Speaking to a gathering of journalists earlier this week at the Tokyo Game Show, John “Crazy Days” Schappert seemed unwilling to say that the Xbox 360 would return to the once comforting twice a year release schedule for its updates.
Look at these guys! There’s a ton of them! And they’re hooked! And, strangest of all, this is at the Microsoft booth! So, question time: just what are these guys watching? Here’s a clue: it’s a video presentation of a major upcoming title. One that’s playable on the showroom floor. So, think you can guess what it is? No prizes for the winner, only the promise of internet bragging rights.
After playing a round of Street Fighter IV in the Capcom booth at TGS08 the booth companions hand you a little packet of Street Fighter IV pins. I tried figuring out what the full set consisted of, but the time spent at the booth rooting through their freebie basket only netted me more eye time with the same two sets of pins.
Final Fantasy game movie trailers are less game trailers and more movie trailers. So, the new Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer wouldn’t seem that different. It is! According to the game’s director, Tetsuya Nomura, the trailer features at least one scene rendered in the PS3 in real time. The scene is where main hero Noctis meets blonde-haired heroine Stella. If that wasn’t enough (it never is), the main character uses a shortened nickname of his moniker which means “of the night”. Says Nomura:
It’s not all Tokyo Game Show here at Kotaku. BlizzCon’s going down as well, and as Blizzard are prone to do, they’re following up their major announcements with new media. in this instance, two new Starcraft 2 clips, one Protoss v Terran, one Zerg v Terran.
There’s no question about what’s most popular amongst the locals here at TGS. It’s not even close. Seems every single person is here for one of two things. Or, hell, probably both. They’re here for the Square Enix, and they’re here for Capcom.
At 12:00pm, we hit the floors to see how the lines for platform holders Microsoft and Sony are holding up. Yes, both booths were packed — though, Microsoft had considerably more demo kiosks and does not have dedicated space for handheld games. Sony had an “I.D. check” for its mature titles, which actually might have hindered younger players from getting hands on time.
The booth companion costume designers at Tecmo haven’t deviated too far from the norm for Tokyo Game Show 2008. Heels, short shorts and tube tops are being worn in spades at TGS, with a handful of exhibitors (Sony, for one) keeping it a bit classier on the total amount of less flesh revealed. Tecmo went for the industry standard “nearly naked” look, opting for an extra, gossamer thin layer of tacky, shimmering polyester negligee.
For a game that’s been dated Christmas 2008, it’s odd that White Knight Chronicles is not playable on the Tokyo Game Show floor. Even odder because the game was playable last year. When asked why the game wasn’t in playable form at TGS, a Sony rep declined to comment. Isn’t it unusual for a title to be playable one year and unable the year it’s getting release?
No, 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand isn’t dead, dead, dead. It’s alive! The game, orphaned by Activision Blizzard, has indeed been picked up by publisher THQ, according to a rating by Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification board. That’s the part we did get right when we reexamined 50′s fate. Honestly, though our interest in 50′s music begins and ends at “In Da Club” we can’t help but be warmed over by the ridiculousness of Blood On The Sand‘s debut trailer. It’s brilliant.
