Hello Napo! It's been a while!

I have been released from my dry blogging spell! Sort of! I had serious writer's block and I got fatigued over juggling three Myspace clones. I just had to have a break from everything. These last couple days though, I've been writing drafts. So I am very happy to be able to post. It means the blogging gears in my brains are going.

I've also been trying out Blaugust over at my personal blog. Blaugust is like Inktober or Mermay or Nanowrimo but for blogging. 31 posts in 31 days in August. But it's September now so... Septemblog? lol. Anyways here's my variety blog. Ideas from my personal blog sometimes cross over and wander into any of my posts here on napo. 

Anywho, now that we've checked in with each other, let's get into today's blog!

Intro

On friendrewind, user Jamz has made a zine inspired by tarot and the digital webspace. I was reading July's issue and there was a journaling prompt there that saved me from my dry blogging spell:

“What's something you never posted but wanted to?”

For me the answer is the game Love and Berry: Dress Up and Dance! This classic SEGA arcade game took over my childhood when it came out. But I wasn’t one of the players. I was one of the kids who eagerly observed it from a distance. 

I never wanted to post about it because I know so little, but I really wanted to because it's one of those things in my childhood that was super popular and I never got to experience it! These days, I'm learning what I can about it through the internet. 

The Step One

My first encounter with Love and Berry was through a binder my classmate brought to school. She brought it in one day to trade cards with other classmates. I was really curious!

Inside were cards of hairstyles, clothing, jewelry and footwear. All of them were so flashy and cute! I was familiar with paper dress up dolls and online as flash games. So this felt like it was in the same realm.

But why as cards? I knew games like “teks” or “pogs” and even “yu-gi-oh” (i didn’t play but the cards were traded around a lot at the time.) Those were my only point of reference for any card-related games. The cards didn't look like any of those. Weird!

I was captivated by some of the clothes. I grew up a tomboy. I'm half and half on girly, pink, frilly things. I liked that some of the clothes were kinda sporty. It really opened my eyes to a cool aesthetic of fashion and how they defined feminine looks. 

Most of all… I was happy to know that there is a “Yu-Gi-Oh” for girls only! Awesome!!

It was very cool and I very much wanted to play. I just didn't know how or where. I wasn't a regular arcade goer. I didn't even understand arcades. So when my classmate told me where and how I could play, it was confusing.

The Step Two

I found out we had a local arcade. I spotted the Love and Berry machine when i visited …Aaaannnndd then it hit me with the “Insert Coin”. I didn't have money so I just watched the graphics and curiously pressed the buttons. (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

I left thinking what the whole thing was all about…

Reading this blog prompt brought memories of Love and Berry to the surface of my mind. The time is now. I had to know what the whole thing was about! What exactly was Love and Berry: Dress Up and Dance? And most importantly... could I still play it? Thanks to the internet... we sorta can.

Actually looking at Love & Berry

First of all, the scale of the machine baffles me. Was it really this small? I don't remember it being this tiny. Why does it look like a game for tots? Is that why there's only two buttons? I'm a little weirded out but we continue i guess... 

Love and Berry is an arcade game that plays sort of like Dress to Impress with an extra rhythm game mechanic. At the start of the game, you use your cards to dress either love or berry. You get points for how cool your coordinate is. The game decides this. I don't know how it works. Then it goes to the rhythm game. You play along using two buttons in front of you. I honestly have no idea yet how this part is played. Then from what I gather, the more successful you are, the more points you earn, you get to advance to the next stage. And that part kind of makes sense to me. I mean, arcade machines want you to stay as long as possible in front of them, right? 

If you only survived a round, the game still rewards you. It'll dispense a random card that you can use on your next game.

Love and Berry also got released on the Nintendo DS. It came with an attachment. A slot that you can slide your cards into. So any cards you use at the arcade can also be playable in the DS version.

The Step Forward...

Love and Berry machines started disappearing in the late 2000s. I saw none of them at arcades in my last visit to the Philippines. Times have moved on. 

The only L&B thing I own is a keychain that was styled like an L&B card. I won it from a gashapon. I wanted even a single card but they were nowhere…

A quick Google search shows me that love and berry cards are beyond me financially. I'm not even going to use the entire binder of cards. I don't even have a machine to use them on… I saw that someone managed to port the game for PC. They put all the cards in a database so players can use them. Although it will take some finagling to jumpstart, it seems like. It's possible but it needs tinkering. Maybe if I push hard enough, I'll finally be able to play the game that's been floating around in my dreams…

For now I'm okay with getting acquainted with L&B. It's like I'm getting to know my girlies. They mean much more to me now that i'm older. To me, L&B are important because SEGA, a game company, tried to tap into the girl demographic for video games. Especially when video games are so male-oriented. It shows that it's okay for girls to play video games too.

And in the height of L&B, SEGA embraced its fans. A shop called Love and Berry: Style Square was opened.. You can finally wear the clothes that the girls wear in the game. Which kinda completes the circle.

In the rise of Y2K aesthetics in this generation, I hope that Love and Berry inspire others just as it’s inspired me. I hope that the game industry also continues to look into female playerbases so female gamers in the space can be normalized even more. I can only hope for a future in gaming and fashion where girls can freely define their own version of femininity and identity.

Closing Routine!

This is all for today! Thank you for reading this blog and reminiscing with me. This took forever to write because I had to parse through my 1000+ thoughtdumps. 

Do you have a game that you wished you played before it disappeared into thin air? How about a videogame that changed your life somewhat? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to know how it’s changed you, big or small! Interactive work is really fascinating like that huh!

In today's gaming scene, Love and Berry's DNA is present in arcade games like Aikatsu and Pripara. Occasionally, L&B trinkets can be found in gashapons. Japan is rumored to still have some cards circulating which gives me hope in getting at least one L&B card. It would make my past self happy.

In 2025, at 21 years old, Love and Berry have still persists in pop culture. They got the chance to collaborate with Hatsune Miku, the world's most beloved virtual diva and most recognized software in music technology. Standing next to an icon like that has got to be huge. I'm feeling kinda proud. It's like they've come so far to get here. So dress up and dance on Love and Berry!! One big step for arcade gaming and a big colossal amount of perfect dress up power for girlkind!!! (I feel cringe about writing that... but at least i am free)

Thanks again for reading and see you soon on the next post!! babayyee !!!