Retro Tech, Unplugged

Jap

an's otaku—the moniker given to its legions of nerdy pop-culture obsessives—are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore: the government is trying to outlaw some of their favorite vintage video games. On April 1, Japan's Product Safety of Electrical Appliances and Materials Law (PSE), designed to prevent electrical fires, will prohibit the resale of 259 types of electrical goods made before April 2001—including some of the most coveted video-game machines. "It's stupid," fumes retro gamer Hiroshi Yamano, while shopping at the Super Potato secondhand-game shop in Akihabara, Tokyo's nerd mecca. "Who do they think they are protecting?"

Critics contend that by outlawing the secondary market for everything from VCRs to refrigerators, the law serves as a sop to Japan's large electronics manufacturers. Some of the loudest objections have come from the otaku—particularly video-game collectors, a small but fanatical community supporting a lively trade in classics like All-Star Baseball '97 and Virtua Fighter 2 that only play on older machines. "Worst Law Ever!" screamed Weekly Playboy, a tabloid geared towards young Japanese men. While sellers can submit older products for recertification, and some game platforms—most Nintendo decks, along with later versions of Sony's PlayStation 1 and 2—are spared, the law's tangle of exceptions and conditions is only adding to the confusion. Japan's trade ministry has said it fields 150 PSE-related calls a day. Officials have admitted to inadequately publicizing the law, but there are no plans to postpone it.

Musicians and audiophiles, who swear by the warmer sound of older, analog equipment, are also up in arms. Hiroki Kimoto, manager of a shop selling secondhand music gear in Tokyo, says half of the guitar amplifiers in his inventory fall under the PSE. "We don't know what we're going to do. It's ludicrous. I have never heard anyone having safety problems with these machines, but the whole music culture could be affected." Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of Japan's most famous musicians, has moved to the forefront of a group lobbying for the law to be revised. But he and the otaku had better move fast—or, come April, it could be Game Over.