TGS 2002: Microsoft exhibits 18 games at TGS

Microsoft has announced that it has 18 games present on the TGS show floor, including two games for the Japanese launch of Xbox Live. Microsoft revealed its Japanese plans for Xbox Live, which will launch in Japan on January 16, 2003. Although high-speed broadband connections, which Xbox Live requires, aren't as common in Japan as they are in the US, Microsoft backed up its hopes for the service with new figures from the Japanese government showing that 5.4 million households have broadband in Japan. The Xbox Live beta test will start in Japan in mid-November.

While information on two Xbox Live games, True Fantasy Live Online and Fishing Live Online, was released last week, four completely new games were announced at the show: N.U.D.E., Battlefield Pizza Girl, The Wild Rings, and Jockey's Road.

N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment, developed by Red Entertainment, is a virtual life game where players communicate with a female robot via a microphone. The robot starts out with virtually no intellect but can develop dramatically with the player's training. N.U.D.E. is scheduled for spring 2003.

Battlefield Pizza Girl is a game designed Gabin Ito, with visual design by Katsuki Tanaka. The game is scheduled for 2003, but few other details are available at this time.

The Wild Rings, due out next spring, is a mixed martial arts game with original fighters, as opposed to having licensed fighters from the major martial arts competitions, Pride and UFC. There are 100 fighters in the game and a total of 500 moves that can be customized and edited.

Jockey's Road is scheduled for release next month. In the game, players must win horse races to become a world-class jockey.

Here's a list of the other games at Microsoft's TGS booth:

Blinx (playable)
Blinx (playable)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (playable)
Blinx (playable)
Blinx (playable)
Blinx (playable)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)
Blinx (movie)

We'll soon have more on these games as a part of GameSpot's on-going coverage of the Tokyo Game Show.