It was fun while it lasted. From the very first day, Irem surprised us with mountains of rewards. When Irem opened their festival space, we found 50 furniture slots seemed inadequate to hold the goodness. All free, without a hint of greed. Just a lot of fun. Irem was part of what made home Japan so great. And after a TON of "suggestions" the Home staff brought the best of Irem to NA. And EU soon followed. But now, after Japanese tragedy, and the birth of Granzella, we bid a heartfelt Sayonara to IREM and the end of a chapter in Home's history. SAYONARA, IREM. And as Bob Hope might add...."And thanks for the Memories...."
It was fun while it lasted, and it will be fun to think back on too. I met quite a few of my friends in Irem spaces, and we made memories there. The spaces are gone now, but my friends and my memories remain. Thanks, Irem.
Nice of ya to add some pictures! If anyone else has any, please feel free to add them. I would love to see them. And I'm sure others would too!
I am surprise the extended boardwalk hold that many obese North American people and it didn't break?..LOL..Jokin' jokin'...Yep, indeed is a heartfelt farewell departure with IREM Seaside Memories beach from NA and EU HOME, but with birth of South Island Beach space from Granzella is a new dawn for us all in Western region HOME to enjoy and a place to relax in.
My final thoughts on Irem: *"Free without a hint of greed" came with a devastating and terribly unfair catch to all but the lucky handful that were there from the beginning. You not only had to own a PS3 starting in 2008, but you had to know about JP home, and be on practically every single week (sometimes every day) to get those items. Which then disappeared and were never resold.* *Irem had terrible business policies in regards to that. If they resold all their previously free rewards (especially the stupid "April Fools" stuff and Gekito costumes), instead of making them vanish forever, they would have made millions.* **And if they brought ALL their lounges and purchasable items (with the exception of JP only games) to US, they would have made even more, and perhaps they would not be gone now.* As far as what I miss, I miss Irem HQ and the R Type lounge the most, they were amazing.* **I hope Granzella does not follow in Irem's footsteps in terms of "limited time rewards that will never see the light of day again" and bringing only the bare bones of their lounges/purchasable items to NA. I don't even mind the exorbitant prices (Granzella is even higher then Irem) as long as they release EVERYTHING in the other regions.
I think I should give more info about Irem. Although the info may not be 100% correct, it is said that the president of tv/lcd maker Nanao (parent company of Irem) was running Irem as a hobby. So it wasn't really focused on doing business. But with the long depression in Japan, most probably the president wasn't able to fund it anymore and decided to disband Irem to only the pachinco business. (it's assumed the decision was given last year, and Kujo and staff was given a deadline to either finish what their working on or cancel it.) Then the earthquake came and probably all project came to a stop and didn't make the deadline. Granzella on the other hand, doesn't have any luxury source of funds like Irem did so their desperate of getting money. That's probably why you see the aggressive high prices on some items and frequent fast updates. (although some are kind of rehashed Irem stuff)
Oh that's interesting, thanks for that info. It definitely clears up the confusion of why they weren't so concerned with the money they could have made.* I guess Granzella won't have the same practices after all then! And yeah, many of the items are exactly the same as Irem but with a minor difference, so in a way it's like Irem is still alive, and some of the other items are actually better versions of the Irem stuff (like the chests)
Tarazuma, I don't think Irem was terribly unfair. Not unless you call all of home terribly unfair. Limited items are in every region. Even now, there are Lockwood items in NA and EU that won't be available in a month. Compare Irem to NA tossing out a code that would expire after just 100 uses. All Irem rewards were available to anyone who came. And except for the April fool's event, most every Irem reward was available for weeks at a time. Though it was possible that you could blow your chance at an item if you did failed to make the right choices. But I did think item gave us a decent shot at each item. (not including 4/1, but that was an event)
Aiken, would you mind PMing the full sized pics to StephieRawks on PSN? I've been saving the pics people have posted from the Final Farewell Fiesta, since I only took 4 pics myself, but for some reason yours won't save. :confused1: Would love to add these great shots to my little collection!
Here's the video I shot of the Farewell Fiesta Stephie and DD threw last week! [video=youtube;fLCb1PAs7Sw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCb1PAs7Sw[/video]
