Laura and I slept late for the first time today. We did have anything this morning, so we stayed in bed until 10ish, though ended up out the door around 11. We finally found the Square Enix store! It was a quick walk from the hotel and was pretty easy to find. It was small, but exciting anyway. Expensive though. Laura and I got to sample some character inspired perfumes (Cloud, Sephiroth, and Lightning), each one smelling like the character, which was awesome. They had some beautiful jewelry and gorgeous shirts, not to mention a plethora of plushies and figurines. They even had a Sephiroth in the floor that Laura and I got to take a picture with! The clerk was a very good English speaker and was very helpful, even though Laura and I didn’t buy anything. We’ll be back though. And then we shall by all the pretty things. After our outing it was back to the hotel. I got to skype with my sister for a little bit, which was lovely. It was proving difficult to stay in touch with folks in the States because of the time difference, so it was nice when I could manage it. I couldn’t talk long though, dashing off to meet up with the group headed to Geisha Tokyo.
I knew very little of Geisha Tokyo going in – I knew they were a smaller company, but I wasn’t all that clear on what their focus was. Visiting the studio was extremely insightful. Geisha works primarily on social games, with their biggest project being Alice: an Augmented Reality (AR) figure. The program utilizes a computer’s web camera and allows the user to ‘interact’ with a woman that appears out of a die they place within the camera’s range. The user can poke, prod, change, and even undress Alice as she makes complaints or even asks the user to stop. Watching the President of Geisha, Mr. Taisei Tanaka, made me extremely uncomfortable. Alice was just an object to the user, for him or her to do with as they please. That level of objectification was very disconcerting, especially knowing that a product like that was selling. 
Progressing from Alice after a time, we spoke more directly with Mr. Tanaka, discussing the company as a whole alongside where he felt gaming was going in the future. Mr. Tanaka’s response was that gaming is going social: no one has time for console games anymore. Believing that, he was focusing the company on mobile, social games – things that one can bring up quickly on the train or on the go to pass the time. He felt that business was more of a drive in the company than artistry, seeing as the money allowed them to keep developing games. He feels that games need to cater to the public and make a profit, regardless of what the developers want. It was an interesting outlook for me, considering that I am a console player with an appreciation for game artistry. It makes me wonder if I’ll be able to find the work I want to do, if many game companies share this outlook. Mr. Tanaka proceeded to give us a tour of the small studio, discussing the internal departments as we walked: designers, programmers, engineers, technical support, and human services. They were small, each within it’s own relative space, but with no real definition between each department. We got to speak with one of the employees who had come to the company from abroad and Mr. Tanaka was very eager to promote Geisha and encourage us to apply. After touring the space and watching some of the employees at work, the group resumed the overall discussion. I realized Laura was missing and went searching for her, discovering that she hadn’t been feeling well from Professor Noriko. I went and found her, Nikki, and Michelle Moy in the bathroom recovering. I spent much of the remaining time with them, keeping the ill feeling girls company until we departed. Geisha wasn’t what I had expected, but represents a facet of the gaming market that I had previously overlooked.
From Geisha Tokyo, the group proceeded back to Shinjuku and we lead a portion of the group to the Square store again. I spent most of the time talking with Greg, having some really deep, philosophical conversations. We talked about personal views, what we want from life, societal issues…all the way to dinner. And then through dinner too.
Dinner was lovely. Great food, good company and just a wonderful time. I was seated with Heather, Michelle Ludwig, and Greg, and had some wonderful conversations about societal standards of beauty and Final Fantasy. I definitely ate too much, but it was well worth it. 
From our wonderful group dinner, we all proceeded back to the hotel. Laura and I blues it up a bit before rejoining Greg, Josh, the Michelles (Moy and Ludwig), and Nikki and going to the arcade. We played some more Tito Drums, and I found a fun mech game. The player is basically in a bubble with a screen filling one’s vision. The player then selects a team and a mech, then engages in combat. It was epic! I was horrible at it, but had a blast. Too bad it was 400 yen a play.
After arcade adventures, it was time to head home and get to bed. We’ve got a full day tomorrow, so time to get some rest.
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