Tokyo Game Show 2008 was lukewarm. Nothing earth shattering, but it wasn’t a complete bore either. As a fighting game fan, I was enamored by all the KOFXII, SFIV and Tatsunoko vs Capcom info and footage. That’s all very nice, but I wished there was more. It’s no secret that Japanese game development has taken several steps back compared to the last generation of hardware.
With the PC powerhouses like Epic Games and Valve on the console development train, it has become very obvious how lacking the Japanese are when it comes to technology. There are obvious exceptions such as Capcom and Square Enix, but as a whole the Japanese developers aren’t bringing it. During the PlayStation 2 era, Team ICO had a game out by now. In the same time frame, a true Final Fantasy installment made its debut already. What’s holding up the Japanese developers this generation? It’s the technology and the complexity surrounding it.
I had high hopes for this year’s Tokyo Game Show. I expected it to be the coming out party for all those Japanese developers and it wasn’t. Somewhat disappointing, but enough about that. If you’re too lazy to read up my two summary pages, listen to the listen to the latest 1UP Yours for a pretty good summary of the show.
It’s the long weekend! I’ll be playing more Persona 3 FES: The Answer, pour more time into WipEout HD and perhaps that will be it. I’ve been trying to wrap up The Answer just before the big holiday rush.
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