Well folks, TGS is over, finished, kaput. As such, it seem only fitting that today's content is more oriented towards western audiences -- note also that there is no Japan exclusive content today. Here's the sweet sweet candy:
Battlestations Midway trailer Eragon trailer Import Tuner Challenge trailer Need for Speed Carbon trailer The Darkness trailer Mass Effect Picture Pack (free!) Battlestar Galactica (United States)
TGS Showfloor video 3 video F.E.A.R. demo
We discussed the F.E.A.R. demo earlier: if you played the OXM demo, there's nothing new. With all this content, it may be time to start clearing out some of that old E3 stuff. Meanwhile, X06 inches ever closer. So, everybody make some room, download each and every one of these trailers, watch them, and then come back here and discuss them. Discuss them, I say!
So, you're at the Tokyo Game Show and you want to play one of those new fangled Xbox 360 RPGs like Blue Dragon, Trusty Bell, or Lost Odyssey. Then you probably shouldn't have had that bag of bran muffins and coffee earlier, because that is one long line. 1UP is reporting that show goers were waiting in line for up to two hours to get a chance to play Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. The article notes that lines aren't uncommon, and that the Squeenix line is longer, but it does show that the Japanese have a marked interest in these two titles. Could the 360 actually be gaining ever precious mindshare in Japan? With only 100,000 (recently discounted) PS3s this holiday and only a minor price difference between the Wii and the 360 Core System/Blue Dragonbundle, only time will tell.
You read the headline, there's a demo of F.E.A.R. available on Marketplace right now. Our more astute readers will no doubt notice that this demo is exactly the same as the demo available some time ago in OXM. Giving it another go this morning, X360F wonders whether or not F.E.A.R. can stand out among upcoming blockbusters like Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Vegas. Also, it may just be us, but why does this game require such a monster PC to run? There are plenty of particle effects and the textures are all very high res, but the geometry just doesn't look that impressive -- again, see Gears of War and Rainbow Six.
Still, if you haven't picked up the demo through OXM, you just can't beat the price (hint: it's free).
If you're like us, you may have been too busy actually playing games this weekend to notice that the TGS content is still rolling in. So, a quick summary of what's been released yesterday and today is in order. Here you go:
TGS Showfloor video 1
TGS Showfloor video Day 2 (Japan)
Game Creator Interview (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #5 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #6 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #7 (Japan)
TGS Showfloor video 2
TGS Showfloor video Day 3 (Japan)
Gamers' Interview (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #8 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #9 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #10 (Japan) Vampire's Rain Trailer (Japan -- AKA Rain in the west) Forza 2 Customization Trailer Forza 2 Theme (not free) Virtua Tennis 3 Trailer NBA Live 07 Trailer NHL 2K7 Trailer
As we said, we've been too busy rocking DOA4 online with our blogging buddies (or Championship Poker in Ken's case) to check out most of this content. Has anybody out there checked out the Vampire's Rain trailer? Is it different from the one released during E3? Leave us some comments and tell us what's hot and what's not.
A new video of Eternal Sonata (the western name for Namco's Trusty Bell) has popped up over at GameVideos. More than just a showcase for the pretty environments, fans will be happy to know that the video shows off the game's previously unknown combat engine. The combat, as far as we can tell, is similar to Grandia but with real time elements. Each character has a limited amount of time to execute real time combos and spells. Then the enemy has a similar amount of time to retaliate. One might assume that higher level characters have more time to act. At any rate, it might give turn based haters a reason to take another look at Eternal Sonata. Turn based haters ... sounds like the name of a band. See the video after the break.
Here's the rundown of today's Marketplace content.
Fuzion Frenzy 2 demo
Portal Trailer
TGS Showfloor video 1
TGS Showfloor video Day 1 (Japan)
GM Sensui Interview (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #1 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #2 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #3 (Japan)
Xbox Live The Party #4 (Japan)
Not much for those of us outside Japan., but the Fuzion Frenzy 2 demo is certainly welcome. We guess that whole "no demos on Friday" thing is pretty much dead by now.
If there is one completely memorable moment for us in the Microsoft TGS press briefing, it was seeing DOAX2 announced as a "sports" title. That ... is hilarious. Xbox.com has posted two videos of the Microsoft TGS briefing. One is the entire briefing, full of Japanese goodness, and the other is only Peter Moore's remarks. The whole conference clocks in at just under an hour. There are no trailers or anything we typically associate with press briefings so, if you don't speak Japanese, we'd suggest you stick with the Peter More video.
The conference does a good job of emphasizing all things Japanese -- complete with Peter Moore humbling himself to Pac-Man creator, Toru Iwatani. Of course, Blue Dragon gets its fair share -- Sakaguchi-san talks it up for quite a while near the end. Perhaps the most bizarre bit is Microsoft's marketing slogan for Japan: "Do! Do! Do!" Let's hope that didn't come from the same marketing team that did all those "playtests" of the original Xbox control.
We'll go ahead and say that things look better than they have in the past for MS in Japan. As usual, it's the games stupid, and Microsoft showed up with more actual Japanese titles than ever before. Will it help? Who knows, but they're definitely heading in the right direction.
Another day, another batch of content. TGS rolls on, and Microsoft gives us more to drool over. Now, without further ado, today's content:
Vista Game Montage Fusion Frenzy 2 trailer (Weren't we just talking about this?) Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom trailer Team Fortress 2 trailer Table Tennis trailer (Japan only)
TGS Theme
We haven't had a chance to watch any of these, but we'll give you the skinny once we do. If anybody spots one of these trailers floating around the interweb, send us a tip and we'll post it.
The TGS video madness continues with this clip of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. We all know DOAX2 is about watching digital hotties in swimsuits, but this is just south of ridiculous. Just when you thought Itagaki and friends couldn't get any raunchier (remember the E3 video?), they go and make this. Let's just say this: the video is technically safe for work, but don't let anyone catch you watching it. Before checking out the video, we would be remiss if we didn't note a few things. One, it looks like the hair physics have improved since DOA4. Two, the game should hit the States on November 15th (before Japan actually). Our Japanese is rusty, but we're guessing that the date mentioned for Europe was "coming soon" -- can anyone translate?
Yet more cinematic RPG goodness from the Tokyo Game Show, this time from the other Mistwalker game, Lost Odyssey. Lost Odyssey is a game about a man who has lived for over a thousand years. If this intro video is any indication, he apparently lived that long by kicking ass. Check out the video after the break. Be sure and watch the very end when the intro snaps right into real time play. Very slick.
Let's get this out of the way right now: if you don't like news about RPGs, this is going to be a rough couple of days. As for the rest of you, read on. You might remember the whacked out concept behind Namco's Trusty Bell -- you know, Chopin (yeah, that Chopin) is dying of tuberculosis and flies away to a magical dream world where he is granted magical powers. Let's just say we thought the idea was, well, wacky at first, but it's grown on us. A lot. And seeing this video just put it much higher on our list. If you're still a non-believer, just think of it this way: if someone told you they were making a game about plumbers jumping on turtles, what would you say?
Xboxyde has scored actual in game footage of the would be killer app for Microsoft in Japan, Blue Dragon. Split into two parts, the video shows off the game's graphics and combat system. For the RPG buffs out there, it's worth noting that battles are not random and that enemies can be seen before the player decides to engage them (or not). Beyond that, the game is very nice to look at. We know that a lot of readers will disagree on this point, but these graphics are solid and polished beyond belief. The gameplay, on the other hand, looks fairly standard. There are big chests with items in them, turn-based battles, summoning techniques, and a boss battle (complete with craptastic rawk music).
Granted, the quality of the video makes it difficult to pick apart the intricacies of the combat, but it all looks pretty traditional. Then again, it also looks an awful lot like Dragon Quest -- a game so popular in Japan it's practically a national holiday when a new sequel is released. Will bundlingBlue Dragon with a core system be enough to entice Japanese buyers? Only time will tell.
Update: It looks like Xboxyde's servers are getting beaten up by the demand for this video. See the embedded YouTube video after the break.
There are also map packs available for BFMEII, though one of them -- Aragorn's Journey -- is supposed to be free, it's not working correctly right now. Don't download it or you will be charged. The other pack -- Northern Badlands -- is not supposed to be free so, you can grab it for 350 MS Points if you want. Also, as of this writing, the Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 trailer doesn't seem to be up.
We're not really sure if this counts as TGS content, but several XBLA games have been updated to take advantage of the Vision camera.
More 360 news out of Tokyo, Microsoft has announced that the HD-DVD drive for the 360 will launch November 17th at a price of ¥19,800 ($170). This pretty much confirms the oft speculated $200 price when the device ships stateside -- then again, Microsoft is rather fond of giving the Japanese insane price cuts.
Speaking of price cuts, Microsoft also announced that they will be releasing a new core system bundle in Japan this holiday. Priced at ¥28,900 (~$250), the new core comes with a copy of Blue Dragon. That's right, for half the price of the low end PS3, the Japanese can get a copy of Hironobu Sakaguchi's latest. Futile or not, Microsoft is going to war in Japan. Stay tuned for more TGS goodness.
Joystiq has some rather astounding news from the Tokyo Game Show today. A software update later this year -- we would guess the scheduled fall update -- will add full 1080p capability to your Xbox 360. Still no word of an HDMI cable, though. Right now this is only via component or VGA. Still, Microsoft is promising immediate upscaling of all existing games and DVD movies. Huh, it looks like the 360 is capable of "True" high definition after all. The question is: can it play games in 4D? Stay tuned to X360F and Joystiq for more breaking TGS info.
The TGS video madness continues with this clip of 
More 360 news out of Tokyo, Microsoft has announced that the HD-DVD drive for the 360 will launch November 17th at a price of ¥19,800 ($170). This pretty much confirms the oft 
Joystiq has some rather astounding news from the Tokyo Game Show today. A software update later this year -- we would guess the scheduled fall update -- will add full 1080p capability to your Xbox 360. Still no word of an HDMI cable, though. Right now this is only via component or VGA. Still, Microsoft is promising immediate upscaling of all existing games and DVD movies. Huh, it looks like the 360 is capable of "True" high definition after all. The question is: can it play games in 4D? Stay tuned to X360F and Joystiq for more breaking TGS info.
