Game Boy Comic: Issue #1

Before I dive into this, a quick update. My next major blog post will be out, on time, next Thursday. In the meantime I thought I would scan some pages from the Game Boy comic. This comic was released in 1990, which will not only become apparent but important for context. I did a selective scan of the most interesting pages, although I might scan the full comic at a later time. Without further ado, let's take a look! First, the cover:
(Please note: These are my personal scans. If you are interested in using any of them, please add a credit. Thanks!)

I frickin' love this cover. This could not possibly be more 1990 if it tried. While I was only 1 years old when this came out, it is full of that late 80s, early 90s vibe that I love.
Next, the ads, which are almost 40% of this comic: 

I have never played any of these games, but I kind of love these ads. Especially Kwirk, as he reminds me of the 7Up dot character, except with more 'tude.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this ad for Nintendo Power. The mismatched font, the Saved By the Bell colors, the shapes...it's all glorious nostalgia.

I'm not sure that any of these comics lasted a full 12 months. I know that the Game Boy comic only produced four issues. I sure hope no one paid that full $129.95, which would be $254.62 today! 

Speaking of, here are some advertisements for those other Nintendo comics. Not sure they fared much better. I hope to get my hands on some of these one day. 

So yeah...this is why this particular issue is notorious. The characters have a battle in the subway under the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and later at the Windows of the World restaurant near the top of the North Tower (WTC 1). This creates a cloud of smoke that evokes memories of 9/11 in anyone who remembers that horrible day. The famous "Falling Man" was a picture of what is believed to be the executive chef of WotW, Jonathan Briley. None of the 76 staff members working when AA 11 hit the tower survived.
This comic was made before either of the attacks on the WTC. However, it is still haunting to read this part of the comic. Now, let's move onto something lighter...

This is from earlier in the story. I wanted to get the 9/11 business out of the way first, as no one wants to end this fun nostalgia journey on a bummer. I absolutely love the mixed reactions on the two main characters faces here. Rick looks like he is on the verge of a complete mental break. 

This is my favorite page, hands down. I love the freak out by all the minions and I particularly love the redneck character swatting Mario like a fly with a dish tray. And last, but not least: 

I love how deep and existential this last page gets. It actually is a shame that this silliness didn't continue for very long.
Anyhoo, that is all I have on this comic for right now. Hope y'all enjoyed this short, nostalgic journey into the early 90s!

I'm Back!

While I know very few people even noticed I was gone, I'm starting this blog up once again. My main reason for doing so is for...me. Since graduating college and moving to the west coast, I miss researching and writing more than ever. Even if no one reads a word of this blog, I'm still going to write and get back into the swing of things.

Things are going to be a little different this time around though. I'll be picking random video games (or series) to cover and I'll be posting on Thursdays every week. Well, every Thursday except this upcoming one. Got to get my ducks in a row first. 

Another Update: Life is Currently Crazy

Turns out that moving from South Carolina to Seattle is a bit more of a pain in the ass than I originally thought. I will be posting again soon, but they will be very sporadic for about a month. The logistics are insane and I'm pretty stressed right now. However, I do not want to neglect this blog as it is one of my favorite hobbies!

Please stick with me readers!

Update: Moving Cross Country!

So, there have been lots of life events lately making research and writing very difficult. However, this one is pretty major. Me and my husband are moving from South Carolina to Seattle. In less than a month. So...yeah. Blogs are going to basically pop up at random. I WILL still be writing a blog a week though. I might be able to write two blog posts this week, but it really depends on the amount of packing I have to do.

Please keep reading everyone! I love writing for the site, so just stick with me. :)

Harvest Moon Part IV: Beginning of the PS2/GC Generation

A quick update on my blogs. I am terribly sorry I missed yesterdays blog. I hope the Panasonic Q one made up for it. A lot is happening VERY quickly in my life right now. I'm just getting over a nasty sickness and now I am getting prepared to move to the opposite side of the country. I will try to make these blogs come out on time though.

In this blog I will be covering the first four games of the PlayStation 2 and GameCube era.

Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland/Bokujou Monogatari: Heart ni Hi no Tsukete

This was the first Harvest Moon game for the PlayStation 2. It was also released for the GameCube. It released on the following dates: July 5 2001 (JP), October 2001 (PAL), and November 20 2001 (NA).

Even though I have fond memories of this game, I can't say there was much innovation.Although I will take some time to point out changes they did make.
Starting out, there is once again grandfather's land involved and an angry mayor who would rather have an amusement park. You have one year to fix up the park, which leaves a shorter time line than usual. I will say that the interesting thing about this game is the lack of marriage. Due to the short timeline, it makes finding a soul mate and having kids impossible. This makes this one of only a couple games from this series where you cannot get married.
You would think with the short timeline, that there would be little replay value. However, that is not the case as there are nine endings. When you beat the game you get to keep your animals and money so you can work towards getting the other endings as well.

Rarity: This game is super easy to find. It cant be found for under $10 easily and in good condition.
The Japanese version is actually a bit harder to find and will cost about $5 more. Either way, it is still pretty reasonable.

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town/Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakama Tachi & Haverst Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town/Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakama Tachi for Girl 

First things first, release dates: April 18 2003 (JP), November 17 2003 (NA), and March 26 2004 (PAL). More More Friends of Mineral Town the dates are as follows: December 12 2003 (JP), November 2004 (PAL), and July 26 2005. Why the long gaps in releasing this game...?

Both games are remakes of Back to Nature, so there really isn't much to explain here. The only details I want to go over here are the differences. First, there was connectivity to the GameCube version of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life via link cable. This allows for NPCs to comment about what is happening in Mineral Town and vice versa. NPCs will also travel between towns and return with new items and hints. Second, the "girl version" offers some bug fixes to the original game and has several extras. If you are going to choose between the two, I would actually choose that one.

Rarity: The NA version of Friends of Mineral Town goes for about $20-25 for just the cartridge. If you want the box and manual (used) it will cost about $50-60. The same is pretty much true of More Friends of Mineral Town. These prices lower to about $20 used, with a box and manual, for the Japanese versions.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life/Bokujou Monogatari: Wonderful Life 

Okay, before I talk about my nostalgia for this game, release dates: September 12 2003 (JP), March 16 2004 (NA), and March 26 2004 (PAL). It was released for the GameCube and the PlayStation 2.

This game was pretty innovative as far as this series goes, at least in my opinion. I personally had a ton of fun when this game came out. An example of these small details are things like having goats and ducks, having a new choice of dog, there is a yeti (for no real reason), etc. It also made bigger changes such as having crops that grow better during certain seasons. You can also have hybrid crops as well. One new, pretty big feature, is that the child you have will actually grow into adulthood and will have a set of personality traits. These are influenced by who you introduce him/her too in the town and how you treat them. At the end of the game they will have career options they will choose from. If they choose rancher, they will stay on the farm to take care of it, although they will be unable to marry.

Rarity: This game is pretty cheap for either platform, going for $15-25. As per the usual, the Japanese version was a bit more cheap.

That wraps up this blog. My life has become hectic, but I have no forgotten about my blog. Please stick with me and thanks for reading!

Sources: 
http://www.ign.com/games/harvest-moon-save-the-homeland/ps2-1627
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/530597-harvest-moon-save-the-homeland/data
http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/08/16/harvest-moon-more-friends-of-mineral-town
http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/11/25/harvest-moon-friends-of-mineral-town-2
http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/02/24/harvest-moon-another-wonderful-life-special-edition
http://web.archive.org/web/20100910095944/http://www.natsume.com/games/HM_wl/

Collectible Consoles: The Panasonic Q - GameCube Part II

Although I am still very sick from the...black death (or whatever I caught), I feel the need to write. However, my brain isn't all here, so I want to keep this short but interesting. I owe you guys at least one blog for missing all of last week, so here is an early one! Full disclosure:  Keep in mind that I'm on all the medication. If I write sillier than normal...well, I'm not sorry.

Look at it...LOOK AT IT! It is a beautiful monster. It screams early 2000s. I love it. 

This was released exclusively for Japan in December 2001. The first question you are asking is probably "why?". That is pretty simple actually. Nintendo was feeling a bit of pressure from the PS2's ability to play CDs and DVDs. It wanted to make up for the GameCube's lack of being a media powerhouse by developing this along side Panasonic.
So what all did it have? Here is the list:
- All the original GameCube features of course
- Optical out port (allowing for 5.1 true surround sound)
- A front loading tray that loaded like a DVD player
- An LCD panel at the top of the console
- A subwoofer output
- A polished glass front and stainless steel chassis
- DVD, CD, and MP3 file support

There are a LOT of articles on the web that state the following, including a Nintendo Wikia (which should know better!!): There were two of these released. One that was the standard that cost ¥41,000 and a modified one that cost ¥46,000. The standard cost is right (at the time it was roughly $440-50 in US money). Oh, the extra bit about the "modified" one? It would play region free games. Now come on. Nintendo almost prides itself on region locking. This would simply NEVER happen. Making my Wii region free was a downright PAINFUL process. To this day, Nintendo is the only company not allowing for some sort of region freedom. For people like me who play Japanese and American games, it makes me distance myself a bit from Nintendo. Well, enough of my rant. What I am attempting to say it that this is BS pure and simple. Like any other system of theirs, you will need to do some stupid, time consuming stuff to make it region free. There are videos out there that will show you how if you are so inclined. Personally, if you are collecting, I would recommend against it. Just buy an American or Japanese console if you have the money.

The Panasonic Q never caught on in Japan and were discontinued in mid December 2003. However, in recent years, as one can imagine, they have become quite the collectors item! They now sell for anywhere in between $300-700. Lucky for you collectors out there, and for the future me that has money, these systems are pretty easy to find. They are readily available on Amazon and eBay.

That is a sad story of the Panasonic Q. I had seen this thing off and on in the early 2000s in gaming magazines, but never paid much attention. Now...I kind of want one. It is nice to see that it has made a come back and that it is getting some much needed and overdue love.

Thanks for reading! I hope that made sense. I will double check it when I am not sick and make corrections if necessary.

Sources: 
http://kotaku.com/5803323/my-favourite-nintendo-console-wasnt-even-made-by-nintendo
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/9283/panasonic-q-discontinued
http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Panasonic_Q
http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/04/09/panasonic-q-review
http://www.bordersdown.net/threads/114579-Panasonic-Q-officially-regionfree-version
http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-q.htm#page=reviews

Updates on Posts - I am Ill

This week I will be horribly off schedule, but I do plan to get a post up, besides this one of course. I came down with a sinus infection about two weeks ago, but since I already have so many other disabilities, I didn't want to go the doctor. This was a terrible mistake. I now feel like death. Luckily I have medicine now, so posts will be back to normal next week.

Sorry for the delays everyone! My brain could barely function, but I will be back to writing in no time. I even have a special blog about a rare game I found.

Thanks again for reading!

Harvest Moon: Part III - PlayStation 1 and GBC Days

In this part of my Harvest Moon blog series I will be discussing three titles released during 1999 and 2000. This was the first and last Harvest Moon would see of the original PlayStation. During this time there was also another GameBoy Color game released that I will discuss. Onwards!

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature/Bokujou Monogatari Haabesetomuun (Harvest Moon)

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature/牧場物語～ハーベストムーン
I'm not going to go over the developers and publishers again, because that would be like beating a dead horse (or other farm animal). No body wants that. If you would like to catch up, please read my previous two blogs (one and two) on Harvest Moon.
What I found interesting right away was the fact that the Japanese name had "Harvest Moon" in the subtitle. There was clearly some kind of communication with the non-Japanese publisher going on here, at least for a while. Another fact to note is that this is the first Harvest Moon game to be released on a non-Nintendo console. It really speaks to how much the PlayStation had taken over the market during this time. It was released December 1999 (JP), November 2000 (NA), and January 2001 (PAL).

The story this time around is a bit more realistic. The boy visits his grandfathers farm and ends up taking care of it because his grandfather takes advantage of having him there *ahem* sorry...he was "too busy". Ten years later the boy, now grown, inherits the farm and fixes it up. If he can't fix it up in three years, the villagers and mayor threaten his due inheritance of the farm. Not sure that is their call, but hey. We need a time limit!
One thing I always noticed while playing this game and watching other let's plays to freshen up my memory is that many of the NPCs are actually from Harvest Moon 64...except they are alternate universe versions of themselves. They have new lifestyles, families, and sometimes personalities and traits.

As far as gameplay, energy is an even bigger thing this time around. The tools you are given from the start wear you out quickly, so you have to manage the time each day very well until you can upgrade them. In addition the game insists that you find a mate and start a family before the three years is up. This poor guy never gets to make decisions pertaining to HIS life. Seriously though, I actually like these upgrades because there is a bit more strategy.

Rarity: This game is actually VERY easy to find. It goes for about $35 used and $100 factory sealed. However, if you get the Japanese version you will pay $25 for the used version and about $80 for the brand new version (at most).

Additionally: I will be talking more about this game as it has been rereleased several times...as well as having a "girl version" of this game that I will be talking about in this blog.

Harvest Moon 3 GBC/Bokujou Monogatari GB3: Booi Miitsu Gaaru (Boy Meets Girl)

Harvest Moon 3 GBC/牧場物語GB3 ボーイ・ミーツ・ガール
This was the last Harvest Moon for the GameBoy Color. Kind of the end of an era. However, they went out with a bang. Once again, you can choose to be a girl or a boy. In Japan they had these on separate cartridges for some reason. Eventually they came to their senses when they released this game for the US (this did not have a PAL release as far as I know). They combined the two into a single cartridge. As always, the developers and publishers are the same. The release dates are as such: September 2000 for Japan and November 2001 for North America.

Now to the gameplay...I have to say it is better than the last two games on the GB/GBC. Once again, you have the choice to play as a boy or a girl. If you choose the boy, you end up on the farm from Harvest Moon 2 GBC for a bit. If you choose the girl you end up on an island not far from shore owned by her father. Even if you are the boy, you eventually end up on the island with the girl character. So the rest of the game takes place there. This is quite different from other Harvest Moon games as you cannot visit town whenever you want. Instead you can only visit two days a week.
Now to get into some of the more sexist details. I love these games, but this cannot be overlooked. There are several things to note if you play the girl: The girl starts out with a free cow and brush, which seems nice until you realize only the male character can upgrade tools. The male character also has more stamina than the female and if the female character marries...it is game over. You win! If the male character marries, the game continues as normal.

As much as I just bashed the game for its sexism, it is still fun to play. Now for rarity:
Once again, SUPER easy to find. the North American version goes for $10-20 used and $80-90 new. If you get the Japanese version you can get it new for $30.

Bokujou Monogatari Haabesutomuun for gaaru (Japan only)

Bokujou Monogatari Haabesutomuun for Gaaru (牧場物語～ハーベストムーン～forガール) 
This game is a bit confusing as it has been rereleased to the English speaking world several times in recent years. I will, of course, be going over this in later blogs. This game was first released during December of 2000 for Japan only.
The story revolves around the girl character who washes up on the beach near Mineral Town with amnesia. The mayor allows her to live on the farm, and fix it up, until she is better. Through the fog of her amnesia she remembers trying to find a boy and random bits of poetry.

The gameplay is basically Back to Nature. Think of this as the "girl version" of that game if you will. However, just like Harvest Moon 3 GBC, once you woo yourself a man he proposes to you and you leave the town...ending the game. Besides being a tad bit sexist, it makes the game shorter than Back to Nature, even though it is otherwise identical gameplay wise.

As for rarity, this game is also pretty easy to find. It goes for about $20 for a lightly used copy. I was unable to find any new copies at this time, but I am sure they will pop up.

That is all for this blog. Next time I will be discussing the next three games in the series.
Thanks again for reading!

Sources: 
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/harvest-moon-back-to-nature-review/1900-2665649/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/11/28/harvest-moon-back-to-nature
http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/01/16/harvest-moon-3
http://www.gamespot.com/harvest-moon-3-gbc/related/release/platform/gbc/
http://harvestmoon.wikia.com/wiki/Bokujō_Monogatari:_Harvest_Moon_for_Girl
For rarity: Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist
For gameplay on games I had not played in a bit: YouTube let's plays. from various users. 

Collectible Consoles - The GameCube's Development (Part I)

Because I am feeling extra generous this week, I am getting started on the GameCube blogs. I may not post another until I am done with the PS3 blogs, but since that is pretty soon I wanted to give some background to the GameCube. This blog is only going to cover the development process and the unveiling at the Nintendo Press Conference in Japan in 2000 and in North America during E3 2001. The reason I am going over this stuff is because, honestly, I have a lot of nostalgia attached to these events. I remember when it was called the "Dolphin" and "GameStar" and everyone was speculating about what it would look like. Fun times those. So let's jump right in!

In 1998 a company called ArtX, composed mainly of former Silicon Graphics Inc. employees, partnered with Nintendo to develop the graphics processor, which was codenamed "Flipper" at the time. During this time the GameCube was going by an early name of "N2000". In May of 1999 Nintendo formed an alliance with IBM to create the processor, codenamed "Gekko". Also during this time they released a statement that they were changing the name of the system, for the time being, to "Project Dolphin". The plan during that time was for the console to run off of DVDs, but they never confirmed that it would in the long run. As a side note, ATI acquired ArtX in 2000, but I could find no major changes to the project as ArtX had done most of the work already.

In August of 2000, during a Nintendo Press Conference in Japan, they unveiled the GameCube and the GameBoy Advance. I could not find any pictures from this conference and one article said the official unveiling would be at the 2001 E3. I assume they were not allowed to take pictures. They were however allowed to describe what it looked like and were told the final name of the console for the first time. Although the rumor mill about it still being called the "GameStar" was still going around. I will try to find some old gaming magazines that called talked about this for next time.

GameCubes being shown off at E3 2001

During E3 2001, Nintendo revealed the titles that would be available at launch, which was September 14 2001. They were: Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Stars Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, Raven Blade, Wave Race Blue Storm, NBA Courtside 2002, Disney's Mickey (working title), Donkey Kong Racing, Animal Forest, Metroid Prime, Mamokia, Eternal Darkness, Kameo: Elements of Power, Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, and Zelda (working title). Notice the lack of a proper Mario game, which was a first for a Nintendo launch. I will go through these one by one as most did not release at launch. In addition, I am going through these because I have found no other site that has done so.

Pikmin: released about a month after lanuch.
Luigi's Mansion: This did release alongside the console.
Super Smash Bros. Melee: Well...this series never releases a game on time. November 2001 for this title.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader: This also didn't release until the end of November.
Raven Blade: This game was sadly canceled by July 2001 so that the team could focus on Metroid Prime.
Wave Race Blue Storm: This game released on time for the launch.
NBA Courtside 2002: This actually didn't get released until January of 2002.
Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse: Although the article only mentioned a working title, finding the game was pretty easy as this was pretty much the only title with Mickey in the name. It did not release until mid 2002.
Donkey Kong Racing: Although it was announced at E3 2001, no gameplay was shown. In the end the game was canceled.
Animal Forest/Crossing: In Japan Animal Crossing is called Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Forest), which is why it was called this during the first Japanese press release. They changed the name for American and European audiences. The first Animal Crossing game was actually a Japan exclusive for the Nintendo 64 and was released in July 2001. The GameCube version, however, did not make the launch. It wasn't released until December.
Metroid Prime: Even with the extra effort, this didn't release until November 17.
Mamokia: I could not find a THING on this game. I am assuming it got canceled early in development.
Eternal Darkness: This didn't release until June of 2002. Play it. Do it. It is amazing.
Kameo: Elements of Power: This ended up with an Xbox 360 release in 2005, but never got a GameCube release. Rare Ltd. was going through some financial problems during this time, which is also most likely why Donkey Kong Racing was canceled.
Star Fox Adventures: I will just go ahead and say this one made launch, at least in Japan and North America. It was only a week or so late.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: This sadly wasn't released until December of 2002.

Shigeru Miyamoto during E3 2001 - Look how happy he is! :)

So yeah...the launch lineup was not spectacular. However, the system itself is. I personally love it. I will be going over a little bit more of its history next time and will cover early models.
Thanks for reading!

Sources: 
http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/10/30/ati-discusses-gamecube-graphics
http://www.zdnet.com/article/nintendo-tweaks-gamecubes-specs/
http://www.ign.com/articles/1999/05/05/say-hello-to-project-dolphin
http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/02/17/ati-snags-dolphin-graphics-chip-designer
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendos-gamecube-unveiled/1100-2619269/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090731qa/index.html
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2001-nintendo-unleashes-gamecube-software-a-new-miyamoto-game-and-more/1100-2761390/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/05/10/nintendos-history-at-e3-2001?page=2
PICTURES:
http://www.gamesradar.com/e3-the-good-stuff/?page=7
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/guide/1782/gamecube-faq-the-nintendo-gamecube
https://en.wikipedia.org (for release dates. I double checked, but didn't want to put all here. Email me if you want all the sources for release dates.) 

Collectible Consoles - Part VII: PS3 Slim 120GB Bundles

Welcome again to PS3 bundles! I have finally moved on to the PS3 Slim, which is where things get more interesting. I will be going in order of release dates, therefore I will be starting with the 120GB. Once I get past the early bundles, in the next blog and the blogs after that, you guys will start seeing some awesome consoles packed with pretty cool goodies. In the meantime, I think that the 120GB bundles have their interesting points as well, so don't stop reading!

PS3 "Slim" 120GB 
Just as a reminder, I am putting the word "slim" in quotations because Sony never referred to it as the Slim model. What we often call the "super slim" is actually called the Slim Model by Sony. They actually called this model the "PS3". The bigger model before it was called the "PlayStation 3". It is a bit confusing, which is why I felt a need to go over it once more.

Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki Bundle 120GB

The first bundle was released alongside the PS3 "slim" on September 3 2009. It was a Japan only release that included Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki along with a 120gb Slim. It also came with two DLC bonuses: codes for FA-78-3 full armor Gundam and RX 81-AS assault armor. As an extra extra bonus it also came with an HD animated film. Sadly, I couldn't find this bundle for sale outside of Japan. Keep an eye out though as I am sure it will pop up on eBay and Amazon occasionally.

All five of these bundles were released on November 27 2009, which was of course Black Friday here in the states...which is most likely why these were all U.S. exclusives. Starting at the top left and working clockwise, I will go through these. The first includes Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and LittleBigPlanet. It was a Best Buy exclusive. The next bundle was an Amazon.com exclusive containing Infamous and Killzone 2. The Walmart bundle includes Infamous and two doses of Batman: Batman Arkham Asylum and a Blu-Ray of The Dark Knight. Still working clockwise (therefore the bottom image), we have a Sony Store exclusive that, shockingly(insert sarcasm here), comes with Infamous and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The last bundle was a GameStop exclusive that weirdly contained God of War Collection and LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition. Maybe they were trying to market to the whole family...I'm not sure about this one. I had some friends who were working at GameStop at the time and I remember tales of some customers that were apparently put off by this bundle as they were buying PS3s for their kids. It seems that Sony was still working on the finer points of marketing bundles during this time, or perhaps GameStop made the decision. Neither would surprise me. (Opinion time over...for now)
As far as rarity goes, these all pop up on Amazon and eBay pretty frequently. All the bundles I have spotted were used, but very lightly. The majority of them went for about $200-300. Not a bad deal if you can get a hold of the one you want.

Pro Evo 10/World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 Bundle

Once again, the Pro Evo bundle was released as a Japan exclusive. As covered in the previous PS3 blog, this series is called World Soccer Winning Eleven in Japan. This bundle was released sometime in November of 2009. Despite calls from the European market, Sony sadly decided not to release this bundle over there with no reason given. Listen to your European fans Sony! You gave them so many bundles before and it seemed to pay off.

Michael Jackson's: This Is It Bundle

Speaking of Japan exclusives that should have been released elsewhere...the This Is It bundle. I cannot wrap my head around why this was a Japan exclusive when it would have sold well in the states and in Europe. Anywho...the bundle included a PS3 120GB, its usual peripherals and the Blu-Ray of This Is It, The Blu-Ray also included a background for the PS3 as a bonus.  It was released the same day as the documentary in Japan, January 27 2010. As far as I know, this was the last 120GB PS3 "slim" bundle ever released...although it would not shock me if I found another. If I am wrong, I will update this.

As stated before, my blogs are going to be a bit shorter, but I think it is for the best. It allows me to research more and take care of life stuffs. Thanks again for reading!

Sources: 
http://techcrunch.com/2009/08/19/gundam-to-be-the-very-first-sony-ps3-slim-bundle/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/11/25/walk-off-your-turkey-dinner-with-black-friday-shopping/
http://www.dayoftheweek.org/?m=November&d=25&y=2009&go=Go
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/pro-evo-10-ps3-slim-and-xbox-360-elite-bundles-show-up-in-japan/1100-6230651/
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/michael-jackson-ps3-bundle-on-the-way
http://kotaku.com/5441145/this-is-it-the-michael-jackson-ps3-bundle
Pictures belong to Sony Entertainment Inc.