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Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Agito XIII TGS trailers (finally) released
It's been a while since we've seen any media from the Fabula Nova Crystallis series' other two-thirds -- actually, scratch that. We saw a trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Agito XIII during TGS last month. Now, thanks to Square Enix's unswerving kindness, you can watch it too.
American McGee on bringing Alice's madness back
At a pre-TGS event, EA demonstrated gameplay of Alice: Madness Returns, with a segment in real-world London transitioning to a Wonderland in which Alice used a pepper grinder as a Gatling gun, fighting weird baby-doll monsters and giant teapots that spat boiling tea. After bearing witness to the return of the madness, we chatted with American McGee, head of developer Spicy Horse, about the new game, his name as a brand, and, of course, the other recent reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, courtesy of Tim Burton. %Gallery-102210%
The 3rd Birthday preview: A reason to cry
A good third-person shooter isn't easy pull off on the PSP. The limited number of buttons and lack of a second analog stick mean that only a few games represent the genre well on Sony's handheld -- Syphon Filter and Resistance Retribution both come to mind. Given the limitations of the platform and Square Enix's storied failures with the genre, you'd be right at approaching The 3rd Birthday with some skepticism. Based on what we've played so far, it doesn't seem like developer Hexa Drive is capable of assuaging our concerns. Parasite Eve fans have waited for a new game in the franchise for over a decade, and The 3rd Birthday has many of the qualities that made the original games so intriguing. Once again, New York is under supernatural attack, and Aya and a squad of soldiers must stop the infestation. Like its predecessors, The 3rd Birthday is all about mood and macabre, grotesque enemies. The presentation is absolutely spot-on, boasting some of the studio's best CG work and impressive real-time graphics. Whilst watching a lengthy cutscene, I couldn't help but think how much it looked and sounded like a true Parasite Eve sequel.
El Shaddai director explains the inexplicable game
After playing the TGS demo for Ignition Entertainment's starkly unique action game, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, we were intensely curious about ... well, how it came to be. It's such an unlikely combination of action, platforming, art and Biblical themes, that we honestly couldn't figure out how someone could come up with it. According to director Sawaki Takeyasu (who started at Capcom doing art for Devil May Cry, and moved to Clover Studio and then Platinum Games before starting his own company, Crim) it was an equally unlikely combination of corporate edict and personal idiosyncracy. Find out about its origins, as well as the game itself, in our interview. Joystiq: The first thing I wanted to ask about is the style: it's very abstract. How did that style come about? Sawaki Takeyasu: The art style in the game is based on three major points: the intention is to, before that, it's not that I tried to make it eccentric and make it stand out. We wanted to make it simple, a simple visual. The second point is that it's a constantly changing screen, so that even if you leave the controller for a few minutes then it's still moving, it's always moving. Another thing is variety in levels. There is so much variety and different styles of levels, so that you can be constantly entertained and so that we can bring refreshment and change throughout our gameplay.
Solatorobo preview: Robot trumps furry
Solatorobo: And Then to Coda for DS is kind of an unofficial sequel to the PlayStation furry/mech adventure Tail Concerto. It's apparently set in the same universe, featuring cameos from Tail Concerto characters. It's also developed by the same studio, CyberConnect2, which most recently made news for hooking up with Capcom on the weird Asura's Wrath. But even for people like me who never got around to playing Tail Concerto -- and even for people who avoid anthropomorphic animals -- Solatorobo is a surprisingly engaging game that is fun just to interact with.
Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert considering PixelJunk Monsters 2
Q-Games has retooled, tweaked and enhanced nearly every game in the PixelJunk series thus far. However, PixelJunk Shooter 2 is the first true sequel in the franchise. Considering the vast amount of new features thrown into the upcoming PSN game, Cuthbert argues that it merits a numeric bump in the title. (We'd agree!) But would he consider making a true sequel to one of the earlier PixelJunk games? The answer appears to be yes. "We want to make a PixelJunk Monsters 2," Cuthbert said during a Tokyo Game Show meeting. However, even if the team began working on a Monsters 2, it would likely be a long time coming. Cuthbert said a sequel could be part of Q-Games' envisioned "Series 2, so it will be 3D in some way." (Series 2 would be a second set of PixelJunk games designed with 3D graphics, as opposed to the studio's current set of games, "Series 1," which are all 2D games.)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit trail(er)s its Most Wanted
The Seacrest County Police only drop their spikes and break out the road block for the most wanted. But for all we know, this guy's just got one of those stuck accelerator pedals. Didn't you hear? It's spread to Porsches now.
Danbol Senki preview: Virtual-On Jr.
I don't know why I'd be surprised about a Level-5 game being fun. Aside from a few missteps, the company is one of the most consistently great developers in Japan, with the sales to prove it. And yet, I was only driven to try out the PSP game Danbol Senki when I noticed that it had no line at the Level-5 booth, and I was not at all expecting to be won over as I was.
Fable franchise expected to incorporate Milo's technology
It seems like just a couple months ago that Peter Molyneux was on stage at the prestiguous TED conference sharing "Project Milo" with the attendees, and now rumors suggest the virtual boy-shaped tamagotchi has been put down and carved up. We spoke with Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer in Tokyo last week and asked him about the commercial prospects of the always commercially vague Milo project. "If I had to bet, which I guess I do, I think you will see the innovation that that team put forward come to market, absolutely," Spencer told Joystiq. "Will it be under the idea and framework of 'Milo,' I'm not as convinced of that."
Valkyria Chronicles 3 preview: A bigger portable experience
Valkyria Chronicles 3 may not mark the franchise's return to the PS3, but it does take the series into darker, more adult-themed territory. Gone are the school setting and happy-go-lucky characters. In their place are the "Nameless" -- a collective of criminals and social deviants serving the military in a side-story that takes place concurrently with the original's tale. Not only have the characters and story matured, but the presentation has as well. An updated UI and a more complex color palette make Valkyria Chronicles 3 look closer to the PS3 game. It's hard to pinpoint a single reason, but I walked away from the TGS demo impressed by how much better this sequel looked. It could be that the graphics have simply improved in the franchise's second outing on the PSP. The environment felt larger, and a bit more detailed, and other elements helped give the impression of a better looking game. The UI looks a bit sleeker, with helpful status icons appearing on the command map, highlighting characters with low HP, for example. Character portraits take much bigger prominence on the screen during the gameplay sequences and the manga-inspired cutscenes. The rich red hues and expressive portraits offer a visual "pop" that its predecessor lacked.
Bulletstorm preview: Just for kicks
Writing about games always comes with a peculiar kind of self-defeating dissonance. This morning, I might have grabbed a metaphorical megaphone and shoved it in some ebert's ear, right before laying out why Shadow of the Colossus is such a magnificent meditation on loss and sacrifice and etc. "Games involve and encourage and inspire!" I'd say. "It's for grownups, you know." And then, just a few hours later, I'll write about a game that's awesome because it lets you kick people to death. %Gallery-103112%
Mega Man Universe preview: Mega Man Uncertainty
There's one thing I'm sure of about Mega Man Universe: I want to like it. For one thing, it's a Mega Man game! I like it when those are good. For another, the concept of making your own Mega Man stages and playing them with cobbled-together heroes or other Capcom characters is a total slam dunk. I'm just ... not really sure about anything else. The major hook for Universe is that you can build your own avatar out of parts from various Mega Mans, the series' bosses and other Capcom characters (Capcom won't say yet exactly how you obtain these parts in the game). The TGS demo build included multiple premade Mega Mans, including one in the style of Keiji Inafune's drawings and one resembling the style of the dopey space ranger from the Mega Man box art. Each one has different attributes in terms of health, speed, jumping ability and so on. You can further augment these abilities by changing parts.%Gallery-102517%
NeuroSky shows off upcoming Mindwave headset, other new chip applications
We've seen plenty of applications for NeuroSky's brainwave-sensing chip already, but it looks like we're going to be seeing... more. Luckily, some of these are pretty neat. A sweat-band embedded "Thket Brain Athlete" product will allow athletes and trainers to track concentration levels through a workout or through a particular activity (a golf swing, for instance) and analyze that performance later. An iPad app (for the Japanese market, we're assured) allows you to concentrate on a girl avatar until she kisses you. Just like real life! NeuroSky itself will be selling its own Mindwave headset (a PC version of the iOS-compatible XWave) starting as soon as next month, which will be packed with a few games. Of course, the technology is still a little rough and one dimensional -- it can track attention, meditation, and blinks -- and NeuroSky is still on the lookout for the "killer app," but as it gets cheaper and more ubiquitous, we're sure to see some good come out of this nascent market. The Brain Athlete band and software should be out next month for $350, while NeuroSky's headset will retail for a much more palatable $80-$100. Check out video of both after the break. %Gallery-102931%
Yakuza 4 producer gives us a new view of Kamurocho
The Yakuza series may be exploring left field with the fanciful zombie-attack game Yakuza: Of the End, but American audiences still have one good old jaunt around Kamurocho to look forward to: this spring's Yakuza 4, whose major innovation of four playable characters seems comfy in comparison. We spoke to producer Masayoshi Kikuchi, mostly about how Yakuza 4 has changed and improved on previous games in the series. Of course, we couldn't resist asking about Of the End, because seriously, what? Joystiq: Yakuza 3 got a lot of complaints from American gamers for the content that was removed. Will Yakuza 4 have a more complete localization? Masayoshi Kikuchi, Sega: One of the things that happened on Yakuza 3 was that the Yakuza team worked with the folks at Sega West to see how we can improve the product in terms of being able to be understood by users and broaden the user base, and one of the things that is part of the Yakuza franchise -- you have very Japanese parts of the game. They wanted to make the game easier to play. One of the decisions that was the result of that was that we decided to simplify the game by cutting sections of the game. Of course, based on the reaction that we received -- we heard the voices of our fans loud and clear -- and we will be doing as much as possible to bring the whole experience of Yakuza to the West in terms of the content, in terms of its Japaneseness.
TGS 2010 shopping area shrinks down, but still tempts
Last year, the shop portion of the TGS show floor took up an entire hall by itself. This year, it was squeezed into the corner of one of the two halls housing game demos. That isn't to say that the downsized area didn't find ways to take money from obsessed fans, as there was certainly a lot to see and buy. We hope our gallery helps you experience the thrill of buying a Solid Snake cell phone strap, without the cost or the crowds.%Gallery-102972%
Zac and Ombra: Amusement Park of Illusion preview: B-layton-t imitation
It's usually hard for me to get upset about imitation. Most beloved games are built on the achievements of others: Guitar Hero is Guitar Freaks from a different angle, and Guitar Freaks was just Beatmania anyway. Galaxian is Space Invaders with more colors. Usually, even the most obviously "inspired" games have their own personality and feel. But not Konami's Zac and Ombra: Amusement Park of Illusion for DS, which I can only describe as the product of some depressingly corporate thinking. Basically, Konami decided to make Professor Layton, but for people who aren't smart enough to solve puzzles.
Gun Loco preview: Run and gun
In Gun Loco, you can kick a man so hard that his torso flies off. Don't worry, everyone's seemingly made of manga meat -- and they're no-good criminals to boot, marooned on a decrepit prison planet once intended for "the baddest of the bad." The bizarre ruffians, who started life as toys created by artist Kenny Wong, seem almost disposable as they charge into shootouts with nary a concern for safety. A cover system? What's that? %Gallery-99540%
TGS 2010: Cosplay goes to a new chapter
It's not Tokyo Game Show without cosplay! There's something uniquely TGS-like about being stuck in a game demo line between two Hatsune Mikus. We took our lives into our hands (leaving room for a camera, of course) and ventured into a raging sea of people to bring you pictures of those few folks dedicated enough to make and wear elaborate outfits in unseasonable heat. As for our favorite cosplayer of the show: we're definitely fond of the guy in Dragon Quest IX "Gooey Gear" Slime armor, but Airman can't be beaten.%Gallery-102629%
Lord of Arcana preview: Bloody bad monster hunting
Ever since Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable lit up the Japanese sales charts, there's been no shortage of clones hitting the PSP. This year's TGS show floor featured follow-ups to many of them, including Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, God Eater Burst and Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity. Square Enix is throwing its hat into the crowded monster-hunting genre with Lord of Arcana ... and doesn't appear to succeed. If you've played a dungeon crawler on PSP before, Lord of Arcana will feel immediately familiar. An on-screen mini-map will direct you throughout the dungeon, until it ends with a climatic battle against a giant boss monster. Along the way, there are battles with smaller creatures, and straying from the beaten path will reveal loot-filled treasure chests.
Dr. Kawashima's Body and Brain Connection preview: Brain Age meets Kinect
What if Nintendo made a game for Kinect? Namco Bandai does its best to answer that question with Dr. Kawashima's Body and Brain Connection, a "Brain Age" game for Microsoft's motion-control peripheral. This family-oriented minigame collection, featuring Xbox Avatars alongside the ever-digitized Dr. Kawashima, makes for an experience that seems more than inspired by Nintendo's recent efforts -- it's a total knockoff. The UI, the music and the gameplay all feel ripped from the Brain Age series and Nintendo's Wii Fit games. In some respects that's a compliment, but gamers who have already written off edutainment and exergames won't find much reason to give Body and Brain Connection a try. You know exactly what to expect from this game. %Gallery-102483%
