Have you ever wondered what sports gaming is like in other parts of the world? I certainly have. Fortunately my travels have taken me to some far away places to get a firsthand glimpse of gaming life in another culture. Most recently, several trips to Japan in the last year meant many opportunities for such experiences. Once you've been there you get a greater appreciation of why some games come out of Japan.

Capcom doing their part to sell the Xbox

My first trip to Japan was last year just before the World Cup. The country was eagerly anticipating this world event and excitement was everywhere. I even saw the Nigerian football team taking in a little shopping in the Akihabara electronics district. This district is home to countless electronics shops as well as video outlets, coin arcades, and of course videogame shops. With World Cup about to start, the streets were lined with Gamecubes, PS2s, and Xboxes hooked up to televisions and sporting plenty of footie games. Far and away the PS2 dominated as Winning Eleven 6 was everywhere. Everyone was picking that title, even myself. EA's FIFA title was out too, but all the focus was on Konami's excellent series. FIFA looked like the redheaded stepchild in comparison. I stepped inside one of the huge multi-story arcades to see what was getting played. Aside from the endless shooters, there was a huge area devoted to more footie games. There was one area with at least 8 arcade units linked up for soccer playing action, and each one was occupied. Even at the Sony building in the Ginza district soccer was king.

The typical dimly lit Japanese arcade

Soccer isn't the only sport that's popular in Japan. Baseball is another popular pastime. I caught a few games on television and it was nuts. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to sneak away to an actual game, so television was it. The fans would go crazy with chants and shaking their props. The love for baseball translates over to the gaming world as well. American baseball games like Triple Play, World Series Baseball, or High Heat were nowhere to be found. Aside from the few Japanese exports to the MLB (they follow the Japanese players in the US religiously), there's hardly any interest in American ball. You'll catch a game or two on TV every week, but usually only if the game features a Japanese player. Instead of the popular titles I found plenty of Japanese titles featuring both pro and high school ranks. The games being sought after included both sim oriented as well as big-headed arcade baseball. Make no doubt about the Japanese market's love for American favorite pastime. Heck, when I was in London I caught a few blokes at the Sega Trocadero trying out a baseball game. This was one where a virtual ball was pitched and you had to swing a real bat to hit it out of the park. Those crazy Brits couldn't even hold the bat right; the kids with funny accents were holding the baseball bat like a cricket bat.

Yes those little cars in Gran Turismo really do exist

Then there's auto racing. The land that gave us Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer, and F355 is certainly car crazy. Whenever I'm in Tokyo I head over to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel for some cheap (under a buck) F355 play. One of the joys of heading to Japan is the chance to see the many makes and models of cars not available to us stateside. Cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or Nissan Skyline aren't common over there, but you still see them. Or how about a Honda (not Acura) NSX? There is a real appreciation for driving games over there and whenever I'm in Japan I make sure to pick up a few. There are a ton of driving games out in Japan covering every imaginable genre of racing. The benefits of playing imports is getting the chance to try out racing titles well in advance of the US release, if a game is ever released here. In the racing genre there's more of a western presence. Rally racing games (such as the McRae series) and F1 games (mostly EA games and products from European development houses).

An American in Tokyo

It's in some of the larger shops that you start to feel like you're at home. Finding popular US games such as Madden or the NBA 2K series is a challenge. Some US releases get a Japanese release, but they are few and far between. Often they are rebadged with new covers and titles. Still, it's great to see a Japanese version of Madden or Live on the streets of Japan. Thing is, I've never seen anyone buy one over there.

The Akihabara electronics district

Overall, there's not much difference between sports gaming in Japan and the US. The difference boils down to what sports are popular. For us, football gets the biggest buzz from gamers. The number of unique football titles here is astounding, and they vary from sims to total arcade packages. Similarly, in Japan it's the other football. Whether you want kiddie soccer or the magic of Winning Eleven, there is a tremendous variety of titles and types of soccer games. And just like here, Japanese gamers eagerly await the latest release of the popular titles.

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