How technology kept us entertained and baffled this year.

Japan has one of the world’s largest and most passionate gamer populations, and the country has always respected innovators and inventors. Here are SoraNews24’s top stories from the past year that involved grabbing a controller, using a device, or thinking outside the mechanical box.

Top game stories of 2022

● Two crows decided to wreck a Pokémon GO player in Japan during Pokémon GO Fest

So…those crows were definitely sent by Team Rocket, right?

● New Hanger Rack from Japan looks like a great way to break your PlayStation controllers

For the gamer who says they love their controllers but secretly, deep down, wants to destroy them.

● “Gamer apartments” available to rent for under US$350 a month, comes with full gaming PC set up

Hardwood floors, spacious kitchen, short walk to the nearest station…yeah, sure, those would all be nice, but this sounds even better.

● The entire Pokémon Red and Blue Kanto region map, built as a 3-D diorama, looks amazing【Photos】

Who else would instantly buy a Red and Blue remake if it looked like this?

● Image-generating AI’s picture of “Final Fantasy VII Cloud” is so wrong, yet so right

Who knew Cloud was such an airhead?

Top tech stories of 2022

● We buy Amazon Japan’s lowest-rated perpetual motion machine

For when you want to go beyond the laws of thermodynamics, but you don’t want to spend a lot of money to do it.

● We bought a low-rated levitating speaker on Amazon that made us want to cry

Because, like, what would even be the point of achieving perpetual motion without the ability to levitate too?

● Japanese company develops a door within a door, and it’s a great idea

And maybe next year they’ll put a door in that one, and then the year after that they can…

● How to use the new floating hologram registers at 7-Eleven

Now 7-Eleven Japan isn’t awesome just because of what you can buy there, but how you buy it too.

● Sony’s wearable air conditioners selling like cold cakes in heat-stricken Japan

By the time mid-winter rolls around, it’s almost hard to remember how hot and humid Japan gets in the summer, but everyone remembers where they put these in six months’ time.

Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!