TGS 2004: The Kikizo Report

As this year's Tokyo Game Show comes to a close, we bring you our detailed impressions of the event along with a deluge of photographic fun.

Page: 1  2  3 

This year's Tokyo Game show didn't start off particularly well for Kikizo; the death of our main laptop was more than a slight pain in the plums, not to mention a disgrace for the Vaio range (this is our third one to break conveniently just outside of its warranty period - never buy one, ever). But it wasn't enough to stop us enjoying one of the best TGS showings in a while.

Without question the event's centrepiece was Sony's PSP, along with the debut of the newly restyled PStwo hardware, both of which were shown off at a low-key unveiling on Tuesday. The introduction of PlayStation Portable at the show impressed unequivocally; although the software line-up was somewhat a mixed bag, it was the first time most of the industry - and the Japanese public - have had the opportunity to play the hardware unrestricted.

PSP was the biggest thing at the show - literally.

Unlike at this year's E3 back in May, you could actually pick up and hold one of the fifty or so PSP units at the show, either at the gameplay pods on Sony and various third-party stands, or one of about fifteen attached to impressive looking PSP booth babes (we're assuming there was a chain inside the plastic lead that attached the beauties - I don't think a single attendee didn't pause to think whether snatching one would be possible).

The PSP software line-up was led by the usual major Japanese publishers, but about half of what was on show will never make it to western shores. The bombardment of obscure puzzle and RPG titles did demonstrate however the impressive developer and publisher uptake to the platform.

One of the most visually impressive PSP titles was Konami's Coded Arms, a first-person-shooter set in a sci-fi environment, boasting competent PS2-standard graphics and some solid analog- controls, plus some multi-limbed pink monsters. It will likely be one of the bigger launch titles when the importing frenzy begins later this year.

Sony's attempts to out-gorgeous its new handheld failed - just.

Meanwhile, another Konami big-hitter in the shape of Metal Gear Acid looked ever so slightly dull from where we were standing - not that it was bad or anything, but as with the series' console cousins, it was rather difficult to appreciate the game in the show environment - and visually it looked just alright and nothing more, with many environments just seeming a little bland and sparse. Snake and some of his buddies looked pretty good though.

Sony showed PStwo and used it on many of its demo stations.

Meanwhile, ex-Sega veteran Tetsuya Mizuguchi, having informally briefed us at a pre-TGS party on Wednesday, showcased the debut title from his newly formed Q Entertainment studio. Lumines for PSP is a visually thoughtful puzzle game that is stylish in design and quite possibly lethal in execution, with many who played it at the Sony and Bandai booths agreeing on the game's cult potential. Western release information has yet to be announced but we'll be following its progress closely.

Lots of lovely Sony stuff. Perhaps they'll break like Vaios do.

Other PSP software highlights included From Software's Amrmored Core: Formula Front, the latest mach-battlefest, Capcom's Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, a fast-paced 2D fighting game that proved PSP can pack the old 2D punch without hesitation, and EA's Need for Speed, which admittedly did not boast the impressive 60fps refresh standard of some other PSP titles, but showed how much effects goodness can be pumped out of the hardware at this very early stage.

However, we didn't get a chance to savour the potential brilliance of the translation edutainment title Talkman, as revealed at the recent PlayStation Meeting, featuring an ingenious talking bird, and the potentially life-completing Gran Turismo 4 Mobile was nowhere to be seen, not even at Friday's GT4 press conference.

Gran Turismo 4: Great and all that, but not online.

The obvious beauty of the hardware itself outshined any individual software title and for that matter the line-up in its entirety. A song and dance has already been made about the portable's 480x272 TFT screen but really, its prettiness can't be overstated. Pixel-busting clarity and image sharpness, coupled with an eye-licking brightness that just dominates the entire unit, made even the crappiest looking titles yen-splashing material.

There are still questions however about the handheld's battery life that could not be satisfied at the show, and many gaijin gatherings agreed that the analog button would be better placed a tad higher up, but when you consider the ergonomic friendliness of this machine otherwise, plus its unwavering sex appeal, it's hard to see how PSP will do anything else other than fly off shelves. Let's hope your PSP doesn't go the same way as our poor Vaio.

--> Wanda and Collosus is a thing of beauty. Video interview soon.

We'll be bringing you video footage of many PSP titles mentioned here, including some direct feed goodness (did you really expect anything less from us at this stage) in our TGS media follow-up coverage staring next week.

Let's tear ourselves away from Kutaragi's portable wonder for a moment and look at Sony's own PS2 showing for a moment, and one of the most talked-about games of the show was Wanda and Colossus, from the team behind cult classic Ico, and still dubbed as Ico 2 by the industry despite being confirmed as a totally different adventure, with different gameplay to boot.

Halo 2 was ferociously popular at TGS.

At the show itself, Wanda and Colossus - which Sony has confirmed will almost certainly receive a different name in western markets - was unsurprisingly shown in video form only, in a nicely themed booth. We got a much better look at the trailer itself, along with a whole load of extra footage, at a dedicated Wanda and Colossus conference on Saturday, and it seems fans of Ico - and adventurers in general - will have a lot to look forward to when this game is finished next year.

Page: 1  2  3 

NEXT PAGE >>