KONAMI

I am going to suppress my urge to slowly work up to the most exciting info and instead just start with my favorite morsel of Konami goodness:  the impressive trailer for Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.  Be forewarned, it is nearly 10 minutes of extreme awesomeness:

Click here to view the embedded video.

That shit gave me goosbumps.  I don’t know why, but I foolishly wasn’t expecting much from the story for Peace Walker.  I imagined that the priority for the game was making multiplayer fit in somehow and anything else wouldn’t receive as much attention.  How naive of me…

After watching this trailer I can see that this game serves to continue emotionally where Metal Gear Solid 3 left us.  I feel like we’re about to really understand Big Boss and his inspiration for Outer Heaven and etc.  I am very excited about Peace Walker and I believe this is easily my favorite trailer I have seen from the game yet.  I really dig the game’s theme song: Heaven’s Divide.

Also at Konami’s booth was some sweet swag which I really wish I had gotten:

I guess I can live without some pins–I don’t need pins, right?

SQUARE ENIX

Square Enix didn’t want to be outdone at TGS as they had a few exciting announcements of their own.

Final Fantasy fans will be happy to learn that Final Fantasy VIII has been added to the Japanese PSN games archive.  As we saw with Final Fantasy VII earlier this year, we will most likely be receiving the same honor soon.  The price in Japan is 1,500 yen, but I believe the actual cost for westerners will match Final Fantasy VII’s $9.99 price tag.  The game can be played on both the PS3 and PSP.

Not much new on the current gen of Final Fantasy’s in the works.  I am really hoping to get a look at the battle system for Final Fantasy Versus XIII before TGS draws to an end.  It seems that if Square Enix really wanted to show it off, now would be the ideal time to do so.  Maybe they will wait until the end of the event.

Square did reveal a special edition PS3 Slim to be bundled with Final Fantasy XIII.  This sexy piece of machinery features a 250 GB hard drive (considerably larger than any PS3 to date) and the exterior is adorned with the game’s leading lady, Lightning:

Considering the PS3’s lack of region protection, well-off consumers may consider importing this version of the system come December 17th.  The bundle will sell for 41,600 yen, or around $450 USD.  I normally avoid jabbing at the PS3’s competition, but I really can’t imagine an Xbox 360 being that sexy, if they even decide to make a special edition for the game’s launch.

SEGA

In Sega news the four main characters for Yakuza 4 have been revealed.  Each character has their own background story as well as style in combat:

Kiryuu Kazuma–The Classic Main Style: Traditional kenka arts	Akiyama Susumu–The Homeless Loan Shark Style: Deceptive footwork
Masayoshi Tanimura–The Corrupted Cop Style: Police-themed arrest techniques	Taiga Saejima–The Murderer of 18 Men Style: Really big guy fighting

As if the Yakuza series didn’t already provide enough to do, they had to throw in now 1, but 3 new characters to play as?!  I guess I should be happy since recent developments seem to suggest that Sega thinks America can handle the series.

I really am fascinated by the different characters.  I think Akiyama’s story interests me the most, but Masayoshi is the coolest looking of the group.

The full trailer for Valkyria Chronicles 2 that was teased to us earlier last month has been revealed.  It’s not much longer but definitely worth checking out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I was forced to watch this at work from my iPhone so the less than desirable quality made it difficult to decipher everything.  Still, I believe I saw a brief shot of the new shield-bearing unit whacking some enemies around.  I am hoping for a better trailer in the near future.

Also, as if anyone cares, I was right that the cloaked individual is indeed the game’s iconic Valkyria girl.  Don’t quite know what this means, but I look forward to learning more!

SCEA

A brief trailer was released for The Last Guardian.  It tells us absolutely nothing we don’t already know, but damn if it isn’t pretty:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I expect more from this game as TGS draws to an end.  I think if this was all SCEA had to show they would have some extremely pissed people on their hands.  I picture an angry mob of horn-ed otaku.

Wow, this post ended up being much longer than I anticipated.  Still, if one were to boil the days events and skim off everything I care about, it would be everything I have mentioned here.  Maybe now I won’t mind waking up tomorrow as much.

]]> http://www.kotowari.org/tokyo-game-show-2009-day-one/feed/ 5 http://www.kotowari.org/littlebigplanet-ico-and-yorda-costumes-available-thursday/ http://www.kotowari.org/littlebigplanet-ico-and-yorda-costumes-available-thursday/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:51:17 +0000 Roy http://www.kotowari.org/?p=4896

The excitement surrounding Team Ico’s newest title, The Last Guardian, is obviously contagious.  It appears to have spread to LittleBigPlanet’s team Media Molecule, as they decided to release an Ico themed DLC pack on the Playstation Network this Thursday.

In addition to the above pictured costumes, the pack will include stickers, sounds etc. all themed after Ico. They also hint at a second pack featuring contents related to Shadow’s of the Colossus.  Information on this will be made available tomorrow at Media Molecule’s blog.

I don’t usually pay for most of the themed outfits for LittleBigPlanet (I never actually got any of the MGS DLC), but I think I will have to purchase this pack.  Ico was definitely one of my favorite PS2 games and it (literally) made a name for Team Ico, a company who despite only releasing two titles has an almost cult-like following.

In February this image was posted in the career section of SCEA’s website. Around the same time, this advertisement was posted in Famitsu weekly magazine:

it reads:
?ICO??
????????????????
PS3?????
??he?????????

??????????
?????????
PS3????????
??????

_{image credits:jeux-france}

Basically the ad is saying that the team who produced Ico and Shadows of the Colossus(??????) is working on a new title for the PS3. Team ICO is hiring people for the project. According to the ad on SCEA’s website they are looking for game planners, animators, artists, and effect designers.

It’s probably a good idea to be fluent in Japanese if you are planning on applying, which I assume you aren’t if you’re reading this. But really, it’s just exciting to know a new project is in the works from Team ICO. So far this team has brought us only two games–Ico and Shadows of the Colossus, both of which were extremely groundbreaking for their time. The team’s head hanchos Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido have expressed their interests in creating a new title, with similar elements or themes as their previous games. You can read some interviews with them at TIG Magazine.

Combining their talents with the power of the Playstation 3 should reap one powerhouse of a good game. Sorry to those who don’t plan on purchasing a PS3, team ICO works for Sony, so whatever they make will be a PS3 exclusive.