Final Overview From the Floor

TOKYO - Well, after three hellacious days of non-stop gaming, the Tokyo Game Show is over. While the first day was completely sedate, by the third day, the show had slowly become a maddening frenzy of gamer energy.

Here are some thoughts on the show.

TRENDSWhile a majority of the games were hardly show-stoppers, the Tokyo Game Show did provide an adequate cross-section of the industry to see developing trends.

While the RPG is undeniably Japan's most popular game genre, there were so many new RPGs that one must wonder how much longer before the RPG suffers the fate the shooter did a few years back.

In this reporter's opinion, many of the RPGs shown here lacked features that separated them from the substantial RPG pack, not to mention the lack of significant technical improvement over the 16-bit generation of games even.

Shooters, on the other hand, are coming along nicely. With the introduction of 32-bit hardware, games like Square's Einhander and the surprising Cotton 2 could finally mainstream the genre that had mostly catered to hardcore gamers.

Puzzle games definitely had a presence as well, although that presence seemed smaller than before, possibly due to the glut of tile-dropper puzzlers in the Japanese market.

BOOTHSLike at E3, companies go out of their way to get show attendees into their booths. Methods, again a la E3, range from free goodies to models dressed as characters. Here is our list of the best booths - based on both lineup and promotional effort - in no particular order.

SquareThe primary draw of this booth was the giant, neon-lit stage and video screen that adorned the front of the structure. Constantly playing promotional videos for their killer lineup (see related story) and filled to the brim with cool promotional merchandise like a Front Mission 2 mouse pad and a Chocobo coin bank, Square's booth was unavoidable.

SegaNo real gimmicks here other than an excellent lineup and occasional shows by Sega's biggest designers, Sega was a straightforward and satisfying booth with both 1st and 3rd party titles within. Shining Force III, Panzer Dragoon Saga and Burning Rangers all pushed the Saturn beyond its expected bounds and look to be promising games, as well. Also, AM Annex's Saturn version of Touring Car Championship looked promising and was nearing completion.

KonamiKonami's actual game lineup was somewhat disappointing. Mostly ports of old games were shown, and new games like G.A.S.P!! looked...less than favorable at the show. The main attraction to Konami's booth was, in fact, the Metal Gear Solid footage and the stage performances that accompanied it. While definitely not up the alley of the average American reviewer, the "Ok!Ok" concert was worth a laugh, for sure.

NamcoLike Konami, Namco's lineup seemed a little dry as well. Tekken 3 was not playable on PlayStation hardware, but a long row of freeplay Tekken 3 machines made up for it in the eyes of the attendees. Tales of Destiny, a new RPG, was also prominently featured. In a hall filled with design sketches, movie screens and speakers blasting the game's J-Pop song, attendees could get to see a little more about the game, which is expected to ship by Christmas in Japan and is likely to see life in the states, according to one of Namco's marketing people. Klonoa, Namco Museum Encore and the Japanese version of Codemaster's Micro Machines were also shown.

CapcomIt's amazing what a cheap hat can do for publicity. Capcom's RPD (Raccoon City Police Department) cap drew many people in the booth on the first day while Rockman Dash (formerly Rockman Neo), Street Fighter Collection and X-Men vs. Street Fighter drew crowds as well. A large movie theatre introduced Resident Evil 2 to those patient enough to wait in line, and a small store sold Capcom memorabilia to the general public.

ESPA bland-looking booth can become great when filled with the right games, as the ESP booth proved. Grandia was the primary spectacle and looked better and better with every video clip and look at the game's demo that was released last July. Excellent anime from the remixed Lunar: Eternal Blue and Lunar: Magic School was shown. The bizarrely fun platformer, Silhouette Mirage, drew crowds, as did the remake of Chaos Seed, a popular Super Famicom RPG. Early video of Sting's Baroque and a sculpture display of the dark, twisted creatures that will inhabit the game was also definitely worth a look.

HudsonMan, how many Bomberman games can Hudson release? Three new Bomberman games were present at the show, all with multiplayer enabled, of course. Dual Heroes looked to be the best N64 fighter at the show, and Bloody Roar was also possibly the best Playstation fighter at the show. Also shown was an N64 version of one of Japan's most popular, and strangest gameshows. Playing Bomberman against Hudson staff and winning would snag a cute plush bomb for attendees, a favorite goodie indeed.

Eye CandyWhile the show featured a huge number of games, many lesser known games stood out:

Bust A Move from Enix is a funky Parappa-style dancing game where players compete against opponents with names like Disco Jason. The animation was motion captured and incredibly smooth, as was the frame rate.

Magical Nights Dream: Cotton 2 drew crowds around Success' booth. Cotton 2 is an interesting 2-D side-scrolling shooter starring a witch. Strangely enough, this shooter also combines elements from fighters and RPGs, features a some of the Saturn's best 2-D performance and some nice tunes, making it an oddball title that stood out among many of the 3-D titles.

Probably the weirdest game of the show was BurgerBurger, a hamburger restaurant simulation from Gaps. While not graphically intense or even really impressive, the game's odd concept made people go check it out.

Non-Japanese Games At The ShowWhile a majority of the games displayed at the Tokyo Game Show were of Japanese origin, a number of prominent American and European-developed titles made appearances as well.

Probably the most prominent of these games were Core's Tomb Raider 2 and Fox Interactive's Croc. While the first Tomb Raider game only moved a modest number of units in Japan, Victor Interactive Software Inc. has picked up the second game. Croc was acquired by MediaQuest for release in Japan. Both games promoted themselves, in typical game convention style, with lithe women dressed as the main characters.

Many other non-Japanese games appeared in addition to those two, listed below with their Japanese publishers.

Tomb Raider 2 - Victor Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Croc - MediaQuest

Need for Speed 2, renamed Overdrivin' Skyrain Memorial - EA Japan

Fighting Force, renamed Metal Fist - EA Japan

Abe's Oddworld Oddysee, renamed Abe A Go Go - Gamebank

The City of Lost Children - Gamebank

Formula 1 '97 - Sony Japan

Micro Machines - Namco

Wizardry: Nemesis (Saturn) - Shoei System

Adventures of Lomax - Tomy