TGS 07: Bandai Namco Press Conference

As many westerners as there are attending TGS, it's easy for the overseas audience to forget that this show primarily caters to the Japanese media, with a lot of the materials and presentations being almost entirely in Japanese. Bandai/Namco felt our pain though, and drafted localization team member Austin Keys to organize a press event at the Namco/Bandai booth just for westerners.

Now wasn't that nice of them? Yes, yes it was.

Six games were shown for the assembled media, four of which we know a fair amount about already. While Austin only briefly touched on Beautiful Katamari (still no Katamari for the Wii, sigh), he did treat us to new TGS trailers for Soul Calibur Legends, Soul Calibur IV, Time Crisis IV, Ace Combat 6 and the newly revealed Family Trainer - Athletic World for the Wii.

The Ace Combat 6 trailer looked to be an extender version of the trailer released earlier this year, which primarily consisted of numerous beautiful shots of dogfighting jet fighters, missile trails and explosions interspersed with images of a young civilian woman and a swelling orchestral score. The high resolution ground textures are still absolutely stunning, and the planes themselves have never looked shinier.

Out of the two Soul Calibur trailers, Soul Calibur Legends did a good of helping us understand what exactly the game is all about (Siegfried, Soul Edge and a lot of slashing, if you want to know). It's still pretty ugly, running on what appears to be a modified version of the four-year old Soul Calibur II engine, but the action at least looked pretty entertaining. Soul Calibur IV primarily hinted at a final, cataclysmic battle between Nightmare and Siegfried. I don't think this will be the last Soul Calibur by a long shot, but as a fan of the series, it's nice to see the long-running story finally come to a head. Naturally, the action was pretty impressive too.

Time Crisis IV was touted by Austin as being “better than the arcade fiction,” a feat ten years ago but somewhat more commonplace today. That isn't to say that the trailer was bad, quite the contrary. The trailer boasts “full freedom of movement” with the GunCon peripheral, which Austin called a “well thought out bit of design.” The graphics are pretty much par for the course for the PS3, which is to say that they are better than average, but perhaps not as stunning as the likes of Metal Gear Solid IV or perhaps Devil May Cry IV. Naturally, like every cheesy action flick ever made, the trailer had to end on a ‘funny' note, with one of the main characters remarking to the other, “At least it's never boring.”

Hold me, I think I'm going to bust a rib.

The meat of the presentation was the introduction of Family Trainer, the sequel to a twenty-year old NES title by the same name (it's okay, I don't remember it either). The game, which utilizes a mat that looks eerily like that relic of a bygone era the Power Pad, was shown first via trailer, than demonstrated by a pair of very enthusiastic Japanese women.

For anyone who has ever complained that Wii games look worse than PS2 games, here's your new poster boy. Namco/Bandai appears to have leapt back not one but two generations with the graphics in this one. I know that it's supposed to be relatively simple, and that it's meant for casual gamers, but it really looks like a first-generation Playstation game. I may be wrong, but I think the Nintendo DS could pull off better visuals than this.

But what about the actual games? Well, there are certainly no shortage of minigames within this title, each of which utilizes some combination of Wiimote and mat in a different way. Games included running/jumping that requires the player to rapidly jog in place and periodically hop over logs, an activity that makes them look a little like a cartoon character, a rowing game that uses the Wiimote, a cooperative roller coaster game that requires one player to shoot and the other to steer, and a whack-a-mole game. The former looked like it was the most fun to play (though the crosshair was a bit jittery), the latter was unexpectedly commandeered by a member of the audience who danced up a storm on the DDR like controls, then finished by saying a few choice words about IGN (which Austin quickly disavowed).

So, to sum it all up, Soul Calibur IV and Ace Combat 6 look excellent, Legends and Time Crisis IV look interesting but graphically plain, and Family Trainer looked like a cash in on the Wii's casual gaming craze with first-generation Playstation graphics. Beautiful Katamari wasn't shown, but the demo was around the corner anyway. Now it's time to start thinking about rolling up pizzas for the King of all Cosmos.

Sep 24, 2007 - 10:16 am | 1 comments

TGS 07: Sony Keynote - Back to Basics

It's been a difficult year for for Sony, the formerly dominating company being hammered on all sides by bad press, disappointing sales and stiff competition from Nintendo and Microsoft.

In his TGS keynote speech, Sony President Kaz Hirai largely abandoned lucid dreams for the kind rhetoric employed by losing NFL coaches - It's time to get back to basics. Sony has decided that it's now all about games and gamers, and to prove that they were serious, their first move was to finally unveil the Dual Shock 3 for long-suffering PS3 owners.

“We have received many opinions from our users, and one of the largest voices we heard is that they wanted the addition of vibration to the Sixaxis,” Hirai said, citing 2008 as the return of vibration for North American and European players.

Sony wasted no time getting the DS3 into the hands of players, with several games on the show floor utilizing the new controller, including the all-important Metal Gear Solid 4. There isn't much to say about the controller itself save that it feels like a slightly heavier Sixaxis, a welcome improvement since the original Sixaxis felt far too light in my hands. Outside of that, it's basically the same controller you've been using since roughly 1998, but it's great to have what should have been there in the first place.

Other than the expected DS3 announcement, there was relatively little in the way of new information. The demo reel was largely underwhelming, mostly featuring games that have been around for months. New Home details were also lacking, with Kaz's only comment being that he expected it to be a ‘new kind of interactive game' during the Q&A session. When asked how it differed, he said that he would like to see Home be more regulated, and suggested that Home had an advantage because it ran on the PS3 rather than the PC, which allowed for more uniform development.

Kaz repeatedly emphasized the importance of user feedback throughout the presentation, using it as a jumping off point for introducing the aforementioned DS3 as well as remote play and a TV tuner for the PSP. Remote play received a utilitarian demonstration, with Sony's Director of Product Planning explaining that the feature would be best utilized in places like hotel rooms, which have recently started to feature free wireless access. While this feature seems nice at first glance, it remains to be seen whether it will just be a nice novelty for the occasional vacation. Regardless, it's the thought that counts.

The need for increased cooperation with licensees was also hammered home throughout the presentation, with Kaz noting that Sony was now sharing assets that would allow for more efficient development, tacitly acknowledging developer complaints that cost-effective development is difficult on the PS3.

Touching on the Playstation Network, Kaz mentioned the rapidly growing popularity of market services on console systems. Kaz praised the service's content, noting that there were some ‘500 items available for download,' but ignored criticisms of the service, which has generally been the lack of content in comparison with XBLA and Marketplace. Instead, he pointed out that the service now boasts more than 2 million accounts, and announced that Gran Turismo 5 will be available for download come December 13th.

Kaz tackled a few burning questions at the end of the keynote, including the success of the Wii compared to the PS3. For the most part he laughed it off, trotting out the tried and true argument that the two systems were designed for different markets. He also said that he thought competition was good for games, and that no single company could have everything (though the Playstation and Nintendo have each owned between 80 and 90 percent of the market share at one point or another).

Kaz finished by re-emphasizing that beyond the cell processor and its potential as a supercomputer (see Folding@Home), the PS3 is still a gaming machine, saying, “We want to be very clear that it's an entertainment platform. In a broad sense it's still a game.”

It looks like we can expect a lot of pledges to heed the all-powerful consumer over the next few months, words typical of a company that is adjusting to short-term pain. In that sense, while there weren't much in the way of new announcements, the keynote was still instructive in revealing Sony's mindset as a company and what they plan to do to rectify their current position. If it really is all about games and gamers rather than raw technology in the House of Kaz, we may indeed see Sony rise again in the new year.

Sep 20, 2007 - 3:29 pm | 1 comments

TGS 07: Nights: Journey of Dreams (Wii) Hands-On

Nights into Dreams was one of the most popular games on the Sega Saturn, but for that reason alone I'm willing to bet that more than a few gamers have never heard of it before the Wii sequel was announced. For those who don't know, the series centers around the sensation of flight, with boys and girls banishing their nightmares by taking control of a jester-like creature called Nights.

I know about Nights, but this is my first time actually playing it. As such, I didn't really know what to expect until I picked up the Wiimote and got started. Like most Wii games, the graphics are certainly nothing to write home about, though they are definitely colorful and interesting to look at. They do a good job of leaving the impression of a dream world, which I imagine was the designer's goal.

The camera remains fixed at a somewhat awkward isometric view, only periodically moving behind Nights as she flies around the stage. For the purposes of the demonstration, I was directed to the dream park stage, where I floated around collecting jewels and other objects for a while amid the foresty green. Flight feels like its on rails - Your character is always moving forward, with an occasional burst of acceleration used to catch up to targets.

It took a while getting used to the controls. I kept wanting to push forward to make Nights fly ahead (intuitive, no?), but I kept doing backwards. Finally, after much prodding from my Japanese assistant, I realized that I actually had to press right to move forward, which felt wrong from that perspective. I was eventually able to get used to it though, snagging all three birds in the stage and grabbing the keys they were carrying.

Once I cleared the first stage, it was on to the boss, a large, floating beach ball-like clown creature that mostly floated about the stage harmlessly. My goal was to push it all the way to the top of the stage, but it was difficult as the perspective kept shifting. I was finally on my way up, but alas, I ran out time and my dream was over.

Anticipated as this game is by some, I was left feeling underwhelmed by the demonstration. With so many AAA games hitting the market soon, it's difficult for me to recommend what felt like a relatively simple game with somewhat confusing controls. No doubt fans who remember the Saturn will pick this one up, and there are indeed some things to recommend it, including the use of different masks to change speeds and the use of the Forecast Channel for various features. As for me, if I want a starry platformer-like game, I may just stick with Mario Galaxy.

Sep 20, 2007 - 3:25 pm | 5 comments

TGS 07: Megal Gear Solid 4 Hands-On

I'll admit, I was skeptical the first time I saw the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. Sure, it looked great, but hadn't we been through all this with the launch of the PS2? Same series, same hype, different number - Metal Gear Solid 2. And yes, it was terrific, until the big bait and switch (which, by the way, was and still is overblown).

One year later, I'm ready to change my tune. Metal Gear Solid 4 is incredible. Truly, you can't really understand why this game is great until you finally get your hands on it. Yeah, it's generally the same MGS with a lot of cosmetic improvements, but it's never looked or played this good. It's obvious that Hideo Kojima has pulled out all the stops in what he says is his final (this time for real) Metal Gear Solid game, and we're richer for it.

Konami too has gone the extra yard in presenting it. Showgoers were ‘briefed' on the game by presenters who hammed it up in full military gear. They even went so far as to have a plant in the audience revealed as a spy and dragged off into a backroom to be shot execution style, and to throw in a few pyrotechnics along the way. Once the smoke cleared, it was finally time to play the game that will probably go the furthest of any of Sony's exclusives in selling the PS3 to the general public.

Start with the graphics. While the previous games were generally gritty and realistic, they also frequently betrayed their anime roots, particularly in terms of presentation and character design. MGS4 however feels like it has more in common with Call of Duty 4 than Policenauts, perhaps owing to the profusion of smoke and grit in the futuristic ‘Middle East Red Zone.' The textures are fantastic, with Snake's body armor in particular standing out with its rough, metallic sheen. Everything about the graphics serves to push home the ruin of Snake's environment.

But the thing that really jumps out as you creep between ruined buildings and burned out cars is the sound effects. Gunfire is startling the first time you hear it, snapping across the battlefield with a resounding crack. Listening to it, you realize how rare it is that developers nail something so. MGS4 gets it, and then some. The excellent sound effects do well to enhance the already outstanding graphics, lending the game an air of realism as the player continues, sniping enemy soldiers or slitting their throats along the way.

If I have any kind of gripe with this game, it's that the controls can occasionally be awkward, particularly when it comes to aiming and shooting. When accosted by an enemy soldier, it was often difficult to remember ‘L1 to aim, R1 to fire.' My natural reaction being slam that R1 button down as hard as I could when an enemy soldier arrived. This resulted in my being shot an awful lot, since I've never been especially stealthy. Luckily, Konami gave me plenty of rations, so death was never an issue after the first death (they wanted suckers like me to be able to actually finish the demonstration).

No doubt about it though, MGS 4 looks to be just what the doctor ordered for Sony - An amazing exclusive from an established franchise that really shows off the power of its system. Assuming that Kojima buries Raiden and gives us a full 20-30 hours of the usual MGS magic (who's doubting it?), Sony is back in business.

Sep 20, 2007 - 3:22 pm | 0 comments

TGS 07: Ninja Gaiden II Hands-On

Tecmo sure hasn't wasted any time. Barely a week after finally announcing the true successor to the Xbox original, numerous screenshots have made their way to the Internet. And now at TGS 2007, Snackbar Games has been given a chance to see the actual game in action.

The demonstration took place within what appeared to be an old-style Japanese temple/cave set in the Microsoft booth. Shoes had to be removed to sit in the rocky seating area, which had a mat and several sitting pillows for spectators.

The mood set (developers sure love setting the mood this year), we were treated to a dark opening cinematic. The camera panned slowly over a wasted battlefield, swords and bodies dotting the landscape. Finally, it settled on a buff-looking Ryu, who was sporting a blade strapped to his arm as well as a peculiar sword that looked quite different from his trademark Dragon Sword.

After the quick cinematic faded to a splash screen, the presenter took a moment to explain the controls in Japanese as well as point out a few of the available levels. Ryu wasn't exactly a homebody in the original game, but it looks he'll really be globetrotting in the sequel, even taking time to sightsee in Nifleheim, the cold land that is home to dishonored warriors in Norse mythology. Why exactly he is going to Nifleheim remains to be seen (it may just be a name), but knowing Ryu it'll probably have to do with ass-kicking demonic swords. Other available levels include a watery Venice like level, and an image that resembles the Statue of Liberty.

The approximately ten minutes of gameplay that came afterward were not so different from what we've come to expect from Ninja Gaiden in the past few years, but still had a fair share of surprises. Three new weapons were shown as Ryu rampaged through Aqua City (the Venice-like level), each of them nice additions to the ninja's arsenal, and very cool in their own right.

The first was a deadly scythe that Ryu appears to take apart and keep on his back. When attacked, the weapon is assembled in a blink of an eye and slices through the air in a nasty arc that typically cuts the enemy in two. Ninja soldiers (yes, they sported katanas and bazookas) and demonic creatures alike were deftly sliced in half by the powerful new weapon, and it appeared that Ryu could even cleave an enemy in two by tossing the blade while hanging from the wall.

The second weapon was not one, but two katanas. Apparently not content to be surpassed by Master Chief, Ryu has taken his example and is now dual-wielding himself. Pretty much everything you would normally expect from double katanas is there, with the overall effect being generally quite cool. Finally, Team Ninja has borrowed yet another classic weapon and given Ryu long, Wolverine-like claws. These were demonstrated toward the end of the demo, with the demonstrator impaling several demonic attackers and staining them green with their blood. The overall effect is quite cool, and it's made even cooler when Ryu clangs them together to shake off the blood when he's finished.

At the end of the demo, Ryu is accosted by a large, man-spider creature that wouldn't look out of place in a Resident Evil game, and the screen fades to black. No doubt this will be an excellent, well-designed game, though I have to echo a recent comment from another Internet news site and cry Ninja Gaiden fatigue. The graphics are crisp and smooth (though they didn't quite match Ninja Gaiden Sigma's eye candy in my mind), and the new weapons were definitely cool, but the sequel doesn't look to be terribly different from the original.

No doubt fans will be appeased, particularly with the original's fearsome difficulty level appearing to have made an encore in the sequel, but lesser fans among us may be ready for something new (Ninja Gaiden DS?) Despite the caveats, it's hard to fault Team Ninja for bringing back a winning formula, particularly when it entails ninjas staining their claws with neon demon blood. Ryu Hayabusa will strike again in 2008.

Sep 20, 2007 - 1:10 pm | 1 comments

TGS 07: Ninja Gaiden DS Hands-On

With every passing year, it becomes more and more apparent that Nintendo did something fundamentally right with the Nintendo DS's interface. Whether its with rhythm games (Elite Beat Agents), adventure games (Phantom Hourglass) or even first-person shooters (cramped hands aside, Metroid Prime Hunters revolutionized handheld FPS's), a company willing to put in a little time, thought and effort can apparently pull off almost anything with the DS's touchscreen and stylus.

Enter Tecmo and Ninja Gaiden. Just a year ago, gamers and critics alike scoffed at the notion of a Ninja Gaiden game for the Nintendo DS. Aside from not having enough buttons, the seemingly underpowered DS didn't even match the PSP, let alone the Xbox. When Ninja Gaiden DS was revealed with a touchscreen a year later, some gamers were even more skeptical despite the outstanding graphics and the demonstration given by lead designer Tomonobu Itagaki. How could the tight, elegant controls of the Xbox classic possibly translate to the Nintendo DS?

Let all doubts be put to rest here - Ninja Gaiden DS controls like a dream. Given a chance to try it out at the Tecmo Booth, my hand didn't once stray toward the directional pad as I sliced, diced and shurikened a bevy of enemies with a series of stylus pokes and slashes. The controls are quite intuitive, with a vertical slash down through the enemy bringing Ryu's Dragon Sword down, and the horizontal slash cutting across. Draw up, and Ryu will leap into the air to come down for a powerful sword smash. When confronted with ranged enemies, simply pointing at them was enough unleash a flurry of shurikens.

Despite being a relatively brief demo, it did a great job showing off Ryu's myriad moves. The exhilaration and fast-action inherent to the game's big brother on the PS3 and Xbox 360 is present here, and even without the wall jumps, Ryu still manages to zip around the screen slashing enemies. But while the graphics are some of the best available on the DS, the handheld's visual shortcomings are still apparent in the occasionally flat textures and jaggy enemies. It's not a huge issue on the DS's small screen, but it's worth noting that this game isn't quite up to the level of the PSP, as some fans have suggested they might be.

However, while the aforementioned games are notable for their extreme difficulty, I had no problem at all plowing through the demo's enemies and the red dragon waiting at the end. I'm aware that Team Ninja wants to tone down the difficulty somewhat for the more general audience that the Nintendo DS brings with it, but it would be a shame if the series' famous difficulty was abandoned entirely. Here's hoping that there will be multiple difficulty levels for true ninjas.

Despite its relatively lax difficulty, the brief demo was extremely enjoyable, and the final game will most likely be an excellent addition to the Nintendo DS's extensive action library.

Images from TGS 07

Sep 20, 2007 - 1:09 pm | 0 comments

TGS 07: Day 1 Gallery

Our Tokyo Game Show correspondent, Kat, just sent me a set of pictures she snapped at the show today. Some of them are a little blurry, but they are still good shots. I think my favorite one is the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper shot.

Sep 20, 2007 - 12:27 pm | 3 comments

Halo 3 Launch: Where Can You Find Us?

With over 10,000 stores opening at midnight to sell Halo 3, I am sure there will be tons of options for hanging out with fellow gamers on Monday. So where can you find us next Monday for one of the most anticipated events of the year? Read on to find out and also be sure to check out our debut online video below.

San Antonio, TX
GameStop Huebner Oaks Center (click for map)
11745 IH-10 WEST
SAN ANTONIO TX, 78230 US
(210)690-6296

New York City, NY
Best Buy Chelsea NY (click for map)
60 W 23rd St
New York, NY 10010-5201
(212) 366-1373

Sep 19, 2007 - 4:28 pm | 43 comments

Argos Breaks Halo 3 Street Date

It was bound to happen and it looks like the UK retailer Argos is the first one to break the Halo 3 street date. Forum members over at Eurogamer.net have reportedly nabbed their copies of Halo 3 today and have provided proof in the form of pictures and receipts. Looks like someone at Argos is going to be in hot water.

Sep 19, 2007 - 11:37 am | 13 comments

First Impressions: FIFA 08

I like soccer. There, I said it. Every time a new soccer game or demo is out, I pounce on it and then eagerly wait until nobody is around so I can play it. You see, people in my family enjoy soccer, but they don't want to watch digital soccer. I can even admit that it's not all that thrilling to watch someone else play.

After the kids were asleep last night I finally got some time with the FIFA 08 demo. The demo is super short and has very limited options, but it's a solid game. My wife happened to make the comment that it looked and seemed exactly like "that other soccer game we have". She was referring to Pro Evo Soccer 2007.

Thinking back, it does in fact seem to be exactly like W112007. It feels and looks almost identical. In fact, I think I'll go further in saying that W112007 has smoother animations and more softened models compared to this version of FIFA. With an extra few months of development over W11, I hope that EA really delivers a knock out, but after last night I didn't see anything that really made me long to have another soccer game this year.

Am I missing something that should have me super excited for this new version of FIFA or am I experiencing what Madden fans have been complaining about all these years?

Sep 18, 2007 - 12:21 pm | 1 comments