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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land People are worried that Bionic Commando might be a bit too hard. I’m one of them. There’s a fear that, because the game’s swinging mechanic is both integral to the game and difficult to master at the same time, a lot of players may not take the time to learn the system and give up on the game. Is this a concern to the development team? No, not really. Making the mechanic hard was the whole point, says GRIN’s Ulf Andersson:
Oh, Konami. What a difference a year makes. Last year, they were the star of the show, Metal Gear Solid 4 winning over both critics and public alike. This year? They…well, let’s just say they probably wish they could re-release Metal Gear Solid 4 all over again, as without it, their lack of depth in other areas really showed. Pro Evo 2009 was great, as we’ve already discussed, but after that there was little else to see but the sad (still peddling MGS4 and Metal Gear Online? Really?) and the God-awful (Castlevania Judgement is a farce of a title). galleryPost('konamibooth', 3, 'TGS: Konami Booth');
From Software had two console exclusives on its plate at TGS, Ninja Blade for the Xbox 360 and Demon’s Souls for the PlayStation 3. Both are dark and moody hack and slash affairs, filled with demonic beasts to slay. But Demon’s Souls is billed as an action role-playing game, seemingly a greater time investment than its “cinematic” action sibling. The poorly translated fact sheet describes the game with “Nothing but a player’s decision and a tactics of using various weapons are important than anything that you really need to think to play.”
Macross Ace Frontier is in a no-lose situation. The lucky thing. If it sucks as a Macross game, well, it’s a Macross game. They have a history of sucking. If it sucks as a PSP game, well, it’s a PSP game. They (mostly) have a history of sucking. What’s so surprising given both of those expectations, then, is the fact that having played the game at TGS, it’s not sucking. On either count.
For a publisher of their size and stature, Sega’s Tokyo Game Show booth was a little on the disappointing side. Nothing on hand was really wowing the crowd – not even the promise of a new Sonic game (Unleashed) – and were it not for the mild excitement accompanying Yakuza 3 the booth would have been one of the emptiest of the major publishers. For a closer look, hit the link.
People came to this year’s Tokyo Game Show. In droves. The event’s organisers have released the final tallies, and they are: 194,288 attendees for TGS 2008 compared to 193,040 attendees for TGS 2007. Those interested in the breakdown, hit the jump. Those not, don’t.
Notice something missing at this year’s TGS? Besides lack of major news, there was a noticeable lack of nerd stench. The best thing about this year’s Tokyo Game Show is that it was in October. The worst thing about last year’s Tokyo Game Show was that it was in September, a month that is still humid, sticky and generally gross and disgusting. So it was quite nice not turning into a sweat monster during the show. The thing that wasn’t so nice was the show’s timing if you’re a parent of small children.
Those brushstroke heavy Street Fighter IV trailers are going to get turned into an anime that will fill in the gaps between Street Fighter II and its spiritual sequel Street Fighter IV. Producer Yoshinori Ono stated at TGS that the new animated feature will run between 50 and 60 minutes and hopes to tie the flick with the game’s home console release. The company that churned out the original clips, Studio 4C, is working on the full-length version. The three minute trailer shown at TGS showed Cammy making her way through a wooded area with some troops, Ryu discovering his dark side, Sakura and Chun-Li battling goons, and Ryu and Crimson Viper fighting.
Yet another Japanese game developer getting all down on the Japanese game industry. This time it’s Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima bringing the negativity. In a talk at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Kojima said: “If you honestly compare Japanese games with Western ones, Japan has lost.”
Never mind that Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers have been popping up at the Tokyo Game Show for eons now. The game was first publicly shown at the 2005 TGS, and the ensuing years brought new trailers to boot. It all culminated in a hands-on MGS4 demo last year. This year there was still a MGS4 trailer — even though the game has been out for months. This year’s MGS4 promotion at TGS was more a thank you to fans and an attempt to garner more interest in Metal Gear Online.
While in Tokyo for TGS, game site Siliconera tried gauging lasting retail shop interest in MGS4: Shinjuku shop Tsutaya is offering ¥500 ($6.74). There’s one word for that and that is “ouch”. For comparison sake, the same store is paying ¥3,800 ($51.51) for Cross Edge, ¥1,200 ($16.27) for Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, and ¥2,500 ($33.90) for the almost three-year-old Animal Crossing: Wild World.
Image after the jump.
