tgs-2011
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New Suikoden title coming to PSP
Konami announced a new Suikoden installment coming to PSP, Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki, at Tokyo Game Show today. The new title has a website, trailer and Twitter account, one of which you can watch right here. You could watch the other two if you really wanted to, but we doubt they would have as many epic anime eyeball close-ups as the above trailer. No word yet on pricing, gameplay, developer details or a release date, but that trailer should keep you occupied until more information emerges -- if it starts to get boring, make a game out of it. Every time a dramatically zoomed-in facial features fills the screen, take a shot of Sailor Jerry (or milk, as your age and country restrictions permit). The months will fly by.
Seen@TGS: Not Level-5
Level-5 normally has one of the biggest and most populous booths at the Tokyo Game Show, but the publisher skipped out on the event this year in favor of just throwing its own deal next month. It was even bold enough to advertise its new Level-5 World convention on a pillar by the entrance to the Makuhari Messe. TGS organizers probably didn't see it as a slight, however -- Level-5 did pay for booth space ... where it set out tables and chairs for use as a business meeting area by TGS visitors. We're sure that even though they weren't able to play a variety of Level-5 games (Ni no Kuni PS3 was at the Sony booth, at least), attendees thought highly of the company after enjoying the life-saving chairs it provided.
TGS 2011's shopping area, in (too many) pictures
We can't buy everything in the TGS merchandise sales area -- of course, some of the merch is, like, pillowcases with naughty pictures on them, so maybe we don't want to buy everything. Regardless, it's much cheaper to just take a bunch of pictures of the stuff there and remember it that way. So that's exactly what we did, to excess. Enjoy a super-sized gallery of the convention's shopping area, and try to imagine what your house would look like with that much Monster Hunter swag in it.%Gallery-134184%
ViviTouch haptic technology hands-on: electroactive polymer giving a 'high definition feel'
Haptic feedback isn't exactly something that'd blow people's mind these days, with most mobile devices and gaming controllers already packing a little vibrator to spice up one's gaming experience. While these motors do the job just fine for delivering the sensation of large engines and explosions, their monotonic performance and relatively high minimum output threshold means they can't reproduce finer vibration. For instance, you wouldn't be able to feel a guitar string fade away after a strum, nor would you feel the finer end of a spring recoil. This is where Bayer MaterialScience's ViviTouch -- previously dubbed Reflex -- tries to fill the void. For those who aren't familiar, the magic behind ViviTouch is its electroactive polymer (or EAP in short) -- imagine a thin sheet that consists of two electrode layers sandwiching a dielectric elastomer film, and when a voltage is applied, the two attracting electrodes compress the entire sheet. This slim, low-powered ViviTouch actuator module can be placed underneath an inertial mass (usually a battery) on a tray, thus amplifying the haptic feedback produced by the host device's audio signal between 50Hz and 300Hz (with a 5ms response time). %Gallery-134043%
Inafune: 'Messed up' working relationship led to Bionic Commando's Wifearm
"At the end of developing Bionic Commando, things got really messed up between the two companies," Mega Man creator and former global head of production at Capcom Keiji Inafune told me in an interview this week. Sitting in a quiet corner of Tokyo Game Show's business area, Inafune was addressing the retail version of BC developed by the now shuttered studio Grin -- a game that helped nail the coffin shut on the Swedish dev house, and scared Capcom off of its big third-party push. In case you weren't aware, at the end of BC's main campaign, it's revealed that the protagonist's bionic arm is, at least partially, made from his dead wife. Seriously. "I don't even know what happened there," Inafune lamented. The project was apparently rife with development issues, which Inafune exemplified with a phrase that represented the attitude Grin and Capcom had for each other at the time: "Whatever, do what you want, I don't care." Though he couldn't say what specifically happened to result in such a bizarre game ending, Inafune explained that the issue of foreign companies working with Japanese ones was at the heart of the situation. "At the beginning, things are very, very good between the two companies. Things get kind of weird from the middle, and it gets really bad at the end -- especially for the Japanese companies," he said of the development process. "They should be more flexible about things," Inafune added, no doubt part of his decision to leave his long-time employer late last year. "If you don't do that, everything will become messed up from the middle. And that's the most important part. Not the beginning, but in the middle and finishing the game."
Seen@TGS: The Sea of Humanity
Today is the first public day at the Tokyo Game Show. There are a lot of people here. Like, a lot.
Seen@TGS: The Rappy-est place on earth
Phantasy Star Online 2 has a pretty big presence at Sega's TGS booth this year, though perhaps not quite as big as the giant Rappy patrolling the display. The goofy bird, something of a mascot for the series, dances with glee for all who pass by, Joystiq staff included. We considered slaying it – hoping for an epic loot drop, of course – but then we thought we'd rather not be arrested.
Watch lots of Black Knight Sword and Sine Mora footage
Apart from some announcements and trailers, we haven't seen much of Sine Mora or Black Knight Sword, two upcoming downloadable titles from Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture. Until now, that is, thanks to a demonstration we received at TGS. In the video above, you will find over four minutes of gameplay footage, as demonstrated by Digital Reality creative director Theodore Reiker. After the break, find a generous portion of Black Knight Sword footage and a new trailer. Keep an eye out for our hands-on impressions of both titles soon. Update: The video embed for Sine Mora has been fixed.
Lord of Apocalypse commands you to check out his screens, trailer
One of the two new games Square Enix announced for the Vita (in this case, also for the vanilla PSP), Lord of Apocalypse looks to be another JRPG affair, full of love, loss and betrayal -- at least, that's what we assume. All of this stuff is in Japanese! %Gallery-134117%
Tour GREE's massive TGS booth
The biggest booth on the TGS show floor, as far as we can figure, isn't Sony's or Capcom's -- it's the one occupied by mobile social game service GREE. GREE offers games from major publishers, including Sega, Capcom, and Square Enix, in major franchises, for phones. And we're not talking iOS or Android experiences, specifically -- we saw mostly regular cell phone games. But it's working, since GREE had the money to splash out on this big booth experience -- including capsule toy machines that are used for a labyrinthine swag process. First you play a game, then you get a "medal" which you're directed to put into one of the machines. The capsules have numbered slips of paper, which you then bring to a desk to exchange for a prize. I got a notepad.%Gallery-134153%
Don't worry (or do), PS Vita will have external battery peripheral
If the short-lived battery built into the PS Vita is a hang-up for you, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida shared some news with IGN which will either reassure you, or redouble your rage. "If you have not noticed we just announced the peripherals for PS Vita, as well," Yoshida said, "and one of the peripherals is the external batteries. So if you're flying from New York to San Francisco, or vice versa, you have no concerns if you have an additional external battery." The only thing to be concerned about, it seems, is the cost of such a peripheral. If it follows the price model of the Vita's memory cards, it could be cause for concern, indeed.
The Joystiq Show - TGS 2011 Check-in 1
The Tokyo Game Show 2011 is just a few hours away from its first public day, but the Joystiq Strike Team has been attending press conferences and events for days now -- just look at all those posts! In between boat rides and chocolate-filled bread eating, they found time to reflect on what they have seen and deliver it straight to your ears. Handhelds have been the focus this year with Sony and Nintendo spending much of their time talking about the PS Vita and 3DS respectively, but that's not all the guys have to share. Ninja Gaiden 3, Dead or Alive 5, Diabolical Pitch, Project Draco, Asura's Wrath and more in the first TGS 2011 check-in. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes [Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Richard Mitchell (@SenseiRAM), Ben Gilbert (@BigBossBGilbert) and JC Fletcher (@jcfletcher) Producer: Jonathan Downin (@jonathandownin - Game Thing Daily) Music: Bust This Bust That by Professor Kliq See all show links, and stream the show, after the break.
Bravely Default demo takes TGS to an alternate reality
Square Enix isn't really showing the 3DS RPG, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, at TGS, but the demo it's using to represent the title is pretty impressive regardless. 3DS systems are set up in front of a curved wall with a projected blue background, and a large AR card on the floor. After paging through some text in the in-game engine (with cute 3D characters designed by Akihiko Yoshida), a young woman appears in an AR view, delivering a monologue in which she pleads for your help before being swallowed up by a crack in the earth. This is a surprisingly effective bit of AR! The 3DS keeps track of her location, even when you move the camera away, without freaking out or admonishing you as the system's built-in AR games do. She even paces out of camera range herself. Square Enix wouldn't allow me to photograph my own demo or the stage area, but the AR demo was released on the Japanese eShop, which allowed YouTube user Sumwheat to capture it on video. Should you get the opportunity to play the demo, you'll need a Bravely Default AR card, an image of which can be found after the break.
Overheard@TGS: Just how long is that sword in Asura's Wrath?
If you read our preview of Asura's Wrath from Gamescom, you might remember that protagonist Asura battles a god named Augus on the moon. Augus chooses to end this fight by lunging at Asura with a very long sword, launching him right off the moon and all the way back to Earth. At this point, said sword impales Asura and the Earth, eventually popping out of the other side of the planet. Like we said, it's a long sword. Thanks to Hiroshi Matsuyama, CEO of developer CyberConnect2, we now know exactly how long it is. During an interview with Joystiq, Matsuyama gleefully informed us that the sword is 380,000 kilometers long, or roughly the average distance from the Earth to the moon. Another fun fact: At one point during development, the sword didn't actually emerge from the other side of the planet after impaling Asura. In other words, at some point -- perhaps during a very official business meeting -- someone at Capcom or CyberConnect2 said, "You know, I'm not sure the sword is long enough."
Halo Anniversary's Kinect functionality partially explained
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary may be just a couple months away, but Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor is still keeping mum on some of the remake's Kinect functionality. He did let a few bits of info slip, however. "For example, you can switch to Classic or Anniversary mode using voice commands," he explained to me in a meeting at TGS 2011 this week. Wait, really? That's it? "We actually have some more story content in the game that's gonna be supported by Kinect," he added. Unfortunately, either the folks at 343 Industries or its corporate benefactors at Microsoft Studios have deemed the rest of the information too early to mete out. "We've added a really interesting feature we're gonna talk about in October that uses Kinect to add some story to the game." As interesting as the content may be, it may never make it to the final product -- apparently the October reveal is about more than a carefully timed marketing plan for the re-release of a decade old game. "We're still testing the features, so if it doesn't work, we're gonna change it." And with just under two months to go until launch, 343 had better get a move on. [Image credit: 'LaughPong']
Vita Street Fighter X Tekken will share DLC with PS3 version, may have tiny arcade stick
Given recent Capcom fighters, it should come as no surprise that Street Fighter X Tekken will have DLC. Producer Yoshinori Ono told Joystiq today, "Post-launch for an allotted period of time there will be free DLC and paid DLC, and it will keep going for a while." But that's not the cool part. Capcom is also planning to make the DLC cross-compatible between the PS3 and PlayStation Vita versions. "With the PS3 and the Vita," Ono said, "yes, they're different hardware, but they're part of the same Playstation family, so to speak, so we're already talking with Sony about ways to sync things together. As long as you're using the same PSN account, things you've purchased on the Vita version will work on PS3 and vice versa." Capcom was a pioneer on 3DS with Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, adding things like online play and significant StreetPass functionality well before other 3DS games, and it looks like Capcom is keeping that forward-thinking attitude for this Vita game. I asked Ono on a lark about the possibility of a tiny arcade stick for the Vita -- maybe something like the 3DS slidepad thingy, but with arcade hardware. "We're actually talking to Mad Catz about doing something like that," Ono told us. "You can't replicate the experience entirely on a portable, but I think if we made a small joystick that you could just keep in your bag, and maybe even if you're in economy class, whip it out during a flight, put your Vita in there, and replicate to some degree the arcade experience, it would be really awesome." It's in keeping with Ono's view of portable fighters as practice tools for competitive console/arcade versions. Capcom emphasized that this is just in talks, and nothing has been decided. But tiny arcade stick!
Seen@TGS: Shoe-da 51
When we went to Grasshopper Manufacture's meeting room to interview Suda 51, our attention immediately went to his feet.
Sony PlayStation Vita battery life: as little as three hours on a charge
We've had plenty of QT with the Vita on the floor at TGS, but battery life is hard to judge when you can't take the device away with you. Back at our earlier hands-on in June we were told that longevity should be on a par with first-gen PSPs, which were all rated at 4-6 hours and -- with the PSP-1000 -- achieved around 3.5-5.5 hours in real-world tests. Now though, Sony says the Vita has just enough juice for 3-5 hours' gaming. We need to play this thing to death before we can be sure, but this does sound like a potential 15-25% drop in minimum play time. Do we care at this point? Not particularly. We're too busy salivating over this.
NIS America bringing Disgaea to Android, Vita; Neptunia and Clan of Champions headed to NA
In NIS America's continued efforts to put Disgaea games on more and more platforms, the company today announced that Disgaea: Netherworld Unbound is headed to Android devices later this year. Netherworld Unbound is an Android-optimized version of the original Disgaea game, though NIS says it'll expand on that by selling "characters, items, features, and more." The Disgaea heading to PlayStation Vita will also be launching in the US sometime in spring 2012. Beyond renaming the subtitle "Absence of Detention" (rather than the original's "Absence of Justice"), the Vita port adds "all-new characters, stories, and game systems." Beyond the Disgaea series, NIS is bringing "everyone's favorite JRPG with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune as a weapon," Neptunia MK-II, to the US. Like in Japan, the game will remain exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 3, and it's expected to launch in spring 2012 as well. The company also announced intentions to bring the tentatively titled "Clan of Champions" from Tenchu dev Acquire Corp. to the US, and to both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. [Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice for PlayStation 3 pictured above.]
PS3's Ni no Kuni coming to North America early next year
During a Sony Computer Entertainment Asia press conference adjacent to TGS, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino announced some very welcome news: the beautiful Studio Ghibli and Level-5 crossover for PS3, Ni no Kuni, will be released in North America. And now we know what Level-5 International America has been up to. The game is due in early 2012, so that studio must have been busy translating the adventures of Oliver and the lantern-nosed Shizuku in the magical, probably imaginary world of Ni no Kuni.
