Taito teams up with LaForet Harajuku to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders

Shaggy August 3, 2008 5

[ITMedia]

I’m not a fashion expert so when I first read about this news I had to look up what LaForet Harajuku was. According to this page: “ Since its phenomenally successful debut in 1978, Laforet Harajuku shopping center and museum has established itself as the preeminent source of new fashion and culture in Tokyo’s most fashionable district.” They also help young designers get started. So with that out of the way, Taito has teamed up with LaForet to launch a line of Space Invaders inspired clothing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the aforementioned game. The line-up includes T-shirts, hats, hoodies, shoes and purses.

To check them out, hit the post break below, where you also get to see a Vewlix cabinet running Space Invaders! I wasn’t expecting to see one of these!

1st, there’s an enormous purse with a tiny Invader on it. I would think that fashion would dictate that the purse be shaped like an Invader. It wouldn’t function very well but it would be fashionable, right? (There’s a good reason why I’m not a fashion designer)

Next are SI sneakers, much like those ProKeds arcade shows we talked about a long time ago. I wouldn’t mind having a pair of these to wear out.

Here’s some official SI T-shirts. In regards to the first one I guess it’s fashionable to throw all those abstract things at it to increase it’s coolness factor. Personally I’d be happy with something that looks like a screenshot from the game with a funny saying on it. Yet another reason why I’m not the fashion guru who is designing these things. The other two tops feature a larger invader on it than the rest of the items so people can actually tell what it is from a distance.

There are also some berets with tiny invaders on them and a tie with a small invader on it, which is pretty disappointing – even the guy wearing it is disappointed by how lame it is.

But now for something that is surprising – a mini-Vewlix cabinet that is running SI! For all the effort Taito has been putting into marketing Space Invaders this year, I was beginning to wonder if they were going to try anything else with the game coming back to arcades or if Space Invaders: Beat the Attackers would be it. I wonder if they just set this up for display or if they will be planning anything official. (sorry about my screwup earlier, it is no a mini-cabinet)

5 Comments »

  1. mufunyo August 4, 2008 at 2:07 pm - Reply

    That’s a regular Vewlix, the angle on the pic makes it seem smaller than it really is. Notice the size of the stick compared to the rest of the CP, it’s definitely a regular Vewlix.

  2. Shaggy August 4, 2008 at 2:46 pm - Reply

    Agh, you’re right. Never mind then (and thanks for pointing that out)!

  3. editor August 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm - Reply

    You are both right – conventional sized VEWLIX, but with a unique monitor configuration.

  4. mufunyo August 5, 2008 at 12:39 am - Reply

    @editor
    That monitor configuration is called “tate” and all Vewlix cabs are capable of it out of the box (as are most Japanese “candy” cabinets). You’re right in that you don’t see it that often, mostly vertical shooters use it.

  5. editor August 5, 2008 at 1:13 am - Reply

    I am still a bit rusty on the VEWLIX confi’s – I saw in the manual that you can spin the screen, but the VEWLIX we had in the UK did not have this feature!

    I have to say I am still a bit in shock over the VEWLIX and the Type-X2 capability All the claims of the two player SFIV single cab have vanished.

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