Tokyo: Odaiba

15:20.06 - Tuesday 30th September 2008   (Link to This Entry)

The rain continued today so we hopped on the train to Tokyo Teleport and the Sega Joypolis arcade. For roughly £17.50 you get an all-day pass that allows you to play all of the full-version arcade games from your youth - things like Outrun with full-sized cars and so on - as well as some of the newest games from the company.

Halfpipe Canyon was there the last time I visited Joypolis, but it's worth a mention since I don't think I covered it last time. It comprises four 2-person skateboards arranged along a halfpipe. The boards swing on a pendulum arrangement and you can perform a 360 using a large rocker switch beneath your feet. The aim is to start the turn at the centre point of the halfpipe for maximum points.

One of the new rides was 'Spin Bullet' which is an indoor roller-coaster cum teacups ride. The track ducks and dives around the inside of the building in a frenzy of tight corners and sudden drops, including one around the three quarter mark where I where there's a moment of zero-g. Not recommended for people with bad backs or of a nervous disposition!

Also new is Burnout Running - a track and field sim featuring four full-sized treadmills for competitors to sprint on. We watched four girls playing this and decided it was far to energetic for old farts like us.

Partway through the day we took a walk over to Toyota Megaweb where we had a look around the latest models from Toyota's lineup, including the Toyota Alphaed and the Lexus SC430. The staff at MegaWeb are on hand to explain the features of the vehicles for as long as you want them, and you are more than welcome to sit inside to try them on for size.

We also took a 7-minute ride in the eCom - an electric two-seater that was running around the building on a guiding track. Great stuff, and well worth the ¥200 (£1).

On the way back we noticed the huge ferris wheel that dominates the skyline was all lit up, making it even more noticable. We didn't go on it this time since we really wanted to snap some photos of the surrounding area, but we'll see about it next week. We returned to Joypolis for a few more games before getting something to eat and heading home.