Fluency in Japanese certainly is not necessary to appreciate the goings-on at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.  Thanks to the internet, neither is actually being in Japan at any point in your life.  Dengeki’s website has several videos highlighting different video game publishers and their booths at TGS.

The videos are for the most part devoid of language, simply focusing on the scenery and the games themselves.  Here are some links to the videos, enjoy!

Opening Video
Square Enix	Sega	SCEA
Marvelous	Level 5	Konami
Koei	Capcom	Bandai Namco

Did you notice a lot of women dressed in elaborate outfits?  They are called Companion, or Companion-san, and each booth has their own.  In some cases, a particular game may even have exclusive companion-san often clad in cosplay.

Companion-san walk around their relative booth providing hand-outs and answering questions about games.  They are quite knowledgeable, and (most of the time) their outfits are pretty awesome.  Famitsu made a compilation of all the different outfits, which you can check out here (part 1) and here (part 2).  Also, Dengeki has one other video featuring the elaborate outfits as well.  You can check that out here.

And now, Kotowari’s awards for best, and worst Companion outfit at TGS 2008!

BEST	WORST
Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3 (TRI)	Square Enix

Good show Capcom, you even have me a little excited for the next Monster Hunter.  I would also like to give honorable mention to Microsoft as much as it pains me.  They had not one, but two really cool outfits.

Really Square Enix? All that talent and that’s the best you could do?  Was Tetsuya Nomura taking a nap or something?  Next year get him to design some belts and zippers!

Related Entries:
ALL OF THEM

Roy capcom, konami, marvelous, namco, sega, sony, square enix 1 comment

I may not have been one of the lucky individuals who attended this year’s TGS, but thanks to the echo chamber that is the internet, I got all the info I wanted.  This year’s event was filled with hands-on previews, free merchandise, and some surprises as well.

Bandai-Namco’s booth featured a playable demo for their upcoming Wii title, Fragile.  One lucky individual at Dengeki managed to play it despite high demand, and low supply.  The reviewer discussed the controls of the game a bit.  The Wiimote acts as Seto’s flashlight, and the joystick on the nunchuck is used to move him.

The reviewer wanted to take his time and explore every bit of the ruins in the playable demo.  Sadly, a bathroom break made that impossible.  He described the game’s dark atmosphere as both intriguing and frightening.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Marvelous Entertainment had set up a booth to show off their newest Wii title in the works, Oboromuramasa.  The Wii is looking pretty damn good these days… I really need to pick one of them up…

It was possible for visitors of the booth to play a hands-on demo of Oboromuramasa, and some received the omamori cell phone cleaner pictured above.  Obviously this is for the purpose of making me extremely jealous and eager to get the hell out of this country which is slowly sinking into oblivion.  I am bad at staying on topic today…

A while back Chunsoft and Sega announced that a sequel to Furai No Shiren DS is on the way, entitled Furai No Shiren DS 2: The Desert’s Magic Castle.  Naturally I was excited since I receive some strange pleasure from rogue-like games.  Well, at TGS, it was announced that the infamous enka singer Jero, will be singing the theme song for the game.

The theme song’s name translates to “trial”, or “test”. After the announcement, Jero performed the song live for all in attendance.  What a combination; enka, a musical style adored by elderly Japanese women, and rogue-like games, adored by the most hardcore video game nerds alive.  I foresee great things…

The game which is my most recent obsession, 7th Dragon also had a good sized booth which attracted its share of spectators.

Visitors to the booth could play a hands-on demo, and received these stickers which feature chibi-fied versions of the various jobclasses in the game.

The event will continue for two more days, allowing individuals not affiliated with the press or major video game companies inside.  Take that E3.  Jerks.

Related Entries:
7th Dragon: That’s a Lot of Dragons
Oboromuramasa At Tokyo Game Show 2008
All Korowari articles concerning Fragile can be found here

Roy marvelous, merchandise, namco, nintendo ds, nintendo wii, sega 1 comment

Oboromuramasa, Vanilla Ware and Marvelous Entertainment’s newest title in the works for the Nintendo Wii, will make an appearance at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.  This marks a year since the game was first dangled in front of gamers with no release date and very little info given at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show.  This time Marvelous Entertainment at least revealed that the game will be seeing a 2009 release.

Lucky individuals who visit Oboromuramasa’s booth at TGS receive a free omamori cell-phone cleaner with Momohime on it.  Omamori are charms which one carries on them for luck.  Their origin has ties with Japan’s native religion Shinto. In addition to the announcement of the game’s release, Marvelous has also launched the game’s main website which can be found here.

Omamori

Vanilla Ware also released Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire for the PS2, both featured visually stunning 2D graphics.  Oboromuramasa takes two ninja, Kisuke and Momohime on a journey across feudal Japan on a quest for legendary katana.

A release date hasn’t been announced for North America, but considering that Vanilla Ware’s past two titles came over, it seems quite likely.  I am not sure if Atlus or NIS will be localizing it, only time will tell.

I really love the look of this game, Vanilla Ware definitely makes the most out of only 2 dimensions.  Also, the idea of hunting down legendary katana sounds really cool to me.  I have a thing for Japanese myth and legend, and katana are steeped in both. This game has the potential for some really creative story. 

Related Entries:
Oboro Muramasa Yōtōden Video

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Arc Rise Fantasia is the next game in Marvelous’s Luminous Arc series. Normally these titles don’t generate a whole lot of press, but the fact that the next installment is going to be released for the Nintendo Wii seems to have placed the game in the spotlight.

Marvelous released the game’s prologue which tentatively translates to:

As the dragons die, the world crumbles The world’s divine providence should be their choice Man does not know yet the consequences Surround the providence as the battles start

In the game, the Meridian empire is waging war against the Dakuryu dragons. Unbeknownst to them, the dragons are a force which keeps the balance of the world in check.

The game has 4 main characters:

	Name: Bright Bright is a mercenary who is employed by the Meridian empire. He is extremely blunt but on the inside he is concerned for his ill mother. His weapon of choice is any enormous sword.		Name: Leafia Leafia is a bit naive, and at times emotional, but she is hiding an enormous power. She is actually a very adept Couda, or summoner.
	Name: Adelle Adelle is the granddaughter of Bright’s trainer, who was also good friends with Bright’s father. She uses a powerful secret art known as hikarishyoujutsu and tries to teach it to the other party members. She is always smiling and has a bright personality.		Name: Arus Arus is the second of the Meridian empire’s princes. He is extremely diligent and has a strong sense or morals. The country relies on him to one day become a great ruler. Arus meets Bright and the others while being trained by Adelle.

The game has a very interesting battle system called “Trinity Battle”, which revolves around a 3 person party. The team starts each battle with a set pool of Ability Points (AP), which are consumed whenever anyone performs an action. It’s up to the player to decide how to distribute the points among the three characters.

Later in the game the player will be able to exchange a contract with Logures, allowing players to summon different Logos. Below is an image of Shimumaf, one Logos the player can form a contract with.

This game will definitely be seeing an American release date, it’s only a matter of time until Marvelous makes the announcement. Wii owners, look forward to this one! The game’s official website can be found here.

Roy marvelous, nintendo wii, preview 0 comments