The Tent Comes Down

TOKYO - Sunday was the final day of the Tokyo Game Show, and we thought it'd be a perfect time to look back and reflect on this show. So today you'll find updates that detail our overall thoughts on the show from the editors we have in Tokyo covering the show. As Makuhari Messe closed its doors today, the thousands of attendees left a trail of garbage in their wake. It will be cleaned up, but the impact of this show will go beyond that.

Sega showed Dreamcast off - and that was great. Sonic plays wonderfully, so does VF, and Blue Stinger looks great. Most of the other games didn't end up being very interesting, especially July, Kitahe, PenPen, and Godzilla. There's lots of promise for the Dreamcast - like Capcom signing on to develop and announcing that Resident Evil is coming (well, Bio Hazard, but it's the same series). Namco's stamp of approval is surprising, and it says a lot about the system.

PlayStation is everywhere, but Sony's showing was rather boring. PocketStation's good, but otherwise Sony only showed three games – IQ Final, Crash 3, and Poporogue. Where's Parappa 2, where's Gran Turismo 2? Where's Jumping Flash 3? Overall, the kind of showing Sony had was really dismal. Are they the number one company in the market or not? Why do they have the amount of titles your average third party churns out?

Saving Sony were all the third party companies that had games on PlayStation. Nearly every company at TGS was showing PlayStation product of one kind or another, not so much the case for Saturn or N64. If Sony ever loses its licensee support they're screwed. As it is, from what was shown at the last two Tokyo Game Shows, Sony doesn't have anything new coming. Or if they do, it's still in development and it's taking quite a long time.

Namco had Ridge Racer 4, and that was great. Looks great, plays great, can't wait. But they didn't have Star Ixiom, Pac Man 3D, or Ace Combat 3 – all of which I was looking forward to. Capcom had relatively few games, with video of Power Stone running on its main stage. I was impressed with SFZ3 and Marvel Vs. Street Fighter, and Mickey Tetris didn't look bad, but where was the new Mega Man? D&D Collection?

New handhelds are coming from SNK and Bandai, but really, there's no way they'll be able to compete with Game Boy Color. The GBC was all over TGS, with a good amount of third-party support already. The N64 had a few more titles, but it really looks as if it could be over for that system. Perhaps Zelda will revitalize it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the US sales of the game are double or triple what it does in Japan.

Games I enjoyed: R4 – one of my favorite racing series, and a great continuation of it. Sonic Adventure – can't wait to play the final version. If it looks any better than what they had at TGS, I am going to be mighty pleased (as a Sonic fan). Final Fantasy VIII – although I didn't play the game, the new CG cinemas look amazing. Let's just hope the game itself is worth the wait. Street Fighter Zero 3 – Capcom's come to learn the PlayStation, and SFZ3 isn't bad. No Saturn version though? Maybe there'll be a Dreamcast version waiting in the wings.

Overall, it was a show that yielded many questions, mostly along the lines of: where was that? Why didn't they show that? Why isn't that playable?

Not a disappointing show (any show where Dreamcast is playable before the launch is good), but not a completely satisfying one either.

Until next time!