Well not really, but this will probably be as close as I get. I went to an arcade in Asakusa last night. If you pay just a little more to start up Sega’s Initial D 4, you get to save your player data on an IC card (a.k.a. Smart Card) that the machine will create for you on the spot. Now I can upgrade my car and keep track of the levels I’ve completed, and track my progress on the Internet. I’m a nerd, but this is so very cool.
There are a slew of games like these that make interesting uses of IC cards. One game, called Sangokushi, uses IC cards by allowing the player to manipulate the position of the cards to control his or her troops on the screen. Another game, Gundam Card Builder 0083, uses the same approach. It looks awfully complicated but I do want to learn at some point. I may have to take up smoking to stay in these places for more than 15 minutes though as there are a ton of chain-smoking 25-45 year olds there.
If you want to see more pictures of what I’m talking about, click on this Flickr search. Enjoy!