If the Japanese train operators want more of a challenge they should come to Boston and try doing that in a 40-year-old Red Line car (these are being replaced at a snails pace)
My dad was a train driver, as far as I remember the brakes went like this: pull lever - add air, push lever - release air. So it was not like I would have expected from a car where you release the pedal and it doesnt brake anymore or the dosage done by how far you push it. I dont know if this behavoir is common in all trains or all models, and I guess if so, they wouldn't have implemented this in a game like this. But I need to say it was like 35 years ago that my dad took me there and even back then some of the engines were in their thirties and more.
@@markjames8664 You can still find train cars from 50s or 60s working in rural areas of Japan. Like 銚子電鉄 (Choshi Electric Railway) with its Choshi 800 series car aged from around 1950.
In the UK, we still* have 'Pacers' (Techmoan mentions having commuted on them for years). They were brought in as a stopgap almost forty years ago, and are actually a bus, mounted on a train chassis. * They were originally only supposed to be used for a few years, until British Rail built some proper trains that weren't crap. However, they've been kept in use waaaaaaaaaay past the original retirement date, and are all scheduled to be taken out of use before December 2019. Ok, well, they should definitely all be retired by 2020. Guess what, it's now 2021 and they're still in use. I'm pretty sure you'll still be able to ride on one in 2077.
We have TV Japan in my bilingual house, and so I can report that every few months a TV show is produced in Japan called "Railway Otaku Championship." It's a game show where three teams tour a railway line and stopping occasionally to answer obscure questions about the line. The teams are: A group of railcars, staff of the railroad, and celebrities with remarkable train knowledge. I don't think there is another country with a show about railroad trivia. However, given that Japanese children still get toy trains in packages of candy, it is probably not surprising that Japan even has model railroad bars, where you can operate model trains and drink cocktails at the same time.
Japan has the best TV in the world... I'd swap every gritty US TV show on Netflix for English versions of Best Motoring, Gamecenter CX and this show you've mentioned.
I’m a train driver and watching you overshoot the platform and go past a red signal is so stressful. I literally have nightmares about that! 😅 I’ll tell you, a smooth stop right on the stopping mark is very satisfying. Thanks for this video, it’s great!
I'm sure you get asked this a lot but I'm really curious. What's it like having a job that's got a kind of cult following that would go crazy at the chance to do? Is it something you felt the same way about before you started? Does it make more sense after doing it a while? I've no idea why, I'm not into trains myself really, but the amount of train based content I watch is frankly a bit worrying 😅 clearly some part of me gets 'it'
@@1882osr When you watch a 6 hour trip through the Alps without getting out of your chair you're going to have to admit it like I did... I like trains.
@@korkee1111 I guess I really haven't broken through to being a real train guy yet then, I'll have to try harder. That said though, I definitely get slow tv as well.
You have an uncanny skill of making a 20 minute video seem like just a few minutes. I also have little interest in trains, but you made this look very interesting and fun. Thanks for all the excellent videos this year, can't wait to see what 2021 brings!
@@greatunz67 youtube has an amazing secret setting where you can make the video play up to double the speed. i usually watch videos on 1.5-2x speed which saves a bit of time. may not suit people who take a little longer to comprehend things tho.
As a retired New York City Subway Motorman, I approve ! It looks pretty cool. We called the people who were really crazy about the trains "train buffs"; there were actually quite a few. LOL when you overran that station - that would be a "trip downtown", and depending on your record, either several "days in the street" (no work, no pay), or a termination. Thanks for the video!
You'd probably find japan's 'Densha Otaku' (Translates to 'Train nerd') quite fascinating then. They're on another level compared to anyone in the western world. There's a UA-cam vid I watched about them a while back, also I believe there was an episode of James May's Japan show where they talked with some of the most prolific ones.
@@eruno_ That's kind of old fashioned slang, I renember it being used a lot in the early 90's. I used to be on a car forum with an, ahem, "older" demographic, and they'd talk about their "anorak being pulled tight" after giving some pedantic detail about model numbers or gear ratios.
"21cm out and 10 seconds late is within tolerance"... Just about in Japan. Here in the UK, arriving at the wrong station with the wrong train on the wrong day is within tolerance. It would be funny if they made a British version where you've got to mess it up as badly as possible. Or just have it display a message when you first turn it on that says "Sorry, your train is broken today." and show a video of a fat bloke in high vis holding a wrench and looking confused, slowly fading to a packed platform of commuters in the pouring rain looking utterly defeated as a barely audible announcement crackles the message that once again, they are going nowhere this morning and will probably all loose their jobs.
In Japan train delays and late arrivals are so rare that when they do happen the train operators will hand out little slips of paper explaining the tardiness for commuters to show their employers so they don’t get in trouble for being late. British rail companies would be broke within the month if they had to do that.
Just in case you were interested, at 13:09 you got points for having only a difference of 1km over target speed. 定速 teisoku - *nominal speed 指速 shisoku - measured speed 誤差 gosa - error difference 13:16 you were rewarded for doing the route "as planned" (定通 teitsuu) which in this case meant passing through Nishinomiya (西ノ宮) station as opposed to stopping there. You can see as soon as you passed through, the next route objective changed from 通過 (tsuuka, to pass through), to 停車(teisha, stop) at Ashiya station (芦屋) 👍
@@user-cr4sc1ht9t I think speed limit is a good translation since the exact word doesn't come up in a dictionary search but 法定速度 does, which is where I surmise the word comes from.
@@edgeofanduril717 法定速度 is a composite word of 法定(legally set) + 速度(speed degrees), 定速 is more of engineering term for "constant speed" as in 定速運転, 定速調速機, etc. IIRC there is a notion in Japanese rail industry that passing certain points at precise speed precisely at scheduled time contributes more in maintaining regular scheduled service, than simply setting speed limits and deadlines. The train operators' SOP reflects that so the game reflects that further and reward nominal speed at nominal time. Actually I think there's ATC/ATS enforced speed limit AND this 定速 measurement separately
This part of the game is recreating the JR West shinkaisoku service that connects Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and parts beyond. It's a normal fare but travels at 100km or faster at parts like an limited express train. This is also the 50th year anniversary of the service. I ride it quite often even yesterday. Hahah. JR Nishinomiya is written 西宮. Only Sannomiya 三ノ宮 has the "no" as a separate character. Interestingly, the private railways don't use "no" when writing Sannomiya. e.g. 阪急神戸三宮
@UberKrassMann More like Japanese trains are uncannily too on time. Like, on time to the second, as if the trains itself are controlled by computer and not human beings.
@UberKrassMann - The Japanese and Swiss railway networks are the best in the world. Consider yourself fortunate that you have such a great service on your door step.
This is a re-release. The 'original' console was released in 2017. There's a game stopping glitch in the initial release, and Taito agreed to recall all the consoles, flash them to a newer version, and ship them back to the players free of charge. However, the thought of international players playing the game never crossed their mind, so the recall program was only for Japan. After some whining and begging from international players, Taito eventually agreed to accept shipments from other countries as well. Taito even agreed to pay for the international shipping. I got mine fixed, 2 years after they announced the modification. Japanese customer service man, it's not just a rumor. Imagine if Microsoft agrees to take back all the defective game consoles free-of-charge indefinitely. Can you imagine?
Indeed... my yellow amazon only unit arrived yesterday in Japan/Yokohama and I expect it back in about one week, all expenses paid and delivery by DHL Express by Taito. Great service.
@@MrCarGuy It happened to me and they paid for my shipping - I thought they did/had to for everyone, but I can only really vouch for my own experience.
Watched this video and immediately went off and ordered it from Amazon JP for my brother's birthday, and it arrived in three days! Apparently he loves it too, so thanks!
In "Conductor mode" the screen you show means you have to announce (select) what is the correct next station for the train. In Japan, the conductor will announce the next station and what other train transfers can be done at that station and which side the door will open on. They are tested on it in real life, so it's a good memory game too for the player to see if they can remember all the correct stations on the line. Some stations are skipped for example if you play on an express train vs all stations on a local train so it's fun to remember the name of the express stops only vs all the stops.
Is the announcement not automated with a recording? It is here in Argentina, and we're like 50 years behind Japan. It must be incredibly easy to automate: GPS, a few recordings, and very simple logic.
I'm really liking how he's started to give small bits about his personal life. He's about the same age of muy prematurely deceased father so I really appreciate this feeling of an older man talking to a possibly younger man that may be lacking in real life sometimes. Keep on rocking mate!
Maybe because no ones sure what lay means in this case. Put something down inside the train? Having sex in the train? Is that a common thing in the UK?
I fondly remember the time when my dad let me control the brake on a Glasgow route train and I had to stop at a big number 3 on the wall beside the window as it was a three carriage train. I was really young, but my dad was impressed at how accurate I stopped it at the correct marker!
My father was an train engineer as well and one of my fondest memories of him when I was a child was him taking me to work with him, and yes, for a short while, I drove a train (freight train on a long track) Good times.
My grandmother knew a BR tech and he got us a ride on the last engineering train from north Devon to somewhere in Cornwall before they ripped up the track. I got to bring the train to a halt at a station under the watchful eye and instruction of the driver. I nailed the stop (although the driver was guiding me on what to do). I imagine there would probably be a health and safety enquiry if a driver let a 12 year old control a locomotive and a carriage full of people nowadays lol.
The percentage shown when you start moving the train is actually the passenger load. I.e. 75% means it's at 75% capacity. This affects your braking performance and it can go over 100% during rush hours where trains are overfilled. The time challenge shown at 10:04 and it's accompanied marker on the track diagram are a point where you need to synchronize the displayed arrival time to the checkpoint to the time shown in yellow by accelerating/braking. The distance next to the speedometer is the distance to that checkpoint. Chains increase your total score, which increases your credits earned. Good stops, obeying speed limits, passing through stations at the correct time and completing challenges all count towards chains.
7:20 - When you start, the % value is how much the train is packed of people so the weight of the train changes. Above 40 km/h you can smash the maximum break force without any issues. If you are within +/- 30 cm and +/- 5 seconds in the easy levels or +/- 3 seconds in the more difficult ones, you get a gold star. 14:28 - you are the conductor so you have to close the doors at the correct time and when the big star menu appears in the middle you have to select the following station. Plus you have to open the doors at the correct time when the train arrives at the station. If you want to try it, you might want to go online, look for a rail map of the line (Yamanote Line, Chuo Line, Osaka Loop Line or Tokaido Line between Kyoto and Osaka) and select the one you read on the map. 15:50 to help you run on time, you should try to match the speed so that the yellow time (schedule time) and the blue time (your timing) are the same (the difference must be 00:00 in the third line). No deduction points, but they help you travelling always at the perfect time. Be carefull that if you slow to much to match the timing (maybe you were going too fast for a line at a lower speed...which you can guess only from the first training level - for example Tokaido Line is 110 km/h for standard trains...higher for super express trains) you are going to be late because you go too slow. So always try to not go too fast or too slow. Stations in which you don't stop have also them a targeted passing time and you might want to have 00.00 also in them to help you travel on time.
Just gotta tell you, how you describe playing the game is exactly how I feel as a train operator. I was never interested in trains, but there is some special satisfaction in getting that perfect stop or just hitting that speed zone just perfectly. 🤣, On a side note I operate super heavy ore trains so imagine this game but with a 60 second delay on the brakes 😁
Its for a light version of people who have full blown PC setups for Railroad Simulator. The same people who collect O scale models because they have limited space for trains.
"The recess in the top of the controller is to hold a train driver's pocket watch (mimicking a real Japanese train)."--and here I was thinking how nice of them to give you a cup holder in your virtual train cabin! :-)
@@OtakuUnitedStudio Found this on the website when just looking around and I kind of want it: www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Walkie-Talkie-Multi-functional-Childrens-Communication/dp/B08HM5DRYT/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=電車懐中時計&qid=1609778340&sr=8-6
I went from thinking "what a boring weird game" to "wow cool!" and ended with complete anxiety when you're trying to stop on time and at the right spot! I'm always amazed by all the stuff you find.
Thanks for bringing back memories. I visited Japan way back in 1999, and rode the train to work every day. Once, I sat in the first car, behind the engineer When arriving at the station, he must point to the station sign, then to the timetable/schedule, then to the clock. Proving that he's where he's supposed to be, when he's supposed to be there.
That pointing technique works. People are trained to point at the object in question for any sort of visual inspections, rather than just looking in its general direction. Platform conductors (or the train drivers themselves) do it for their spot checks before trains depart. I've started doing it myself some years ago, for example when scanning over a room for something that I've misplaced-including the calling out part, though it's more of a mumbling to myself thing. It looks daft, but it works. *editbutnotedit* Of course there's a Wikipedia page for it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling
Oh my god, you just sent everybody to the hospital from that slack running in on that first stop. It’s always a good laugh watching people play these train simulators. I’ve been a Class 1 Locomotive Engineer in the US for 18 years now.
I remember when the first game came out in 1997, it was a huge hit all over Japan, coupled with the commercial song that played at 18:00. It was widely accepted not only by gamers, but also by working people who use trains on a daily basis for commuting. There were many train simulators, but it was a innovative idea to show how difficult it was to keep trains running on time through a game. Even now, there are some new arcade titles.
Hey Techmoan, I've been playing this game for a while on PSP emulated and I just wanted to let you know that the chains you got were from: a) Arriving to the station on time (not late or early, though its better to be early) b) Going through a section at the right speed. The conductor mode is also very hard to do even if you know Japanese as I think you need to memorise the stations of the lines as well.
On the on-screen Japanese text thing; If you have a android device then the Google translate app (from the app store, not the webpage) can scan text using its camera, and it can do simplified text on the fly quite quickly. You'd maybe have to stand it on a tripod pointed at the screen close enough that you can peek at it while also playing something on the TV. It also offers a better translation option if you take a picture of a static image or instructions, but for simplified I've found the live option often works fine 🙂
There is a Train Simulator game (available on Steam), and for a real train lover it's just as fiddly as they would like. No-where near as easy / straightforward as this. This is more like Truck Simulator which has that same zen vibe.
Most of the "plug and play" consoles have 3D capabilities on par with this, as it's pretty hard to get a SoC is powerful enough to emulate old systems but don't have 3D hardware acceleration. But you need to write a native software for it that takes advantage of the hardware instead of just writing an emulator, and that's where this plug and play shines. It has no obligation of "running some old game perfectly" so they can go all in into the full power of the SoC.
My favorite Densha De-Go! is on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, but that's like 5 steps removed from being accessible. Good to see you dipping into Japanese obscurity.
If we're talking handheld ports the GBC version (of Densha De Go 2, which is the only game in the series to come out on NGPC) is no slouch either- monochrome in-train visuals sure, but you get these hilariously crunched yet shockingly silky smooth FMV cutscenes that appear all throughout the game, along with pretty good digitised photographs of all the trains. It's also only three steps removed from being accessible instead of five!
I had no interest in trains until I went to Japan. Trains in Japan are clean, meticulously maintained, driven with the utmost professionalism, and can get you almost anywhere. I've been a transportation/logistics enthusiast ever since that trip. Thank you for making this video. I look forward to picking this up.
From a person who has actually driven real trains, I can tell you that this game is a lot less harrowing although I was getting Vietnam style flashbacks watching the gameplay. The whole "chains" thing confused me at first because on the railway we use chains as a length of measurement. (22 yards).
That's because chains are an old imperial measurement used for surveying; a surveyor's chain is literally a chain of 100 links, as you say 22 yards in length. 10 chains is a furlong, 8 furlongs is a mile.
...I wasn't disputing that. I was just adding that they're measured in chains because they're the old surveyor's length for measuring distance, and it's what they've always been measured in. When all your your records specify the distance in one unit, it makes sense to keep using it.
I'm from Malaysia but lived in Manchester for a few years and felt their train schedules were all right even though you get delays here and there. Then i visited Japan where everything is precise and trains follow their schedules perfectly. A total eye opening experience and one of the reasons i love going to Japan.
I lived in Japan for a year during college and the door closing sound announcement gives me so much nostalgia🥲 probably one of the best years of my life, in a fun place with fun ppl.
I absolutely adore Densha de GO! I've just been playing the newly-released Densha de Go Hashirou Yamanote-sen on PS4. It's got a PSVR mode too. It brings back so many memories of when I used to live in Japan and it's one of those games that you can always get better at. I recently played a little of the PS4 version on my channel if you want to take a look!
The new game is immensely enjoyable but, uh... for just containing the Yamanote line and not even including both directions, the price point could maybe be a tad lower. That said I'm happy to finally have a home version of the new arcade cabinet.
That is the port of the arcade version. The arcade version is a beast with 4 screens (3 windshield, 1 touchscreen dashboard) powered by a GTX1080 (Type x4 motherboard). The graphics of the PS4 version is a little degraded compared to the arcade version but not too bad. But they are also going to release the Switch version. Hope the Switch could handle it without graphics becoming too bad.
@@Taschenschieber It's not just the Yamanote line, but its fellow lines (Keihin Tohoku, Sobu, Takasaki, and Narita Express) are also included in the game
Hi, just a Chinese American currently studying in UK who's a huge fan of Japanese trains. Being brought up in Hong Kong for most of my life, I've played all of the games in the DDG series and here's what I can tell you about these Japanese train simulators and JR trains in general. You're right when you say it's mostly about stopping in the right place. JR takes pride in their precision when it comes to train driving, and one of them is stopping at exactly the right place. They take so much pride in super-precise stopping because of the way they decelerate the train when they enter stations. Japanese train drivers start from the highest level of braking (so probably brake notch 7 (B7) or notch 8 (B8) for most trains), and then decrease the level of braking as the train slows down. So for example, let's say a Yammanote line E231-500 series commuter train rolls into a station at around 60 km/h. The driver will apply B6 or B7 first, then something like B4 or B5, and finally under 20 km/h, every braking action is under B3. They have this braking system because it's the smoothest method - they care a lot about their passengers! (that's what I heard from a train driver when I was once visiting the Omiya train museum and while I was waiting in line for the train simulator, the person before me was a train driver so I went up to him and asked him to enlighten me haha). They also avoid "gliding" in stations - so it's neutral braking when they enter the station, then go from strongest braking action to the least braking action WITHOUT going to neutral in between. Another thing that is very stressful about real train-driving in Japan is timing. If there are any delays (I think for anything more than 30 seconds), the train conductor will go around the cars issuing "late notices" to all passengers heading to work or school. Now how punctual are we talking? No offence but UK trains are really... Well, let's just say I didn't have the best of experiences with them... The average delay per train for the Tokkaido Shinkansen in 2016 was only 24 seconds, and this includes unavoidable delays during that period due to natural causes, such as earthquakes, heavy rain, and blizzards. When these "adverse situations" occur, they generally just slam on the breaks and stop the trains, until they get notice from station control that (for example the earthquake is now over) it's safe to continue driving. Occasionally after they get the green light, they still drive slower than usual. This record actually means that the normal trains ran on time almost down to the second. Believe it or not, I was shocked when the train driver I encountered at Omiya told me that they'd get penalty extra training if they were to arrive 5 seconds late at a station. As to using the horn on the train - after the doors are closed and you get the green light, always sound the horn before you accelerate. You can search it up on youtube and you'll see that this is common with not only Limited Express trains (like Azusa, Super Azusa, Narita Express etc in this game), but also commuter trains. Whenever you see a bridge up ahead, honk as well. When you got railroad workers, it is a must to sound the horn until one of them (the spotter) raises their arm with a flag to acknowledge that they know you're coming in a train. When going in to the station, always look out for passengers standing on the other side of the yellow line. Honk them to remind them to stand behind the yellow line. And a very sweet thing about JR drivers - they will always sound their horns for waving children and railfans as greetings! Really sweet video here showing all these drivers saying hi: ua-cam.com/video/5_XKivzQ5W0/v-deo.html The "score in the middle", as you described in 7:16, is actually how full the train is in general, not the reaction time (although JR trains will start accelerating ASAP once the door is closed). A higher percentage means the train packed on more passengers, so you should be aware that the train's performance will be affected. This is especially true for braking performance. I don't know for this version of DDG, but for the most recent one released for PS4, that one also accounts for weather situation. So braking action is significantly weakened when it's raining or snowing. Maybe perhaps take not of that when you're playing this game too? I hope this gives everyone a bit of useful insight from an Asian railfan who's been playing this series for ages - it's really one of my favourite games to play and I can't agree no more when you say it's just a super zen experience! Great video by the way, I was pondering whether or not to get this so thanks for giving me all that out-of-the-box and how-to-set-up information, appreciate it :) Now remember to point at all the signs, signals, and speed limits... Also speak out what those limits are to remind yourself of what to expect... They do this as a "self-monitoring" process as they receive sensory input from not only the eyes, but also their mouths as they speak to confirm. It's a very effective way to combat fatigue and loss of working memory...
Having learned to play this game on the PS1 and Saturn, I was delighted at how lenient this version is... the mere existence of "Enjoy Mode" sold me on this. Thanks for the recommendation, looking forward to having this!
There's a group of Japanese people, usually young men, who have a very deep fascination towards the trains there. I remember one reason being the Japanese railway services is one of the most accurate ones in the world, and certain people find comfort in the unchanging and reliable nature of the service. Some also really like the trains themselves, especially on popular lines like the Yamanote line you shown here. There are groups and forums where these enthusiasts gather and exchange their experiences, much like any niche internet fandom. I personally liked trains myself, and would like to go on a train sightseeing tour if I were to ever visit Japan. I've been to South Korea, and their train services are quite excellent and fascinating to ride on
We (used to?) have "train spotters" in the UK as well. They'd write down the number of each train they saw, and try and see as many different trains as possible. (I'm not sure if it's something that anyone does anymore, but back in the 80's it was basically an insult to call someone a train spotter, like calling them a nerd.)
For the entire Shinkansen train network in Japan in an entire year, the most any train is late is something like 4 seconds. Unbelievable accuracy, work ethic and customer service. It's bloody brilliant.
@@phuzz00 It's the sheer variety of different trains, operators (Despite the dominance of JR, there's still a lot of local flavour in many lines) and lines that visit interesting places, plus it's an integral part of their working lives. Many of them are far more interested in the local and scenic lines, rather than the almost sterile serenity of Shinkansen. JR's regional network is like the old days of British Rail, where there was a complete hodgepodge of different locomotives. And the same thing can be said in Hong Kong with their own bus spotters.
A freind and I once rode around Tokyo on the JR Yamanote loop line with WonderSwans trying to match the train operator. It was pretty fun; everyone was laughing at us. This was when the WonderSwan was new, so 20+ years ago.
@Chris Charla, if they did that to me, I would have said to them, "Hey, first of all, my grandpa and great uncle worked on railroads, the latter having a nine decade career on one, second, I not only buy, but also build, LEGO trains, and I also do a quite good job at making them in my life, third, I am merely curious to see how accurate to detail that this game is to a real train, fourth, it is not all that uncommon to do such a thing, even in your country, and fifth, I think that your culture has a focus on honoring the elders, and since I honor mine by having this game, I would think that you, out of all people, would have a bit more respect for that in your lives, especially since my great uncle is dead and that I just lost my grandpa recently in my life." The whole mood of that situation would change if they were laughing, mocking, and ridiculing myself for trying to compare that game to the real life train.
@@andycristea Aside from overcrowding, Romanian public transport is actually considered fairly decent. By comparison, British public transport is probably among the worst in Europe, if not the western world. Bear in mind our major bus company was basically created as a result of mass overcharging without any consequences for poor service.
I remember hearing about this in the 90s from the Japanese arcades and I was immensely jealous. A thing I always wanted to try, like the Battletech pods in Chicago that I never got to.
The round hole between the brake and the accelerator is for a pocketwatch, which would have been synchronized with the train company 's time at the start of the day, and then given to the operator The hole is mostly decorative on this controller
Would you want to trust a train to time synchronized by watch these days? I'd hate to be around if the battery goes out on it. But I guess there's always the stop lights to tell you if you're approaching another train on the tracks ahead or something. You'd think they'd have some kind of time display that's synchronized by radio or something, built into the train.
@@GerdLPluu Still, I wouldn't want to trust my train system to the spring in a mechanical watch or the battery in an electric one. Especially when the consequences of failure could be significant.
That was brilliant! think I might get one! I’ve spent a lot of time on the Tokyo train network & thats a really realistic depiction - btw a cute detail is the depression in the top of the controller is where a driver would put their personal stopwatch ( they seemed get issued with it once qualifying as a driver)
Urgh I know the feels with trains in the North West. That's why I switched to cycling to work last year (between lockdowns, of course). Knocked down the travel time from 40 mins to 15 mins 👍
Not at all surprising, that! Pacers are so slow the only things they *don’t* get overtaken by are Amtrak trains, and those are known for routinely getting overtaken by stationary objects! 🚈🇺🇸⏹😉
It's not just that the Japanese love their trains. They're also a point of national pride. The precision, cleanliness, and rock-solid reliability are legendary. Once, a train left the station 20 seconds early, and the company issued a formal apology for it.
It also helps that a lot of the population relies upon trains for daily commutes and leisure if you live in and around the bigger cities. The constant exposure can get a lot of children or young people into trains early on which leads to being a hobby later in life. Japan, from what I can tell and experience, has probably one of the highest capita of young model railway and railway enthusiasts of any country due to their prevalence and reliance in the past decades, wheras many other countries dismantled theirs and went for roads, highways, and airports instead
@@TheOnlyBongo Yeah, a city like Tokyo just wouldn't work if everyone had to rely on cars, there is no realistic other way to transport 60000 people an hour through a system that only uses the space of a two track rail line
Japan is is like trains, they depend on discipline and order. Love it or not Japan is fairly balanced between order and freedom. Japanese pop culture have greater freedom than in the west. In contrast, United States is riddled with identity politics censorship. Western "liberals" had taught us to question the authorities and to protest/rebel if the authorities are in the wrong. Once the liberals becomes the authorities, they are as bad as the right wing puritans and runs the government comparable to a totalitarian regime.
Localized to Germany, you could select scrolling text for barely-readable Dot-Matrix displays that comes up with ridiculous reasons for a train delay (or the total failure of a scheduled train) such as "Delays in operational schedule" (Oh really?) or "Technical difficulties" (which means people on the tracks - yes, human beings are technical apparently). If stations don't even have that 1995 dot matrix style display, there is a WWII loudspeaker with a computer voice chopping off half of the vowels telling you that you are out of luck.. But at least you can have a nice guide of different kinds of pest plants around withered stations as you wait at -5°C in the rain with only one neon bulb buzzing on the platform edge with no roof nor bench... So, as you can see, a mic with a real person is still a step up from what you can have with the Deutsche Bahn..
Just as an aside, while I don't think a Densha de Go! game was ever translated to English, there's a very similar series called "Japanese Rail Sim" which got several Western releases on 3DS, and are (afaik) still available in the eShop. The big difference is that these are FMV games recorded directly from actual trains running actual lines around Japan. So if you're curious to try out this sort of game, there you go.
I'm with you on so many points. I've really enjoyed playing Densha de Go! on the PSP. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved the actual video of the scenery (rather than being cartoony). I'm very tempted by this particular product!
IT WAS Hilda Ogden! I loved those little trains. I sometimes visited Manchester and went on to Stockport using the little diesels and loved them...In the mid 80s.
I remember picking up a similar game on 3DS out of curiosity. It was based on actual video filmed from the conductors seat, and the video playback would just adjust its framerate based on your speed. I love this look at the plug and play system, there's something really neat about specialiced hardware like it.
Hey! Lots of points are addressed in the comments already and I'm not sure if this was already too, but there's been a new densha de go arcade and console released recently (denshadego.net/ www.jp.square-enix.com/denshadego/ ) which I only tried the arcade so far, which is pretty darn fun. This game and the previous versions are by no stretch of the means realistic, but they are still definitely fun to play. I'm really happy people find these things interesting outside the devoted community!
Now if only they decided to release it outside Japan with English language. Would sell quite a bit. There's Train Simulator on Steam, but that one has most content locked within DLC and the DLCs are really expensive. Densha de Go would've been a great alternative.
I hate trains as I spend most of my working day underneath one however, the wife bought be a PC based train simulator (TS2020) for Christmas last year. I wasn't to happy but smiled anyway. Unfortunately, I tried the game and it suckered me in. Your plug and go console looks a lot of fun and I would agree it seems to be PS2 equivalent in power. As usual, a pleasurable video to watch.
When I was in Japan last time (one year ago) I had the chance to try Densha de Go in its latest installment, in a full cabinet. And, as you say, it can win you over quite easily, even when you don't understand half the things going on. One nice feature this latest version had is tactile screens: when you were about to cross certain speed limits, you also had to touch the screen, to verify with the speedometer that you were actually under said speed limit! Took me a while to realize that... It also included the latest Yamanote line train models, which is always a bonus. It's a nice experience that you can't pass up if you go to Japan. Well, going to the arcades there, in general, is a fantastic experience.
You have no idea how much good this video did to me. I used to go to Japan yearly (especially Tokyo). I didn't go last year for reasons out of my control and this year we all know what happened with international travel... Anyway I have a very intimate familiarity with japanese trains and especially the Yamanote and Chuuo line which this is showing and hearing the sounds and announcements felt like I was there again for a couple minutes. Here's to hoping I can go there again this year...
Thanks for this video! Bakerloo Line simulator is out now for all us London Underground nerds out there. Saw it advertised on the electronic displays at Paddington Station. As a daily passenger on the line I gotta say it looks very real.
I pretty much love the fact, that one day after I bought the PS4 version, you uploaded this video, and I don't seem like a weirdo to my friends because I play a japanese train sim :D
My experience in Japan is that train rides are amazing. It was super efficient, super comfortable, and very reliable. If you ever go I'd recommend trying to use their train system for your vacation. You'll likely never regret it.
She is/was a character in a long running UK soap opera called Coronation Street. The actress Jean Alexander who played her lived in my hometown of Southport.
I suggest a deep breath, shake your head, drink twice the alcohol you normally do, sleep and when you wake up, convince yourself that it was "just a nightmare"
I received this as a gift today. As a game collector and railway enthusiast it was a very thoughtful gift. Came from Amazon japan in gift wrapping, a nice purple cloth with a card on it. I am chuffed "no pun intended".
From doing some poking around, the AXP223 is a power management unit for Allwinner SoCs, the KLM8G1GETF is an 8GB eMMC, and the EP952 is an HDMI chip. Doing some Googling for the Densha de Go! Plug & Play along with Allwinner comes up with some articles about it using the Allwinner R16 SoC, though I'm not completely sure if it's entirely the same version, though the case looks the same. If that's the case, the NES Classic also uses an Allwinner R16, so it should be similarly powered.
Hit single over a videogame? Heck, while I've been in Japan I bought a CD of what turned out to be the train station melodies and the spoken notices from inside the train!
They actually hire someone to make different melodies according to the theme for different station, mainly the one in Tokyo. They even sell not only cd, but other merchandise like alarm clock or keychain which have melodies for specific station.
Missed opportunity for puppets "Dentures to go? Why is everyone in a rush these days? Fast food, fast opticians, now the dentist can't wait to get rid of you."
I don't know if I commented, but this video inspired me to get into Train Sim World 2, and that has by far been the most chill game I've played this year. I love every single route they have published. Some of the British routes are *gloriously* miserable. (Try the Tees Valley Line DLC. Haul freight at basically at walking pace. In constant rain. Through some miserable industrial landscapes. [chef's kiss])
As a japanese descendant living in Brazil, I didn't understand the fascination about trains that japanese has, but started to understand after going there. There's a whole culture revolving trains in Japan and it's kinda catchy. All the aspects are incredible and appreciative. The trains, the perfect schedule, the discipline of the people involved.. It's incredible. There's even arcade machines that simulates a conductor cabin at arcades! I'd love to have one of this since it's kinda a mini arcade! The english part of the game is because the trains are set to speak japanese and english announcements, so the game replicates that. The "hole" that the controller has it's also a real life feature. It's a dedicated space so the driver can put his/her pocket clock and keep on time. The stations also tries to mimic the real life counterparts as for sign placements and platforms. This attention to all these details and care, makes you understand this genuine train passion that they have.
I went to Japan for the first time in 2019 and omg the train system is to die for. The stations are spotlessly clean, same with the trains. Nobody was speaking on their phones which made for much pleasant travelling. The prices were insanely cheap as well, especially with the JR Pass.
It's Japanese fusion jazz. They love that shit. Got more electronic over the years. There's a video somewhere of Mario melodies compared to old fusion instrumentals.
The English section you pointed out was actually just a translation of the announcement that came before it, as is standard on most lines throughout Japan.
I have played Train Simulator on the PC and I downloaded a few custom, community levels. After a long load time the level loaded and - no word of a lie - a message appeared on screen saying the train service had been cancelled due to heavy snow! That was it - click the only button to acknowledge the message and it took you back to the main screen.
I am pleasantly surprised to find a gaming-related video in one of the non-gaming channels I follow on youtube. :) Thank you for an entertaining and interesting video!
Same here but I'm more into the hobby side of trains (O Gauge HO Gauge etc:) And while I loved the video on this game system, I wished they actually made a hobby transformer with that style of control. It's mostly levers or dials. This would fit right home in my HO train setup.
I lived in the north-west for about 23 years and on the odd occasion I went into Manchester I had to take those same trains from either Wigan Wallgate or Upholland. Truly dire experience when the train did show up. Moved to Japan and am living in Tokyo now. You hit the nail on the head, you could set your watch to these trains, although they are somehow even more crowded than the Wigan to Manchester trains (which is especially unnerving in a pandemic), the experience is less dire than in the UK. As for Densha de go, it's still ridiculously popular here. Most arcades have a cabinet for it. Actually, cabinet is the wrong word, it's more like the cab of a train is sitting there with the controls inside. Hope you have had a great Christmas and wishing you a happy new year. Looking forward to more Techmoan content in 2021.
Can't thank you enough for taking the time to add real closed captions to your videos, it really means a lot to people like me with hearing difficulties, and not many creators do it and auto-generated are very hit-and-miss. So thank you!
As consolation, you will find no shortage of real cab ride videos on UA-cam for pretty much any of Japan's routes. The Yamanote Line is a good place to start; it's a one hour loop around Tokyo's central districts.
Funny, I had roughly the same experience you did Matt. I kind of figured this would be some goofy thing that didn't look entertaining and instead it looks crazy fun! If any of the good people at Taito watch this video, know that there is definitely a market in America for something like this. It looks like a ton of fun
I played this in a taito gamecentre in Kabukicho , Tokyo , lots of fun, they give you the white gloves & hat to wear too! I spent many an hopur on the Yamanote line visiting parts of Tokyo - amazing place. & JR west, east etc are the train companies for different parts of Japan. also they are SO accurater, i mean a 320kph shinkansen (bullet train) on time to the secons & within an inch of the gates (the shinkansens have gates on the platforms, colour co-ordinated to match the shinkansen & the carrage entrance. playing a game like that really makes you appreciate how good the drivers are. Also delays per year are measured in SECONDS in japan.....
The UK railfan community is actually one of the most active in the West, and the most popular modern train simulator, Train Sim World, is made by a UK developer Dovetail Games. The Pacers you were suffering on actually have somewhat of a cult following nowadays. A note, the "score" percentage you get when starting to move isn't the score, it's the occupancy rate. It can max out in the rush hour above 100% and the higher it is, the heavier the train, forcing you to make more careful considerations about acceleration and braking.
Nostalgia. I remembered playing this 15 years ago at the arcade. I hardly knew what to do because of the Japanese but I kept coming back for the controls. So satisfying. Those analogue speedometers on the arcade one were legit. The controls were metal. There may have been a step pedal.
Anyone underplaying the difficulty of Japanese is doing a disservice. There’s 92 characters to learn at a bare minimum to be able to read the language assuming that what you’re reading translates the kanji for you, and then about 2,000 kanji to read at a high school level if it doesn’t translate the kanji. And even then you’ll be stuck knowing how to read the words with absolutely no understanding of what they mean. I’m 18 months into college Japanese study and half the time I still feel like I know nothing.
Outside of games for children and very old games, nothing translates the kanji into kana alphabet, so anyone who needs to read Japanese proficiently does have to learn the 2000 kanji, and each kanji has multiple readings and meanings too
Agreed. Japanese (or any east Asian language) have no common origin with European languages making them probably the most difficult to learn for a native English speaker. That said it is handy to learn some very basic ones like "Yes, No, Save, Load" if your importing games that don't rely on text too much.
I feel you in finding some simulator games to be winning one over when playing them. Just as I found it oddly satisfying playing American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 on my PC. Then I just go by the mirrors when backing up those trailers and get a nice cense of accomplishment for a delivery well done.
To properly understand this game you must have in mind the absolute pride and fascination that the Japanese have for their public transportation system. And for good reason since it's simply brilliant. It's incredibly clean, convenient and precise, unlike in most places around the world. Here, if a train gets delayed by more than a few seconds, the driver and the station clerks will apologize to all the costumers. It's really amazing, and a model to the rest of the world.
![Дон ДОН, Алаудинов и СБЕЖАВШИЕ из под Курска ахматовцы 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dEfCf5IK26Q/mqdefault.jpg)
11:45 As a former tram driver I can certify that coming to a halt at the exact right spot without jerk is the most appealing aspect IRL too.
If the Japanese train operators want more of a challenge they should come to Boston and try doing that in a 40-year-old Red Line car (these are being replaced at a snails pace)
You know how I know you never worked for the Chicago Transit Authority?
My dad was a train driver, as far as I remember the brakes went like this: pull lever - add air, push lever - release air. So it was not like I would have expected from a car where you release the pedal and it doesnt brake anymore or the dosage done by how far you push it. I dont know if this behavoir is common in all trains or all models, and I guess if so, they wouldn't have implemented this in a game like this.
But I need to say it was like 35 years ago that my dad took me there and even back then some of the engines were in their thirties and more.
@@markjames8664 You can still find train cars from 50s or 60s working in rural areas of Japan. Like 銚子電鉄 (Choshi Electric Railway) with its Choshi 800 series car aged from around 1950.
In the UK, we still* have 'Pacers' (Techmoan mentions having commuted on them for years). They were brought in as a stopgap almost forty years ago, and are actually a bus, mounted on a train chassis.
* They were originally only supposed to be used for a few years, until British Rail built some proper trains that weren't crap. However, they've been kept in use waaaaaaaaaay past the original retirement date, and are all scheduled to be taken out of use before December 2019.
Ok, well, they should definitely all be retired by 2020.
Guess what, it's now 2021 and they're still in use.
I'm pretty sure you'll still be able to ride on one in 2077.
It's official guys. Techmoan has become a pro gamer
and now he's making pro-gamer moves
He'll have a Twitch channel in no time!
Oh sht a ps 5
It'll be good if you could check people's tickets and see if they would like some refreshments.
Fortnite is next
We have TV Japan in my bilingual house, and so I can report that every few months a TV show is produced in Japan called "Railway Otaku Championship." It's a game show where three teams tour a railway line and stopping occasionally to answer obscure questions about the line. The teams are: A group of railcars, staff of the railroad, and celebrities with remarkable train knowledge. I don't think there is another country with a show about railroad trivia. However, given that Japanese children still get toy trains in packages of candy, it is probably not surprising that Japan even has model railroad bars, where you can operate model trains and drink cocktails at the same time.
yea japan is the best country in the world at trains, period.
Japan has the best TV in the world... I'd swap every gritty US TV show on Netflix for English versions of Best Motoring, Gamecenter CX and this show you've mentioned.
@@mr8I7 You know nothing about japanes TV then lmao
If bars over here in the west offered that, I'd happily become an alcoholic.
In sweden a popular show was about showing different railways and guessing to which city we are going :)
I’m a train driver and watching you overshoot the platform and go past a red signal is so stressful. I literally have nightmares about that! 😅 I’ll tell you, a smooth stop right on the stopping mark is very satisfying. Thanks for this video, it’s great!
Start uploading train content to UA-cam 😎
I'm sure you get asked this a lot but I'm really curious. What's it like having a job that's got a kind of cult following that would go crazy at the chance to do?
Is it something you felt the same way about before you started? Does it make more sense after doing it a while?
I've no idea why, I'm not into trains myself really, but the amount of train based content I watch is frankly a bit worrying 😅 clearly some part of me gets 'it'
@@1882osr When you watch a 6 hour trip through the Alps without getting out of your chair you're going to have to admit it like I did... I like trains.
@@korkee1111 I guess I really haven't broken through to being a real train guy yet then, I'll have to try harder. That said though, I definitely get slow tv as well.
Did you get points?
You have an uncanny skill of making a 20 minute video seem like just a few minutes. I also have little interest in trains, but you made this look very interesting and fun. Thanks for all the excellent videos this year, can't wait to see what 2021 brings!
wait, this was a 20 mins video? I really did'n had a clue untill I saw your comment
@@greatunz67 youtube has an amazing secret setting where you can make the video play up to double the speed. i usually watch videos on 1.5-2x speed which saves a bit of time. may not suit people who take a little longer to comprehend things tho.
That was 20 mins?!
I literally had to go up and check!
@@greatunz67 you forget to take your ritalin?
Never thought I'd see BigDwiz commenting under a Techmoan video
As a retired New York City Subway Motorman, I approve ! It looks pretty cool. We called the people who were really crazy about the trains "train buffs"; there were actually quite a few. LOL when you overran that station - that would be a "trip downtown", and depending on your record, either several "days in the street" (no work, no pay), or a termination. Thanks for the video!
You'd probably find japan's 'Densha Otaku' (Translates to 'Train nerd') quite fascinating then. They're on another level compared to anyone in the western world.
There's a UA-cam vid I watched about them a while back, also I believe there was an episode of James May's Japan show where they talked with some of the most prolific ones.
In Japan drivers who miss the station get "extra training", though that actually means picking up litter at the stations.
@@SlocketSeven I wonder how things would have gone if he wore a read write suit.
They are sometimes called anoraks in UK
@@eruno_ That's kind of old fashioned slang, I renember it being used a lot in the early 90's. I used to be on a car forum with an, ahem, "older" demographic, and they'd talk about their "anorak being pulled tight" after giving some pedantic detail about model numbers or gear ratios.
"Roll you bugger" sums up exactly my relationship with trains in the UK.
Denmark too...bloody DSB
@@dallesamllhals9161 Germany too.
@@Vixen1525 Nee, das kann nicht war sein!? Deutsche Bahn?? *
*sry' for rusty german - but I refuse to use google Trans ;-)
USA: Why don't we have more trains?
UK: Screw trains!
Japan: I like trains.
"21cm out and 10 seconds late is within tolerance"... Just about in Japan. Here in the UK, arriving at the wrong station with the wrong train on the wrong day is within tolerance. It would be funny if they made a British version where you've got to mess it up as badly as possible. Or just have it display a message when you first turn it on that says "Sorry, your train is broken today." and show a video of a fat bloke in high vis holding a wrench and looking confused, slowly fading to a packed platform of commuters in the pouring rain looking utterly defeated as a barely audible announcement crackles the message that once again, they are going nowhere this morning and will probably all loose their jobs.
And Amtrak being 45-60 minutes late on average is standard.
In Japan train delays and late arrivals are so rare that when they do happen the train operators will hand out little slips of paper explaining the tardiness for commuters to show their employers so they don’t get in trouble for being late. British rail companies would be broke within the month if they had to do that.
@@ProfMyronGaines They also hand out those slips if the train is *early*.
just like hungarian railways.... :))
i think 10 secs its not within tolerance in japan
Just in case you were interested, at 13:09 you got points for having only a difference of 1km over target speed.
定速 teisoku - *nominal speed
指速 shisoku - measured speed
誤差 gosa - error difference
13:16 you were rewarded for doing the route "as planned" (定通 teitsuu) which in this case meant passing through Nishinomiya (西ノ宮) station as opposed to stopping there. You can see as soon as you passed through, the next route objective changed from 通過 (tsuuka, to pass through), to 停車(teisha, stop) at Ashiya station (芦屋) 👍
I think 定速 is more like "nominal speed"
@@user-cr4sc1ht9t I think speed limit is a good translation since the exact word doesn't come up in a dictionary search but 法定速度 does, which is where I surmise the word comes from.
@@edgeofanduril717 法定速度 is a composite word of 法定(legally set) + 速度(speed degrees), 定速 is more of engineering term for "constant speed" as in 定速運転, 定速調速機, etc.
IIRC there is a notion in Japanese rail industry that passing certain points at precise speed precisely at scheduled time contributes more in maintaining regular scheduled service, than simply setting speed limits and deadlines. The train operators' SOP reflects that so the game reflects that further and reward nominal speed at nominal time. Actually I think there's ATC/ATS enforced speed limit AND this 定速 measurement separately
THANK -YOU FRIEND : )
This part of the game is recreating the JR West shinkaisoku service that connects Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and parts beyond. It's a normal fare but travels at 100km or faster at parts like an limited express train. This is also the 50th year anniversary of the service. I ride it quite often even yesterday. Hahah.
JR Nishinomiya is written 西宮. Only Sannomiya 三ノ宮 has the "no" as a separate character. Interestingly, the private railways don't use "no" when writing Sannomiya. e.g. 阪急神戸三宮
A British man driving a Japanese train, some delay expected.
Philip Cooper addd
@UberKrassMann More like Japanese trains are uncannily too on time.
Like, on time to the second, as if the trains itself are controlled by computer and not human beings.
At least he is not a German 😂
17 seconds late and it will appear on the front page of the newspapepeper
@UberKrassMann - The Japanese and Swiss railway networks are the best in the world. Consider yourself fortunate that you have such a great service on your door step.
This is a re-release. The 'original' console was released in 2017. There's a game stopping glitch in the initial release, and Taito agreed to recall all the consoles, flash them to a newer version, and ship them back to the players free of charge. However, the thought of international players playing the game never crossed their mind, so the recall program was only for Japan.
After some whining and begging from international players, Taito eventually agreed to accept shipments from other countries as well. Taito even agreed to pay for the international shipping. I got mine fixed, 2 years after they announced the modification.
Japanese customer service man, it's not just a rumor. Imagine if Microsoft agrees to take back all the defective game consoles free-of-charge indefinitely. Can you imagine?
To be fair, Microsoft did (eventually) offer the same service for the xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death"
umm, this is standard in Europe. also it was released in 2018, not 2017.
Indeed... my yellow amazon only unit arrived yesterday in Japan/Yokohama and I expect it back in about one week, all expenses paid and delivery by DHL Express by Taito. Great service.
@@Panj0 Microsoft never paid for the shipping.
@@MrCarGuy It happened to me and they paid for my shipping - I thought they did/had to for everyone, but I can only really vouch for my own experience.
Watched this video and immediately went off and ordered it from Amazon JP for my brother's birthday, and it arrived in three days!
Apparently he loves it too, so thanks!
In "Conductor mode" the screen you show means you have to announce (select) what is the correct next station for the train. In Japan, the conductor will announce the next station and what other train transfers can be done at that station and which side the door will open on. They are tested on it in real life, so it's a good memory game too for the player to see if they can remember all the correct stations on the line. Some stations are skipped for example if you play on an express train vs all stations on a local train so it's fun to remember the name of the express stops only vs all the stops.
I laughed when I saw the stretch of stations I went past every day in Kobe. I still remember the order 25 years later.
@@CantankerousDave is it true they make good beef there?
@@DanielSultana yes very nice wagyu there
Is the announcement not automated with a recording? It is here in Argentina, and we're like 50 years behind Japan. It must be incredibly easy to automate: GPS, a few recordings, and very simple logic.
@@ironcito1101 It is, but they expect from conductors to be able to announce a station in case the recording fails.
I'm really liking how he's started to give small bits about his personal life. He's about the same age of muy prematurely deceased father so I really appreciate this feeling of an older man talking to a possibly younger man that may be lacking in real life sometimes. Keep on rocking mate!
There’s a British edition called Densha de Lay
Somewhat underappreciated comment here, I’d say…
Maybe because no ones sure what lay means in this case. Put something down inside the train? Having sex in the train? Is that a common thing in the UK?
@Jonathan Hoey okay so it's just not funny
@Jonathan Hoeyit's traditionally not stereotypically!
Replacement Bus Service de Go
I’m sure Geoff Marshall is enthusiastically watching this.
I fondly remember the time when my dad let me control the brake on a Glasgow route train and I had to stop at a big number 3 on the wall beside the window as it was a three carriage train. I was really young, but my dad was impressed at how accurate I stopped it at the correct marker!
My father was an train engineer as well and one of my fondest memories of him when I was a child was him taking me to work with him, and yes, for a short while, I drove a train (freight train on a long track)
Good times.
My grandmother knew a BR tech and he got us a ride on the last engineering train from north Devon to somewhere in Cornwall before they ripped up the track. I got to bring the train to a halt at a station under the watchful eye and instruction of the driver. I nailed the stop (although the driver was guiding me on what to do). I imagine there would probably be a health and safety enquiry if a driver let a 12 year old control a locomotive and a carriage full of people nowadays lol.
The percentage shown when you start moving the train is actually the passenger load. I.e. 75% means it's at 75% capacity. This affects your braking performance and it can go over 100% during rush hours where trains are overfilled.
The time challenge shown at 10:04 and it's accompanied marker on the track diagram are a point where you need to synchronize the displayed arrival time to the checkpoint to the time shown in yellow by accelerating/braking. The distance next to the speedometer is the distance to that checkpoint.
Chains increase your total score, which increases your credits earned. Good stops, obeying speed limits, passing through stations at the correct time and completing challenges all count towards chains.
Ty for info
7:20 - When you start, the % value is how much the train is packed of people so the weight of the train changes.
Above 40 km/h you can smash the maximum break force without any issues.
If you are within +/- 30 cm and +/- 5 seconds in the easy levels or +/- 3 seconds in the more difficult ones, you get a gold star.
14:28 - you are the conductor so you have to close the doors at the correct time and when the big star menu appears in the middle you have to select the following station. Plus you have to open the doors at the correct time when the train arrives at the station.
If you want to try it, you might want to go online, look for a rail map of the line (Yamanote Line, Chuo Line, Osaka Loop Line or Tokaido Line between Kyoto and Osaka) and select the one you read on the map.
15:50 to help you run on time, you should try to match the speed so that the yellow time (schedule time) and the blue time (your timing) are the same (the difference must be 00:00 in the third line).
No deduction points, but they help you travelling always at the perfect time.
Be carefull that if you slow to much to match the timing (maybe you were going too fast for a line at a lower speed...which you can guess only from the first training level - for example Tokaido Line is 110 km/h for standard trains...higher for super express trains) you are going to be late because you go too slow. So always try to not go too fast or too slow. Stations in which you don't stop have also them a targeted passing time and you might want to have 00.00 also in them to help you travel on time.
Just gotta tell you, how you describe playing the game is exactly how I feel as a train operator. I was never interested in trains, but there is some special satisfaction in getting that perfect stop or just hitting that speed zone just perfectly. 🤣, On a side note I operate super heavy ore trains so imagine this game but with a 60 second delay on the brakes 😁
You just found that part of the venn diagram of railway enthusiasts and gadget geeks.
Its for a light version of people who have full blown PC setups for Railroad Simulator. The same people who collect O scale models because they have limited space for trains.
Sheldon Cooper.
Population: me and a few others.
Yep. Include me as well
"The recess in the top of the controller is to hold a train driver's pocket watch (mimicking a real Japanese train)."--and here I was thinking how nice of them to give you a cup holder in your virtual train cabin! :-)
You can buy the train-driver watches from Amazon.co.jp although they're not cheap. Don't forget to also get a black silk tassel cord to go with them.
That's where you put your Sake glass.
@@robertsneddon731 You can get something similar for much cheaper at Walmart too, though it won't be anywhere near as authentic.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio
Found this on the website when just looking around and I kind of want it: www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Walkie-Talkie-Multi-functional-Childrens-Communication/dp/B08HM5DRYT/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=電車懐中時計&qid=1609778340&sr=8-6
@@OtakuUnitedStudio it wont be railroad grade thats for sure (any pocket watch that says railroad on it is also not railroad grade)
I went from thinking "what a boring weird game" to "wow cool!" and ended with complete anxiety when you're trying to stop on time and at the right spot! I'm always amazed by all the stuff you find.
"I'm not even all that into trains." Well, nobody's perfect.
Thanks for bringing back memories. I visited Japan way back in 1999, and rode the train to work every day. Once, I sat in the first car, behind the engineer When arriving at the station, he must point to the station sign, then to the timetable/schedule, then to the clock. Proving that he's where he's supposed to be, when he's supposed to be there.
That pointing technique works. People are trained to point at the object in question for any sort of visual inspections, rather than just looking in its general direction. Platform conductors (or the train drivers themselves) do it for their spot checks before trains depart.
I've started doing it myself some years ago, for example when scanning over a room for something that I've misplaced-including the calling out part, though it's more of a mumbling to myself thing. It looks daft, but it works.
*editbutnotedit* Of course there's a Wikipedia page for it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling
@@LiyangHU I do that as well; I learned it from my Japanese colleagues.
Oh my god, you just sent everybody to the hospital from that slack running in on that first stop.
It’s always a good laugh watching people play these train simulators. I’ve been a Class 1 Locomotive Engineer in the US for 18 years now.
What got you interested In becoming an engineer?
@@olsonbryce777 it was so different than anything else I did and wasn’t in a cubicle!
@Jaylin Owens yes, yes there is. It’s not a lot but it’s enough to hurt people.
4:00 That’s peak 90’s music for Japanese documentary or instructional style videos
Sounded like a lot of Sega arcade games tbh
Makes me want to play some Mario Kart 64!
I remember when the first game came out in 1997, it was a huge hit all over Japan, coupled with the commercial song that played at 18:00.
It was widely accepted not only by gamers, but also by working people who use trains on a daily basis for commuting. There were many train simulators, but it was a innovative idea to show how difficult it was to keep trains running on time through a game.
Even now, there are some new arcade titles.
*Please take a moment to read the video description*
There's a link to a complete teardown (showing all the chips) FAQs and more besides.
Hey Techmoan,
I've been playing this game for a while on PSP emulated and I just wanted to let you know that the chains you got were from:
a) Arriving to the station on time (not late or early, though its better to be early)
b) Going through a section at the right speed.
The conductor mode is also very hard to do even if you know Japanese as I think you need to memorise the stations of the lines as well.
On the on-screen Japanese text thing;
If you have a android device then the Google translate app (from the app store, not the webpage) can scan text using its camera, and it can do simplified text on the fly quite quickly. You'd maybe have to stand it on a tripod pointed at the screen close enough that you can peek at it while also playing something on the TV.
It also offers a better translation option if you take a picture of a static image or instructions, but for simplified I've found the live option often works fine 🙂
There is a Train Simulator game (available on Steam), and for a real train lover it's just as fiddly as they would like. No-where near as easy / straightforward as this. This is more like Truck Simulator which has that same zen vibe.
@@RocketboyX On steam.. look into tht. Not TSW looks interesting
Most of the "plug and play" consoles have 3D capabilities on par with this, as it's pretty hard to get a SoC is powerful enough to emulate old systems but don't have 3D hardware acceleration.
But you need to write a native software for it that takes advantage of the hardware instead of just writing an emulator, and that's where this plug and play shines.
It has no obligation of "running some old game perfectly" so they can go all in into the full power of the SoC.
My favorite Densha De-Go! is on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, but that's like 5 steps removed from being accessible. Good to see you dipping into Japanese obscurity.
kenny go to bed
Haha, emulators go brrrrrr
I don't know how I keep running into you
If we're talking handheld ports the GBC version (of Densha De Go 2, which is the only game in the series to come out on NGPC) is no slouch either- monochrome in-train visuals sure, but you get these hilariously crunched yet shockingly silky smooth FMV cutscenes that appear all throughout the game, along with pretty good digitised photographs of all the trains. It's also only three steps removed from being accessible instead of five!
It's like you're summoned when anything Japanese is mentioned on UA-cam
I had no interest in trains until I went to Japan. Trains in Japan are clean, meticulously maintained, driven with the utmost professionalism, and can get you almost anywhere. I've been a transportation/logistics enthusiast ever since that trip. Thank you for making this video. I look forward to picking this up.
"All we had to do was follow the damn train CJ!"
11:00 - That poor bear having an existential crisis.
Is it bear? Or is it not bear?
Bear?
It's been 2 years! Do we know if he's bear or not?
@@AerinRavage Barely.
@@hjalfi Well clearly it's bear???.
From a person who has actually driven real trains, I can tell you that this game is a lot less harrowing although I was getting Vietnam style flashbacks watching the gameplay.
The whole "chains" thing confused me at first because on the railway we use chains as a length of measurement. (22 yards).
That's because chains are an old imperial measurement used for surveying; a surveyor's chain is literally a chain of 100 links, as you say 22 yards in length. 10 chains is a furlong, 8 furlongs is a mile.
@@hikariyouk Chains are still used as a measurement on the railway.
...I wasn't disputing that. I was just adding that they're measured in chains because they're the old surveyor's length for measuring distance, and it's what they've always been measured in. When all your your records specify the distance in one unit, it makes sense to keep using it.
@@hikariyouk It would make more sense in English as a combo or a streak.
chains on the railway are one of the few useful Imperial measurements as a chain is approximately the length of a railway carriage (≈ 20m)
I'm from Malaysia but lived in Manchester for a few years and felt their train schedules were all right even though you get delays here and there. Then i visited Japan where everything is precise and trains follow their schedules perfectly. A total eye opening experience and one of the reasons i love going to Japan.
I lived in Japan for a year during college and the door closing sound announcement gives me so much nostalgia🥲 probably one of the best years of my life, in a fun place with fun ppl.
I absolutely adore Densha de GO! I've just been playing the newly-released Densha de Go Hashirou Yamanote-sen on PS4. It's got a PSVR mode too. It brings back so many memories of when I used to live in Japan and it's one of those games that you can always get better at.
I recently played a little of the PS4 version on my channel if you want to take a look!
I’m going there right now.
The new game is immensely enjoyable but, uh... for just containing the Yamanote line and not even including both directions, the price point could maybe be a tad lower. That said I'm happy to finally have a home version of the new arcade cabinet.
That is the port of the arcade version. The arcade version is a beast with 4 screens (3 windshield, 1 touchscreen dashboard) powered by a GTX1080 (Type x4 motherboard).
The graphics of the PS4 version is a little degraded compared to the arcade version but not too bad. But they are also going to release the Switch version. Hope the Switch could handle it without graphics becoming too bad.
@@Taschenschieber It's not just the Yamanote line, but its fellow lines (Keihin Tohoku, Sobu, Takasaki, and Narita Express) are also included in the game
@@Techmoan Can't wait to see your video on that version of Densha De GO
Interestingly enough, the station you started at, Takatsuki , is where I live! Great!
Hi, just a Chinese American currently studying in UK who's a huge fan of Japanese trains. Being brought up in Hong Kong for most of my life, I've played all of the games in the DDG series and here's what I can tell you about these Japanese train simulators and JR trains in general.
You're right when you say it's mostly about stopping in the right place. JR takes pride in their precision when it comes to train driving, and one of them is stopping at exactly the right place. They take so much pride in super-precise stopping because of the way they decelerate the train when they enter stations. Japanese train drivers start from the highest level of braking (so probably brake notch 7 (B7) or notch 8 (B8) for most trains), and then decrease the level of braking as the train slows down. So for example, let's say a Yammanote line E231-500 series commuter train rolls into a station at around 60 km/h. The driver will apply B6 or B7 first, then something like B4 or B5, and finally under 20 km/h, every braking action is under B3. They have this braking system because it's the smoothest method - they care a lot about their passengers! (that's what I heard from a train driver when I was once visiting the Omiya train museum and while I was waiting in line for the train simulator, the person before me was a train driver so I went up to him and asked him to enlighten me haha). They also avoid "gliding" in stations - so it's neutral braking when they enter the station, then go from strongest braking action to the least braking action WITHOUT going to neutral in between.
Another thing that is very stressful about real train-driving in Japan is timing. If there are any delays (I think for anything more than 30 seconds), the train conductor will go around the cars issuing "late notices" to all passengers heading to work or school. Now how punctual are we talking? No offence but UK trains are really... Well, let's just say I didn't have the best of experiences with them... The average delay per train for the Tokkaido Shinkansen in 2016 was only 24 seconds, and this includes unavoidable delays during that period due to natural causes, such as earthquakes, heavy rain, and blizzards. When these "adverse situations" occur, they generally just slam on the breaks and stop the trains, until they get notice from station control that (for example the earthquake is now over) it's safe to continue driving. Occasionally after they get the green light, they still drive slower than usual. This record actually means that the normal trains ran on time almost down to the second. Believe it or not, I was shocked when the train driver I encountered at Omiya told me that they'd get penalty extra training if they were to arrive 5 seconds late at a station.
As to using the horn on the train - after the doors are closed and you get the green light, always sound the horn before you accelerate. You can search it up on youtube and you'll see that this is common with not only Limited Express trains (like Azusa, Super Azusa, Narita Express etc in this game), but also commuter trains. Whenever you see a bridge up ahead, honk as well. When you got railroad workers, it is a must to sound the horn until one of them (the spotter) raises their arm with a flag to acknowledge that they know you're coming in a train. When going in to the station, always look out for passengers standing on the other side of the yellow line. Honk them to remind them to stand behind the yellow line. And a very sweet thing about JR drivers - they will always sound their horns for waving children and railfans as greetings! Really sweet video here showing all these drivers saying hi: ua-cam.com/video/5_XKivzQ5W0/v-deo.html
The "score in the middle", as you described in 7:16, is actually how full the train is in general, not the reaction time (although JR trains will start accelerating ASAP once the door is closed). A higher percentage means the train packed on more passengers, so you should be aware that the train's performance will be affected. This is especially true for braking performance. I don't know for this version of DDG, but for the most recent one released for PS4, that one also accounts for weather situation. So braking action is significantly weakened when it's raining or snowing. Maybe perhaps take not of that when you're playing this game too?
I hope this gives everyone a bit of useful insight from an Asian railfan who's been playing this series for ages - it's really one of my favourite games to play and I can't agree no more when you say it's just a super zen experience! Great video by the way, I was pondering whether or not to get this so thanks for giving me all that out-of-the-box and how-to-set-up information, appreciate it :)
Now remember to point at all the signs, signals, and speed limits... Also speak out what those limits are to remind yourself of what to expect... They do this as a "self-monitoring" process as they receive sensory input from not only the eyes, but also their mouths as they speak to confirm. It's a very effective way to combat fatigue and loss of working memory...
Having learned to play this game on the PS1 and Saturn, I was delighted at how lenient this version is... the mere existence of "Enjoy Mode" sold me on this. Thanks for the recommendation, looking forward to having this!
There's a group of Japanese people, usually young men, who have a very deep fascination towards the trains there. I remember one reason being the Japanese railway services is one of the most accurate ones in the world, and certain people find comfort in the unchanging and reliable nature of the service. Some also really like the trains themselves, especially on popular lines like the Yamanote line you shown here. There are groups and forums where these enthusiasts gather and exchange their experiences, much like any niche internet fandom.
I personally liked trains myself, and would like to go on a train sightseeing tour if I were to ever visit Japan. I've been to South Korea, and their train services are quite excellent and fascinating to ride on
I've got one word for you: Shinkansen.
If you can't get to Japan, try going to Taiwan; they use bullet trains imported from Japan.
We (used to?) have "train spotters" in the UK as well. They'd write down the number of each train they saw, and try and see as many different trains as possible.
(I'm not sure if it's something that anyone does anymore, but back in the 80's it was basically an insult to call someone a train spotter, like calling them a nerd.)
For the entire Shinkansen train network in Japan in an entire year, the most any train is late is something like 4 seconds. Unbelievable accuracy, work ethic and customer service. It's bloody brilliant.
Known as “Densha Otoko” (電車男)
@@phuzz00 It's the sheer variety of different trains, operators (Despite the dominance of JR, there's still a lot of local flavour in many lines) and lines that visit interesting places, plus it's an integral part of their working lives. Many of them are far more interested in the local and scenic lines, rather than the almost sterile serenity of Shinkansen. JR's regional network is like the old days of British Rail, where there was a complete hodgepodge of different locomotives. And the same thing can be said in Hong Kong with their own bus spotters.
A freind and I once rode around Tokyo on the JR Yamanote loop line with WonderSwans trying to match the train operator. It was pretty fun; everyone was laughing at us. This was when the WonderSwan was new, so 20+ years ago.
@Chris Charla, if they did that to me, I would have said to them, "Hey, first of all, my grandpa and great uncle worked on railroads, the latter having a nine decade career on one, second, I not only buy, but also build, LEGO trains, and I also do a quite good job at making them in my life, third, I am merely curious to see how accurate to detail that this game is to a real train, fourth, it is not all that uncommon to do such a thing, even in your country, and fifth, I think that your culture has a focus on honoring the elders, and since I honor mine by having this game, I would think that you, out of all people, would have a bit more respect for that in your lives, especially since my great uncle is dead and that I just lost my grandpa recently in my life." The whole mood of that situation would change if they were laughing, mocking, and ridiculing myself for trying to compare that game to the real life train.
@@paxhumana2015 I doubt that would be received well there hahahaha
@@paxhumana2015 This is highly embarrassing.
@@paxhumana2015 lol
@@paxhumana2015 damn...those train japanese would've been totally owned by the change in mood
"The majority of it is stopping in the right place at the right time" - as a train driver irl can confirm this is 95% of my job
I'm really seeing a thorough Let's Play by Techmoan. Your voice is so relaxing, you might just be cut out for gaming youtube!
On the British version of the game you get 1000 chains if you manage to arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled time.
‘Chains’ are a unit of distance used on the railway. 1 Chain = 22 Yards.
IIRC British Rail once managed to reduce the number of late trains by redefining what the word 'late' meant.
On the Romanian version you get 10000 chains if you manage to arrive under an hour late.
@@andycristea Aside from overcrowding, Romanian public transport is actually considered fairly decent. By comparison, British public transport is probably among the worst in Europe, if not the western world. Bear in mind our major bus company was basically created as a result of mass overcharging without any consequences for poor service.
The transition at the start was amazing, forget the PS5, it's all about Densha de Go
I remember hearing about this in the 90s from the Japanese arcades and I was immensely jealous. A thing I always wanted to try, like the Battletech pods in Chicago that I never got to.
"I'm not entirely sure what it is that i've done well, and how I can do it again in the future".
My love life in a nutshell.
😂
That's ALL of life in a nutshell, man!!
@@BLenz-114 yes. Human existence...
The round hole between the brake and the accelerator is for a pocketwatch, which would have been synchronized with the train company 's time at the start of the day, and then given to the operator
The hole is mostly decorative on this controller
Thank you, I was wondering about that. It looks like a little cup holder but clearly can't be.
Would you want to trust a train to time synchronized by watch these days? I'd hate to be around if the battery goes out on it. But I guess there's always the stop lights to tell you if you're approaching another train on the tracks ahead or something. You'd think they'd have some kind of time display that's synchronized by radio or something, built into the train.
@@Syncopator They are real watches. They don't have batteries.
@@GerdLPluu Still, I wouldn't want to trust my train system to the spring in a mechanical watch or the battery in an electric one. Especially when the consequences of failure could be significant.
It's for the can of RedBull, to keep the driver going for his 22 hour shift.....
That was brilliant! think I might get one! I’ve spent a lot of time on the Tokyo train network & thats a really realistic depiction - btw a cute detail is the depression in the top of the controller is where a driver would put their personal stopwatch ( they seemed get issued with it once qualifying as a driver)
Urgh I know the feels with trains in the North West. That's why I switched to cycling to work last year (between lockdowns, of course). Knocked down the travel time from 40 mins to 15 mins 👍
Not at all surprising, that! Pacers are so slow the only things they *don’t* get overtaken by are Amtrak trains, and those are known for routinely getting overtaken by stationary objects! 🚈🇺🇸⏹😉
It's not just that the Japanese love their trains. They're also a point of national pride. The precision, cleanliness, and rock-solid reliability are legendary. Once, a train left the station 20 seconds early, and the company issued a formal apology for it.
It also helps that a lot of the population relies upon trains for daily commutes and leisure if you live in and around the bigger cities. The constant exposure can get a lot of children or young people into trains early on which leads to being a hobby later in life. Japan, from what I can tell and experience, has probably one of the highest capita of young model railway and railway enthusiasts of any country due to their prevalence and reliance in the past decades, wheras many other countries dismantled theirs and went for roads, highways, and airports instead
@@TheOnlyBongo Yeah, a city like Tokyo just wouldn't work if everyone had to rely on cars, there is no realistic other way to transport 60000 people an hour through a system that only uses the space of a two track rail line
Japan is is like trains, they depend on discipline and order. Love it or not Japan is fairly balanced between order and freedom. Japanese pop culture have greater freedom than in the west. In contrast, United States is riddled with identity politics censorship. Western "liberals" had taught us to question the authorities and to protest/rebel if the authorities are in the wrong. Once the liberals becomes the authorities, they are as bad as the right wing puritans and runs the government comparable to a totalitarian regime.
It's a rarity for trains to turn up on time in England
@@diegosilang4823 You know this is a video about a train simulator toy, right?
if this was a british toy, it would just be a microphone and announcing delays
lol
Tannoy Simulator 2021
@@espurious The train to manchester from london has been delayed by 2 hours.. thank you
Localized to Germany, you could select scrolling text for barely-readable Dot-Matrix displays that comes up with ridiculous reasons for a train delay (or the total failure of a scheduled train) such as "Delays in operational schedule" (Oh really?) or "Technical difficulties" (which means people on the tracks - yes, human beings are technical apparently). If stations don't even have that 1995 dot matrix style display, there is a WWII loudspeaker with a computer voice chopping off half of the vowels telling you that you are out of luck.. But at least you can have a nice guide of different kinds of pest plants around withered stations as you wait at -5°C in the rain with only one neon bulb buzzing on the platform edge with no roof nor bench...
So, as you can see, a mic with a real person is still a step up from what you can have with the Deutsche Bahn..
I always appreciate the computer voice, saying how sorry it is for any inconvenience. You can tell it really means it.
Just as an aside, while I don't think a Densha de Go! game was ever translated to English, there's a very similar series called "Japanese Rail Sim" which got several Western releases on 3DS, and are (afaik) still available in the eShop. The big difference is that these are FMV games recorded directly from actual trains running actual lines around Japan. So if you're curious to try out this sort of game, there you go.
I'm with you on so many points. I've really enjoyed playing Densha de Go! on the PSP. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved the actual video of the scenery (rather than being cartoony).
I'm very tempted by this particular product!
IT WAS Hilda Ogden! I loved those little trains. I sometimes visited Manchester and went on to Stockport using the little diesels and loved them...In the mid 80s.
As an Australian train driver, this is genuinely really cool.
U got trains??
Thank you for making dumb ways to die
@@gogurt960 He may not be a train driver from Melbourne though, so he'll probably have no idea what that is.
@@planetX15 Nah, not a driver in Melbourne, but I'm familiar with the 'Dumb Ways To Die' campaign 👍
I remember picking up a similar game on 3DS out of curiosity. It was based on actual video filmed from the conductors seat, and the video playback would just adjust its framerate based on your speed.
I love this look at the plug and play system, there's something really neat about specialiced hardware like it.
Glad I’m not the only to get that game on 3DS
@@Chaoticmass It's got a Steam version too
Hey! Lots of points are addressed in the comments already and I'm not sure if this was already too, but there's been a new densha de go arcade and console released recently (denshadego.net/ www.jp.square-enix.com/denshadego/ ) which I only tried the arcade so far, which is pretty darn fun. This game and the previous versions are by no stretch of the means realistic, but they are still definitely fun to play. I'm really happy people find these things interesting outside the devoted community!
Now if only they decided to release it outside Japan with English language. Would sell quite a bit.
There's Train Simulator on Steam, but that one has most content locked within DLC and the DLCs are really expensive. Densha de Go would've been a great alternative.
@@ZX3000GT1 if you dont mind the graphics...search for Trainz (yes with a Z in the end). best train sim there was. (2006)
I hate trains as I spend most of my working day underneath one however, the wife bought be a PC based train simulator (TS2020) for Christmas last year. I wasn't to happy but smiled anyway. Unfortunately, I tried the game and it suckered me in. Your plug and go console looks a lot of fun and I would agree it seems to be PS2 equivalent in power. As usual, a pleasurable video to watch.
@@G1itcher worked on the game as a official dev at dovetail games?
Well, hope it didn't sucker you too much .... 600+ DLC :/
You should just buy a ticket and ride inside as a proper passenger.
I've never been underneath a train, but I've been thrown under the bus before.
@@ian_b --- Have you seen how much train tickets cost in the UK?
When I was in Japan last time (one year ago) I had the chance to try Densha de Go in its latest installment, in a full cabinet. And, as you say, it can win you over quite easily, even when you don't understand half the things going on. One nice feature this latest version had is tactile screens: when you were about to cross certain speed limits, you also had to touch the screen, to verify with the speedometer that you were actually under said speed limit! Took me a while to realize that...
It also included the latest Yamanote line train models, which is always a bonus. It's a nice experience that you can't pass up if you go to Japan. Well, going to the arcades there, in general, is a fantastic experience.
Fun fact, real Japanese train drivers are trained to point at the screens to verify information as well!
@@eruno_ Yeah! I knew that before, and when the penny finally dropped I was like "Oooooh, I see!". Such a nice touch!
You have no idea how much good this video did to me. I used to go to Japan yearly (especially Tokyo). I didn't go last year for reasons out of my control and this year we all know what happened with international travel... Anyway I have a very intimate familiarity with japanese trains and especially the Yamanote and Chuuo line which this is showing and hearing the sounds and announcements felt like I was there again for a couple minutes. Here's to hoping I can go there again this year...
The graphics kept me expecting Claude from GTA III, to be on a rooftop, laying down the pain on some targets at the train stations!
Thanks for this video!
Bakerloo Line simulator is out now for all us London Underground nerds out there. Saw it advertised on the electronic displays at Paddington Station. As a daily passenger on the line I gotta say it looks very real.
Gotta love the Mario Kart 64-esque soundtrack playing in a train simulator, it's surreal
I pretty much love the fact, that one day after I bought the PS4 version, you uploaded this video, and I don't seem like a weirdo to my friends because I play a japanese train sim :D
I love it when you do videos like this. Before I watched I was sure I wouldn't be interested. But I liked it a lot.
My experience in Japan is that train rides are amazing. It was super efficient, super comfortable, and very reliable. If you ever go I'd recommend trying to use their train system for your vacation. You'll likely never regret it.
Just googled Hilda Ogden and entered a rabbit hole of such deep Britishness I don't even know what to say.
She is/was a character in a long running UK soap opera called Coronation Street. The actress Jean Alexander who played her lived in my hometown of Southport.
If you don't know what to say, just say "By 'eck!"
Ducks on the wall.
I suggest a deep breath, shake your head, drink twice the alcohol you normally do, sleep and when you wake up, convince yourself that it was "just a nightmare"
Did you find her in Last of the summer wine too?
I received this as a gift today. As a game collector and railway enthusiast it was a very thoughtful gift. Came from Amazon japan in gift wrapping, a nice purple cloth with a card on it. I am chuffed "no pun intended".
From doing some poking around, the AXP223 is a power management unit for Allwinner SoCs, the KLM8G1GETF is an 8GB eMMC, and the EP952 is an HDMI chip. Doing some Googling for the Densha de Go! Plug & Play along with Allwinner comes up with some articles about it using the Allwinner R16 SoC, though I'm not completely sure if it's entirely the same version, though the case looks the same. If that's the case, the NES Classic also uses an Allwinner R16, so it should be similarly powered.
Hit single over a videogame? Heck, while I've been in Japan I bought a CD of what turned out to be the train station melodies and the spoken notices from inside the train!
They actually hire someone to make different melodies according to the theme for different station, mainly the one in Tokyo. They even sell not only cd, but other merchandise like alarm clock or keychain which have melodies for specific station.
Is it bad that that sounds really appealing? I kinda want to hear what it sounds like now...
@@aristo999999999 and this someone making those melodies is Minoru Mukaiya : the former keyboardist of the jazz fusion band Casiopea!
I was half expecting the included CD to just be ambient Japanese train noises, which would have been a perfect accompaniment to this game.
@@WafflePlaneRC Here's a video of all the departure melodies used on Yamanote Line: ua-cam.com/video/7c_TmELfuZo/v-deo.html
Missed opportunity for puppets
"Dentures to go? Why is everyone in a rush these days? Fast food, fast opticians, now the dentist can't wait to get rid of you."
I read that in the puppet's voice, because I miss them or because they haunt me?
@@ablacknambercat I thought of it in his voice
@UA-camLoser Really?😞 wouldn't surprise me, there's ridiculous rules around the UA-cam for kids account settings.
Lol, I read that in George Carlin's voice.
Sounds like the cliché of doctors keen to get back to the golf course.
I don't know if I commented, but this video inspired me to get into Train Sim World 2, and that has by far been the most chill game I've played this year. I love every single route they have published. Some of the British routes are *gloriously* miserable. (Try the Tees Valley Line DLC. Haul freight at basically at walking pace. In constant rain. Through some miserable industrial landscapes. [chef's kiss])
As a japanese descendant living in Brazil, I didn't understand the fascination about trains that japanese has, but started to understand after going there.
There's a whole culture revolving trains in Japan and it's kinda catchy. All the aspects are incredible and appreciative. The trains, the perfect schedule, the discipline of the people involved.. It's incredible.
There's even arcade machines that simulates a conductor cabin at arcades! I'd love to have one of this since it's kinda a mini arcade!
The english part of the game is because the trains are set to speak japanese and english announcements, so the game replicates that. The "hole" that the controller has it's also a real life feature. It's a dedicated space so the driver can put his/her pocket clock and keep on time. The stations also tries to mimic the real life counterparts as for sign placements and platforms.
This attention to all these details and care, makes you understand this genuine train passion that they have.
I went to Japan for the first time in 2019 and omg the train system is to die for. The stations are spotlessly clean, same with the trains. Nobody was speaking on their phones which made for much pleasant travelling. The prices were insanely cheap as well, especially with the JR Pass.
Try living here and using them in rush hour, lol
The music in this game is very "Japanese PS2 game". It reminds me of Gran Turismo
To me is more like de Sega Outrun series.
The intro music gave me a Mario kart DS vibe.
@@adriandangelo3029 ah Sega Outrun, fond memories! I thought the same exactly.
I'm guessing the music is done by Zuntata (a group of musicians that serves as Taito's "house band" and does a lot of their soundtracks)
It's Japanese fusion jazz. They love that shit. Got more electronic over the years. There's a video somewhere of Mario melodies compared to old fusion instrumentals.
As someone who lives here, and rides this line quite as often, as most of us in the Tokyo metro area do, I could not stop laughing.
Never thought I would not only see this game but, hear "Densha de go!go!go!" song in Japanese on this channel!
Such fond memory of my childhood...
The English section you pointed out was actually just a translation of the announcement that came before it, as is standard on most lines throughout Japan.
Yes.
It actually was.
Yes think you may be waiting a while for a UK based "Northern Rail & Go!" system to hit the shelves
They had ‘driverless trains’ long before anyone else. Well, having ‘No driver for this train’ was often an excuse for cancellation.
I have played Train Simulator on the PC and I downloaded a few custom, community levels. After a long load time the level loaded and - no word of a lie - a message appeared on screen saying the train service had been cancelled due to heavy snow! That was it - click the only button to acknowledge the message and it took you back to the main screen.
@@carlpollington5059 Did you go home and have a beer? lol
We’d probably get a replacement bus simulator instead.
@@BungleBare Why is the UK train service crappy? lol
i cant imagine going to an arcade (probably taking a train to get there) and playing a train simulator
I am pleasantly surprised to find a gaming-related video in one of the non-gaming channels I follow on youtube. :)
Thank you for an entertaining and interesting video!
Densha de Go x Techmoan is the 2021 crossover I wasn't expecting
It's not 2021 until I get jabbed
As someone who very much is into trains and Densha de GO! this video was a treat. Cheers mate!
Same here but I'm more into the hobby side of trains (O Gauge HO Gauge etc:) And while I loved the video on this game system, I wished they actually made a hobby transformer with that style of control. It's mostly levers or dials. This would fit right home in my HO train setup.
If this was a train in New Jersey, USA you’d sit on the platform forever because of the delays!
I lived in the north-west for about 23 years and on the odd occasion I went into Manchester I had to take those same trains from either Wigan Wallgate or Upholland. Truly dire experience when the train did show up. Moved to Japan and am living in Tokyo now. You hit the nail on the head, you could set your watch to these trains, although they are somehow even more crowded than the Wigan to Manchester trains (which is especially unnerving in a pandemic), the experience is less dire than in the UK. As for Densha de go, it's still ridiculously popular here. Most arcades have a cabinet for it. Actually, cabinet is the wrong word, it's more like the cab of a train is sitting there with the controls inside. Hope you have had a great Christmas and wishing you a happy new year. Looking forward to more Techmoan content in 2021.
I ordered the British version, but unfortunately it was a replacement bus service.
I like how it has a cup holder built in...
I noticed that too! It kind of looks like the shifters would get the way of the cup
*There's more information in the video description.*
It's actually a watch holder which is cool
@@Techmoan oh haha, I usually never read those! But I did this time and got a very pleasant surprise 🌈
@@lotecque uh I watch youtube almost exclusively on mobile, definitely isn't hard to access
Can't thank you enough for taking the time to add real closed captions to your videos, it really means a lot to people like me with hearing difficulties, and not many creators do it and auto-generated are very hit-and-miss. So thank you!
This game looks so comfy. I really wanna explore the city.
As consolation, you will find no shortage of real cab ride videos on UA-cam for pretty much any of Japan's routes. The Yamanote Line is a good place to start; it's a one hour loop around Tokyo's central districts.
This content is why I support you on Patreon. Love it!
Funny, I had roughly the same experience you did Matt. I kind of figured this would be some goofy thing that didn't look entertaining and instead it looks crazy fun! If any of the good people at Taito watch this video, know that there is definitely a market in America for something like this. It looks like a ton of fun
I played this in a taito gamecentre in Kabukicho , Tokyo , lots of fun, they give you the white gloves & hat to wear too! I spent many an hopur on the Yamanote line visiting parts of Tokyo - amazing place. & JR west, east etc are the train companies for different parts of Japan. also they are SO accurater, i mean a 320kph shinkansen (bullet train) on time to the secons & within an inch of the gates (the shinkansens have gates on the platforms, colour co-ordinated to match the shinkansen & the carrage entrance. playing a game like that really makes you appreciate how good the drivers are.
Also delays per year are measured in SECONDS in japan.....
The UK railfan community is actually one of the most active in the West, and the most popular modern train simulator, Train Sim World, is made by a UK developer Dovetail Games. The Pacers you were suffering on actually have somewhat of a cult following nowadays.
A note, the "score" percentage you get when starting to move isn't the score, it's the occupancy rate. It can max out in the rush hour above 100% and the higher it is, the heavier the train, forcing you to make more careful considerations about acceleration and braking.
Nostalgia. I remembered playing this 15 years ago at the arcade. I hardly knew what to do because of the Japanese but I kept coming back for the controls. So satisfying. Those analogue speedometers on the arcade one were legit. The controls were metal. There may have been a step pedal.
Anyone underplaying the difficulty of Japanese is doing a disservice. There’s 92 characters to learn at a bare minimum to be able to read the language assuming that what you’re reading translates the kanji for you, and then about 2,000 kanji to read at a high school level if it doesn’t translate the kanji. And even then you’ll be stuck knowing how to read the words with absolutely no understanding of what they mean. I’m 18 months into college Japanese study and half the time I still feel like I know nothing.
Outside of games for children and very old games, nothing translates the kanji into kana alphabet, so anyone who needs to read Japanese proficiently does have to learn the 2000 kanji, and each kanji has multiple readings and meanings too
Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn if your native language is romantic (eng, fra etc.)
Agreed.
Japanese (or any east Asian language) have no common origin with European languages making them probably the most difficult to learn for a native English speaker.
That said it is handy to learn some very basic ones like "Yes, No, Save, Load" if your importing games that don't rely on text too much.
I think they meant just to play this game, there are only a handful of kanji you would need to know.
Can be done in 2 years.
As I saw that intro, I suddenly remembered Casiopea, and their former keyboardist owns a company that makes train simulators.
I feel you in finding some simulator games to be winning one over when playing them.
Just as I found it oddly satisfying playing American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 on my PC. Then I just go by the mirrors when backing up those trailers and get a nice cense of accomplishment for a delivery well done.
To properly understand this game you must have in mind the absolute pride and fascination that the Japanese have for their public transportation system. And for good reason since it's simply brilliant. It's incredibly clean, convenient and precise, unlike in most places around the world. Here, if a train gets delayed by more than a few seconds, the driver and the station clerks will apologize to all the costumers. It's really amazing, and a model to the rest of the world.