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Today I Played: Earth Defense Force 2025

Chris Plante co-founded Polygon in 2012 and is now editor-in-chief. He co-hosts The Besties, is a board member of the Frida Cinema, and created NYU’s first games journalism course.

Earth Defense Force 2025 is the must-own game of the summerahem!

Excuse me — ahem! — sorry, something's caught in my throat. Ahem! Right. Where were we? Oh. Yes. <em>Earth Defense Force 2025</em> is the must-own game of the summer if you live in Japan.

The latest in the alien-blasting, city demolishing series debuted on July 4 with a healthy 177,000 units sold, and was only released in a single country: Japan.

The game won't arrive in the United States and Europe until early 2014, and by then I imagine the hardcore gamers that care about obscure, graphically-lacking B-movie simulators will have moved on to the warm arms of their next-generation hardware.

Now — before were overwhelmed by Xbox One's and PlayStation 4's — is the perfect time to experience Earth Defense Force 2025. That leaves you three options.

1.) Import a region-free copy of Earth Defense Force 4 (the game's title in Japan) for PS3.

2.) Create a Japanese PSN account, import a Japanese PSN card and digitally download Earth Defense Force 4.

3.) Grab a controller, press play on the video above and live vicariously through my experience via some abstract form of mixed-media performance art.