Tokyo Game Show 2009 took place at the
Makuhari Messe convention center from 24-27 September 2009. First two days were business days and I was lucky enough to get in on the second day as press so I won't have to fight the crowds and wait for over an hour in line to play 10 minutes of a demo on public days. This brief post will cover some of the major booths at the event and other interesting things that caught my attention. Won't get into detail about the games there as those are covered well on gaming sites like
Destructoid,
Gametrailers,
IGN etc.
This year's TGS was noticeably smaller than last year's with less exhibitors, smaller booths and a whole lot more space to walk around in the convention halls. I felt that there weren't as many new announcements compared to past TGS in the previous years. Still, there were some pretty impressive booths and a handful of interesting new games to try out.
Sony always has one of the biggest booths at TGS but not the most visually stunning one though.
Tekken 6 hardly got any love from the press in the morning on the second day. No lines at all, which was why it was the first game I tried out at the show! Got the crap beaten outta me by Mokujin. ^^;
FFXIII demo was playable at both Sony's and Square Enix's booths. I had to wait about 25 minutes in line to play about 10 minutes of the demo. Not that long of a wait considering that one would have to wait for four times longer on public days.
Snow Villiers, a.k.a. Mr. 33cm
PS3 Lite FFXIII Lightning Edition due out on 17 December with a retail price of 41,600 yen. I'd get it if it was black. But then again, I already have a PS3.
Gorgeous car that I can only enjoy looking at.
Some of the games that were playable at Sony's booth. I was quite disappointed that they didn't have a playable demo of
The Last Guardian there.
Konami's booth with lots of red cloth.
As an avid Silent Hill fan, I was excited to try out the
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories demo on the Wii, but it fell short of my expectations. I already knew that there won't be any combat involved. However, the whole running-around-like-a-headless-chicken thing from the childlike monsters while trying to find a door leading to an exit or a safety point, without the ability to access the map while running, is not an enjoyable gaming experience for me. Sure, it adds to the fear factor and realism but it is still a game and I doubt I'd be able to finish it as I find it quite frustrating. Nice that they're trying something new, but it's not the Silent Hill game for me.
I tried the
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo but wasn't able to get a grasp of the confusing controls. Kept getting knocked out way too many times and had to be revived by others. Was thinking about getting the game but now that I played the demo, I'll have to give it a pass.
No new Sonic games from Sega announced. They finally made a good decision as the previous Sonic titles were just plain awful!
Ryuu ga Gotoku 4, a.k.a. Yakuza 4. I only played the first game but haven't had the time to play the sequels. I love the story but find the gameplay to be very repetitive and simple. I play the game just for its story, but I'm hoping they'll improve the gameplay for the fourth installment.
Two hot babes playing hostesses. Attendees were invited to sit on the chair and get their pictures taken with the hostesses.
Asuka and Rei tagged along with me at the event. ^^
This is Square Enix's open theater that ran game trailers. No closed mega theater this time. Instead of that, people who lined up to play the
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep or
Final Fantasy XIII demo got to watch the 15-minute trailers at a closed section at their booth. They finally showed gameplay for
Final Fantasy Versus XIII but it was still in its early development stage and no combat system was shown. Just the lead character Noctis running around the city and field with large dinosaur-like creatures.
Four of the main characters from Final Fantasy XIII. Definitely looking forward to playing the game this December! Got a taste of the demo and I want more!
Oerba is such a hottie!
FFXIII Elixirs. Not sure when these will be out but I'm definitely getting Lightning, Oerba, and Chocobo! Not gonna drink them of course. I tried the previous elixirs and they taste like slightly flavored water.
Xbox 360 booth. Not a lot of games that interest me on the system aside from the Halo and Gears of War games. I'm still afraid of the red rings of death, so I have no plans on getting an Xbox 360 anytime soon. Perhaps when Project Natal is released I might consider getting one.
Some decent games at Bandai Namco booth but what caught my attention was the large Gundam head!
Here's a closer look at the awesomeness that is First Gundam!
Okamiden t-shirt is the one with the red dot on the right next to the zombie.
Awesome skin for your PS3/PS3 Lite! Produced by
Gametech. Might get one for my PS3.
They offer skins for PS2 Lite as well.
Xbox 360 skins.
Skin your Wii! That doesn't sound right ... ^^;
Video game character plushies galore!
I got a set of these Link plushies for sale. Email me if you want 'em!
Capcom had their own theater as well. The 6-minute long Lost Planet 2 cinematic and gameplay trailer they showed was mind-blowingly spectacular! Can't wait to play the game!
I finally got to see the legendary video game designer
Hideo Kojima in person! That's one strike off my list of things to do before I die. Next on the list is to get to talk to him in person!
More pics in the flickr gallery linked below:
Tokyo Game Show 2009 gallery
Update of original post.
Update of original post.
Here we have look at some of the new product announcements at Square Enix's merchandise booth at Tokyo Game Show 2009. Pictured above are FFXIII summons Odin in horse mode and Shiva in motorcycle mode. I think Shiva might be able to split into two separate figures because I saw some joints on their arms and legs. Not sure about Odin though. Can't wait for these awesome figures! I might just have to get the FFXIII character figures to go with the summons.
Quite an interesting concept of having Odin transform into a horse when initiating Ride Mode in the game. Looks great as an action figure, too! Hope this one does transform like its video game counterpart.
Hope Estheim is in the second lineup.
Afro dude Sazh Katzroy is also part of the second lineup but no release date announced yet.
Play Arts Kai Bayonetta action figures. Price and release date TBA. I'm really liking the game from the trailers that I saw. Will have to play through the game first before I decide on getting the figures. They do look very nicely detailed.
The titular character herself.
Rival witch Jeanne.
Announced at the show were Devil May Cry 4 Play Arts Kai action figures that are roughly 10" tall! Price and release date TBA.
Best Dante action figure thus far! Can't wait to get a hold of one!
Play Arts Kai Nero. I expect the price to be about the the same as the Resident Evil 5 Play Arts Kai action figures. 4,500 yen for a highly detailed and incredibly articulated action figure. That's pretty reasonable in my book. I'm getting Dante for sure but will wait to find Nero for cheap at the hobby flea market events in Tokyo or at the hobby shops in Akihabara.
Santa costume Sora in the Kingdom Hearts 2 Play Arts Vol 2 lineup.
King Mickey based on his appearance in Kingdom Hears 2. I skipped on getting the first one but this version I might get.
FFXIII l'Cie Zippo lighter and business card case. I was very tempted to get the latter but I don't have much use for it for the time being. Will decide later whether or not to get it after I've played the game in December.
It's not a drink, it's a Cloud Strife perfume! Now you can smell like your favorite video game character! I don't use perfume and find most perfume to be too strong of a smell. But this unisex perfume has a very soft and pleasant smell that I like and wouldn't mind using it if there's ever an occasion that would prompt me to use it. More suitable for men IMO.
Tokyo Game Show 2009 took place at the Makuhari Messe convention center from 24-27 September 2009. First two days were business days and I was lucky enough to get in on the second day as press so I won't have to fight the crowds and wait for over an hour in line to play 10 minutes of a demo on public days. This brief post will cover some of the major booths at the event and other interesting things that caught my attention. Won't get into detail about the games there as those are covered well on gaming sites like Destructoid, Gametrailers, IGN etc.
This year's TGS was noticeably smaller than last year's with less exhibitors, smaller booths and a whole lot more space to walk around in the convention halls. I felt that there weren't as many new announcements compared to past TGS in the previous years. Still, there were some pretty impressive booths and a handful of interesting new games to try out.
Sony always has one of the biggest booths at TGS but not the most visually stunning one though.
Tekken 6 hardly got any love from the press in the morning on the second day. No lines at all, which was why it was the first game I tried out at the show! Got the crap beaten outta me by Mokujin. ^^;
FFXIII demo was playable at both Sony's and Square Enix's booths. I had to wait about 25 minutes in line to play about 10 minutes of the demo. Not that long of a wait considering that one would have to wait for four times longer on public days.
Snow Villiers, a.k.a. Mr. 33cm
PS3 Lite FFXIII Lightning Edition due out on 17 December with a retail price of 41,600 yen. I'd get it if it was black. But then again, I already have a PS3.
Gorgeous car that I can only enjoy looking at.
Some of the games that were playable at Sony's booth. I was quite disappointed that they didn't have a playable demo of The Last Guardian there.
Konami's booth with lots of red cloth.
As an avid Silent Hill fan, I was excited to try out the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories demo on the Wii, but it fell short of my expectations. I already knew that there won't be any combat involved. However, the whole running-around-like-a-headless-chicken thing from the childlike monsters while trying to find a door leading to an exit or a safety point, without the ability to access the map while running, is not an enjoyable gaming experience for me. Sure, it adds to the fear factor and realism but it is still a game and I doubt I'd be able to finish it as I find it quite frustrating. Nice that they're trying something new, but it's not the Silent Hill game for me. 
I tried the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo but wasn't able to get a grasp of the confusing controls. Kept getting knocked out way too many times and had to be revived by others. Was thinking about getting the game but now that I played the demo, I'll have to give it a pass.
No new Sonic games from Sega announced. They finally made a good decision as the previous Sonic titles were just plain awful!
Ryuu ga Gotoku 4, a.k.a. Yakuza 4. I only played the first game but haven't had the time to play the sequels. I love the story but find the gameplay to be very repetitive and simple. I play the game just for its story, but I'm hoping they'll improve the gameplay for the fourth installment.
Two hot babes playing hostesses. Attendees were invited to sit on the chair and get their pictures taken with the hostesses.
Asuka and Rei tagged along with me at the event. ^^
This is Square Enix's open theater that ran game trailers. No closed mega theater this time. Instead of that, people who lined up to play the Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep or Final Fantasy XIII demo got to watch the 15-minute trailers at a closed section at their booth. They finally showed gameplay for Final Fantasy Versus XIII but it was still in its early development stage and no combat system was shown. Just the lead character Noctis running around the city and field with large dinosaur-like creatures.
Four of the main characters from Final Fantasy XIII. Definitely looking forward to playing the game this December! Got a taste of the demo and I want more!
Oerba is such a hottie!
FFXIII Elixirs. Not sure when these will be out but I'm definitely getting Lightning, Oerba, and Chocobo! Not gonna drink them of course. I tried the previous elixirs and they taste like slightly flavored water.
Xbox 360 booth. Not a lot of games that interest me on the system aside from the Halo and Gears of War games. I'm still afraid of the red rings of death, so I have no plans on getting an Xbox 360 anytime soon. Perhaps when Project Natal is released I might consider getting one.
Some decent games at Bandai Namco booth but what caught my attention was the large Gundam head!
Here's a closer look at the awesomeness that is First Gundam!
Capcom had a merchandise booth at TGS as usual, but the only thing I wanna get was the Okamiden t-shirt and that was sold out quick. >__< 
Okamiden t-shirt is the one with the red dot on the right next to the zombie.
They offer skins for PS2 Lite as well.
Xbox 360 skins.
Skin your Wii! That doesn't sound right ... ^^;
Video game character plushies galore!
I got a set of these Link plushies for sale. Email me if you want 'em!
Capcom had their own theater as well. The 6-minute long Lost Planet 2 cinematic and gameplay trailer they showed was mind-blowingly spectacular! Can't wait to play the game!
I finally got to see the legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima in person! That's one strike off my list of things to do before I die. Next on the list is to get to talk to him in person!
