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- Knguyen
TGS 06 has come and gone, here a little article to say goodbye to it.
The Best of TGS
Tokyo Game Show 2006 is over and done with. Makuhari Messe's massive halls are crammed with new exhibitions, the cosplayers are back in their normal clothes, and everyone's attention has shifted elsewhere. And now that the editors of 1UP, EGM and OPM have shaken off our jetlag and snagged enough sleep to ensure our ability to string together a few coherent sentences, we've taken a look back at the highlights of this year's show.
Best of Show (Playable)
Motorstorm | Sony | PS3 | Racing
By nearly unanimous vote, Motorstorm took the TGS prize for the most sheer fun to be had. Five out of seven editors agree: not only does it look spectacular, it also controls wonderfully and feels absolutely perfect. Sony may be pinning its launch hopes on Resistance, but the accessible exhilaration of Motorstorm is the sort of thing that sells system.
Devil May Cry 4 | Capcom | PS3 | Action
The distant runner-up? Devil May Cry 4. Sure, it's just more of the same thing -- but when it's this fun, and this pretty, it's hard to complain.
Best of Show (Video)
White Knight Story | Level Five | PS3 | RPG
We couldn't actually play White Knight Story, and that made us sad. Remember how Level Five's Dark Cloud was supposed to be the PS2's defining RPG, the ultimate Zelda-killer, but turned out to look and play merely OK? Clearly the company has learned some tricks since then. We don't know how White Knight will play, but damn if it doesn't look amazing.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma | Tecmo | PS3 | Action
Coming in with just as many votes as White Knight is Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden Sigma. This is another one we've already sort of seen and played - but we didn't see it looking this good. This is where you let out a low whistle and mutter an appreciative "Day-amn."
Metal Gear Solid 4 | Konami | PS3 | Adventure
Oh, like we were going to be at a show with MGS4 on display and not be wowed by it. While our hearts were taken by revelations of totally new things, Kojima's next big thing looks just as hot as it did at last year's TGS. Maybe even hotter, since now we've gotten an actual glimpse of gameplay. And seagull poop, but never mind that.
Post-Show Thoughts:
Sam Kennedy: Sony owned the show (not surprisingly, given that Nintendo was virtually absent and Microsoft was holding some of its cards for X06), and absolutely proved that PS3 is worth every penny. The system is a beast and the software support from Japan is incredible. Virtua Fighter 5, Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII -- they're all system sellers.
Shane Bettenhausen: This year, Tokyo Game Show felt more like the PlayStation 3 show -- Sony's pricey next-gen console clearly dominated the field with a massive lineup of key exclusives that easily wowed crowds. Microsoft made a noble effort with its promising Japanese-developed 360 RPGs, but the sheer quantity of PS3 software easily overwhelmed the competition. And you really have to question Nintendo's decision to not allow playable Wii games (even by third party publishers).
Matt Leone: For a show that everyone assumed would be 100% owned by PS3, Final Fantasy XIII's showing was underwhelming and Microsoft made a decent dent with impressive showings of Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. But despite that, it was still (say... 80%) the PS3 show, and games like Devil May Cry 4, MotorStorm, and Virtua Fighter 5 are finally showing what the system can really do.
Jeremy Parish: This year's TGS was as close to boring as something like this can be. Sony's good stuff is just a video-only haze, while Microsoft is still struggling to grok what Japanese gamers want. The prevailing message, I think, was, "Please be patient until we get our acts together."
Robert Bowen: I think Kojima did a great job at keeping everyone's interest in the new MGS4 while at the same time not over-selling it or spoiling it for fans. Ninja Gaiden: Sigma seems to be sticking to the basics that made the first game such a classic, and rightly so. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they continue such a great game!
Tom Byron: This makes my third TGS, and it was by far the most exciting and fufilling yet. Sony may not have shown much that was new, but they ruled the show. If nothing else, they proved once again that games make the system -- and they have the games.
Garnett Lee: TGS was put-up-or-shut-up time for PS3, but Sony fell somewhere in between. Motorstorm, Resistance, Warhawk, and Devil May Cry 4 show that the machine can clearly do some impressive things, but there wasn't a playable title that hit me with that sense of, "Whoa, millions of people will line up to get this." And 360's three Japanese RPGs for 360 aren't just a surprise for being on the platform, they all three look strong -- but beyond that the 360 library looks outclassed in Japan by PS3.
1UP
The Best of TGS
Tokyo Game Show 2006 is over and done with. Makuhari Messe's massive halls are crammed with new exhibitions, the cosplayers are back in their normal clothes, and everyone's attention has shifted elsewhere. And now that the editors of 1UP, EGM and OPM have shaken off our jetlag and snagged enough sleep to ensure our ability to string together a few coherent sentences, we've taken a look back at the highlights of this year's show.
Best of Show (Playable)
Motorstorm | Sony | PS3 | Racing
By nearly unanimous vote, Motorstorm took the TGS prize for the most sheer fun to be had. Five out of seven editors agree: not only does it look spectacular, it also controls wonderfully and feels absolutely perfect. Sony may be pinning its launch hopes on Resistance, but the accessible exhilaration of Motorstorm is the sort of thing that sells system.
Devil May Cry 4 | Capcom | PS3 | Action
The distant runner-up? Devil May Cry 4. Sure, it's just more of the same thing -- but when it's this fun, and this pretty, it's hard to complain.
Best of Show (Video)
White Knight Story | Level Five | PS3 | RPG
We couldn't actually play White Knight Story, and that made us sad. Remember how Level Five's Dark Cloud was supposed to be the PS2's defining RPG, the ultimate Zelda-killer, but turned out to look and play merely OK? Clearly the company has learned some tricks since then. We don't know how White Knight will play, but damn if it doesn't look amazing.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma | Tecmo | PS3 | Action
Coming in with just as many votes as White Knight is Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden Sigma. This is another one we've already sort of seen and played - but we didn't see it looking this good. This is where you let out a low whistle and mutter an appreciative "Day-amn."
Metal Gear Solid 4 | Konami | PS3 | Adventure
Oh, like we were going to be at a show with MGS4 on display and not be wowed by it. While our hearts were taken by revelations of totally new things, Kojima's next big thing looks just as hot as it did at last year's TGS. Maybe even hotter, since now we've gotten an actual glimpse of gameplay. And seagull poop, but never mind that.
Post-Show Thoughts:
Sam Kennedy: Sony owned the show (not surprisingly, given that Nintendo was virtually absent and Microsoft was holding some of its cards for X06), and absolutely proved that PS3 is worth every penny. The system is a beast and the software support from Japan is incredible. Virtua Fighter 5, Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII -- they're all system sellers.
Shane Bettenhausen: This year, Tokyo Game Show felt more like the PlayStation 3 show -- Sony's pricey next-gen console clearly dominated the field with a massive lineup of key exclusives that easily wowed crowds. Microsoft made a noble effort with its promising Japanese-developed 360 RPGs, but the sheer quantity of PS3 software easily overwhelmed the competition. And you really have to question Nintendo's decision to not allow playable Wii games (even by third party publishers).
Matt Leone: For a show that everyone assumed would be 100% owned by PS3, Final Fantasy XIII's showing was underwhelming and Microsoft made a decent dent with impressive showings of Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. But despite that, it was still (say... 80%) the PS3 show, and games like Devil May Cry 4, MotorStorm, and Virtua Fighter 5 are finally showing what the system can really do.
Jeremy Parish: This year's TGS was as close to boring as something like this can be. Sony's good stuff is just a video-only haze, while Microsoft is still struggling to grok what Japanese gamers want. The prevailing message, I think, was, "Please be patient until we get our acts together."
Robert Bowen: I think Kojima did a great job at keeping everyone's interest in the new MGS4 while at the same time not over-selling it or spoiling it for fans. Ninja Gaiden: Sigma seems to be sticking to the basics that made the first game such a classic, and rightly so. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they continue such a great game!
Tom Byron: This makes my third TGS, and it was by far the most exciting and fufilling yet. Sony may not have shown much that was new, but they ruled the show. If nothing else, they proved once again that games make the system -- and they have the games.
Garnett Lee: TGS was put-up-or-shut-up time for PS3, but Sony fell somewhere in between. Motorstorm, Resistance, Warhawk, and Devil May Cry 4 show that the machine can clearly do some impressive things, but there wasn't a playable title that hit me with that sense of, "Whoa, millions of people will line up to get this." And 360's three Japanese RPGs for 360 aren't just a surprise for being on the platform, they all three look strong -- but beyond that the 360 library looks outclassed in Japan by PS3.
1UP
