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Puyo Puyo Tetris makes sense
Visiting the arcades of the otaku hub Akihabara, it struck me that beyond the many fighters, rhythm games, and prize collection machines lining their halls, I was seeing a pattern repeat itself. Tucked away in each one were several Puyo Puyo variants, and right by them the Tetris machines. Seeing this, I wondered why Puyo Puyo Tetris hadn't been made before. Maybe, like Sonic and Mario teaming up recently, I wasn't appreciating the rival puzzle games' long history. Nonetheless, playing the newly unveiled crossover at the Tokyo Game Show a couple of days later, it was immediately clear how much sense this mashup made. Based on time with a seemingly limited demo, Puyo Puyo Tetris looks to offer simple, cute, but engrossing arcade puzzle fun. Quite appropriately, the two play styles just fit next to each other.
Tokyo Game Show 2013 video wrap-up
Here's one last wrap-uppery morsel of video content from this year's Tokyo Game Show, content that's comprised the weird and the wonderful in truly equal measure. My personal highlight was the time we spent in the Sony booth, checking out the likes of Deep Down and The Playroom on PS4, as well as going hands-on with Vita TV and the new slimmer, lighter Vita. The indie scene was great to check out, including free customizable fighting engine Project EF-12 and special bonus La Mulana 2. Then, of course, there was the general kaleidoscope of unusual stuff to play, eat, and buy that makes the Tokyo Game Show such a unique fixture in the calendar. That's it for our video footage from TGS, but we'll be rounding up the rest of our coverage in the next few days, so look out for that. In the meantime, thank you so much for watching. See you next year, Tokyo!
Checking out the indie scene at the Tokyo Game Show
It was tucked in a corner of the Tokyo Game Show, but the expo's first-ever dedicated Indie Game Area was abuzz with attention and, most importantly, great-looking games. The inaugural IGA featured 40 different exhibitors across the four days, including both Japan-based teams and devs from as far as Spain, Germany, Mexico, the UK and Canada. There were more well-known names, such as Nigoro, who had La Mulana 2 stashed away, and newer ones, such as Team Martini, the creators of the adorable Pechan. We've got more coverage of IGA games on the way, but in the meantime, here's Jordan Mallory to take you through some of the talent that was on show: They Bleed Pixels, Space Qube and Analogue: A Hate Story.
Tokyo Game Show breaks another attendance record
Tokyo Game Show attracted 270,197 attendees this year, breaking its own record again – 2012 hit 223,753 people, while 2011 had 222,668 and 2010 had 207,647. TGS ran from September 19 - 22, and this year, both of its public days brought in more than 100,000 visitors each, another record number. This year TGS expanded from eight halls to nine and was able to include extra exhibits, such as the Indie Game Area, Romance Simulation Game Area and Cloud Gaming Area. Smush them all together and you get the Indie Romance Simulation Cloud Gaming Area, which sounds like it could be the next breakout genre from Japan. Next year's TGS is scheduled in the same space at Makuhari Messe, from September 18 - 21.
Project EF-12 is a free, fully customizable 3D fighting game engine
Tucked away inside of the densely-packed Tokyo Game Show Indie Game Area was Project EF-12, which at first glance appeared to be a prototype 3D fighter along the lines of SoulCalibur or Tekken. After being introduced to designer/Quad Arrow CEO Masahiro Onoguchi, however, I learned that the game is in fact a free, totally customizable 3D fighting game engine. Through modifying what essentially amounts to a collection of spreadsheets, users can change virtually everything about Project EF-12, from its characters, to their abilities and stages, all the way down to the appearance of the UI. The version I played had a selection of characters that had been modified into familiar archetypes: Virtua Fighter-esque, Tekken-like – there was even a character that played with 2D-style controls, despite this being a 3D engine. Players can also insert new character models they've built from scratch, assuming the models were constructed in either Soft Image or Maya. Trading/sharing new characters is as simple as downloading a zip and extracting the spreadsheet and models into the correct folder. Project EF-12 is currently available with a mountain of Japanese-language tutorial material through Playism's Japanese website, with an English release expected on Playism's English site before the end of the year. In related news, expect Style Guide: Journalism Hyper Fighting from Joystiq Publishing almost immediately afterwards.
Dark Souls 2 retains Havok physics
Dark Souls 2 uses the Havok Physics engine, like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1 did before it. A Namco Bandai representative confirmed to Joystiq Dark Souls 2 features the much-used engine, the news coming as game director Yui Tanimura said he'd focus on next-gen physics were he to make another Dark Souls game for the PS4 or Xbox One. Dark Souls 2 incorporates Havok physics with a new graphics engine, the latter revealed late last year. At E3, Tanimura told Polygon the new graphics engine means players can "dive in and immerse themselves within the actual gameplay and feel as if they are actually part of the game itself." That said, Tanimura told us last week he feels graphics are at a "maximum level" on consoles, and that he would pay more attention to physics were he to make another Dark Souls on next-gen hardware. "In order to implement a physics engine, we'd need more machine power and more CPU power," Tanimura told Joystiq through a translator last week. "That can only become possible if we were to create a game for the, for example, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. So that's something [I'd] personally be paying attention to if [I was] to create another [Dark Souls] title for the PS4 or Xbox One." In the nearer future, Dark Souls 2 is on the way to Xbox 360 and PS3, consigning us all to our many, many deaths on March 11, 2014 in North America, and March 14 in Europe.
Seen@TGS 2013: Aomorhythm, a dual-screen regional food-flinging rhythm game
Tucked away in the more hidden depths of this year's Tokyo Game Show was a game that I still don't fully comprehend, and certainly didn't when I was playing it. Concocted by the Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Aomorhythm depicts conflict between the Japanese regions of Aomori and Hokkaido via the medium of a dual-screen arcade rhythm game. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture of Honshu, Japan's main island, while Hokkaido is the country's second largest island, just to the north of Aomori. With the language barrier playing its part, I was told Aomorhythm was about the two regions being at war with each other, and as you can see it certainly looks like they're having a good old tussle. However, it's likelier to do with their competitive trading history, given the preponderance of apples. Aomori has grown to become Japan's biggest producer of apples, and also has thriving fish, garlic, and yam industries. As a 1961 Tohoku Univesity paper by Norio Hasegawa notes, Hokkaido used to be Japan's biggest apple producer, but as time wore on Aomori prospered over the nearby area, its climate suited to producing better quality fruit at a quicker turnaround. So I reckon it's to do with that. Even if I'm wrong, at least I've learned something. Namely that Aomori isn't Aoromi.
Crimson Dragon TGS 2013 trailer tells dragon tales
Crimson Dragon is one of the most Metal-sounding names for a video game ever, so you might be surprised to learn it's actually about humans who find themselves coping with living on a strange new planet. A planet which is full of dragons. We'll just let this Tokyo Game Show trailer tell the story.
Hands-on with the Vita TV at TGS 2013
Right now, the Vita TV has only been announced for Japan, China and South Korea, and that's a damn shame, at least for those of us over in the west. I was able to test out the little box's two main functions (big-screen Vita games and PS4 Remote Play) during last week's Tokyo Game Show kerfuffle, and the (approximately) $100 device did exactly what it says on the tin. My multiplayer Soul Sacrifice Delta session involved one Vita TV and three of the new Vita PCH-2000s, all networked together without any obvious complications. The game controlled well despite being co-opted onto a DualShock 3, ran smoothly and looked surprisingly good on the big screen. In fact, my repeated deaths at the hands of my own incompetence were the only discouraging part of the demonstration. The Vita TV's PlayStation 4 Remote Play functionality also works surprisingly well from a mechanical standpoint, and I can totally see owning a Vita TV as a PS4-centric media extender for a bedroom or office. There was no perceptible input lag and Knack ran smooth as a whistle, though it's worth pointing out that my test was under optimal conditions – real-world mileage likely varies. Still, what I saw of the Vita TV was very promising overall.
Food Practice Shooter: TGS 2013's nutritional AR chewing/light-gun game
Attending the Tokyo Game Show is like hunting for treasure without a map. Invariably, somewhere on the show floor is a hidden gem that makes the whole trip really special, and for TGS 2013 that diamond in the rough was Food Practice Shooter. Abbreviated to FPS (get it?), Food Practice Shooter is the brainchild of assistant professor Dr. Takayuki Kosaka of the Kanagawa Institute of Technology. The idea is fairly simple, though its execution is a bit more convoluted: In order to obtain more ammo in-game, the player must eat healthy foods in real life. The system has three high-sensitivity scales that measure the weight of three cups of vegetables. When prompted by the game, the player removes some food from the required cup, which slightly lessens the load on the scale, which in turn communicates to the game which type of food has been taken. Then, a head-mounted sensor measures the movement of your cheek, telling the game whether you've eaten your veggies like a good boy/girl. There's probably a less obtuse way to encourage healthy eating habits in today's youth, but where's the fun in that? Strap this thing to your face and shoot this zombie tomato or no dessert.
Hands-on with Sony's lighter, slimmer PlayStation Vita
Sony's recently announced remodel of the PlayStation Vita (the PCH-2000) was both on-hand and in-hand during this week's Tokyo Game Show proceedings, and after having spent some time with the device we can directly confirm that yes, this new unit is indeed a slimmer, lighter Vita. We didn't notice an astonishing difference between the 2000's LCD screen and the last model's OLED display, nor did holding the thing feel tremendously different, save for its aforementioned svelteness. Face buttons did feel slightly more raised, but whether that was a design change or simply the byproduct of holding a crisp new unit is uncertain. The new Vita will be available in Japan for ¥19,929 on October 10 – no announcements have been made as to availability in other territories.
La-Mulana 2 footage unearthed from the depths of TGS 2013
La-Mulana 2 has only officially existed for a day and won't be available on PC until next year at the earliest, but enough of it was assembled for Nigoro's Takumi Naramura to walk us through a quick demonstration (via interpreter) at TGS 2013. We shoved microphones in the faces of everyone involved and got the whole thing on film, so join us for a look at the Nordic, skeleton-filled hell that awaits La-Mulana 2's new heroine.
Deep Down is free-to-play, open beta near PS4 launch in Japan
Capcom announced Deep Down will be free-to-play on PS4 during a Tokyo Game Show presentation today. As relayed by Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, an open beta is targeted for close to the console's launch in Japan, due February 22, 2014. Both Sony and Capcom have noted increased interest in free-to-play games, with the former having already announced other F2P games for its next-gen console. At E3, Yoshida said that the PS Plus requirement for online multiplayer isn't mandated for F2P games. We went hands-on with Deep Down at TGS, so check out our impressions right here.
NIS President Niikawa considering more anime in games, more games as anime
Nippon Ichi Software President Sohei Niikawa told Joystiq his company may try to introduce more anime cut scenes to games like Disgaea, and spoke about the reverse possibility of a new Disgaea anime. Talking with us at the Tokyo Game Show, Niikawa said he's been able to build closer contacts within the anime industry in his relatively recent dual role as the president of both NIS and NIS America. "I believe that until recently NIS and NISA were completely different entities on their own," Niikawa explained. "NIS would make games, NISA would sell games. Having worked with both companies, being president for both companies, I believe that we could make a more intertwined relationship. "NISA has been doing anime before NIS, and because of that I've personally been able to meet more people working with anime, not just games. I originally met the anime industry people as the president of NIS America, but using that connection I gained by being the NISA president, I want to use that for NIS [Japan] as well."
La-Mulana 2 announced for PC
La-Mulana 2 will send a new hero into unfamiliar, two-dimensional depths, Joystiq learned during yesterday's Tokyo Game Show festivities. Production is aiming for a 2014 release on PC, though whether the game will repeat the original's appearance on Steam has yet to be confirmed. The game stars the daughter of La-Mulana's protagonist, Lemeza Kosugi. While the specifics of her character are still very much in the developmental stages, the brief gameplay demonstration we were shown by Nigoro's Takumi Naramura featured a very familiar whip front and center. Less familiar was the game's setting, which is Norse themed this time around, as well as its shiny new widescreen aspect ratio. Update: We neglected to mention the original game is also available on GOG.com, not just Steam.
Scratching the surface of Deep Down
The irony of our first playtime with Deep Down is that I didn't get to go all that deep. The RPG's Tokyo Game Show demo ran through a very short dungeon that took me about 10 minutes to negotiate. The dungeon was randomly generated, as evidenced not only by seeing others take on rooms and enemies that weren't there when I played, but also by its odd layout, which was confusingly interconnected and almost overflowing with ladders. After picking one of two characters, a load-out of limited-use buffs and abilities, and a difficulty - I went with the easier one - the demo sent me into its medieval-looking world. What struck me first was the dramatic lighting, glimmering finely onto the nooks and crannies of the stony walls. Even at this early stage, Capcom's PS4 game has more of the next-gen air about it than most. The demo was brief, and the starter screens in Japanese, so I didn't get that strong a sense of Deep Down beyond its basics. What was soon apparent was the slow pace of my hero, who took cautious steps forward when walking, and ran like he had too big of a breakfast. Deep Down, like a growing number of games, seems to want me to take my time and stay on my armor-laden toes constantly.
Seen@TGS 2013: Pechan is the adorablest TGS indie game
The TGS indie booth had plenty of interesting, fun games, but when it comes to adorabilishocity, there was none better than Team Martini's Pechan, coming to the iPad. Tilting the device sent Pechan, the pink hero, left or right across the ground. The idea was to slide him towards a juicer, pushing it and the walking fruit in its way onto the sides of each level, squishing the fruit into lovely juice. Yes, juicing sentient fruit sounds a bit sadistic when you think about it, but it turns out to be just lovely and cuddly, especially when you have devs around you squealing "Pechan!" every time you beat a level. And no, the game has nothing to do with the pig from Ranma 1/2.
Miku, meat and merch: Tokyo Game Show 2013 shopping area extravaganza
The Tokyo Game Show's shopping area is a dangerous place. It's full of adorable, super awesome merchandise from the likes of Sega, Capcom and Namco Bandai – which is good – but the majority of that stuff is way expensive, which is bad. What's worse, the swag-lust induced by simply being in the area is compounded with a terrible sense of urgency; the knowledge that most of this merchandise isn't readily available elsewhere, and this might be your only chance to snag it. We barely managed to escape with our lives, but you can live vicariously through the terror of our wallets. Join us for a quick look at what our children will someday inherit instead of money or land.
Seen@TGS 2013: Me watching this dude watching me
I'm not sure why gaming tech company Steelseries had this guy dressed as he was, unless it was to get my attention out of sheer confusion, in which case, job done.
Another Final Fantasy performance with Theatrhythm's 'Curtain Call'
Sometimes it's good to know things are as they were. The feeling summarized my brief experience with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, a new version of the 3DS rhythm game that draws memorable music from Square's biggest role-playing games. The Tokyo Game Show demo played host to 20 of the encore's 200 songs, including newbies like the jazzier Advent Children version of "One Winged Angel," the remixed FF13 battle music from Lightning Returns, and tunes from FF14 and Type-O. There was no sign of the new two-player versus mode, sadly, despite the abundance of 3DS units at Square Enix's booth. That said, a new trailer suggests it's tied to disrupting the other player by affecting the notes coming their way, and it certainly looks frantic. In terms of what fans can expect, at its core this looks to be the same Theatrhythm they know and love. The UI and in-game notes look a bit shinier, there are new enemies and likely heroes - the inclusion of Dagger from FF9 suggests the IOS-exclusive characters will make their way across - and we'd expect there are at the least some similar tweaks to the game's RPG side. On that last point Famitsu (via Polygon) notes there'll be collectible cards that can boost characters' attributes, along with a 'quest medley' hybrid mode that mixes the field and battle music into one.
