TGS 2004: The Kikizo Report (Page 3)

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.

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The latest Sonic retro collection kept the kids happy from Saturday, when TGS opened its doors to the public, while the level of skill exhibited by players on the Sega Ages version of Virtua Fighter 2 for PS2 was also much higher when the public got its hands on it. This latest Sega Ages title, while boosted by the inclusion of full 3D backgrounds such as Shun's infamous bridge that was absent from the Saturn conversion, is marred by a pathetic and inexcusable downgrading on texture resolution. It still plays like VF2 and all that, but really guys, you can do better that that. Of course, I'll still be buying it.

--> OutRun2 returns to Kikizo with SpikeOut

Yuji Naka's Nintendo DS game, previously known as Project Rub, was finally unveiled, although only in video form. The video presentation of I Would Die For You, as it's now called, was shown on loop with mild interaction apparently possible - and proved what (let's be honest) we all though of when we heard the project name. Yes, you have to rub girls. In places. The outrageously absurd and yet somehow original video offered one of the best music tracks Sega has produced in a while. You'll be seeing the whole thing in our upcoming video coverage. Sega also offered playable versions of Altered Beast and a new Typing of the Dead game subtitled Zombie Panic.

I Would Die For You, Naka's DS game.

Square Enix showed the latest trailer for Final Fantasy XII, which looked how you'd expect a new FFXII trailer to look - nice. At an event on Wednesday and a follow-up conference on Friday however, the company was keener on showing off the new Disney collaborative effort, Kingdom Hearts II, which was first unveiled at last year's TGS. In addition, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for GBA and Final Fantasy Before Crisis for were at the booth. Again, we've got more on Square Enix still to come.

--> Oh, and the Sammy stuff too.

Konami didn't have anything particularly new to show, except for yet another Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater trailer (bringing the total to about sixty-one now, though admittedly we've lost count), while the game itself was playable again, along with Enthusia Professional Racing, which bravely takes on the hardcore racing genre in the face of imminent stiff competition, while Rumble Roses was also shown. The company's PSP offerings were perhaps more exciting, at least as far as previously-unseen material goes.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - again.

The same applied to Capcom really, as the publisher showcased games including Biohazard 4, Viewtiful Joe 2 and an updated version of Devil May Cry 3, all looking gorgeous as expected, although my money would go with Joe and his new missus over Dante any day, since Devil May Cry 3 seemed like more of the same to my tired day-two eyes.

--> Konami's line-up also included Enthusia Pro Racing.

Namco proudly exhibited the arcade version of Tekken 5 along with Death by Degrees and Ace Combat 5 . Koei also unveiled Kessen 3 at an evening event in Maihama on Friday, before taking journalists to Tokyo Disneyland for a night of fun and Disney magic, although unfortunately it rained quite a lot.

--> --> Capcom showcased several AAA games.

Finally, some western third parties were also getting their fair share of the TGS action, with EA's Need for Speed Underground 2 and Burnout 3 bringing in the punters, while Atari pulled up in Driv3r, which we suspect proved as successful in tricking Japanese press and consumers as it has already done overseas. Apart from the lovely Xbox booth, the best thing about the western publisher exhibits was unquestionably the babes on the Need for Speed Underground 2 exhibit. Frankly they were just really horny and you can bet your bottom dollar they'll be leading the line-up of babes in our massive upcoming Babes of TGS feature. Bookmark us now or later?

--> Namco catered for fans with Tekken 5 and Death by Degrees

This year's show proved that the Japanese industry is in good shape, at least on the surface. The playable debut of PSP was dampened slightly by the mixed range of software, but its arrival is being heralded as the best thing in the world, ever - while the new-look PStwo, which looks fantastic in the flesh and was used to exhibit most playable PS2 games at the Sony booth, is guaranteed to extend the lifecycle of the system which can only be good news for these anxious publishers. All eyes will be on next generation hardware at next year's TGS, but for now, Tokyo showed this week that there's plenty of other stuff to be excited about.

--> SNK and Square Enix booths

Look forward to all the things we mentioned in the coming week or two, as we offer an exclusive video interview with the creators of Wanda and Colossus, interviews with Tecmo, and a range of hands-on reports and truckloads of media including some really quite nice video coverage. Oh, and the babes feature too - that'll be a good one.

--> If you can draw crowds like this, you can sell Shenmue 3. Right?

Now, my Vaio has an appointment with the hotel window, so if you'll excuse me...

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

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