The sour smell of vomit and alcohol hits me as I get on the train. It's not even 6AM, and Friday's binges have carried over to this Saturday morning. The carriage is practically empty, and everyone is either reading a tabloid paper or sleeping, save for some girl putting on make-up. Propped against her leg is a carry-on Aristocats suitcase, no doubt filled with cosmetics. I grab a seat, take a look at my Xbox 360 Preview Guide that still incorrectly lists Dead or Alive 4 as a launch title.

The putrid smell worsens, and I move to the next carriage. Icy sweat runs down the back of my neck. I start counting the stops: Minami-Morimachi, Kita-hama. The train rocks back and forth. Sakaisuji Hommachi, Nagahoribashi.

One more stop to Nipponbashi and Den-Den Town. I need a breath of air and get off at Nagahoribashi, slowing my launch day arrival at the Den-Den Town's Sofmap, one of the neighborhood's most popular game stores.

There's cabbage strewn all over the street. Cold scrapes echo through the boulevard as workman shove heads of cabbage into a garbage truck. Some lady helps them. I'm trying to figure out what happened. There's no over turned truck, not accident, nothing. Just cabbage.

Streetwalkers in puffy coats and blue jeans lurk in dark alleyways, trying to convince someone, anyone to take them into a heated hotel room. I glimpse one giving her sales pitch to salaryman. Her Japanese sounds terrible.

The light changes, and I cross the street, leading into Den-Den Town. Everything moves in slow motion at this hour, including the man that is passing me on a bicycle. There are at least five heads of cabbage in the bicycle's basket.

Turning a corner, I can make out a huge Kasumi poster above retail store Sofmap. It's 6:43am, and I'm first in line. There isn't a soul in sight.

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