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The Tokyo Game Show is long over. It ended last month, which in internet time is a decade ago. The latest issue of Famitsu has fascinating TGS 2008 data for us to look at and mull over. The publication surveyed 1,000 visitors, 79 percent of TGS attendees were male, 21 percent female. Here's the data: • 78 percent own a DS, 69 percent a PSP, 32 percent a PS3, 43 percent a Wii and 24 percent an Xbox 360. • 26.8 percent primarily use the DS, and 4.3 percent primarily use the Wii. • 31 percent plan to buy the PS3 in the future — the most popular answer. • Nearly half use their systems to play online. The magazine also has a list of the most popular booth companions, along with quotes from those surveyed attendees: More »
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We close out our TGS booth tours with SNK’s. Thanks for stickin' around. It was both larger and more impressive than last year’s mild effort, thanks in most part to the presence of an row of eight playable King of Fighters XII arcade cabinets. Oh, and two 60” LCD’s showcasing that action, helping make it easily the most visually impressive game of the show. The rest of the stuff in their booth (ie anything not King of Fighters) was standard SNK fare: boobs, more boobs and mouse pads with boobs on them. More »
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Level 5 are on the up. And nowhere was this more evidenced by their increased TGS presence, the company hosting an impressively large booth that housed demo pods, game art, the ROID game portal and a mega theatre that rivalled Square Enix’s in size, if not in stature. More »
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Oh, Konami. What a difference a year makes. Last year, they were the star of the show, Metal Gear Solid 4 winning over both critics and public alike. This year? They…well, let’s just say they probably wish they could re-release Metal Gear Solid 4 all over again, as without it, their lack of depth in other areas really showed. Pro Evo 2009 was great, as we’ve already discussed, but after that there was little else to see but the sad (still peddling MGS4 and Metal Gear Online? Really?) and the God-awful (Castlevania Judgement is a farce of a title). More »
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For a publisher of their size and stature, Sega’s Tokyo Game Show booth was a little on the disappointing side. Nothing on hand was really wowing the crowd – not even the promise of a new Sonic game (Unleashed) – and were it not for the mild excitement accompanying Yakuza 3 the booth would have been one of the emptiest of the major publishers. More »
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By far the two biggest draws of TGS were the Square Enix and Capcom booths. But you know what, Square Enix doesn't count. Everyone was there for trailers. Capcom's booth, meanwhile, was chock-full of playable demos, from Resident Evil 5 to Street Fighter IV to probably the most popular demo on the showroom floor, Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii. Click below for a tour. More »
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The Tokyo Game Show is many things, and classy is generally one of them. The show's a safe, friendly, clean place to hang out for a few days. But sometimes - just sometimes - somebody has to take things one step too far. Example: this unfortunate incident, spotted on Sunday afternoon. Chun Li was having her leg hoisted (willingly, mind you), seemingly so she was in an authentic "kick" pose, but really so these two could get a better shot. Of. You know. Was odd enough as is, but what kicked things up a notch was when the poor girl's hips started getting sore. She was in pain, and had to shake it off. Do a few squats, stretch it out. But after a quick flex and a gritting of her teeth? She was right back into it. Come on, girl: cosplay rules explicitly state you gotta keep things a little classier. Which writer "turned green" playing Mirror's Edge at E3? More »
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As you'd expect from a company that's starting to pick up a little steam in Japan, Microsoft went all-out with its booth at this year'sTGS. The booth looked bigger, they had a lot more demo units on-hand (seemed like half of them were for Star Ocean), and no other company had so liberally employed the use of booth companions. Click below for a tour of the place. More »
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There were lots of booths at this year's Tokyo Game Show, but only a few of them were worth spending any great amount of time around. One of those was Sony's, which seemed a little smaller than last years - most likely because, as with most other publishers, there aren't as many AAA games around compared to last year - but was still a pretty impressive setup. Click below for a tour. More »
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As the clock struck 5pm on Sunday evening, the 2008 Tokyo Game Show drew to a close. But as the public streamed out of the place, booth companions kicked off their heels and PR types breathed a long, deep sigh of relief, the worker bees got to work. Why? Because a trade show never ends. Someone has to end it. Click below if you want to see how it's done. More »
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Those Tecmo girls? Sure, they were easy on the eye, but flashing skin is so cheap. And cheap is something Konami are just not interested in. At least when it comes to booth companions. Instead, the company that wishes they could release Metal Gear Solid 4 every year kept things a little classier, opting for this classic number that sits somewhere between naughty nurse and 50's flight attendant. More »
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We're done counting the tens of thousands of votes you people cast in our "What The Hell Are These Guys Watching?" poll, and the results are in! So just what was it that had the Japanese crowd enthralled/confused? Was it Microsoft's star show-stopper, Star Ocean 4? Or perhaps the other Square Enix attention-grabber, Last Remnant? Or maybe, just maybe, it was the other other Square Enix 360 exclusive, Infinite Undiscovery? Nope. It was none of them. Believe it or not, the video presentation that was showing at the time was for Rare's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Really. And every other time I saw it shown, people stopped, turned, and watched, where for most other titles (Star Ocean 4's STUNNING cinematics aside) they'd just keep on walking. Guess it's not being marketed that heavily here, and looks, I don't know, different. Unique to Japanese eyes, maybe. Who knows! If you guessed wrong, chin up. There are more important things in life. If you guessed right, remember, internet bragging rights are yours for a day. More »
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One of the better booths at last year's TGS was Microsoft's. Mostly because they had a neat wall, which was displaying the game disc and cover art for every 360 game ever released in Japan. This year, they didn't exactly go one better (it's the same schtick), but they did make sure the game boxes weren't left out. Above, and below, you'll see Microsoft Japan's 360 timeline, charting every release of every game chronologically. They even cheat and show XBLA games. Somewhat interesting, no? More »
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The setting: Enterbrain's (publisher of Famitsu) TGS booth. The man? Brown Man. Otherwise known as Toshihiro Nagoshi. The event: no idea, can't speak Japanese, but from the relaxed vibe and the crossed legs we're pretty sure he's reading everyone a bedtime story. Something about Yakuza, monkey's balls, tanning salons and rip-off track pants. Oh, and ice cream. More »
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As we showed you yesterday, Capcom's booth at TGS has been going bananas. So much so that they've got booth boys running a unique form of crowd control. In case you can't make it out, the kid's holding a long, thick rope. And there are 15 more kids like him. They're crowd ranchers. As I took this, I could swear I heard a "YAH!", and the crack of a whip, as 1000 wide-eyed Japanese teenagers were herded - by the shuffling rope boys - into a pen and forced to watch Monster Hunter 3 trailers over and over and over. More »
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Man, Capcom are pulling out all the stops with their booths this year. We've already shown you the Gyakuten Kenji setup, but equally amazing is the company's Street Fighter IV booth, which is a replica of Chun-Li's stage. It's even got a chicken. Great stuff. More »
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Look at these guys! There's a ton of them! And they're hooked! And, strangest of all, this is at the Microsoft booth! So, question time: just what are these guys watching? Here's a clue: it's a video presentation of a major upcoming title. One that's playable on the showroom floor. So, think you can guess what it is? No prizes for the winner, only the promise of internet bragging rights. More »
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After playing a round of Street Fighter IV in the Capcom booth at TGS08 the booth companions hand you a little packet of Street Fighter IV pins. I tried figuring out what the full set consisted of, but the time spent at the booth rooting through their freebie basket only netted me more eye time with the same two sets of pins. More »
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There's no question about what's most popular amongst the locals here at TGS. It's not even close. Seems every single person is here for one of two things. Or, hell, probably both. They're here for the Square Enix, and they're here for Capcom. More »
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SNK Playmore knows how to draw a crowd at Tokyo Game Show — just line up five girls in Mai Shiranui cosplay get ups and let the booth babe hungry masses snap dozens and dozens of photos of their perfectly smooth knees. Then, hope that at least one of them will be interested in playing King of Fighters 2002 or Slot Panic on a cell phone. More »
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Behold: the Gyakuten Kenji booth, encased within Capcom's monstrous Tokyo Game Show setup. Isn't it just great? While most booths here settle for murals or the odd statue/attractive lady in costume to set the mood, Gyakuten Kenji's is a fully decked-out courthouse. Fancy chairs, bookshelf, the works. If that doesn't get you in the mood for some courtroom drama, you really are a husk of a man/woman. More »
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Not all booth companions have to show skin. Some don't have to show any at all. This booth companion doesn't have to even show her face. Spotted at the From Software booth and passing fliers for a suspense title, this female companion was outfitted in a rubber mask that showed off her ample eye lashes. There's not even a slot for the mouth! Must be stuffy. Must. More »
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Let's TGS. Like we said, this year's Microsoft TGS booth is special. Not for the games, necessarily (OK, for the games), but for the fact that the company's army of booth companions have new outfits! What's better, they have two new outfits! It's the megaton of (fashion) show so far. How do they shape up? Let's. Find. Out. As you can see, there are two outfits. One is a sleek, futuristic, Space Channel 5-meets-the-Jetsons number. Looks like a polyester blend. The other is a funky urban cowgirl/80's British punk thing, with a hint of side-boob. Both are a good look. And both are, most importantly, only improved by the lady's personal touches and individual accessories. Think the urban cowgirl look's a little hokey? Give it a little Mediterranean flair with this beret/neckerchief combo. Don't like Xbox green? Add a little style with this grey belt/suspenders pairing. Or if careful accessorising isn't your thing, you could always go the more direct method of attracting attention. More »
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We rolled by the Yakuza 3 booth in Sega's space a bit too late to gain entry to the age restricted theater, but we were more than impressed by the installation of the champagne fountains that flank the entryway. C'mon, champagne fountains? Now that's gangsta. More »
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Let's TGS. We'd heard Microsoft and Square Enix were close this TGS. That they were best buds. That their booths were right next to each other. So, just how close were they? Close enough to symbolise a new relationship between the two? A friendship, perhaps? Maybe even some touching? More »
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Mike's already there. Crecente's there. And Ashcraft, well, he's always there. Me, I'm about to board my flight to Japan, rounding out Team Kotaku (or Kotaku F.C. for our European readers) for our balls-to-the-wall Tokyo Game Show coverage. The show kicks off on Thursday (that's THIS Thursday, October 9), but we'll be doing stuff all week that you will find interesting. Stay tuned. More »
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