Disaster report

On Friday, March 11th a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the North-Eastern coast of Japan, triggering a large and fast moving tsunami which has obliterated several sizable coastal communities. The earthquake was the largest ever recoded in Japan since official record keeping began, and was felt through out most of the country. The official death toll is currently over 1,000, but is expected to sky rocket once rescue workers reach the North-Eastern communities hit by the wave. The Prime Minister has called this the worst disaster to afflict Japan since the ravages of World War II.

As a gamer, and just as a consumer of pop culture in general, Japan has given me much. In this time of crisis, I feel obligated to give a little back, and I ask any one else who shares my views, and is hence reading this blog, to do the same. Donations to the American Red Cross can be made directly at their website, or Amazon.com. Several Japanese game publishers are also donating in numerous ways, with 5pb discounting the price of their iPhone Memories Off port, and donating all proceeds to relief efforts. Internet retailer J-list.com offers pre-paid iTunes cards which can be used to purchase the app from the iTunes store, and are themselves donating 5% of all orders to the Red Cross.

The worst is yet to come as Japan has to recover and rebuild from this disaster. Good luck my friends, and thank you.