epic RPGs, well, Final Fantasy IX is now officially available for download from the Japanese PlayStation Store.

Weighing in at 1550MB (the original was split across four discs) and costing 1,500 yen, everything about the reappearance of FFIX a decade on from its original release says “BIG ADVENTURE”. Thing is, have you even finished FFXIII yet?

1. Mega-rare shmup Kyuin arrives on Japanese PlayStation Store! Another mega-bargain in the Game Archives!...
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3. Thunderforce V among new (old) delights on Japan’s PlayStation Store It's all happening down in the Archives......

Lots of old games for not very much money - but do you want them?

There’s a lot to be said for buying in bulk, though it doesn’t always work out (just ask Manchester City fans). With that in mind, I trawled through the infinite pages of Yahoo! Auctions to find some of the best job lot game auctions on the site. Here are some of the best and worst deals I clicked on:

100 PlayStation games – no duplicates, all with instructions, some missing their spine cards – for a starting price of 3,800 yen and with a Buy It Now of 7,800 yen.

300 Super Famicom cassettes for a starting price of 15,000 yen – that’s 50 yen per game, but most of them are probably pachinko simulators…

200 Famicom cassettes for a starting price of 10,000 yen – same deal as above.

400 Super Famicom cassettes for a starting price of 20,000 yen. OK, let’s move on.

100 Super Famicom cassettes for 3,000 yen? That’s more like it – the photos show you exactly what you’re getting, and what you’re getting includes F-Zero, Star Fox, DQV and FFVI!

And at the other end of the pitch:

100 rare Famicom games, all boxed and everything… for 80,000-120,000 yen! Hey, if you like your games mint…

More than 100 Mega Drive titles for a starting price of 262,000 yen, for which you could very possibly buy a car.

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3. Yahoo! Auctions watch: MEGA RARE edition! Japan doesn't know the meaning of "recession"!...

You always know where you are with Yuji Naka. Like so many of the best individualist Japanese game creators, he seems to operate carefully and quietly inside a rainbow-colored bubble floating high, high above the turd-brown modern gaming landscape of FPSes and BIG WAR. He probably doesn’t even know what a “space marine” is. So it’s quite appropriate that Prope, his preciously constructed team of developers, would produce something like this:

And it’s just a predictable (in a good way) that, having perched Ivy on the DS and Wii last month, Yuji Naka and his people would follow that up with the release of a book guaranteed to delight any child who has yet to learn what a “space marine” is. If that’s YOU, lucky reader, get along to Amazon.co.jp and order a copy of this 28-page marvel right away.

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(Image cheekily borrowed from Inside-Games)

So you live in Japan and fancy some iPad gaming for those times when you’re reclining on the tatami, sipping a vegetable chu-hi and waiting for the somber news bulletin to end before the genki baseball broadcast resumes? Well you’re in luck, as the iPad’s Japan launch is just a few weeks away!

Here are the core details for fans of bullet points and juicy Apple info:

Apple Stores, Softbank shops and “electrical retail outlets” around Japan have been accepting iPad reservations since May 10th.

The thing will be available to buy, hold and caress on May 28th.

Wi-fi models come in at 16GB (48,960 yen – that’s £355/$525 at current rates), 32GB (59,040 yen) and 64GB (68,880 yen).

3G-capable models that feed off Softbank signals are slightly more expensive – 16GB at 58,320 yen, 32GB at 67,920 yen, and 64GB at 77,280 yen.

There are two Softbank data subscription plans for 3G net access: a two-year contract at a basic 2,910 yen (£21/$31) per month, and a pre-paid service allowing charges for 1GB of data transfers for 4,410 yen (£31/$47) with no need for a contract.

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As of today, anyone with access to Japanese DSiWare and 200 DSi Points in their wallet can get a software version of the Shooting Watch called あぁあの懐かしのシュウォッチ (”That Dear Old Shooting Watch”). But it’s actually quite a bit more than the gizmo it’s based on: new features include music from Star Soldier, a proper stopwatch function and “slot game” mode, and the option of signing your best feats to make sure no one else takes the credit.

Check out the inspired demo videos here if you need proof of the value of あぁあの懐かしのシュウォッチ in a social setting!

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Successful applicants will be paid 980 yen per hour to work in these conditions.

Always dreamt of working for Nintendo of Japan? Fancy playing Wii games until your eyes bleed and being paid to do it? Then you’re in luck because Mario Club, NCL’s crack debug/testing department, is hiring temp staff! You can find the details here, though because everything is typed up in Japanese I feel I should condense the info in English so that you’re under no illusions about how crap a job this actually is.

Job requirements and benefits:

- You need to be at least a high school graduate (read: if you’re a uni grad, you’re probably aiming too low)

- You need to be ready to start working at Nintendo in Kyoto on April 16th

- You will be employed for a period of between 3 and 6 months (there’s an initial 2-week trial period for NCL to check that you know how to waggle that remote)

- You will be working Monday to Friday, 10:00-17:30 with a one-hour lunch break

- You will be given a Nintendo uniform to wear (!)

- You will be paid 980 yen per hour … that’s £7.20/$10.90 … in other words, about as much as you can get working at a conbini.

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3D Panasonic women > 3D Panasonic tellies.

Well, well, well. Panasonic has unveiled its first proper super-full HD 3D Viera flat-screens and they’ll be available in Japan on April 23rd.

In spite of the super specs (in both senses of the term “specs”), the nicely timed unveiling of a 3D BD player, and impressive promo work by a new series of Japanese women who appear to have just arrived on a Galaxy Express from The Future, even the early adopter in me is not tempted to reserve a set at Bic Camera for 428,001 yen (£3,033/$4,758).

That could all change, however, if Sony reveals a 3D PS3 version of 蚊.

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Actual iPhone screenshot!

The original Final Fantasy is being remade for the iPhone/iPod Touch, and so is its immediate sequel, Final Fantasy II. Given Square Enix’s proclivity for re-re-re-releasing its old games on formats as diverse as the DS, the PlayStation, LCD keyrings, and your microwave and fridge, this is hardly surprising.

What is surprising is that these iPhone remakes of the first two games in the FF series look crisp and full of life. Even though I’ve bought them a dozen times before, they look tempting again. These classics, which debuted as Famicom cassettes in 1987/88, are scheduled to arrive on the App Store at some point in the future for an as-yet-undisclosed price. Er, yes. But this much is concrete: the games will appear in all territories simultaneously, so you won’t have to wait longer than those of us who live in Japan and neither will we have to wait longer than you. Sounds fair.

Some key details:

- These iPhone versions are based on 2007’s PSP ports and include those PSP releases’ extra dungeons.

- Touch controls are adopted for things such as battles and movement around the games’ maps.

- There will be new stuff to enjoy once you’ve completed the main adventures!

Another actual iPhone screenshot!

1. Final Fantasy IX now available for download from Japanese PlayStation Store This was one of the better ones, right?...
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3. Taiko no Tatsujin due on iPhone at beginning of February! Japan-only to begin with......

Everyone knew it was coming, but now we now how much it’ll cost, what it’ll feature, and when we’ll be able to play it. In reverse order:

1. After Burner Climax on PSN and XBLA will be available in Japan this “spring” (which probably means April).

2. It will include the After Burner II soundtrack as a bonus; it’ll feature a new “EX Option” mode that enables in-depth modifications to the game itself; there will be global rankings; and the graphics are said to be better-than-arcade-perfect in that the original coin-op’s looks are maintained and even improved with the upgrade to full HD.

3. All this for just 900 yen on PSN and 800 MS Points (about 1,200 yen) on XBLA.

Here’s another screenshot because you deserve it:

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Even though Bemani is virtually comatose in Japan now, Taiko no Tatsujin (太鼓の達人) just goes on and on and on and never seems to lose any of its fans. This is probably because it’s a near-perfect recipe for fun, just like Black Forest gateau and Guinness is a near-perfect recipe for fun.

Anyway, as you’ll see from that shaky YouTube clip of some giant female hands playing the diminutive new iPhone version of Taiko no Tatsujin, the recipe appears to match the hardware particularly well. How well? We’ll be able to find out some time in the first week of February, which is when Namco Bandai will release the game on the Japanese App Store. I’ll bring you a personal playtest as soon as I’ve got it. In the meantime, I’ll just sit here tapping my fingers on the desk. Good practice.

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