.. but I can’t tell, because I have no idea what’s going on.

My friends have been worried about me because I don’t have enough video games, so I’ve been importing DS titles from Japan. I have Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme, both playable with the fancy paddle that came bundled with Arkanoid. The majority of the text is in Japanese, but both games are so old school that it didn’t take much time to figure out. Good times.

Yesterday, my 3rd imported game showed up. It’s very fun – I think – but I have no idea what’s going on. Way back in the ago I bought Taiko Drum Master for the PS2 on a whim, and it turned out to be a great deal of noisy fun. When I discovered a DS version, there was really only one thing I could do – order the game, brush up on my drumming skills, and hope I can work my way around the Japanese screens.

Taiko Drum Master is probably one of the most bizarre games I own, and the DS version does not disappoint. I can’t tell what I’m doing, exactly, but I seem to be able to dress my drum up like a fish or a carrot or a wolf in a babushka and what more could I ask from a game? The music is hilarious – Japanese pop songs make me giggle – and it came with official DS Taiko drumming sticks. Ed was wary of the game but since he’s wary of everything I give it little thought. Funny Japanese game is the win, I think.

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to force my way through a game in a language I don’t understand. I bought the Japanese version of Me and My Katamari for the PSP because a) it came with a cool pre-order gift and b) the NA version wasn’t out for another six months. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of text in that game so when I finally got the English version I discovered that I was doing everything wrong. I don’t mind, though. Owning things that aren’t from around here make me so awesome it hurts.

Hey, did I ever tell you about my first job? Ed thinks I’ve told the story and I think I’ve told the story but I can’t for the life of me find the entry. Does me working at a taco stand in a mall ring any bells? Let me know; I don’t want to tell a story I’ve already shared. I must be getting elderly in the brain.