tgs06
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Tokyo Game Show videos aplenty [update 1]
Videos have started hitting the net from the Tokyo Game Show 2006, and they're already impressing us. It's nice to see so many new RPGs coming out. Here are some of the best for your viewing pleasure.
TGS: Blue Dragon = Dragon Quest + Chrono Trigger + Grandia
Wired's Game|Life blog has posted an early, albeit vague, impression of Hironobu Sakaguchi's pair of upcoming Xbox 360 RPGs, Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey. During today's media briefing in Shibuya, Japan, Sakaguchi took the stage and demoed (read: picked up controller and played) his studio's new projects. While Game|Life doesn't provide many specifics, its post does draw some big comparisons, describing Blue Dragon as a fusion of Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, with "maybe" a dose of Grandia. Game|Life notes that enemies are on-screen (i.e. no random battles) and that the Job Change system (from Final Fantasy V) is featured in Blue Dragon. Game|Life's description of Lost Odyssey is even more provocative, as it declares the game to look like a "much more dramatic" Final Fantasy. We're sure that Microsoft has its fingers crossed that this impression will stick -- and spread. We'll hit you with our own from the show floor in the coming days. In the meantime, see for yourself: Blue Dragon Lost Odyssey
The first batch of Xbox Live TGS content [update 1]
As promised, Microsoft has released the first batch of Xbox Live content to correspond with the Tokyo Games Show. The following is available to all Xbox Live users: Half-Life 2: Episode Two trailer Tenchu Senran trailer Two map packs for Battle for Middle Earth II. A TGS picture pack Updates to Spades, Hearts, Backgammon and Bankshot Billards to add Vision support In addition, Japanese Xbox 360 owners (yes, all five of you) will get the following: Tenchu Senran demo Dead or Alive X2 E3 trailer Project Sylpheed trailer A word of caution: there is an error with the new BFMEII content. The first map pack is supposed to be free but is currently charging gamers 350 MS points. Major Nelson promises that the problem will be fixed soon. The second map pack will still cost you 350 MS points (about $4.38).One commenter on Major Nelson's blog, Cayne, summed up our sentiments perfectly: "I still don't get why stuff is only released in some countries. This is 2006 for god's sake. We have the intertube and everybody sees everything. The only thing it accomplishes is pissing everyone off eventually." We're not blaming Microsoft (as Kid Chemical points out, it's not exactly their fault) as much as we are lamenting over silly copyright issues: the Project Sylpheed trailer may be Japan-only right now, but don't be surprised if it winds up on YouTube or GameTrailers in the next day or two for any gamer in any region to view.[Update 1: clarified significance of referencing Cayne's comment.]
TGS: XBLA Pac-Man World Championship in '07
Microsoft and Toru Iwatani (he's the creator of Pac-Man) announced plans for a World Championship where the top 10 Xbox Live Arcade ranked Pac-Man players in the world will be flown to New York City to do battle. There'll be cherries and pretzels flying everywhere folks, it won't be pretty. There's not much info yet except that the contest will begin in "early 2007" and will presumably be won by someone with a lot of free time and abnormal reflexes.Initial response: Will players be allowed to use their own controllers? What if the one of the top 10 players was rocking something like this, and the others weren't? It's no secret that the otherwise stellar Xbox 360 gamepad has a serious weakness in the D-pad department. Weak D-pad or not, just make sure Billy Mitchell (pictured) doesn't get his robotic mitts on an Xbox 360 between now and then, or you can kiss your chances of winning goodbye. Perfect. Score.Microsoft's TGS press briefing:XBLA hits Tokyo with Contra and friendsXbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet pointHD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
TGS: XBLA hits Tokyo with Contra and friends
Tucked in Microsoft's TGS press release announcing 1080p support and Japanese HD-DVD info, was a short bit on Xbox Live Arcade's presence at TGS. They revealed the following list of Konami and Namco Bandai titles: Contra Gyruss (previously unannounced) Dig Dug Track & Field New Rally-X (previously unannounced) Rush'n Attack (previously unannounced) Ms. Pac-Man Yie Ar Kung Fu: a "Japan-exclusive Xbox Live Arcade game" and "one of the very first fighting games" will be released in 2007 Some of these we've known about, others we've seen before (Contra was at Microsoft's E3 event, and, oh yeah, it's also ingrained in our consciousness), but there are some interesting additions, including a Japan-exclusive title. Our question is, why is Konami wasting their time with some of these games when all we want are those classic Konami beat 'em ups? You're sitting on a gold mine Konami! Seriously, you're sitting on it. Get up and let us at it. Microsoft's TGS press briefing:Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet pointHD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
TGS: HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 22nd for 19,800 [update 1]
At Microsoft's pre-TGS press briefing today, they announced the Japanese release date and price for the HD-DVD add-on. The movie-playback peripheral will be released concurrently with the North American release of the PlayStation 3 on November 22nd, will have an estimated retail price of ¥19,800 (about $170), and will come with the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote. Coupled with a ¥29,800 (about $250) Japanese Core system, which also comes with a copy of Blue Dragon, Microsoft is hoping to seriously undercut the PlayStation 3, coming in well under its lowest priced model. They did not discuss release dates or prices for other markets, instead choosing to isolate their focus on Japan. With X06 just a couple days after Tokyo, it seems likely we'll hear more about worldwide plans for this product there.Speaking about the release of the external drive, Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim told us, in no uncertain terms, that they have "no plans to incorporate an HD-DVD drive inside the Xbox 360." This, of course, despite incessant rumors to the contrary.Microsoft's TGS press briefing:Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet pointBlue Dragon hits Japan this holiday[Update: Corrected release date from November 17th to 22nd.]
TGS: Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
Microsoft's expects their arrangement with legendary game designer, and father of the massively popular Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi to earn them a considerable amount of sales in Japan. Sakaguchi's new studio, Mistwalker, is working on two RPGs exclusively for the Xbox 360: Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Microsoft announced today that Blue Dragon will lead the console's Japanese push this holiday, along with over 110 other games. Microsoft was unable to confirm what percentage of those titles are digitally distributed Xbox Live Arcade games versus retail DVD-based games, though the North American numbers are about 110 DVD-based, 50 XBLA.As a sign of the strategic importance of the title, they'll begin bundling Blue Dragon with the recently revealed Core version of the console, creating an intoxicatingly affordable package. Like the HD-DVD announcement, there is no release date for regions outside Japan. Blue Dragon will be playable for the first time at TGS, so we'll be sure to get our hands all over it. Microsoft's TGS press briefing:HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
TGS: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
At their pre-TGS press briefing in Tokyo today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 will support 1080p content through a software upgrade. The "p" stands for parity.Microsoft's announcement -- which effectively parries Sony's bold claims regarding the merits of 1080p high definition content or, as Sony calls it, True HD -- is their latest move seeking to blunt the impact of the oncoming Sony PS3 hype-train. With the True HD cat de-clawed, Microsoft's mantra of choice will appear even more appealing. It's another bullet point taken out of the next-gen console war equation.Joystiq spoke briefly with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, about their announcements in Tokyo today. First off, Kim clarified that, while the software patch would upscale all content to resolutions as high as 1080p, Microsoft themselves had no plans to produce gaming content taking advantage of this ability. He was similarly convinced that very few other developers would see the value in producing 1080p games, with the singular exception of Sony's first-party studios, eager to validate the value of the capability.Similar to the way the Xbox 360 upscales original Xbox games from 480p to 720p/1080i, you'll be able to enjoy your existing Xbox 360 games at the new resolution. As if you needed more proof that Microsoft's adoption of high definition HD-DVD is little more than a strategic move to limit Blu-ray's potential sphere of influence, Microsoft's 1080p software upgrade will also remove some of the value of their upcoming HD-DVD add-on by upscaling your existing DVD movies to HD resolutions, including 1080p. So, Microsoft just announced that the Xbox 360 will play your existing DVDs back in high-definition -- in addition to being able to play back legitimate HD-DVD content if you're interested -- and they're gonna do it in 1080p. In the bullet point war, Sony better hope that extra Blu-ray disc space is worth it; they'll have a chance to prove it at TGS this week.Microsoft's TGS press briefing:HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
