More or less everyone knows, by now, that several pieces of content have been (quite foolishly) cut from the western release of Yakuza 3. Between such content, Shogi is one of the minigames (or better sub-games, since it wasn't "Mini" at all), that I will miss the most, having played it as part of Yakuza 2 for quite a while, finding it a very interesting diversion that added several tens of hours of gameplay to the game.
Unfortunately, according to Sega, it doesn't "resonate" with the western audience, since, you know... the western audience (at least according to Sega) is stupid.
For the ones that are unfamiliar with the game, this wikipedia page explains the basics quite well.
Being more complex than western Chess due to some interesting mechanics, like the ability to drop captured pieces back into the game, Shogi is a delight for the brain, and a true treat for truly hardcore gamers.
So, now that Sega has left us orphaned of this lovely treat, what should we do, besides trying to find a copy of Yakuza 2?
We can play with Shogidokoro.
Shogidokoro is not exactly a game by itself. It's a Windows-based graphical user interface that can load several shogi-playing engines and let you play against them, let two engines play against each other and even let you or your engine of choice battle against other humans or other engines online (quite obviously, an engine is a program that will play shogi).
This means that, in order to play, you will need Shogidokoro itself, and at least one engine.
The best part of this all is that both Shogidokoro and one of the most popular engines, Spear, are free. You can go directly to the Spear homepage and download it. You will also find the instruction on how to download and install Shogodokoro.
The graphics aren't exactly the best you'll ever find in a game. They're indeed quite simple, but the game is deep and extremely fun. It doesn't only require intelligence and tactical thinking, but also quite a lot of imagination and ability to adapt to different situations. I'd dare say that it's quite a lot more stimulating and imaginative than western Chess.
The combination between Shogidokoro and Spear actually forms a very deep and complex program, with strong analytical tools that will help you learn and get better quite fast (even if, due to the amount of imaginative thiking required, playing against skilled humans is always better).
Instead of wasting your money with overpriced gimmicks like Brain Trainer and similar, give Shogi a try. You can be sure that your brain will stay trained and young even without the help of Dr. Kawashima.
Friday, April 30, 2010
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