Basically, when you have a bunch of techies, stick them in the middle of Tokyo, mere minutes from Akihabara, it’s inevitable that they’ll get up to all manner of things. Indeed we have. Frequently. Some of these things actually have to do with technology too. If you a tech-minded funster, then Tokyo is such a great place to live.
It’s not often that I get swept up in the mania in our team at the office for whatever is doing the rounds: for MMORGs, last year it was Guild Wars, recently it’s been EVE Online both of which I missed out of through, well, just not being too bothered.
However, when a co-worker we’ll call “DG” and another we’ll call “SMC” started bringing in their Mini-Z radio controlled cars I was intrigued because I’d always wanted an RC car but thought they were too expensive or too big. Also, I love taking things to pieces. Sometimes, I put them back together.
To cut a long story short, I finally bought a small green Mini Cooper S by Kyosho from RCParadise in Akiba.
The models really are tiny – 4 AAA batteries, a motor, gearing, suspension, RC unit and all that, crammed into a body barely 14cm long. With this coming from a Japanese manufacturer, it comes with everything you need to get it running, but then you can upgrade virtually all of it, from a new body (about 1100yen), to new bearings , tyres, gears and even motors for a few hundred yen.
I’ve been running mine around the apartment a bit, but it’s even better fun in the basement carpark in this building, and since this week is Golden Week, a few friends are coming over with theirs to have a race (or more likely, a demolition derby) down there tomorrow.