ayupan AR - How to Play?

Hello hello! Well as you all might have already known (or not), I've finally gotten a smartphone! Yes! That means I'll be on Instagram, Whatsapp, whatever-other-random-nonsense that normal people should have but I don't because I used to use a phone that was simply restricted to making calls and sending text messages~

Well, I've download a lot of apps on my Samsung Galaxy Note and I must say that using a smartphone is so much more exciting as using a dumb phone. I know I've been living in a cave for over 2 years but I'm catching up quickly. One of the first few apps I've downloaded is this...

O my god this screen grab is huge but yes, being an ayumi hamasaki fan boy, I downloaded her application from the Google Play store (previously known as the Android Marketplace) called ayupan AR, where AR means augmented reality.

It's basically a game application where you need pieces from her latest studio album "Party Queen" to play. I've been searching around the internet on how to play this game but apparently, no one actually wrote about it in English so I hope this entry will shed some light to those who wants to enjoy this game but yet cannot really understand Japanese.

Note - my Japanese is not that good but good enough to understand the core mechanics of the game so I sincerely hope that this entry would help.

This application is available on the Google Play store, which you can conveniently access from your Android phones. It's free so no worries! If you want the URL to this page, click here.


UPDATE: For some reason, this app does not work on Android 4 - Ice Cream Sandwich. (Unfortunately for me, I've updated mine and the app refuses to work but at least I've managed to enjoy it for a day... :( )

For y'all iPhone users running the iOS, no worries too! ayumi hamasaki is also using the iPhone so this app is also on the iTunes store. Just search "ayupan AR" and you will be able to find it.


Like I've previously mentioned, this game may be free but it does require some additional items in order for you to fully enjoy the application. Heck - without these items, there's no point downloading this app. Remember my unboxing/review of her latest album "Party Queen" and we found this weird looking envelope thing inside as well as the obi promoting this application? Well, the mystery is unveiled here!!

These two items are the essential play pieces of the entire application. The application requires you to use your camera (sorry iPod users) to scan these ayu logos in order to project a 3D model of ayupan inside your phone screen and without these logos, there's no point downloading the application.

To get these items, simply purchase her latest album "Party Queen" and you will get to enjoy the application! Or actually, you can just download the application and scan the logo off your computer screen using the images provided above. It works the same - tested it out while typing this paragraph but do support her album!


Anyway, the purpose of this entry is to guide users who cannot read or understand Japanese on how to go about enjoying this app. The following screen grabs are taken from my Galaxy Note but all copyrighted materials belong to their rightful owners. I'm using these screen grabs to illustrate the methods of using this adorable application.

Here's the main menu that you'll see once you get pass the loading screen (first image on this entry). The interface is relatively simple. You have two buttons on the screen - the hearts. The one on the right reads "Jacket AR" while the one on the left reads "Stage AR". I shall go into them in a little while. The bottom of the screen shows ayu's tweets. There's also a reload button for you to refresh her tweets if you so feel like stalking her.

Let's start with the "Jacket AR". Upon launching the "Jacket AR" from the main menu, you will be brought to this scanning thingie where you see the "A" logo in the middle, asking you to "Rock on the target". Well, I wonder if it's an intended pun or the developers misspelled "lock" as "rock". Considering that this is from a pop star, I guess the pun is acceptable, yes?

So, the instructions at the bottom of the screen basically requires you to align the "A" logo with the logo found on the back of the obi of "Party Queen". This is something like using those QR scanners (those squarish barcodes) and it's really easy to use. Align it and...

...out pops ayupan sporting the POWER of MUSIC T-shirt! When I first tried it, I went like "Oh my God!!" I was totally amazed because this is the first time I'm playing with an augmented reality game/application/whatever-you-call-it. This isn't a totally new technology considering that Nintendo's 3DS already has this feature but using just a smart phone to get this is really cool, no?

Honestly, I wouldn't call this a game because other than viewing the 3D model of ayupan, there's nothing else you can do. Well, you can bring her around the place and make her take photos of different things (maybe I shall try that later) but I believe that's all you can do. The application doesn't include a "Take a Photo" function so what I did was to capture screen grabs instead so I guess that's the only fun part about the Jacket AR.

Oh yes. You can move the obi around and ayupan will move along with it. Also, you can shift your camera around to get different views of ayupan. Even though the scanner is sensitive, if you tilt your camera or the obi too much, ayupan disappears. If that happens, simply realign and you'll be able to see her again.

So what if you picked the "Stage AR"? Here's the interface that you'll see if you do so. In Stage AR, you pick a style (スタイルを選んでね) and you get to watch little ayupan perform! However, not all the styles are made available for you in the beginning so you have to play a mini-game to unlock them.

Each of the different style sees ayupan in a different costume from her previous tours. My favorite has to be the ayupan wearing this big, black gothic dress she wore for the opening of her Rock 'n' Roll Circus tour so for the purpose of teaching you how to unlock your favorite ayupan, I shall unlock this one.

On each style, there are 2 buttons. The one on the left says "Stage AR" and will only be touchable when you've unlocked that particular style. The one on the right says "Game" and yes, it means you have to play a game in order to unlock the ayupan of your choice.

Here's the interface you'll see when you touch on the "Game" button by your selected style. The important elements of this interface are the three different bars - the two bars on the top and the bar on the bottom.

The blue bar is your stamina (スタミナ). For every game that you play, you will use up 20 stamina and that basically means you can only play the game 5 times before you run out. The pink bar below the stamina bar is power (パワー) and honestly, I have no idea what it does. Do leave a comment below to educate me and the readers, yes?

UPDATE: After playing the game a few times, I realized what the Power bar is for. The more Power you have, the more EXP you gain (see below paragraph on the Level Bar). Therefore, you want to keep your Power bar as full as possible by playing the roulette game (see below).

The bar on the bottom (seen in this scree grab, the 97/100 bar) is the level (レベル) of the ayupan that you've picked to play. Think of it as an EXP bar - each time you play, you gain experience points that fills up this bar. The more you play, the more you gain. Once you hit 100, you unlock the style!

This game is really simple. It's so simple you don't really have to do much. Just tap the button on the bottom of the screen. In case you want to know, it says "Training" (トレーニングする). Basically, I guess the narrative of this game is about ayupan training to become a better popstar or something like that.

Tapping the "Training" button brings you to this screen. To continue playing, hit the button on the bottom which translates to "Jogging" (ジョギングする). There's nothing much to the game other than tapping the buttons. One thing to note is that by hitting this action button, your stamina will decrease but that also means you gain experience points.

As far as I'm concerned, I believe that it's not possible to unlock an ayupan immediately in your first play through because when your stamina is used up, you see this screen...

Ayupan goes for a break and asks you to come back in the stipulated time. There's no strategy to this game so you have to be patient in order to unlock all the ayupans. For now, there are only 5 so it shouldn't be too difficult to unlock.

Sometimes, when you're playing the game, you will stumble across this screen - the Timing Roulette. This is where there's actually some form of challenge to the game. Basically, you have to wait till the heart (covered by bunny ayupan in the above screen grab) to enter the "Good" region before tapping on the "A" logo to stop it. You will gain something from it but I'm not sure what. :S Leave a comment if you do know! But as all games go, you will definitely be rewarded for good performance so be sure to get the heart in the good region!

UPDATE: By landing on the Good region, you're awarded with 20% of Power. Having more Power means you gain EXP much faster, making your quest to unlocking your favorite ayupan shorter. :)

Once you've cleared the rather uninteresting game (all ayupans feature that same running game) and finally unlocked your ayupan, on the Pick a Style page, hit the "Stage AR" (ステージAR) button to enter the Stage AR scanner. Instead of using the obi, this time, use the envelope thing included in your copy of "Party Queen" and watch the magic happen...

The ayupan you've picked shows up and this time, you get a whole stage as well! So the envelope thingie is actually a stage for our ayupans! How cool is that? Anyway, when the ayupan appears, it starts to sing and the tracks featured are from "Party Queen" so yes, even though she's in this costume, she didn't perform "Microphone". Each ayupan sings a different snippet of songs from the album so be sure to unlock them all!

Well actually, it's not exactly the ayupan singing if you were expecting a cutie voice - snippets of the original songs are played while the animated ayupan moves on stage. Really amazing nevertheless. Like in "Jacket AR" mode, you can shift your camera around to get different views of the ayupan so be sure to look closely at how good they are~

I hope this entry helped you enjoy the "ayupan AR" app for your iPhone or Android. If you do know any of the questions that I've posted in this entry (like what the Power bar does and what the roulette is for), please leave a comment and share with us, yes? Otherwise, I hope that this helped those who do not read or understand Japanese well to get through the game without feeling lost.

Also, be sure to check out my unbox/review of her latest album "Party Queen", yes? :D

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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City + Umbrella

Sigh... I don't even know where to begin with this game created by Slant Six Games. Why didn't Capcom handle this game on its own so that at least the players get something more fun? Anyway, before I continue on to make this a review of the latest Resident Evil spinoff (which I probably will at the end of this post anyway), I shall show off some of the images of what I got along with this game...

A really cool umbrella! We pre-ordered our copies way back in February even before the pricing of the game was announced at Qisahn.com and paid $60 in advance per copy just to guarantee ourselves the freebie that came along with the game which strives to drive fans insane. Well, considering that there's nothing special to review about the PS3 standard game packaging, I shall go on to show y'all people who don't have the umbrella how amazing a brolly can get. :P

Well first of all, walking down Orchard Road with this full length umbrella with the word "CAPCOM" printed on the fabric sleeve is like announcing to the world that you just got the latest game. But again, there's nothing much to be proud of considering that the game is *sigh~ why Capcom why?!* But nevertheless, you don't get a Capcom umbrella every day yes?

After reading the bad reviews of Resident Evil: ORC, I think I'm more excited about the free umbrella than the game itself. But you can't blame me, yes? Look at the details of the umbrella! On the shiny black handle, which I presume is made of some sort of metal, you get the game title printed on it. Furthermore, the red rubbery grip is so gorgeous as it stands out from the rest of the black umbrella.

At the end of the straight handle, the classic Umbrella logo is printed smack in the center there. Really cool, no? That gave me an inspiration. Remember those helix spiral vials you see in the first Resident Evil movie? Wouldn't it be cool if this entire handle is made of that helix spiral T-virus thingie? Idea idea eh??

Initially, when I knew that an umbrella would be given out along with the pre-orders of the game, I thought that we would be getting the classic red + white umbrellas which symbolizes the sinister company but instead of that whacky candy cane combination, we get a fully black umbrella instead. I would rather have that red + white umbrella though because it's more in-your-face. As the umbrella is way too big for me to photograph without looking professional (hee hee), I did away with a full shot of the umbrella and focused on the details instead. Don't tell me you've never seen an umbrella before, yes? Anyway, on one side of the octagon, you get the title printed nicely at the edge. It actually looks good, no?

If you think that the handle is the coolest part of the umbrella, you have yet to see the insides. It wasn't until my brother pointed out that there are faces on the underneath of the umbrella did I realize that there's more to this free rain blocker. Under certain lighting conditions, you can see characters under the umbrella - like here, you see one of the characters of the Umbrella Security Service members, Lupo. Not a very feminine name in my opinion.

On the opposite end of the same umbrella, we have Ms Claire Redfield! Weeeee!! Someone I can associate with and someone who actually has a face. Most of the new characters wear masks to hide their hideous features or whatsoever. I wonder if different umbrellas have different characters though... If that's so, anyone wants to trade? I want my Resident Evil Queen, Jill Valentine, back!!


Now, in case y'all have been living in a bat's cave or something, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a spin off game created by Slant Six Games. So basically, they revisited the Raccoon City we all grew to love until it exploded off the map in Resident Evil 3 and showed Umbrella's side of the story through their special agents.

You play as different characters with different abilities through the campaign, fighting through zombies and other BOWs and stuff. Of course, there are different objectives to meet as well. In multi-player mode, you can work with other players via the internet to complete the campaign or fight with them in the versus mode using lead characters from the main game - like Jill, Leon, Chris, Claire, Ada, Hunk, etc.

But what's wrong with this game? Well, a lot...

MINI REVIEW OF Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

First of all, the controls are off. I mean, Resident Evil 4 and 5 feature great control schemes and I don't understand why Slant Six won't follow suit. It would be easier for players like us who are so used to those controls to get into the game immediately as opposed to fumbling through unfamiliar controls.

Furthermore, the environment, though gorgeous, is really dark in some places and that really spoils a lot of the atmosphere. I get it that they want to scare the players but scaring and making the players blind are two different things!

Plus, the zombies and monsters are way too powerful and difficult to kill. The aiming is already quite bad and trying to kill the zombies is already a hassle. Furthermore, when a whole gang gangs up on you, there's nothing much you can do other than pray or attempt to run away.

Which brings me to the running away - pressing of the L3 button of the PS controller. That's just pure unintuitive and I always fear that my analog must break because it's so weird to have to press the stick down.

Did I mention that the artificial intelligence are anything but intelligent? I've seen them walk into laser, fire, or anything that kills them. Not to mention, they are so dumb they don't heal themselves. And, they throw grenades in an empty room with no zombies whatsoever. What's up with that?!

Well, I can go on and on about what's so disappointing with this game but let's talk about some of the things I actually like...

I like the fact that the characters have abilities so that you get to experiment with different possibilites of playing the game. I also like it that the game is based on familiar locations because it invokes that sense of nostalgia. In fact, I think if the above flaws are addressed, the game would actually be really fun though.

Sigh~ Capcom. You've fallen a great deal. I wonder if a patch is even possible to salvage these problems...



Well, if you asked me whether this game is worth the money. Without the umbrella, I would say no even though I'm a huge Resident Evil fan. The game is not well polished and the annoying parts are pretty glaring, hindering the fun of the game. I would highly recommend that if you want to try this game, you either rent them or buy them when the price falls (which will definitely happen).

But if you get the umbrella from buying this game, then of course, it's worth THE UMBRELLA! :D

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Monopoly Deal - Why won't people believe me!

DISCLAIMER: Slightly wordy post with lots of my game design experience rampage.

I bet y'all had played this awesome 90% luck-based game called Monopoly Deal by the Parker Brothers, no? Well, if you live in a cave, it looks like this...

Source: Hasbro's Official Website (http://www.hasbro.com)

Some brief information about this game. This game is a quick card game which can be played up to 6 players but honestly, you wouldn't want too many players playing at once because it takes forever to complete the game. And as the name suggests, this is the card game version of the classic board game "Monopoly". So basically, you have to get 3 sets of property cards to win. Something like this...

Source: Also from Hasbro's website - convenience!! (http://www.hasbro.com)

Yeap. That's how you win. Brief introduction shall end here.

The reason why I'm writing this entry is because there are many different ways to play this game apparently and while in camp, I realized that they are playing it from a different way that I play it. Well, fine by me because in board games history, there are lots of players who do not really follow the rules and they play their own "home rules". 

For instance in the traditional Monopoly board game - you do not get anything when you land on the "Free Parking" slot right? But some home rules allow you to put money collected from the community chests, chances, etc at that slot and whoever lands there gets the money! Cool, no? But unfortunately, that's not how the rules stated it to be.

Back to the Deal card game. A lot of people in Singapore are playing by the rule whereby rearranging your property cards during your turn counts as a move. The purpose of this entry is to say boldly 

"REARRANGING your cards during your turn DOES NOT count as a turn!!"

Yes! It only counts as a turn because you are playing it by your home rule! I have no idea who came up with this home rule because it kinda spoils the game (well, at least to me) but every time I try to explain to someone, no one believes me and that frustrates me.

You doubt a game design student?! Such atrocity!

If you still do not believe me, I shall show you evidence like the bitchy bullshit lawyer I am. :)

Firstly of all, let's look at the OFFICIAL rules.

I presume you know the other rules of Monopoly Deal but I want to bring your attention to this part of the rules. By the way, the official rule sheet can be downloaded online and this is where I extracted the rules from.

So, every player is given 3 turns to play with during their turn. They may either put money or action cards as cash in their own bank, place properties into their own collections or play action cards into the center. Or, the players may choose not to play up to 3 cards and save his cards for later.

Now, I want you to read the rules carefully and tell me which part of the rules suggest that rearranging your properties count as a turn. I dare say that none of the writings above states that. In fact, you can infer that it does not count as a turn. Let's examine...

"You can only reorganize your property collection on your turn. If you realize you've won during someone else's turn, you must wait until it's your turn to say it!"

Looking at the language, this line indeed did not state that rearranging your card counts as a turn, yes? And furthermore, recall which 3 actions count as a card being played?

1. Putting action cards / money into your cash pool

2. Putting property cards down into your collection
3. Playing action cards into the center

None of the moves indicate rearranging the card. Therefore, rearranging the cards during your turn does not count as a card being played FROM YOUR HAND. Read this...

"Play up to 3 cards from your hand, onto the table in front of you."

Considering that the property cards has to be on the table for you to rearrange it (duh!!), it technically does not come out from your hand and therefore, it does not count as a card being played. Yes~ It's all in the language - read the rules carefully!!

I can actually end my case here and DECLARE that rearranging your cards during your turn does not count into your 3 cards played but in case you're still skeptical over my ability to interpret simple rules, I have better evidence.

Q - CAN I REARRANGE MY PROPERTY CARDS DURING MY TURN?

A - Yes, you can. But only on your turn. Moving a Property card around between sets does not count as one of the three cards you can lay on each turn.

Extract taken from http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/faq.cfm

Hot from the Hasbro Monopoly Deal's FAQ. If you don't believe my interpretation, at least believe what the official source specifically said. Moving a property card during your turn does not count as one of the three cards you lay on each turn and therefore, you can freely shift your cards around as much as you like so long as you have not declared the end of your turn!

I REST MY CASE!! TAKE THAT!!

And to clarify the usage of the "Just Say No" card, the rule also specifically said that it does not count as a card being played no matter whether it's your turn or not. Yes, please download the official rules in case you've misplaced yours and read carefully! That's why the rules are there in the first place. Plus, the rules are pretty short so don't be lazy~

Still not convinced? Then I honestly have no idea how to enlighten you but I shall try to give you my interpretation on why the game can still be played using this official rules. Come on~ The game is designed in this way in the first place so it will definitely work. Many have told me that they played the "rearranging your property counts as a turn" rule because they said that if they are given the chance to freely rearrange their property cards, then the game will be unfair and will end quickly.

First of all, this game is supposed to be a quick game, not the draggy, traditional board game. Plus, why would it be unfair if all the players are doing it as well? If you refuse to rearrange your cards during your turn, then you are losing out!

My logic is that rearranging your cards freely creates another layer of depth to the game and makes the player play their cards to their maximum advantage. For instance, you can have a few wild cards and you can rearrange your properties to get the maximum rent and at the same time, defend yourself against the Deal Breaker card. Cool, no?

Then people will start to say that the Deal Breaker card would be useless. True to a certain extent but do you know that there are only 2 Deal Breaker cards and a few Sly Deal and Forced Deals? According to the rules, if your property set is full, the latter 2 cards are unable to penetrate those sets and therefore, no players can steal your card. But if you are so fearful of the Deal Breaker, collect the "Just Say No" or better still, rearrange your cards to your advantage and risk them being stolen via the Sly Deal and Forced Deals.

My logic= Deal Breaker may be painful when played against you but there are more Sly Deals and Forced Deals so are you willing to take that chance? Plus, if you are really fearful of the Deal Breaker card, you can always place it as cash and make the card obsolete for the rest of the game.

The game ending quickly... Not true! If everyone is smart enough to work the rearrangement of cards to their advantage, the game can be dragged to a pretty healthy/unhealthy (depending on whether you like long or short games) length. With everyone changing their arrangements, other players have to be more wary of their opponents moves and to think + plan more to penetrate their defenses. However, if make rearrangement of your cards count as a turn, the players will not be given a chance to plan their arrangements and therefore, you take away a crucial part of this already-luck-based game - strategy.

And I shall official end my lawsuit and rest my case for real here.

The reason why I'm so frustrated by people insisting that they are playing it correctly is because they misinterpreted the rules and still dare to tell me that they are playing it correctly. Well, another reason is because I'm so used to these rules and I'm unwilling and probably stubborn to adapt to other home rules that I just have to stand up and be a bitch to tell the whole wide world that they are playing it wrong.

But in games, I believe that most importantly, you have to have fun and that's that. You can bend the rules as much as possible since the game designer won't hunt you down and sit on you for not following his design because ultimately, I believe he wants you to have fun. So long as everyone's having fun in the game, no one would really care about how the game is played, yes? :)

Well, probably except me because I'm a free bitch but still...~~

Let's play the game the correct way, okay? :D

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