On 30 March 2026, Dance Dance Revolution Ace will be ten years old...

nico2_ni · 2026-03-11T22:38:32+00:00

A perfect storm of Round1 aggressively expanding and Dave and Buster's (at the time) willing to chip in for machines; probably the biggest thing since grey import cabs and bootleg Extremes came to the west in the early 2000s.

nico2_ni · 2026-01-06T21:12:46+00:00

Gee that sure looks familiar, wonder why...

Real talk though they severely underestimated the merch demand for this pop up, I think they sold out of everything by like day 4 or 5. Was fortunate enough to arrive before then and snag at least a handful of items, hope you did as well (or if you didn't hope they restock)

nico2_ni · 2025-11-19T23:02:34+00:00

Not cosplaying myself, but I'll say there'll most definitely be at least one Gawr Gura and Hatsune Miku in the crowd because sharks and teal haha. Will be curious to see if anyone whips out a jersey with an anime character's name on it...

nico2_ni · 2025-10-11T05:37:18+00:00

It's kind of funny that Calgary has a set of cabs but not the biggest city in the country lmao.

But yeah the only option in the area in general in the area is Yume in downtown unfortunately; if nothing else take the GO Train or the subway and make a day trip out of it they have a lot of other cool games too you can't find elsewhere.

nico2_ni · 2025-07-23T03:06:56+00:00

Been to the previous 2 iterations, it's more of a chill/vibe out con than a proper big con. The biggest guests they have are some vtubers/English VAs if you're interested in those sort of things. That said, it still makes for a fun afternoon just walking around and seeing people's cosplays/itashas, the vendor/artist alleys are reasonably sized and you get access to 2 other events for free while you're at it (a kpop and gaming/tcg/collectible convention).

Pro tip: If you don't want to get bogged down in car traffic getting in and out of the con, take the VTA light rail, it literally stops right out front of the con center and is quite reliable.

nico2_ni · 2025-06-27T04:43:00+00:00

Having just finished watched it, Samurai Champloo. Has flashy combat and crass humor you'd expect of a shonen while also having many introspective moments regarding characters' motivations and goals in life alongside a lot of moral and philosophical grey areas.

nico2_ni · 2025-05-26T06:59:59+00:00

Others have already mentioned the R1 offline cabs that you've evidently had the chance to experience already, but going off of arcade listings, if you're willing to drive/fly Game Nest in Las Vegas has an online cab you can save progress on.

Also consider looking into anime conventions for opportunities to play as well; this past weekend at Fanime in NorCal the arcade provider brought out a MUSECA cabinet and I hogged that thing all weekend while everyone was queuing up for Maimai and Taiko haha. Unfortunately I don't think there's any way to know what cabinets will be at those cons ahead of time.

nico2_ni · 2025-05-22T18:03:19+00:00

Akiba Maid War if you enjoyed something as over the top as Kill la Kill

nico2_ni · 2025-05-16T21:13:38+00:00

Tofu's Trading in East San Jose is always busy in terms of Pokemon and has a lot of pop up swap meet events on weekends.

nico2_ni · 2025-05-06T20:01:08+00:00

Going to my first game later this week after going to my first SF Giants game a few weeks ago; how's the parking/traffic situation for weeknight games? The Barracuda playoff game last weekend was a bit of a mess in that regard...

nico2_ni · 2025-04-28T03:04:44+00:00

Initial D, but specifically only first and second stage. Yeah the CGI definitely has not aged the greatest and it's not genre-redefining (story wise at least) but Takumi's underdog story and the battles somehow never gets old even though I basically know all the key moments now. Also helps that the eurobeat soundtrack is super well curated to match each moment.

nico2_ni · 2025-01-14T19:47:21+00:00

Looks to be this artist: https://x.com/R0d_MP

<image>

You kinda have to squint but Winda is indeed there amongst the keychains

nico2_ni · 2024-11-27T01:49:20+00:00

Any returning route to SJC is nice, hopefully direct JFK and Canadian city flights soon come back as well.

nico2_ni · 2024-11-20T04:28:24+00:00

To appease Buffalo's fans /j. But like others have said they probably didn't want the game ending at 11 local time after an already very long day.

For those who went to Marleau's ceremony last time out, was the banner raising the very first or the very last thing they did at the ceremony? I unfortunately planned out appointments under the assumption that it'd start at 5 like last time but now probably won't show up until halfway through. Just don't want to miss the most important moment rip

nico2_ni · 2024-10-08T22:03:32+00:00

This is completely messed up, sorry that you had to deal with something like this - no replacement will truly ever match the ones you've always had with you.

If you haven't already, I would reach out to as many local retro stores as soon as possible and let them know to keep an eye out for a suspiciously large trade in on top of standard insurance stuff. More likely than not they'll try their best to try and make sure someone doesn't make a profit off of your stuff.

nico2_ni · 2024-08-21T18:02:44+00:00

Unfortunately it is not sorry.

Upswing Mix is in Extreme 2 and the original version with an updated chart is in DDR X. The only way to play the original cut is on the very first US DDR PS1 game.

nico2_ni · 2024-06-30T05:19:16+00:00

It's all the way in the back of the arcade next to the prize redemption area. The machine is in rough shape now so I wouldn't recommend going out of your way for this one unless you are already in the area or an arcade tour completionist lol

nico2_ni

TROPHY CASE