Wine no Hajimekata - Drool over the DS in Stylus

Posted on November 7, 2007
Filed Under Video Games, Lifestyle & Entertainment |

According to DengekiOnline.com Nintendo DS Customers as well as wine connoisseurs will be priveleged to enjoy two luxuries of life at the same time, with a new game called Hajimekata no DS. According to my patchy Japanese from high school, roughly translates to “Wine Starter / Beginner DS”. It should be a relatively fun game to play as it’s being developed by games conglomerate Square Enix, an organisation most famous for its Final Fantasy Series.

Customers have the option to purchase a bottle of wine that comes with the game, where Square Enix has partnered with one of Japan’s leading wine creators Mercian. And apparently it’s not a bad bottle of wine!

A couple of questions come to mind however - who exactly will sell these games? Will they make a localised / western version of this game? I would expect that this would never reach off shore to any other country other than Japan, only due to regulations that exist in countries such as Australia which prohibits the sale of alcohol without having a license. Should it reach Australia, does this mean our local retailers and game shops (EB, Game, JB Hifi and the like) need to apply for a liquor license to sell a game worth JPY4,450?

It’s probably unlikely this would be followed up here, but the intention by Square Enix is clear - they are trying to attract a different market outside of the geeky retro nintendo fan-boys. From bbr.com:

‘They want to reach new audiences, such as adults - particularly women - so they are expanding beyond the traditional types of games, into more educational games and quizzes,’ said Klee Kuo, a spokesperson for Tokyo-based Square Enix, the game’s developer.

One thing’s for sure - I’m so buying that when I’m in Japan! $45 bucks is a steal for a wine and DS game! There’s also another game on the table that’s being developed called Bartender DS, which allows players and aspiring cocktail artists to mix their own drinks with the touch of a stylus. Ahh whatever the guys on the planet nintendoo are smoking, I want in!

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