Posts Tagged ‘2008’

Thinking back to last year’s Tokyo Game Show I recall the excitement I felt as I queued in the rain waiting to go in. The expectant crowd and I anticipating the moment the doors would open so we could enter the three huge halls that comprised the Makuhari Messe exhibition center. Everyone in line was doing the same thing; contemplating what we wanted to see when we finally got in.

By comparison this years event had decidedly less of the energy I felt in the crowd the previous year. I was still excited about going to the show but more of the rush came from being able attend the industry days. Reduced foot traffic would mean access to more games and my appointments would enable me to get time with developers rather than just being patronized by the (cute) booth staff.

Entering the floor bore out my predictions. It was quieter, as demonstrated by the fact within an hour I had played more games than I managed in a whole day the previous year, but somehow it was also less exciting. Perhaps the thrill of the open floor was muted by the realization that there were few titles I was interested in. None of the big titles I wanted to see where on the floor, and the games that were had distinctly less buzz than those at the ’08 show.

Both Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter 4 had been present in 2008. These were franchises that shaped the way I look at games, the two games from my youth that I remember most fondly. Their presence alone had had me agitated with excitement at the prospect of seeing what Capcom had planed for my cherished memories. By contrast the ’09 line up was filled with series that I acknowledge are top tier (such Final Fantasy XIII) but held none of the nostalgic impact for me.

Another contributing factor to my comparative indifference to the show resulted from the lack off publishers present. I wasn’t aware before the show how few of the big western developers made the trip to Japan, but when many of the years big releases are the properties of companies like EA and Activision their absence becomes painfully evident.

It wasn’t just western publishers who had deemed not to attend either. I don’t know whether it was an economic reason or a lack of product, but a number of the larger Japanese companies were also missing in action. SNK was among these notable absentees. Last year had the company present in full force with a huge display for King of Fighters 12 that occupied much of the entrance hall, but their nonattendance this year saw their floor space filled with mobile phone game developers. Tecmo and Koei’s merging this year also resulted in a reduced floor presence as the two huge areas they had previously occupied were now reduced to one.

To compound feeling of a lack of ‘AAA’ titles, many of this year’s big releases have been rated ‘Z’ by CERO Japan’s governing classifications body. Under this rating the games in stores are segregated from other games and put out of reach of under twenty-one year olds. At the show this translated to them being hidden from view in darken rooms. Thus it was only on my second day that I realized a number of games I wanted to see were present. Left 4 Dead 2, God of War 3 and Heavy Rain all remained hidden from view, making them hard to find if you explicitly go searching for them. This ended up being quite costly to my coverage because games that weren’t immediately self-evident I assumed were casualties of the diminished developer presence.

It may seem like I was unimpressed by my TGS ’09 experiences, but despite the lack of energy it remained a fascinating weekend. I got to see, and more importantly play, lots of fantastic games.

The highlights for me remain the time I spent with Q-Games, Capcom and The Behemoth (expect a transcription of my interview with them soon). Each of these companies had knowledgeable representatives (PR or developers) on hand who were happy to answer all my questions, rather than just bustle me through their booth. While they were obviously there to promote their games it didn’t dilute the feeling that these were companies confident in their products and happy to push it to the community.

In the end I was lucky enough to actually see the majority I wanted to. I did miss Okami Den and Valkiria Chronicles 2 but for the two days I was there I think I got to see about as much as I could have hoped to while leaving myself time to cover what I saw in a timely fashion.

If truth were told I was almost at breaking point through out my two days at the show. Existing the first day on three hours sleep and without food, I ran from 5am on Friday until 4am Saturday when I finally decided (after writing up eight articles) that I should try and sleep before my 8am alarm for the following day. The second day I was in two minds about even attending, remembering my success (or lack there of) on the previous year’s open days. Unfortunately one site I was writing for had requested photos of booth babes and coz-players (not something I am comfortable with) and as there were no coz-players on the industry day I had to make the return trip. As I took the pictures I reasoned that I was skillfully hiding hide myself among the crowds of Japanese otaku trying to get up skirt shots, making me feel less self conscious. I wasn’t of course, I am nearly two meters tall with red hair, but it made me feel a little less perverted as I took my surreptitious photos.

It was also nice to see the larger crowd on the public day, as while the industry days expedites coverage, the enthused visitors create an excitement around the event that is infectious. Sadly though it was immediately apparent that the audience was significantly diminished from that of ’08. Even accounting for the extra space created from the reduced developers attendance the halls felt empty (or at least as empty as any where can feel with around sixty one thousand people in a room).

It transpires that the crowd was in fact some ten thousand fewer on the first public day this year, almost solely accounting for the dip in overall attendance. Honestly I don’t know what to attribute these reduced numbers to. Initially I assumed it would be linked to the amount of coverage the games on show have already received, combined with the fact that for anyone who had attended one of the other recent previous events, such as E3, PAX or Game Com, would have already seen the demos on offer. This certainly seemed to be the feeling among foreign games press who made the journey to Japan to cover the event only to be met by the same games that they had seen less than a month previously at PAX. But the missing ten thousand people would nearly all be Japanese consumers, almost all of whom would not have attended the overseas events.

So perhaps the reduced numbers were related to the reduced number of developers and big name games at the show. The 2008 show was full of big name Japanese titles; Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts games, Resident Evil, Street Fighter and King of Fighters were all on so and some time from release. 2009 only really saw Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid still flying the flag for the big Japanese franchises. With the Metal Gear demo hitting the internet almost simultaneously with the show opening and Final Fantasy XIII just around the corner, gamers were probably more eager to save their entry fee and train fair (over ¥30,000 in the end for me) and put it towards buying the games rather than queuing to play them.

I finally gave up on the show at about 3pm on the Saturday. Having only had time to see two games in the length queues I decided my time would be better spent typing up previews for the fourteen games I had already seen rather than joining the two and a half hour line for a play of Heavy Rain. So I headed home along with my crushing headache, probably a result of sleep deprivation. It was a different and far more productive experience than 2008, but it remained expensive, tiring and something I am glad I don’t have to do too often.

On time and ready to go. In an attempt not to walk in the footsteps of giants we decided to abandon the original discussion of reviews and scores at the last minute and instead focus on the recent Japanese top selling games and Final Fantasy 13 news as seen in Famitsu. I say ‘seen in Famitsu’ because I can’t read most of it so it’s more an impressions piece than a factual commentary.

As always we also discuss some recent news and dip into ‘Darren’s Old Games’. This podcast Darren reminisces about hours spent floating around lost in Elite on the Amiga, and I reminisce about watching him floating around lost in Elite.

We also invent the Wii game name generator, so if you come up with one please post it in the comments. The format is simple;
Job > Name > Event > Game genre > Event > Generic game word
The results sound worryingly like next years best selling game as long as you attach ‘for Wii’ and ‘by Nintendo’ to the box art. Enjoy.

Honestly this is an easy choice but one I never thought I would make a year ago. After more than a decade of being nothing but a soulless peddler of sequels and mediocrity one company has managed to do a complete one eighty. As early as January this company has been releasing titles that have managed to garner critical acclaim. Their library of new releases has ranged from new intellectual properties (IPs) to updates of popular franchises which refined already solid mechanics.

EA have excelled this year. Never before have I had so many games baring their logo graced my shelves. With Burnout Paradise in January they proved that they are dedicated to allowing developers they acquired to continue to innovate. With their sports franchises they showed that they will continue to innovate and make better use of the possibilities opened by online play. And with Mirrors Edge and Dead Space they showed that they were willing to take financial risks on new IPs.

It is sad to see that the state of the economy has meant that EA are not reaping the full rewards they should from such an outstanding year. Though some of the blame lands at the feet of some poor investments (e.g. Face Breaker) and some over stretched franchises (e.g. Need for Speed) it is sad to see Dead Space and Mirrors Edge not receiving the public support that they deserve. Fortunately (and to their credit) EA at least seem to realize the value of these new titles and the teams responsible are either on different projects or being allowed to develop their title’s sequels. Now let’s just hope they don’t bleed them dry like they did the Need for Speed franchise.

As companies merge it is becoming harder know who exactly is developing any given game. Unless the developer is an industry giant such as Rock Star or Blizzard it seems that they are subsumed by their publisher. Developers however are probably quite happy with the arrangement. Where I am sure vanity dictates they would like their name was splashed over the front of the box the trade off for (in a normal economic climate) financial security of being under the broader umbrella of a large publisher like Acclaim or EA.

Allow me break the fourth wall for a moment. Deciding the criteria by which I judge has been the most difficult task for me in majority of my 2008 wrap up posts. Firstly I took what jumped to mind and used that to create my short list. From this it fell to what I remembered most fondly, what stood out as something different or engaged me. Bare that in mind as I give my choice for the best developer.

This year Dice have been involved in two ground breaking projects, Mirrors Edge and Battlefield Heroes. Where as neither game has been a significant critical success both have managed to change people perception of what can be done within their genre.

Battlefield took an established and popular series and made a spin off game which is free to play. In honesty I don’t know how much of this was Dice’s decision and how much was EA’s but the result is a free to play squad based online shooter. I haven’t played it, but its existence is a glimpse of a possible future. A time where big full budget title are free to play and a gateway to PC gaming for people who may otherwise never have tried it.

Mirror Edge took a risk in a fickle market. Dice had the gumption to mix the first person perspective and platforming (two gaming conventions that traditionally have never worked well together) and made it work. While the game may not have been as well received as they had hoped what they achieved in creating a mechanic that was as intuitive as it was should be applauded.

Dice to my mind have progressed the game genres they worked in more than any other developer this year. By drawing inspiration form a variety of sources and innovating on them. All of this at a time when most companies are relying on carbon copies of proven genres. While other developers made game that were better received by critics and the public, Dice’s work engaged me and opened new possibilities for gaming moving in to 2009.