Android: Guide to Downloading Kotodaman Outside Japan

Following yesterday's iPhone/iPad guide to downloading Sega's mobile game Kotodaman, here is one for Android users.

Kotodaman is based on the concept of forming Japanese words, with the UI also being completely in Japanese. However if you are interested in playing around with it anyway, why not give it a try!

• For information about the Kotodaman game: see our previous post here.
• For iPhone/iPad users: see our separate download guide here.

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iPhone/iPad: Guide to Downloading Kotodaman Outside Japan | Guest Post

Help is at hand for those not living in Japan who want to download Sega's new word-based RPG  mobile game Kotodaman (read more about it here), thanks to Phantom River Stone patron James Brown (visit him on Twitter or YouTube) who has written this guest post with step-by-step instructions on how to install the game on your Apple iPhone or iPad.

Kotodaman was released this week and, according to a recent tweet, generated 1 million downloads in just the first 3 days! The game is a free download - with optional in-game purchases - but unfortunately is only available on the Japan app stores. 

The game is based on the concept of forming Japanese words, with the UI also being completely in Japanese. However if you are interested in playing around with it anyway, we recommend giving it a try!

For Android users: we will be publishing a separate guide soon on a method for downloading Kotodaman outside Japan.

About the author

Hi guys, it's James Brown (SkillJim) here! You may not know me, but I've been a huge Shenmue fan and collector since its inception. Playing the Original Shenmue on Xmas day of 2000! I've been heavily involved with the community since then, and I'm currently part of the Shenmue Dojo team! Some of you may also recognise my name from the Sega Europe video where community manager at the time Dan Sheridan read out and answered my question concerning Shenmue 1 & 2 HD back in 2016! - I'm jealous of Switch for being able to see it announced live in person last weekend (considering I was in Japan only a week prior - doh! Look out for a future post from me all about my day exploring the Dobuita area with Switch!).

I don't contribute too much on Twitter, but if you would like to follow me, please do so :) -  @SkillJim - I also have a YouTube channel with Sega content, and hopefully really soon I'll be releasing a series of travel videos of my time visiting the great countries of China & Japan, and also the day I met Switch in Yokosuka, you can find my channel here - https://www.youtube.com/theskilljim - Thanks guys! 

It's with great pleasure that I present to you a guest blog post here on PhantomRiverStone.com!  A big thank you to Switch for letting me be featured! I hope that this post can be of some use to someone out there who may have heard about the Kotodaman game, yet didn't know how to go about downloading it from the Japan Apple AppStore.

As someone living outside Japan (in the UK), I was wondering how it would be possible for me to download this game onto my iPhone and potentially be able to play as Ryo Hazuki, which we unlocked in the campaign which Switch previously did a blog post about a while back!

• Help Ryo Hazuki Appear in SEGA's Mobile Game "Kotodaman"

So I did a little bit of research into creating a Japanese iTunes account and I want to help anyone interested in doing the same!

This is a lot easier to do if you have access to a computer or Mac with iTunes installed on it.

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SEGA Fes 2018 English Schedule & Information | 14-15 April 2018

SEGA will be holding a festival event, "SEGA Fes 2018", this weekend on April 14th and 15th at the Belle Salle Akihabara building in Tokyo.

This is SEGA's second such event, with the first one having been held in November 2016. This year's event also promises to be packed full of exciting presentations and entertainment. Furthermore, there will be live-streaming of all the events on YouTube and elsewhere.

The attractions include:

• Stage events (B1 level): promising special guests, the latest information on recent games, "surprise announcements", gameplay competitions, and more!
• Giant Attractions (1F level): there will be a huge UFO Catcher (crane game) using a person to grab the prize instead of a crane; a giant Mega Drive (Genesis) controller for playing retro games like Puyo Puyo; the classic Sega arcade games Virtua Fighter II and Daytona USA; and some of the latest arcade games including a darts machine DartsLive3, and a driving simulator called SLDS-3G.
• Taking part in an AR Stamp Rally (use an Augmented Reality app to collect stamps at the venue and around Akihabara).
• A merchandise area (1F level) for buying SEGA trinkets and toys.

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Be Credited in SEGA's Upcoming Mobile Game "Kotodaman"

If you would like to have your name in the official credits of a SEGA game in which Ryo Hazuki appears, here is your opportunity. Read on for details.

Recently SEGA confirmed a cameo for Shenmue's protagonist Ryo Hazuki in their upcoming word game for mobile devices Kotodaman, thanks to the efforts of Shenmue fans in helping reach the target number of registrations of interest.

Concept art of Ryo for the game
(from the game's official Twitter account)

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Ryo Hazuki Cameo Confirmed for SEGA's New Mobile Game

A spectacular result for Shenmue fans!

Last week we reported about a tiered SEGA promotion for their new mobile game Kotodaman, whereby the character of Ryo Hazuki would be given a cameo in the game upon if a sufficient number of registrations of interest was received.

Shenmue fans across the world responded to the call with enthusiasm, and thanks to everyone's efforts SEGA has just confirmed on the game's website (Japanese) that Ryo Hazuki's cameo has been achieved.

Concept art for Ryo Hazuki as he will appear in the game

Although the mobile game is for Japan only, this will provide additional exposure for the Shenmue franchise, and shows SEGA once again the passion of the fans for Shenmue.

Furthermore, the next "reward" tier is for another character that will be close to the hearts of Shenmue fans: the human hero from Space Harrier (whose name is apparently just "Harrier"). This character will be included if a level of 60,000 registrations is reached, an additional 5,000.

Next reward level cameo: "Harrier"

If you have not yet registered interest for the game, and wish to help Harrier make a cameo too, just follow the instructions in our previous post.

Kotodaman is scheduled to be released in spring of 2018. We will post up footage on the blog of Ryo in action after release!

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Help Ryo Hazuki Appear in SEGA's Mobile Game "Kotodaman"

SEGA are running a promotion that offers the opportunity to help include Ryo Hazuki as a character in their upcoming mobile game called Kotodaman that is scheduled for release in spring 2018 (the official Japanese site is here).

This is a great chance to increase awareness of the Shenmue series among a broader audience.

For those who want to skip information about the game and jump right into registering, please follow the "How to Pre-Register" instructions in blue at the end of the post.

Overview of the Game

Kotodaman is a word-puzzle RPG game in which up to 4 players band together, selecting elements of the Japanese alphabet to form words and defeat enemies (the damage attributed depends on the number and length of the words formed). Being based around Japanese words, it seems likely that the game will be a Japan-only release.

Game screenshot: the player drags an element from the bottom to the middle area to build words and defeat their foe at the top of the screen.

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