There have been some rumbles here and there lately about the closure of AsoBitCity. AsoBitCity, for those of you who aren't in the know, is heaven on earth for gaming types. It's a game-only branch of the LAOX electronics empire, eight floors with everything a gamer could want: PC and console games and accessories, models, anime, (and one floor devoted to adult games and anime).

Heh, I got all fired up, thinking the store closure was a sign of the weakening of Japan's game culture - a dire prospect for gamers all over the world. I decided to set up an e-mail interview w/ someone at LAOX, writing probing questions like "Why are you closing AsoBitCity?" and "What does this closure mean for game culture and the gaming market in Japan?" But before I tried to find a PR contact at LAOX, I decided I should poke around the Japanese Web first.

I'm glad that I did - it turns out that they just lost their lease. I found an article that explained that the store was doing great, with 600,000 monthly visitors, and 800,000 (!) visitors during December 2003, but the landlord decided to sell the building. LAOX is currently negotiating for a new site in Akihabara, and will announce the new location at the end of March. Apparently the company is having trouble finding a space big enough to house the whole store; according to spokespeople, the company may wind up building a new place from scratch.

Whew, thank goodness. I had great luck on my last trip to AsoBitCity (got a USB fighter stick w/ bundled Virtua Fighter 2 for PC for $30), and I'd be heartbroken if I couldn't hit the store again on my next trip to Tokyo.

It's funny that the landlord has a buyer for the property though - Akihabara has had a problem with occupancy rates lately and there are a lot of empty storefronts. Property here doesn't seem like the best investment, unless the buyer is very confident that the Japanese economy/real estate market is going to be turning around in the near future. At any rate, it will be interesting to see what becomes of AsoBitCity's old space, and I'll look forward to shopping at AsoBitCity v. 2.0.

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Am I wrong to think that all Americans are raised to believe that we enjoy freedom of speech to a degree not found in other countries? But a few recent events have made me reconsider that viewpoint a little bit.

I'm sure that you're familiar with the flap over the "Kill all Haitians" mission in Grand Theft Auto. Not being Haitian, I'm hesitant to comment on whether or not this is offensive. In fact, I have yet to see a quote from someone that is qualified to comment. Where are the Haitian gamers? Haitian non-gamers (and non-Haitian gamers) really aren't in possession of all the facts as far as I'm concerned.

The way that Rockstar resolved the situation just goes to show how little the "Haitian community groups" that started the ruckus understand about games. An abject apology and a promise to remove that mission from all future versions of the game doesn't mean much when it's already been out for two years, and PS2, PC, and Xbox versions are available. I guess that means Rockstar will take it out when they make the GameCube port...i.e., never.

A number of commentators have pointed out that there are scenes in any number of books or movies (New Jack City anyone?) that are every bit as offensive, and yet somehow pass unnoticed by our self-appointed moral guardians. Why is that?

I had an interview just before I left Japan that drove the point home one more time: the standards for games and other forms of entertainment are completely different (and for no good reason).

I wrote a Gamespot article last month about Karin Entertainment, a small Japanese game developer that's currently working on a game for simultaneous release in the U.S. and Japan. During our conversation, one of the developers said something like "Of course, the U.S. is pretty strict, so we're censoring some of the game content."

I was a little taken aback and tried to argue the point, saying "Well, you know the U.S. is really pretty open about freedom of expression. There's not much you could put into your game that would cause trouble, really."

He said "Oh? Well, maybe the guy who told me that was misinformed. We had planned to censor this scene where a living human head is impaled on a cross. Do you really think it would be OK?" Backpedaling every once in a while keeps you young. I had to admit that that scene probably wouldn't go over too well in the U.S., and that some tasteful edits were probably a good idea.

But come on. The Exorcist, anyone? How about The Bad Lieutenant? Heck, I just read a Hellboy comic where Hellboy kills the boss monster (so to speak) by impaling him with a cross. Why haven't any moral crusaders taken it upon themselves to shut down the makers of these works of entertainment?

This is just speculation, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that games are a relatively new form of entertainment. The only thing with a similar lifespan I can think of is music videos. MTV launched in 1982, the Atari 2600 hit the stores in 1978, and there are some parallels in the way they're treated: content that wouldn't raise an eyelid in a movie could get a music video banned from MTV.

It's not much of a solution, but if the history of film is any indication, I suspect that as more people become familiar with games the incidence of criticism/scapegoating will decrease. Companies like Rockstar that know how to capitalize on controversy should take advantage while they can - forty years down the road, the Moral Majority may not be so eager to give them media coverage at the drop of a hat.

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