Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 3

Genre: News Service / Mini-Games

Number of Players: 1

Aspect Ratio: 720p, 1090i, 1080p

Ethernet Broadband Required

If you’ve set up a Japanese PlayStation Network account, you’ve undoubtedly run across a free download on the store featuring a rather odd looking cat that you may have noticed is one of the selectable icons to represent your name. The character is Toro Inoue, also known as Sony Cat, who first appeared back in 1999 in Doko Demo Issyo on the PocketStation. Toro also has acted as a mascot for the company, at least in Japan, and the “game” on the PlayStation Network isn’t actually a game at all.

Toro’s game, Mainichi Issho, translated as Everyday Together, appeared right at the launch of the PS3 in Japan. After setting up a Japanese account like a number of others have, I was curious as to what this free download was but found that I had no clue what I was supposed to be doing. The game was quickly uninstalled, but the inclusion of trophies led me to once again give it a shot and see if I could determine just what in the heck this was all about. Also, I did have my wife attempt to play around with Mainichi Issho the first time, but even she was a bit lost.

In reality, Mainichi Issho is a news service, but not like you’d expect. Everything is set in Toro’s new home which players can decorate, both inside and out, to their liking. The news itself isn’t what you might assume that it is, and while releases for the PlayStation brand are covered, there is other news as well. On the gaming side, not only are new PS3 titles showcased but also new PSP titles and even PS2 titles which have reached greatest hits status in Japan, or Best Hits as they are called there.

Players simply select the news option from the main menu where at the top, the current news of the month is located. Once an article is selected, Toro and his friend Kuro report as mock news reporters from their “desks” (cardboard boxes) on whatever the area of focus is. This can include information on new business and restaurants that are opening, areas of interest in Japan, and plenty of other things. Everything is delivered with text balloons and the same feature is done when the two “interview” someone, something which is also accompanied by various still images. Interviews can include Japanese seiyuu (voice actors), game designers, and even characters from popular upcoming titles. The pair have even “sat down” with Snake who in turn helped them break into Konami headquarters to meet Kojima. Reading the news will also reward players with points which can be used to buy new items for Toro’s home and some will even given you special items that aren’t bought in the shops.

All past news articles are archived and easily accessible, so even if you miss something you can still go back and read it at a later date. Any websites that are referenced are stored in a handy web area to visit at your leisure and a recently added RSS feed allows players to follow the news of any enabled site that they desire, the default of course being set to the Japanese PlayStation official webpage. There is also a separate news section specifically for gaming and a section that is Toro’s story which I assume is giving more background on the character. My wife hasn’t been present to read everything to me, nor would I expect her to as some of these news items are rather lengthy. Some news items will also have you rate them as far as how you feel about them. Mainichi Issho also runs contest and all news in relation to them can be found here.

Decorating is actually easy, though you only have one view of the single room apartment. Once you have an item you can go enter the game mode that allows you to redesign how Toro’s home looks. The game won’t let you do anything outlandish like put posters on walls, but it is quite easy to manipulate anything you own and these can be broken down into a variety of categories to make it easier. The game will also show you how much space you have to work with so it will be impossible to use everything you’ve managed to obtain. Toro will, if left on his own, interact with some of these items. A fan that appears in Siren for example might hop up in a threatening manner or Toro will play with tank from Valkyrie Chronicles that you’ve won.

Players also select their own avatar, or Nyavatar, to use in the outside world. With this, you can explore the area around Toro’s home or go beyond and see what your neighbors are up to. There are contests which are frequently ran for exterior design, though I have found that apparently Mainichi Issho must be set up to somehow determine the location of the user. The reason apparently is that things here are purchased with yen, not with the virtual money from the game. Obviously, logging in with a US account is going to be quickly noticed and absolutely won’t work. My Japanese account does have yen on it, but it’s being saved for more important things, such as games. I’m curious though to see if Home ends up featuring a similar store.

The Okaimono is where all of the purchasing is done. Again, some items can be unlocked simply by reading a news story, so if you think that having a Siren or Ridge Racer poster hanging might be a great addition, it’s better to find the new brief that awards this rather than spending 200 points on it. Many of the items are food based because apparently even a virtual cat needs to eat. There are also roulette tickets that can be bought and subsequently, others things won. There also is a true game which lets players participate in right brain activities. Some of these are easy, but the ones where reading Japanese is required are going to be a bit more difficult.

One thing that should be noted is that the “game” is completely in Japanese. I’ve read in some forums the excitement players here have about getting more trophies and it’s not nearly as simply as you might think. Yes, it’s all about reading the news, or rather, skipping through it, and the first few trophies are easy. However, things hit a point where you will need to read 50 items, then 90, and finally 120 for the last trophy. Again, it all sounds too good to be true, but news can be a mere minute or two in length to five minutes or more and that’s even with skipping past everything. To get the first gold trophy, 90 news items read, it took nearly five hours or more which is a lot of hitting the X button not to mention working a freshly charged controller down. If it’s the trophies you want, patience is going to be the key. I at least have my wife to tell me what some of these things are about, and on that note, for those who didn’t know, there’s a very cool Godzilla lighter that just was released which is apparently limited edition as well as some Hot Shots Golf toys and so on.

Mainichi Issho isn’t a bad way to get PlayStation related news . . . if you happen to read Japanese. There’s at least one person in my home that can, so she can find out quite a bit, not just about the PlayStation but other events in Japan. For me, it’s all been a lengthy road just to get some more trophies, and I guess there’s no real harm in that.

-mike-