Despacito y con buen píxel: The art of prepaid cards in Japan

domingo, 6 de septiembre de 2015

The art of prepaid cards in Japan

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Hello everyone! In the first entry of this new section I talked about "food for otakus" in Japan, and in this one I´m going to show you several limited edition prepaid cards for download services or online games exclusive for Japan.

It cannot denied, to my regret, that the video game industry (and other entertainment industries) are heading into an era where everything (or almost everything) will be purchased via download. I understand this system has many advantages (saving space, convenience, etc.), but in this sense I admit I´m really old school and still prefer the games with their respective cases and manuals, although seeing the manuals that the games include lately I´m not so sure anymore about it... Despite being very advanced and open minded in many ways (specially regarding new technology), Japanese are still quite reticent to purchase games through the digital platforms, probably due to the fact that many Japanese players are also great collectors (despite the problems with space in my houses), so the game companies have to invent ways to attract those consumers to this kind of format, and what a better way to do it than offering them just what they like the most: more things to collect. Like this, in Japan, other than the typical plain point or prepaid cards, there are also special editions of these designed with the intention of attracting also the collectors to this kind of format, and to tell you the truth, some of those cards are indeed quite difficult to resist if you are into collecting video game stuff. Here a leave you a few examples so you can have a look.

Nintendo prepaid cards

Nintendo prepaid card 25th anniversary of Mario Bros special edition

Pokemon and Kirby Nintendo prepaid cards

Nintendo prepaid card 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda special edition

Animal Crossing and Zelda Nintendo prepaid cards for Mario Kart 8

Nintendo 3DS prepaid cards

Contrary to the rest, these cards are not made of plastic and look more like playing cards, although to compensate this they include augmented reality effects for the Nintendo 3DS camera.