By the numbers: Tokyo Game Show

Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes and Ghost Trick announced for North America

Capcom announced two new games at the Tokyo Game show this week that will be coming to North America and Europe in 2010. The new Capcom titles are Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes and Ghost Trick (working title for North America and Europe) - both are being displayed to the Japanese gaming public for the first time. Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, the latest in Capcom’s samurai action series, makes it first appearance on both the PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Set during a tumultuous period of Japanese history, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes allows players to take up the swords of more than a dozen samurai warriors in huge battles against hundreds of opponents. Players will be able to unlock playable characters, as well as supporting generals who will make it easier to command and lead armies with the ultimate goal of re-writing history to rule all of 16th century Japan. The action is fast-paced and stylish, taking combat cues from producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi’s other big series, Devil May Cry. The game’s main campaign will be the same on both gaming platforms, with the addition of online co-op for the PlayStation 3.

Ghost Trick is a new IP that combines mystery, logic puzzles and the supernatural into a new experience on Nintendo DS. Part adventure game, part puzzle game, Ghost Trick’s gameplay will challenge player’s brains and offer what Capcom calls a distinctive art style and character designs courtesy of members of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series. In Ghost Trick, players become Sissel, an amnesiac ghost who must use his ghostly powers to protect the lives of several people while attempting to uncover the secrets behind his own untimely demise. Sissel can “possess” items within the world, such as flicking a switch to shock an unwary assassin or floating a bike through the air to scare mortals and even rewind time by four minutes to prevent further deaths.

Both games will be released at a date to be announced sometime in 2010.

Tokyo Game Show details revealed

The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association and Nikkei Business Publications, announced some details on the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, which will be held over a four-day period between Thursday, September 24 and Sunday, September 27, 2009 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Japan. Yeah, it’s not in Tokyo. Go figure. The Game Science Museum, which will exhibit game technologies, histories, and trends, will be set up this year in Halls 2, 4, and 8 (Kids’ Area).

Meanwhile, hall 2 will feature games related to sengoku samurai (feudal warlords), a theme that has recently been enjoying great popularity in Japan, as well as an exhibition of the armor and helmets of nine of the most popular Japanese warlords.

Hall 4 will exhibit the structure of the latest game consoles in an easy-to-understand way, and introduce the latest technology being applied to gaming. The Kids’ Area will show how game character graphics have evolved in a way easily understandable for children as well.

The organizers also wanted to point out that the show will use “green power” like last year; the show’s power will be generated by a biomass power station.

Admission for adults will be ¥1,200 for a same-day ticket, while children (elementary school age and younger) get in free of charge.

For more info check out tgs.cesa.or.jp.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Coming to North America

Early today at the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom confirmed that Japanese multi-platinum selling PSP title, Monster Hunter Portable 2G will be coming to North American gamers as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Monster Hunter Portable 2G was the Japan-exclusive expansion to the popular Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Since its release in Japan earlier this year, the game has sold over 2.4 million copies, easily making it one of the most successful games ever for Sony’s PSP. In fact, according to Capcom, the Monster Hunter franchise has sold over 7.8 million units worldwide.

Packed with more than five hundred hours of gameplay and a slew of unreleased monsters, weapons, and missions, Capcom is promising that Monster Hunter Freedom Unite will be the biggest game of the series so far. One of the new features in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is a customizable AI “felyne” companion who will accompany players on quests and gather extra resources and can be shared and traded with other players. The game will also include an improved “Media Install Option,” which gives players the ability to save portions of the game from UMD to Memory Stick, resulting in much faster load times as well as improved battery life. Plus, as an added bonus, fans of the series will be able to transfer their character and data from Monster Hunter Freedom 2 over to the new game.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is scheduled for a North American release on PSP sometime in Spring 2009.

New Xbox Experience Dated for Nov. 19th

We’ve seen it demoed at E3. We’ve dealt with downtime as Xbox LIVE got ready for it. And now, finally, the folks over at Microsoft have given us a date for it. I’m talking, of course, about the “New Xbox Experience”, Microsoft’s updated dashboard interface. At the Tokyo Game Show yesterday, Microsoft announced that the new dashboard, along with all of its included features, will officially go live worldwide on November 19th.

The New Xbox Experience will allow Xbox 360 owners to create animated avatars, jump into a “LIVE Party” with up to seven friends, compete in new community games, share pictures and music, and even set up a virtual movie night, courtesy of new Netflix integration. The new dashboard will also dump the blade system of the current Xbox 360 dashboard in favor of a new design overhaul meant to make things easier to navigate.

“Our industry is defining the future of entertainment,” said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Studios, while at the Tokyo Game Show 2008. “When the New Xbox Experience launches in just six weeks, we will be inviting the whole world to play.”

Halo 3: Recon Drops From Orbit

For some time now, Microsoft has been teasing gamers with talk of more titles set within the Halo Universe, from the upcoming Halo Wars real time strategy game to a mysterious Peter Jackson helmed Halo project. There was even an ambiguous trailer released last week from Bungie Studios about yet another mysterious Halo project. Well last night, at Microsoft’s Tokyo Game Show press conference, the curtain was finally raised on that last one, as the company formally announced the development of the standalone expansion, Halo 3: Recon.

Read the rest of this entry »

KOEI’s TGS Line-Up

KOEI today revealed what games it plans to have on display at the Tokyo Game Show next week. The KOEI booth will be located in Hall 1, booth# “1-C1″ of Makuhari Messe. As one would expect from KOEI, several Dynasty Warriors games will be on display in addition to a new G1 Jockey game, a new Romance of the Three Kingdoms game and several new online games. Full list after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »