TGS 2014: Details & Images of upcoming games

Sep. 23, 2014

When Manga Entertainment released an English dub ofFist of the North Staron video back in the 90s, their marketing tag-line was “an epic assault on the senses.” This could equally be applied to the Tokyo Game Show, and then some. We’ve already posted our “first impression” overview here [LINK]. Time to go into a little more detail and also post some of the lovely ”assets” we got through our press accreditation 🙂

As this is Japan, gaming effectively means the Big 3 console manufacturers: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Nintendo are, as ever, conspicuous by their absence. They show at E3, but not Gamescom and not even at TGS on their home turf anymore. Nintendo pursue a different course these days, as a result of decisions both good and bad. The big beast at their Super Famicom/SNES height, they made a series of missteps in the home console market, but some smart moves in the handheld market, and find themselves, partly by smarts and partly by error, the kings of Japan’s current major videogame territory: mobile. They have their own conference, and any presence at TGS is through the third party-publishers who make for 3DS.

Nintendon’t attend: leave it to Koei Tecmo

So this is a Sony-Microsoft fight. As we noted in our overview, Microsoft had the better stand in terms of navigation, and presenting X1 as the core of a number of different types of home-gaming fun. The issue with Xbox as a brand is it has perhaps inevitably ridden the success of Western game developers, and a lot of the ‘experience’ on offer does not resonate quite so strongly with Japanese gamers. The X1’s positioning as the centre of your media consumption universe is a harder sell when so many of the services like Netflix and Hulu are not available outside the US. And so, there is a hard sell and prominent positioning ofCall of Duty, mirrored by an EA stand dominated byBattlefront, in a market that likely cares more about the smaller titles hidden away at the back of the area.

Sony probably had the upper hand in terms of some exclusives of interest to the home market, and a solid demo reel finally showing games are inbound to Nex-Gen. Though Sony were beaten, in my view, by Square Enix, who had a fantastic show this year with varied content across multiple platforms in an easily accessible area.

Square Enix please the crowds

We started by saying as this is Japan, then this is a console focus. That said, Alienware had a big presence and were pushing Alienware Alpha hard. Gaining attention with a small form box and a lot of games, could Alienware find a strategy that will take advantage of the failure of Sony and MS to get loyalty-lodged under Japanese TV sets? Time – and a lot of localisation – will tell.

Sony

Sony’s press releases are an odd mix of the not-so-new and the not-so-earth shattering. Up first is an extension of the UMD Passport service. Originally designed to allow owners of a PSP title on UMD to download the title in digital form to their Vita, for a discounted price, now, from the first day of TGS through year-end, Playstation Plus subscribers will be offered free downloads to Vita of the entire UMD Passport back-catalogue. To promote PS Plus, for the next two weeks a special offer of 14 months of PS Plus for a reduced price is also on offer. A list of Vita-compatible UMD titles is here (http://www.jp.playstation.com/psvita/special/compatibility/umd/) , but as the original UMD Passport was not offered outside Japan the likelihood of this also being offered seems remote.

Glacier White PS4. Apparently we’re supposed to care about this

Next up is hardware announcements. For reasons that escape me, the launch of a “Glacier White” PS4 is somehow news. There is also a new pink and white Vita to be on offer – oh joy. And finally an “urban camouflage” PS4 controller. A little more TGS specific is a special editionDragon QuestPS4 with ‘metal’ controller. Deep within the actual Sony stand itself was a display of PS4 hard drive cases withMetal GearandDestinyartwork; if this is a trend, that could actually be kind of cool. Also of course we will finally be able to customise our Vita XMBs, again, not news, but will still be nice when that is launched.

The Dragon Quest Limited Edition PS4. With added blob

We’ve already commented on the games physically present for promotion and display in our overview piece. Of course Sony is keen to push exclusives likeBloodborneandthe Order, although as noted the latter was half-present and half-not. In terms of the wider demo reel running on the three big screens at Sonyville, there is finally a longer list of games inbound for the PS4. As noted, Vita is also a big push in Japan as it is a profitable mobile market, although there seemed to be more by-the-numbers JRPGs than innovation. The poor old PS3 was only worthy of three titles:Persona 5, Kingdom Hearts 2.5HDandTales of Zestiria, all third party.

Custom HDD Cases for PS4 – more on this please Sony?? Bloodborne??? Please???

The big names were present and correct on the show reel:Uncharted, GTAV, Far Cry 4, Batman Arkham Knight. In particular,GTAVlooked stunning in HD on all three screens. Also announced were a number of older games which I can only assume are up for imminent release in Japan as they’ve taken time to localise:Lego Marvel, Lego Movie, Octodad.

Other games generating interest wereUntil Dawn, which was presented as an 80s slasher movie plot,Tomorrow Children, and of course,Final Fantasy Type Zero HDandFinal Fantasy XV.

Well done for holding the scissors safely, but likely the least of your worries in horror title Until Dawn

Ryu ga Kotoku Zerowas also up, which, while it would have looked impressive a year ago, fell short of the gaspsBloodborne, GTAVandFFXVwere eliciting. This may be because it’s another generation-straddler, coming out on both PS3 and PS4. Also looking disappointing wasYs New Storyon PS4 – the entire trailer was about the Ys franchise heritage, and when screenshots finally appeared it was a let-down.

That’s a pretty low-res cigarette you’re smoking there, mister

Vita, as noted, had a lot of generic JRPGs, butChaos Rings Prequel Trilogylooked visually stunning and a great use of Vita-power. Sega’sPhantasy Star Novalooked like a solid game, if nothing special visually. Most exciting, at least for me, was a new entry in theSeiken Densetsuseries (Secret of Manain the West), “Rise of Mana.”

Something fishy here but I can’t quite put my finger on it

In short, it was generally more rewarding to watch the Sony showreel than to wander their stand.

Microsoft

Green! It’s green! If you’re going to do it, you might as well own it, and it certainly wasn’t difficult to discern arrival at the Xbox stand. As mentioned above, Microsoft will inevitably play to its strengths, but those are born more of the US market than Japan. So the majority of their area was taken up byCall of Duty,which had consistent players but not exactly mile-long lines.

It’s still a problem if your feet don’t reach the pedals, even in videogames

Evolve on the other hand, for a ‘Western’ game, evoked far more interest.Sunset Overdrivewas one X1 exclusive, by Insomniac Games who used to create theInfamousseries exclusively for Sony. Such a fickle business. It looked colourful, silly fun, and more than a little reminiscent ofJet Set Radio. Cross platform giantDestinywas absent from the green scene, but the ghost of Bungie was present in the form of theMaster Chief collection.

People definitely had a blast at the “Swamp”- just not sure how much room there is for all this stuff in Japanese homes

Frankly, more fun was round the back of the jade parade. A couple of dedicated guys were busting their joints on Mad Catz sticks playingKiller Instinct, and a full racing seat and wheel generated interest around the singleForza 5spot (noticeably absent from the larger number ofForza Horizon 2stations which were empty for most of the time I was there). MS had more opportunity toplay Final Fantasy Type Zero, although the trailer forFFXVwas on a single screen hidden round the back of the area and very easy to miss. A good showing for MS well outside their home turf.

Capcom

“Woah! I think you misunderstood. I really value you as a friend, Steve. I just don’t feel about you that way.”

Heading into play-it-safe territory: Capcom. Three games:Biohazard Revelations 2, Biohazard HD Remaster, andMonster Hunter 4G.Deep Downcompletely absent, disappointingly. Half Capcom’s area was given over to aMonster Hunterkingdom, with some of the biggest lines at the event.

This is aMonster HunterDucati. I believe this may make some members of our community quite happy.

Not quite sure what was going on in there, but participants seemed happy. And really…that’s it.

They call me the Tyrant, but this mansion doesn’t pay for itself you know. Ingrates.

Bandai Namco

Whoo-hoo! I’m a flying lion-dragon hybrid thing! Which would usually be pretty special…but…you know…Tokyo Game Show. Hi, Toukiden Kiwami dude

Staying in play-it-safe territory for a while, Bandai Namco were aiming squarely at the home market and at least 20 years into the past with any given title. OK, exceptGod Eater, theirMonster Hunter-a-like. The NB area was dominated by a giantGundam, withGodzillaback and left andDragon Ball Xenoverseback and right. A small screen showing theOne PieceDance and Breast Physics game was slotted in between this and the largeGod Eatersection, which faced off in a different direction to the rest of the booth.

Multi-platformTales of Zestiriadoes look gorgeous

This is very much a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If you liked any of the otherGundammecha games, you’ll likeGundam Breaker. If you liked any of the other bright and flashyDragon Ball Zfighting games, you’ll likeXenoverse. Similar to recent WWE games, you can create your own ‘hero’ forDragon Ball Z Xenoverse, with an apparent panoply of customisation options. Except for hair. The only option is “spiky.”

You can create your own Majin, choosing gender, colours, and powers, such as this Fart of Repulsion

TheGodzillagame is really only for fans – a ponderous looking fighting game with neither impressive graphics nor anything new in terms of gameplay.

On stage, an animated discussion is going on aboutSword Art, and this is listed in the Namco Game Catalogue handed out….but sadly not on display today.

There’s a character called “Hashish” with a stun move? Someone’s fresh out of college, huh, Bandai Namco?

Koei Tecmo

Whoo-hoo! I’m a flying lion-dragon hybrid thing, and….oh. Right. Hey there, God Eater 2 dude.

Also playing to the popular domestic genres, but somehow more spirited and interesting. Like Square Enix (see below), the area is designed to allow maximum access to titles, and titles are across a number of platforms. There’s a good range of Vita offerings, includingCiel No Surge,Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3, and of courseToukiden Kiwami.

Killing improbable numbers of enemies just doesn’t get old, does it?

TheShin Sangoku Musoufranchise also continues ad infinitum irrespective of any critical reception it seems. Most interesting though was the only Wii U title in ready evidence at TGS:Zelda Musou. It’s unusual to see a first party IP handed out, especially by Nintendo. I did note this is proper Link and not cartoon Link, so that’s a start.

Square Enix

Probably the most interesting area of the show. As noted in our overview, Square Enix was formed from the merger of two Japanese gaming houses most famous for JRPGs. That they now cross platforms, genres, but also are releasing so-called ‘Western’ IP is one of the most encouraging things in an era seemingly determined to talk the Japanese games industry to death.

The new Chocobo GTX in action, outrunning…whatever the hell that is

Square Enix were showingKingdom Hearts 2.5 HDfor PS3, Final Fantasy Type Zerofor X1 and PS4 (in a packed and heavily frequented area),Final Fantasyand newIP Bravely Secondfor 3DS, andDragon Quest IVandVIIIremastered for iOS.

New Seiken Densetsu. Oh yes please

There was a stage area running footage and show reels forFFXIV A Realm Reborn, and the newFFXV, though from their posted schedule their actual hosted events would be during the public days, an interesting nod to the people who actually buy games over so-called trade members.Call of Dutywas also running an a separate big screen (an area known as the “Kevin Space-y”). And, of course, possibly the most visible game of the show:Psycho Break(The Evil Withinoutside Japan). What’s interesting of course is that this is a Bethesda game: Square Enix are representatives inside Japan, with Square Enix having a section where they emphasised their “partners” including Bethesda (and there was a smallDiablo IIItrailer running too). A kind of reverse of Namco Bandai’s role with Dark Souls.

There was aPsycho Breaktrial booth with a minimum 90 minute wait, but also a nice little gimmick where you could have your own face inserted into the box art. Yes, I did, and no, I’m not showing you.

It’s not Pyramid Head! Phew, somehow he makes me feel more ‘safe.’

A great showing from Square Enix.

Alienware

This is a weird one. When Alienware Alpha was first announced, the first hardware mock-ups showed a black box with one corner hacked off, and the steam logo glowing blue in the flattened area.

Alienware caught attention on entry to the second main area

Gone is the steam logo; this now glows red. And Alpha does not run on the still-mysterious Steam OS. It runs on Windows 8.1 – although great lengths have been gone to in order to conceal this. Alienware have created their own interface, so that Alpha can be connected to a TV, turned on, and configured, all with a controller – no keyboard and mouse required. It’s a console to bring PC gaming to your TV.

But that’s a holy grail others have lost themselves on as well. Right now, configuring Alpha in console mode sends you to Steam Big Picture mode. There’s more than 500 games tested to work with controller on Alpha.

The impressively teensy Alienware Alpha

And then the questions begin. What about GOG or Origin? Nope, not at this time. Although you can choose to go to Desktop mode and run Alpha as a regular computer. How do I get to Netflix? Please see above. And, having done some research afterwards and read interviews with the Alienware folks, there seems to be a mixed message: you don’t buy Alpha for Call of Duty as people have their X1s and PS4s for that. So what is it for? “We’respecificallydesigning this box and going after this initiative for the indie guys,” said Alienware’s Frank Azor earlier this year. And sure enough, at TGS they are running titles like Shovel Knight and Two Brothers.

That’s odd. I personally liked the idea of the Alienware X51, a proper computer which is also small form factor (smaller than the Xbox!) and for Big Picture/controller games seems like a great solution. Alienware say the Alpha is for getting games to TV only, and is a third of the X51’s price. Fair enough, but I think we will likely need to see what other Steam Machines have to offer.

I don’t know what that is, but it’s not teensy. And with 3 GeForce cards in it, you probably need to move to one of the poles to keep it cool

Even the last generation struggled to get a foothold into space-starved Japanese homes. Could this work, and perhaps introduce PC gaming to a broader Japanese base? Well, Mad Catz also had a stand showing their hardware, and Logitech were also in evidence. There were indeed some hardcore Japanese sat in DXRacer seats, Logitech headphones on, uber-mouse in hand, zapping away at something. And let’s not forget the success PC gaming has enjoyed in South Korea.

Logitech kindly explain to the Japanese gaming public what a headset is. Audience numbers validate approach (negatively)

An interesting development, but the biggest problem is likely to be language – the majority of the Steam catalogue is not in Japanese.

Conclusion

We should also note EA was there, although again more to show up than because Japan is interested in Battlefield or their sports title.

Dragon Age: Inquisitioncosplayers move clear of impending acid spill

Konami was also there, with a heavy focus onMetal Gear: The Phantom Pain. Fextralife had some interesting conversations with Konami and hopefully there will be more to say shortly.

Overall, then, this was a good TGS but not a great TGS. The main takeaway was: next gen is finally getting some games – sorry it took us a year after launch to get them to you.

With thanks to Lanzen for helping to edit, and of course caption, this article