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PlayStation (Games) Entertainment Games

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl Simulator Thrills For PS2 54

Posted by simoniker from the yummy-in-yr-tummy dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to a hands-on account of Success' Japanese PS2 title Yoshinoya over at GameSpot, the game, based on the popular Japanese/U.S. restaurant chain, 'is quite possibly one of the greatest beef-bowl simulators on the current generation of game consoles.' Sadly, the game probably won't make it out of Japan." Apparently filled with hectic multi-part gameplay: "You'll take the role of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed trainee at a Yoshinoya store who must work his way up through the ranks of the apron-and-hat-wearing set to be the best employee to ever seat a customer, pour tea, prepare a bowl, and shout 'Arigato gozaimashita!'"
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Yoshinoya Beef Bowl Simulator Thrills For PS2 More

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl Simulator Thrills For PS2

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  • Huh? (Score:2, Redundant)

    by TCaptain ( 115352 )
    I'm always looking for new kinds of games but what the hell is a beef bowl simulation????

    And are there that many that you can say:

    One of the greatest beef-bowl simulators on the current generation of game consoles

    • Re:Huh? (Score:3, Funny)

      by DJdeli ( 789399 )
      Think about it, we haven't had a good food-making computer simulator since Burgertime. Maybe it's time for a new 3D grilling simulator to help those guys at Mickey D's in training.
      • Don't forget there was a NES game based on McDonalds released in America. It was called M.C. Kids [vgmuseum.com] (McKids) and featured lots of references to the fast food chain. I heard it wasn't that bad of a game actually.

      • Re:Huh? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Friday June 18, 2004 @08:52PM (#9469629) Homepage
        There was actually a very good food simulator for the PS1 that involved chopping carrots, stirring noodles, and juggling tasks and customers around (a pot boils whether you watch it or not, but you need to strain the noodles before they get mushy). It came on one of the Playstation Underground disks, and was called Ore no Ryouri [ign.com], one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. Definitely worth a try, if you can find it.

    • That's not it. A couple weeks earlier, they had released a similar game...but you were running a curry shop instead.

  • Virtual work? Do I get virtual tips? Do I pay virtual taxes? Are there virtual dooche nozzles that order everything that is not on the menu then not leave a tip?

    Just wondering, virtual...


  • "You'll take the role of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed trainee at a Yoshinoya store who must work his way up through the ranks of the apron-and-hat-wearing set to be the best employee to ever seat a customer, pour tea, prepare a bowl, and shout 'Arigato gozaimashita!'"

    Smack me for this, but my eyes keep seeing "Mr. Roboto" in there somewhere. Does anyone else reflexively think of the song "Mr. Roboto" by Styx whenever they see the word "arigato"?

    /only knows enought Japanese to **fake** like he's a
  • do we have to wear virtual boobs to get more tips? dow e get virtually slapped on the butt by virtual pervs? and slap them with virtual restraining orders?

  • Ahh Japan. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ObsessiveMathsFreak ( 773371 ) <obsessivemathsfr ... om.net minus bsd> on Friday June 18, 2004 @11:17AM (#9463775) Homepage Journal
    What a country!

    Only the japaneese would have the guts to release such a game. It's this willingness to take risks that makes the games from Japan of a higher quality than US or European games.

    Do you think EA would bother making this game. Even bother to think up of a new game. Why bother? Just wait till a small studio does, buy them out and run the series until its hyped up, buggy and hollywoodised death.

    Come on companies!! Innovate!!! Look what these guys have done!

    • Re:Ahh Japan. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by bconway ( 63464 ) *
      This has nothing to do with guts and everything to do with culture. The fact is, releasing this in Japan wasn't taking a risk, just like releasing graphic violence-based games like Grand Theft Auto in the US isn't a risk. It's GOING to do well.

      • The fact is, releasing this in Japan wasn't taking a risk, just like releasing graphic violence-based games like Grand Theft Auto in the US isn't a risk.

        Nothing's really different -- the manufacturers continue to produce what they consider the surest bets and try to maximize their profits against development costs.

        Meanwhile, each market continues to jones for something new, fresh, and innovative because the surest bets only cover the middle sixth or so of the bell curve. (Warning: I just pulled that s

    • HELLO INTARWEB SIR: THE NIPPON PEOPLES DO MAKE TEH BAD VIDEO GAMES! BUT zOMFG, YOU ARE NIPPON, SO YOU MAYBE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?

      Seriously, why don't drop the anime/manga/gaigokujin/mecha/asian_girlfriend_lust ing stereotype crap and use your brain for a sec. The Japanese industry does produce crap... it's just not sold here.
    • While we're on the subject of these "alternative" games from Japan, let me tell ya, beef bowl is nothing compared to the mighty power of The Way of Cocoichi Curry [ichibanya.co.jp].

      /loves 'karee'

    • I think you're glorifying the Japanese a little. You also have to remember that Japanese have different tastes in video games than say Americans do - the mosquito game comes to mind. =) I think in general, it's believed that Americans respond more to first person shooters while Japanese believe American games are more violent. I don't think they're more innovative - they're just appealing to different tastes.
    • Only the japaneese would have the guts to release such a game

      Is it guts or is the game part of a promotional or marketing campaign and therefore subsidized? Remember ChexQuest, a sananitized version of Doom put into every box of Chex cereal for a while?

      And if its not part of a promotional or marketing campaign it is not necessarily a gutsy move. As others have pointed out tastes are wildly different between Japan and the US. It might be gutsy in the US but conventional in Japan to release such a game.
    • Something I totally forgot to mention when I was ridiculing your idiotic post earlier. The game being discussed here... isn't it just an advertisement for a restaurant chain? Where is the risk in that? Other than advertising dollars being lost?

      And how does this nippon-wannabe gaijin get modded to insightful? He's blowing hot smoke up any moderators ass who thinks he might even have half a correct thought in this matter.

      $100 on the table that right at this moment, he has a life-size pillow in his bedroo

  • Sounds familiar... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by WinnipegDragon ( 655456 ) on Friday June 18, 2004 @11:30AM (#9463908)
    Reminds me of a game I used to play on the C64, but I'll be damned if I can recall the title.

    Basically, you work a cash register, and you get a total and a number of bills. Your job is to figure out the correct change, and hand it over using the least number of coins possible. Of course, you are also timed.

    Now the point of this post: These are both simulations to prepare kids for low-paying, repetitive jobs in the service industry. The fact that this one is linked to a particular brand also makes it a form of viral advertising.

    Folks, this is not a good thing.

  • When you're an undergrad, all you can afford is ramen (occasionally PB&J or Mac&Cheese). But then, when you're a grad student, you enter the realm of delicious Yoshinoya Beef Bowl! Yummmmm!

  • Japanese Assistance (Score:4, Informative)

    by MobyDisk ( 75490 ) on Friday June 18, 2004 @11:34AM (#9463955) Homepage
    For those who are struggling with the phrase "Arigato gozaimashita!" this link explains:

    Frequently Asked Question in Japanese language - What is the difference between Arigatou gozaimasu and Arigatou gozaimashita? [about.com]
  • If you enjoy noodle making games (or if you don't) you should watch Tampopo [imdb.com]. Certainly one of the best noodle movies ever made!

    I am serious though, this is a good movie. Quite funny too.

  • Slightly off-topic...

    A friend was telling me that most of Yoshinoya's beef comes from the US. Since the recent mad cow ban they've started serving pork instead of beef. When news of the switch broke people started lining up [japantoday.com] for final bowls before the beef ran out. At about $2.50 a bowl it's a nice alternative to McDonald's.
  • are the only place you can get a beef bowl from Yoshinoya(in Japan anyway) right now. After mad cow was discovered in the US, Japan blocked all imports of US beef, and still has the block in place(they said they would remove it with 100% testing, but so far the US has said that would be too expensive without any real increase in accuracy), so Yoshinoya has stopped serving beef bowls outside their original restaurant in a certain part of Tokyo(their original store, can't remember what area) where they use m
    • At least in the US, Yoshinoya's "beef bowl" is made with rubber, not beef.
      • I never actually went to a US Yoshinoya, there really aren't any in western PA, and actually I only went there a few times in Japan(though the beef bowl was actually pretty good). I usually went to Matsuya, which had pretty good food(for fast food anyway).
        Shame they didn't do it right in the US, Japanese fast food is actually pretty good. And I cannot believe how energetic the staff is. Makes me wish people in the US actually enjoyed their food service jobs(though having worked in one, I can understand

    • The original Yoshinoya shop is in Tsukiji district, Tokyo. While you're there, you might want to check out the largest marketplace in the country [tsukiji-market.or.jp].

      And now you know!

      • hehe, the fish market was fun, I went with a Japanese friend who spoke English very well, but she couldn't even translate most of the fish names. My dictionary had most of them, but I hadn't even heard of them before.
        Too bad my internship ended and I am back in Pennsylvania, I miss Japan, can't wait to go back.
  • If you want to virtually work, I can give you a virtual job with my dad building virtual houses in the virtually hot a$$ summer heat. Extrememly realistic environment and I won't even charge much for an 8 hour session.
  • The Japanese are batshit crazy.

    Exactly how much toe fungus do you have to smoke to come up with a "Beef Bowl Simulator" ?

    Honestly, though. We should only be so lucky to have anything like this sort of creativity with our big US game developers. There may not be anything all that awe inspiring about FoodSims, but I'd prefer it to mindless name-brand knockoffs based on a lame formula for success.


    --LordPixie
    • It's a different world over there game wise. In that context it probably makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the Japanese fanboys that think that wacky +Japanese = awesome. Sometimes it just ends up being stupid.
  • Think of all the sequels it could spawn with all different types of food!

  • Sounds like an interesting puzzle game (Score:4, Informative)

    by Fiz Ocelot ( 642698 ) <baelzharon&gmail,com> on Friday June 18, 2004 @02:08PM (#9465743)
    If you do rtfa, you'll discover it's a puzzle game that consists of generating combos or "chains" of customers. You create these chains to score more points and add time to the clock.

    They basically used ideas from other puzzle games that work, and applied beef bowls and some twists. So no it's not a "work simulator". And I'd actually like to try it.

  • This sounds like an update to a game I'm quite fond of. I know it only as "My Own Food." I don't know if that name has anything to do with the original title, but that's what the translation was on the site that a friend of mine ordered it from in... '99 maybe?

    My Own Food, from what I could tell since it was entirely in japanese and I didn't read it at all, was about you, a young successful chef who had twice bested your rival, the evil frog cook. At the beginning of the game, in what was a stereotypi
  • For those following the far-reaching effects [bloomberg.com] of the US Mad Cow scare in Japan, the next version of this title is going to have to be referred to as Yoshinoya 2: Pork Bowl Simulator... As it stands now, the only beef bowl you're going to get from Yoshinoya here in Japan is a virtual one. Damn those prions for robbing me of the delicious taste of shredded beef-flavored fat delicately slopped over greasy rice with a garnish of radioactive ginger!

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