Trash Panic Arcade Edition

Gomibako, better known as Trash Panic around these parts, is already a thoroughly anachronistic game. Its appearance as a Tetris-biting well-puzzle game belies Trash Panic's use of 3D space and the randomizing effect of modern physics technology, and there's something about its deeply quirky, deeply Japanese look and feel that reminds me of old PlayStation games like Incredible Crisis or No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, games we haven't really seen the likes of, at least in the US, in years. Today Sony ups the ante on Gomibako's peculiarity with the Japanese release of 100 Yen Gomibako, which strips down the modes and restructures the pricing of this downloadable PSN game to mimic a proper arcade game.
 
It's a shift that doesn't require a huge stretch of the imagination. If there were such a thing as arcades anymore, the tight, round-based structure and blistering difficulty of Trash Panic would make it a perfect coin-op candidate. It's a novel idea, but one th at's less-than-appealing when you consider the economics. You download the game for 100 yen (about $1 USD) which essentially gives you three "lives" to play with. When you run through those, you'll have to plunk down another 100 yen for more plays. The regular version of Gomibako is roughly $15 on PSN in Japan, and those familiar with the game's level of difficulty can attest that it really wouldn't take long to burn through 45 credits. The idea of a $1 Trash Panic in the US seems even less economically viable, since the full version can be had for a mere $5. As agreeable as I find throwback nature of this, I can't help but feel like Sony is basically charging players for a time-limited demo.