Japan Gets The Cool Stuff First:
A Report from the Tokyo Game Show

After a long season of conventions, one has to wonder… “Haven’t I seen you someplace before?” Or maybe it’s just that convention floors all start to look the same. Well, the truth is they all do, but the difference is in the experience.

Last weekend saw the opening of the Tokyo Game Show 2004, in Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe. An old stomping ground of mine during my previous employment, but never have I seen it so lively and fun.

Much like some Cons, you get 3 days to visit, Friday-Sunday, with Friday being the Industry day (Preview Night). Unlike Comic-Con, though, Preview Night is JAM packed with people and all these reporters are pretty darn good at gaming. So waiting in line to play a demo takes forever, and Japanese customs won’t let you sigh, huff and puff or tell the person his five flipping minutes are over, so get the heck off the damn PSP, for crying out loud! And especially not in those words. But you know, I kept my cool in most situations and took a deep breath to try and take it all in.

Never mind, ladies...I'll use the other bathroom...

Now if I do find out that E3 is like this, I am going to kill myself for never going. Also a drawback is that I can’t really understand anything beyond the titles of the games, or the company names, but hey! Give me a year.

As of Friday the attendance was expected at 150,000+ people and a record 117 companies participated, which is up from last year’s 111 companies and 150,089.

So, on to the main event: SONY SONY SONY SONY and more SONY! After announcing the new slim PS2 design, all I had to go on was the pictures on the press release, and the TV announcement. Today I got to really take a look at what it’s made of. Unfortunately, you wont hear me cheering much for it even after I saw it in person. I pretty much stick to what I said earlier with the addition of: Why did they go with the top open format for CD insertion instead of the loading tray? Makes you wonder if the motors started to run out? Still, looks good. Still won’t buy it.

Hmm...it sounded so much smaller...

SONY PSP. HOLY MOLEY! OK, now the new Nintendo SD is pretty cool with two screens and all the telecommunications capabilities it has, but as the only contender that could pose a threat to SONY’s PSP, the PSP had an amazing display that shouted, “HEAR ME ROAR!!” being most likely the largest on the floor matching that of the Star Wars pavilion in San Diego.

Nintendo? Their presence could be rivaled by Marvel’s at the SDCC and did not participate.

Holding the PSP was a birthday gift in itself, and with an interesting marketing ploy, Sony hired some cuties to walk around with PSPs tied to their waists with additional battery packs. You see what game is on it, and tell the girl to stop as you play at your leisure, and the Sony girl watches you make a fool of yourself as you try not to get caught with your tongue sticking out on level 4 of. . . well, you get my drift. By far, Playstation was the powerhouse, and with PSPs 20+ titles on display you better believe they showed up with both guns blazing.

Here's a list of games that caught my eye, regardless of platform, listed from super cool/must buy to would play if I had a chance.

Yes. The graphics are this good.

Naruto 3
Ninja Taisen 2 was a blast on the Gamecube, and 3 looks even better. My preference is always the GC version of the Naruto game since Sony has done a poor job in the game engine for Naruto, and this title of course has some additional characters. Preliminary characters announced are Choji, Jiraya, and Temari. I also believe I saw the Third Hokage also. Very fluid and plain ol’ kick butt action. And yes, I may be biased because I am a Naruto fan.

Tekken 5
Yes it's old, yes it's Mortal Kombat rehashed, but you never get tired of plugging this baby in and taunting guests when they come to your house. And the new graphics are much improved to not only look good, but to be interactive as well.

20 odd characters can be chosen, and new moves and combos have been redone in answer to complaints people had from the last Tekken installment. Tekken.net is an additional feature that allows you to play online, and is currently a must have for the internet/online crazed generation.

GT 4 – Grand Turismo 4
Still waiting………………….

Metal Gear Solid 3 (SNAKE EATER)
Looks the same, different story, and hopefully not as many cut scenes and dumb dialogue we have to sit hrough.

Metal Gear Acid *for PSP
Yes I would buy a PSP!
Yes, you will be the talk of the town!

Star Wars Republic Commando/Star Wars Battlefront
Nothing really new on these titles I just added them because they had a pretty authorative presence…. Racial Profiling, I say! Get the GAIJINS!

Ace Combat 5
You like flying fast? If you like flying close to the ground and watch to see how much detail has been put into the game, look no further. Ace Combat from the days of the PS1 generation has always been up there in terms of military aerial dog fighting. As usual the graphics are improved, and the details go up a notch, especially with the rendering of the grounds. Fun as usual, but only for a little while. It caught my eye, but not my wallet.

There's a car?

Need for Speed Underground 2
I liked the car. No, really!

BIOHAZARD 4
In America would be... hmmm... Resident Evil 4? Aren’t we a little tired of this game yet?

Alas, waiting for people to finish playing took so much time, that I wasn’t able to get to everything, and I missed out on even more cool things. Unfortunately with only one day to spare I could say that, once again the experience was in itself rewarding to see how the kings of gaming put together a solid show. And if I am lucky enough to be here next year, I will go all three days!

Special thanks to Majed Samman for taking the pics for me. You can always count on family to love the same stuff you do and remember to bring the camera.

For more photos, click here...

Mish'al Samman