MTV News wrote:

[Japan's Akihabara district] is essentially a shop-able museum of video game culture, if you're interested in any of the greats that hailed from Japan. And if you're visiting, an ideal guide is Tim Rogers: a columnist, musician and an employee of what he asked to have referred to as a "Japanese game company."

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On a Thursday afternoon back in April, Rogers gave MTV News a tour. With leather jacket, leopard-print backpack and two female friends — one of whom dressed as a maid — at his side, he took a stroll down Akihabara's main drag, Chuo-doori, which is lined with storekeepers on the sidewalk barking sales pitches for new games and little doorways leading to troves of obscure classic gaming goods.

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So instead of the kinds of games one might expect to find at GameStop, a tour of Akihabara brought to the fore a phenomenon of a different sort: "Mother 3." His friend Asuza Takamiya, the one dressed as a maid, happily clutched a copy of the game. "Today's her birthday," Rogers said. Why was she excited about this kind of birthday present? "It's like a normal game, but it makes her think there's something strange about it, and she will probably wind up crying after playing it."

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And Rogers? He's talking about his engagement to a swimsuit model, his work translating Japanese comics to English and maybe a renewed focus on his rock band, Large Prime Numbers. But he's still up for another prowl of Akihabara. There are plenty more gems to be found.