tokyo game show
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PS3 Motion Controller confirmed for next spring, finally ready for its close-ups
We've heard plenty about Sony's PS3 Motion Controller, but we hadn't actually seen a press shot of it until now. Looks pretty PlayStation-ey, wouldn't you say? Sony has also confirmed that spring 2010 is the launch window (with those rumors of a March date in Japan floating around). It can't come soon enough! At the TGS announcement Kaz Hirai reiterated that the controller will meet the "stringent" requirements of hardcore gamers -- which is always a comfort, no matter how much of that gamer-pleasing will have to come from the actual games themselves. Hit up the read link for Joystiq's live coverage of the Sony keynote from TGS! Update: Press release! %Gallery-73841%
Video: Alienware invades TGS: will 'shake the gaming world to its foundation'
Alienware's been running a series of teasers hyping an invasion. Get it, invasion... aka, new product launch? The Round Rock mothership reveals that the big unveil will occur at the Tokyo Game Show, presumably Thursday when the event officially begins. A launch so big that it will "shake the gaming world to its foundation," according to its Facebook page. Well, in that case anything less than a mutated lizard, gigantified by a diet of radiation and city buses will be a disappointment. It is Tokyo after all. Latest video tease after the break.
Microsoft's Tokyo Game Show lineup exposed
Microsoft has unveiled it's Tokyo Game Show 2009 lineup and, as usual, we've got a selection of expected blockbusters sprinkled with games catered to the Japanese market. And Infernal: Hell's Vengeance is there for some reason, too. Some of the big games that will be playable include Assassin's Creed 2, Halo 3: ODST, Lost Planet 2, Bayonetta, Tekken 6 and Forza 3. Playable XBLA games will include Bomberman Live Battlefest, Raystorm HD, 0 Day Attack on Earth and ... Shadow Complex. Naturally, there will be some RPGs and some established Japanese franchises on the floor as well, including Front Mission Evolved, End of Eternity (a.k.a. Resonance of Fate), Nier Gestalt, Ninety-Nine Nights 2 and more. There will also be some video-only showings, including Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Halo Legends and others. We're not sure if any of the videos will be new, but there's bound to be surprise or two. Head over to IGN for the full lineup.
Plan your TGS 2009 adventure with this show floor map
click to (slightly) enlarge Tokyo Game Show 2009 is only two weeks away and we've finally caught a glimpse of what to expect thanks to (a supposed leak from) Konami. Today, the house that built Metal Gear revealed the TGS show floor map on its special event website, before the outline for the upcoming event was detailed by the group organizing it. While most of the map is labeled in Japanese, major booths can be spotted. Microsoft is situated near Square Enix, which is across from Sony's main booth.Other details for the event have been slowly trickling out over the last few weeks, and hopefully we'll know more before the event begins on September 24. Make sure to keep refreshing Joystiq throughout TGS 2009, as we cover the event live from Tokyo.[Via Andriasang]
The Daily Grind: Are you looking forward to any gaming conventions?
August and September are notoriously known as the months of gaming conventions, and ultimately, two months where we're pretty busy reporting announcements and general event coverage. We have both GamesCom and GamesCon (yes, confusing), GenCon, BlizzCon, GDC Austin, PAX, Tokyo Game Show and Dragon*Con to think about. Plus, there are countless smaller cons all around the world celebrating the gaming and general geek culture.So which conventions are you most looking forward to in the coming months? Since we already have plans to attend a few of these conventions, we're curious to know which ones our readers see as the most important to them. Let us know your annual favorites that you usually attend, plan to attend for the first time or simply want to hear more about.
Kaz Hirai keynoting Tokyo Game Show 2009
Riiiiiiiidge Racer! ...... Phew. Now that we got that out of our system, we can calmly inform you that Sony CEO Kaz Hirai will be delivering a keynote speech at this year's Tokyo Game Show. The title of his address: "New Tactics for 2009." Considering the reveal of the PSP Go and its download-only business model, we're looking at "digital distribution" as a big part of those new tactics. But what about old tactics? You know, slimming and trimming in an effort to reverse the recent sales slide.Additionally, a panel discussion will help fill out the Sony exec's two-hour time slot, featuring bigwigs from Capcom, Sony, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix. Other TGS speakers have yet to be confirmed.
TGS 08: Public attendance up, business visitors way down
Tokyo Game Show organizer CESA announced (via IGN) that the show had 194,288 visitors this year, up about a thousand attendees from last year. The increase in visitors on the public days made up for the significant drop during the two "business only" days of the show. Thursday (Business): 27,305 ('07 - 29,783) Friday (Business): 24,178 ('07 - 32,390) Saturday (Public): 71,639 ('07 - 64,795) Sunday (Public): 71,166 ('07 - 66,072) Good thing TGS is open to the public because those figures really help distract from asking: where have all the business folks gone?
TGS 08: Level-5 video roundup
Level-5's Tokyo Game Show booth featured a Closed Theater presentation (much like their competitor, Square Enix). However, unlike the other JRPG overlord, Level-5 encouraged us to actually let you watch these trailers as well by endowing us with a DVD (courtesy of booth girl). Our favorite trailer of the three new games unveiled at TGS this year is for PSP: Ushiro, a horror-themed RPG that has you playing a ghost haunting his darling (in a not-so-Patrick Swazey way).That's not all, of course. The busy RPG team is also hard at work on a new DS game in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, and a new PSP game that lets you customize some robots. Check out those videos, and more, after the break.
Brains-on with NeuroSky and Square Enix's Judecca mind-control game
We already know that NeuroSky is bringing us the mind-reading Mindset for your gaming pleasures, but we got a first-hand look at the device here at TGS. At first glance, the headset may appear to be just another white set of over-the-ear headphones, but a little boom that gets all cuddly with your forehead measures how well you are concentrating on in-game objects. While this may sound like a bunch of hoopla, keep in mind that mega-developer Square Enix is already on board with "Judecca," a zombie thriller that forces you to concentrate your way into seeing your enemies. After holding up your hand, you then concentrate on a glyph that glows in direct relation to your ability to concentrate, opening up what's called your Devil's Eye. Once you're in a zen-like state, you can see Judecca's zombies and unleash some kill. You can also show your concentration skills enough to walk through walls, naturally. In our limited time trying the tech with Judecca, we were indeed able to induce some sort of concentrative state, even with the distractions of a giant Japanese gaming convention. As for how long we'd want to play something like this before switching to something involving, say, just pushing buttons and killing enemies, we're not so sure. NeuroSky promises the device in Spring 2009 for a price somewhere between $50 and $80. Hit the break for a couple shots of the device and a very tense gamer.
New Xbox 360 dashboard coming November 19th
Been wondering when you were finally going to get your eyes on that fancy new Xbox 360 experience? Well the secret is out -- come November 19th, your dashboard will never be the same. The good folks at Joystiq have delivered this wonderful news live-and-direct from the Tokyo Game Show, where they're blogging the Microsoft press briefing while undoubtedly enjoying the finest cowboy rolls known to man and hob-nobbing with other glorious gamers. Feel free to check into their live coverage via the link below, and start prepping for serious avatar creation.PS.- Check out our earlier gallery of the new dash here.Read - New Xbox Experience coming Nov. 19Read - Joystiq live from Microsoft's TGS 2008 press conference
Reminder: Microsoft's TGS press conference happens tonight [update 2]
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/08/joystiq-live-from-microsofts-tgs-2008-press-conference/'; Update 2: Microsoft's TGS conference has concluded. Click here for all the exciting TGS news including the big reveal of Halo 3: Recon!Update: Joystiq is live-blogging the press conference RIGHT NOW! We already know what's going to be on the show floor and have a pretty good idea that Bungie will be involved, but we are totally in the dark to what other exciting news Microsoft will be announcing during their Tokyo Game Show 2008 press conference. The Microsoft conference kicks off TONIGHT at 11:00PM eastern (8:00PM pacific), when team Microsoft storms the TGS stage and hopefully makes a few hugely major announcements. Remember too that you can read conference play by play by visiting Joystiq, because they'll be in attendance and will be live-blogging all the juicy bits. Here at Fanboy Towers, we'll be staying up extra late just in case OMG megaton news drops. We're excited and you should be too.While you wait for tonight's TGS festivities, we recommend clicking over to Joystiq to view a five picture photo gallery of Microsoft's Japanese Xbox HQ. Quite the nifty building, but is it just us or does the shape of the building look eerily similar to the Playstation 3? Gallery: Xbox Japan HQ
Welcome to Tokyo Game Show!
Hey PS Fanboy readers! Long time no see! I'm taking a rare opportunity here to talk to you in first-person. I've been off on an Asian excursion -- here, you'll see I visited the Kyoto offices of Q-Games, the team behind the PixelJunk series.While we can't say what we saw (not yet!), we wanted to give you a heads-up to our Tokyo Game Show coverage ... which starts in just a few hours! Here's just a slight preview of our coverage plans (all times in Japan time):Wednesday (10/8) SCEA/SCEE cocktailLast year's cocktail had a few surprise games. What will we find this year? Thursday (10/9) Preview: Capcom Hands-on/Interview: Patapon 2 Hands-on/Interview: LocoRoco 2 Preview: inFamous 12PM - Platinum Games presentation Preview: Tecmo Preview: Ryu ga Gotoku 3 2PM - Koei press conference Hands-on: Resistance Retribution Interviews: Tecmo Interview: Sonic Unleashed, Sega 3:30PM - XSEED/Marvelous press conference
NeuroSky and Square Enix set to demo mind-controlled gaming
The last time we saw NeuroSky's MindSet brainwave-controlled gaming headset, the company was partnering with Sega -- now the peripheral-maker has teamed with Square Enix to produce what we hope will be a "mind-blowing" (groan) demo at this year's Tokyo Game Show. If you'll recall, NeuroSky has been pushing its unique brand of mind-controlled gaming since way back in 2005, but it appears the technology has become increasingly attractive to notable game-makers as of late. On Thursday, the two companies plan a demonstration of the in-game powers of relaxation at TGS in what appears to be a perfect example of Neo-like godliness. The whole thing goes down October 9th, so be there or be Square. Enix.
MS reveals their Tokyo Game Show lineup
Heading into the weekend festivities that is this year's Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft just officially revealed their lineup of games that will be available to play, see and experience at their TGS booth. The list (posted after the break) includes the standard assortment of MGS games including Nuts & Bolts and Fable 2, (but no Gears 2, sad face) as well as Japanese favorites Star Ocean: The Last Hope (first time playable) and The Last Remnant. In total, Microsoft has 23 games listed, but conveniently left out any mention of a Bungie title. We're sure the secret Bungie title/DLC will not be on the show floor, which is why it isn't on the list, but some acknowledgment of its TGS appearance would be nice. You can't fool us Microsoft, we know you have some secret Halo TGS plans ... oh, we know.
Katamari creator's Nobi Nobi Boy coming to TGS 2008
Two things surprise us about Namco Bandai's announced Tokyo Game Show lineup: the complete dearth of Katamari titles and, coincidentally, the inclusion of Katamari creator Keita Takahashi's Nobi Nobi Boy for PlayStation 3, a title we haven't heard about since October 2007. According to the publisher (via Siliconera), the game (the title literally translates to "Stretch Stretch Boy") will be shown in video form only, a bit surprising considering the playable prototype that appeared last year at GameCity. Namco Bandai's lineup includes 29 titles, including Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and the multiplatform Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. Interestingly, the publisher is also showing off four PlayStation 2 titles, edging out Sony's support of PS2 at this TGS by a margin of 4 to 0.
Three unannounced PSP games to be shown at TGS
While Sony will be showing off nine unannounced PS3 titles at this year's Tokyo Game Show, they'll be showing off three new games for the PSP. All of the games will be published by SCEI, meaning they'll either be new IPs, or extensions of currently popular Sony franchises.Some of the known titles to be showcase at TGS this year include Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Patapon 2, Bleach: Soul Carnival, and Loco Roco 2. For the complete list (in English), visit PSP-Hyper.
Rumor: Team ICO reveals The Queen, all bow down
The third project from the "Olympic Team" behind both Shadow of the Colossus and Ico looks like it might make its long anticipated reveal next month at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. What appears to be a newly launched TGS teaser website calls the game ICO 3 The Queen, adding that Japanese PS3 owners will be able to yank the title off store shelves on October 9, 2009.Given the name, as well as the site's reuse of the original game's logo, it remains unclear if the title will be any sort of direct follow up to the original Ico or another stand alone project, but whatever the case we cannot wait to find out more once TGS gets underway.Note: As some have pointed out, the site's validity is suspect, meaning we now wait until next month's TGS to see if in fact the next game from Team ICO will make an appearance or simply break our hearts.[Thanks pico!]
Koei to unveil new PSP games at Tokyo Game Show
Koei president Kenji Matsubara spoke recently with Gamasutra about making third party titles in Japan. More important to our readers, part of that discussion involved PSP. Pointing to the PSP's success with Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (yes, everything comes back around to Monster Hunter PSP savior), Matsubara said it is encouraging to make games for the PSP as opposed to other tougher markets (the PS3 and 360).In line with this, Koei has acted accordingly by revealing plans to announce new PSP titles at this year's Tokyo Game Show in October. What those titles are, it won't say, but we're certainly curious to find out. Deducing from the article, it sounds like Koei is aiming to make a game that utilizes Monster Hunter's team-focused gameplay. Hmm, perhaps a game where Guan Yu and friends go around Han Dynasty China looking to slay mythical creatures? We wouldn't be surprised ...Anyway, don't get too excited yet. While Koei sings a PSP paean, it can't deny a lack of enthusiasm from Western markets. Perhaps, these new games will be Japan-only. Stay tuned, we'll have more from TGS next month.
Three new Team Ninja action titles headed for TGS
Under the new leadership of Fatal Frame alumni Jin Hasegawa, Tecmo's Itagaki-less Team Ninja is poised to unveil its latest titles at Tokyo Game Show, IGN reports. Newly appointed Tecmo president Yasuhara Kakihara began a press conference in Tokyo today with an announcement that the studio has three new action games aimed at a "worldwide audience" prepped for TGS, which gets underway on October 9.Tecmo has also firmed up its US release schedule for the rest of 2008, which includes the M.I.A. Wii title, Rygar: The Battle of Argus, listed for December. The remainder of the publisher's '08 slate includes: Robocalypse (DS, 10/28), SPRay (Wii, 10/28), and Tecmo Bowl Kickoff (DS, November).
Win a trip to Tokyo with Metal Gear Online [Update]
Update: American gamers can now get in on the action. For details, click here.Fancy a trip to Tokyo with five of your friends? Konami has announced that a European Metal Gear Online Tournament will begin very shortly which will allow you to win exactly that. Check out the official website and sign up today and you'll take part in one of the preliminary tournaments over the next few weeks. These will be straight Team Deathmatch games, with the best two teams being flown to Tokyo for the world final (indicating that Japanese and American tournaments should be announced soon) during the Tokyo Game Show. Tokyo Game Show takes place from the 9th to the 13th of October, so it's probably best that you make sure you're free for those dates before taking part. Over 250 teams will be competing, which sounds a lot, but really you've got a 1-in-125 chance of going through. Pretty good odds, if you ask us. If you play MGO regularly in a team you'd be stupid to pass this opportunity up. So go for it and, if you win, let us know. We'll see you in Tokyo!
