The Tokyo Game Show is on fire. We’ve been getting news from it like a crazy flood of Japanese news stories, which is exactly what it is. One of the highlights of the show so far has been a bunch of new media of the newest DS titles that were just recently announced at the Nintendo Conference. One of those titles is the upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles title, Echoes of Time.

Check out the video above which shows a whole bunch of impressive gameplay footage. Just ignore the Japanese scribbles at the beginning and then sit back and enjoy some of the best graphics the DS has displayed in a very long time. The graphics shown on the Wii version are typical of the system, but to achieve nearly identical quality on the handheld is something of a feat. Gamers who are already familiar with the DS remakes of FFIII and such will recognize a similar character design, but the environments are the real star here. Fantastic geography with multiple branching paths and great textures are already looking very promising. We’ll keep an eye on this one as it’s sure to be a big hit both in Japan and abroad.

Want to play around with fast cars on a handheld platform? If the answer is “yes,” then you’re on the same page with Polyphony Digital. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Polyphony announced Gran Turismo for the PlayStation Portable.  Where has it been? In a brief interview with Eurogamer, Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida said that the game is still being developed, albeit slowly.

From the interview:

They have been working on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5 for PS3, so they've had to focus on finishing up Gran Turismo on the PS3 side. That's been making the PSP development a little bit slow.

Want to play around with fast cars on a handheld platform? If the answer is “yes,” then you’re on the same page with Polyphony Digital. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Polyphony announced Gran Turismo for the PlayStation Portable.  Where has it been? In a brief interview with Eurogamer, Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida said that the game is still being developed, albeit slowly.

From the interview:

They have been working on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5 for PS3, so they've had to focus on finishing up Gran Turismo on the PS3 side. That's been making the PSP development a little bit slow.

Los Angeles – October 10, 2008 – Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group (UPDPG) announced today the creation of a handheld video game for the Nintendo DS™ based on Universal Pictures’ upcoming animated-adventure feature film, The Tale of Despereaux. The game is being developed by Fizz Factor, a Foundation 9 Studio, in conjunction with UPDPG and will be published worldwide by Brash Entertainment. The title is the second self-funded game UPDPG has announced this year.

The Tale of Despereaux handheld game shares the rich look and fairytale feel of the upcoming holiday film of the same name, and will both follow and extend the storyline from the feature film. Players will travel across across the Kingdom of Dor, from the whimsical environs of Mouse World to the kitchen, library and other colorful rooms of the main castle, and finally, to the dark and sinister dungeon domain of the banned and feared rats, Rat World. In this modern fairytale about a small mouse born too brave for his little world, several unlikely heroes will discover that what you look like doesn’t equal what you are.

(more…)

Above: A gamer plays the latest in theAce Attorney line of lawyer adventure games for Nintendo DS at Tokyo Game Show 2008.

TOKYO -- Here at the Tokyo Game Show, it's the year of the Nintendo DS.

With more than 23 million units sold in Japan alone, and an updated version of the hardwarecalled the DSi on the way next month, there isn't a gamemaker at the show that isn't preparing one or more big-budget games for DS. They're betting that the system's broad popularity will equal big returns on titles for hard-core players and casual gamers alike.

"DS is obviously kicking ass in Japan," says Capcom's Hiroyuki Kobayashi, producer of the Resident Evilseries of games. Kobayashi says that since many Japanese publishers create games only for Japanese consumers, they are naturally gravitating toward the dominant platform. Nintendo says it has sold one DS for every two Japanese households.

The surging popularity of handheld videogame systems like the DS, Sony's PSP and even the iPhone means an expanding market for gamemakers who can cook up addictive diversions for people killing time in a waiting room or on a train. Like Nintendo's superpopular Wii console, the DS and its portable bretheren appeal first and foremost to casual gamers. But there's plenty of red meat for the hard-core, too.

Tokyo Game Show organizers say about 19 percent of the games on the show floor are for Nintendo's portable system, almost double the figure for 2006. All of Japan's major game publishers have elaborate booths in Tokyo's Makuhari Messe convention center for the show, which lets the public get its hands on demos of upcoming games.

Square Enix is bringing its cult classic role-playing game series Valkyrie Profileto Nintendo DS, causing fans to line up for hours around its booth to play it, although they might be surprised by what they find. "The DS version is very different from the earlier versions -- it's a strategy RPG this time," says James Clark, who writes for a website called RPGFanfrom his Tokyo apartment. "It's really a bold choice, because it's going to alienate some of the fans, I think. But it definitely has a very deep story."

As the Nintendo DS market becomes stronger, publishers are taking bigger risks and putting more resources into DS development. Level-5, an independent publisher that shot to prominence in Japan with its Professor Laytonseries of puzzle games, showed a full slate of new brain-twisting titles for DS at its massive show booth in Tokyo. One of the games, Ni no Kuni, is an impressive-looking collaboration with the Oscar-winning animators at Studio Ghibli.

Role-playing games, in particular, are a hot commodity on DS. Square Enix has sold millions of copies of its remakes of classic games in the Final Fantasyand Dragon Questseries, and this year, most gamemakers on the show floor are previewing big RPGs.

The latest entries in the Suikodenand Phantasy Starseries are coming exclusively to DS. Other RPGs are built on more quirky concepts: Riz-Zoawdis a retelling of The Wizard of Oz.

Many of these games will be released in early November, alongside the launch of the updated Nintendo DSi. The $185 version of the system will include two built-in cameras and the ability to download games.

Portable gaming in general is experiencing a renaissance in Japan, says Capcom's Kobayashi. "PSP is doing well, and for the first time, I'm working on a PSP title." Square Enix is also showing strong PSP titles in its Final Fantasyand Kingdom Heartsseries, although the next home console versions of those games are still far away.

After DS and PSP, the next most prevalent platform at TGS is Wii. The most powerful consoles, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, have the fewest games on the floor.

Software engineer Tom Fulp, whose company Behemoth created the recent Xbox Live game Castle Crashers, said his favorite games on the show floor aren't "super mind-blowing, technology-wise."

Instead, Fulp admires Japanese gamemakers' quirky creativity. "They have more fun with their stuff," he says.

Image: Wired.com

See also:

• New Nintendo DSi is Download-Ready
• Hands On: New Ace AttorneyLets You Be the Prosecutor
• Hands On: Let's TapNot Entirely Stupid
• TGS: Awesome Japanese-Style Game Accessories

• Rumor: PSP FW 5.0, PS3 FW 2.5 go live next week?
  
• TGS 2008: PSP Store, Ad Hoc Party, PS3 bundles, and Home beta launch dates
  

Turns out, this may be the most brilliant PR move ever. As you know, TGS 2008 is in full swing this week. It’s already being labeled a huge game fest, with new announcements, hands-on demoes, and noteworthy sequels. All of that would seem to indicate that players like Microsoft and Sony, which had keynotes or other big press announcements, would dominate the show in Nintendo’s absence.

Wrong.

As the pic above indicates, the lines were long and widespread for Nintendo titles from third party publishers at TGS. The above pic is for Monster Hunter 3, a Wii exclusive, which Nintendo somehow managed to wrestle away from the competition in 2007. It was a coup for the ages, and the four hour lines to play the thing at TGS indicate it will pay off in treasure, without a doubt.

But that wasn’t all. GoNintendo, which is dutifully chronicling its travels on the TGS show floor this week, reported that the big name on campus at the show is… Nintendo?!

This is quite a funny situation. At TGS 2008, the handheld with the most games at the show is the Nintendo DS. (No surprise there — Jack) When it comes to consoles, the Wii has the most games on the show floor. Those facts in and of themselves aren’t funny, but the fact that Nintendo isn’t even at TGS makes me chuckle. For whatever stubborn reasons, Nintendo hardly ever has anything to do with TGS. I guess they are making a good decision. They don’t even need to showcase their games, yet they dominate the show floor.

This isn’t to say there aren’t some great games for other consoles at TGS, it’s just they aren’t front and center as they would have been as recently as one year ago. GoNintendo, in detailing the TGS Nintendo dominance without actually being there, also links to a report confirming the phenomena at GamaSutra:

The company’s lack of presence notwithstanding, there is a plethora of Wii and DS titles on show, notable at this relatively “core gamer”-focused event.

And with announcements such as No More Heroes 2 timed for TGS, Yuji Naka’s charming recently-announced Let’s Tap for Wii, and Phantasy Star on DS just a few of the show floor standouts, there is plenty of third-party goodness to see here for Nintendo’s consoles — not least of all Monster Hunter 3, which moved from PlayStation 3 to Wii after its initial announcement. Youch.

Youch is right. To be able to control the flow of an industry show that you aren’t even at has to be some kind of new record for the industry. Nintendo’s slow cooker strategy, where it warms the bathwater slowly as to not frighten off new gamers, appears to be coming to a boil.

Gallery: LocoRoco 2

Continue reading TGS 08: LocoRoco 2 grabs us with cuteness and depth

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