Tweet
Stop me if you've think that you've heard this one before. Japan's best years in the games industry are behind it, the Tokyo Game Show is an irrelevance to western audiences and consoles are all but done for in the land that was once their spiritual home. It's bunk, mostly, and this week's show has been a sweet, sharp reminder that Japan remains the source of some of the grandest in the world of video games, as well as the best barometer of its future. The halls of the Makuharai Messe still tell of a very different scene in Japan - one far removed from the 90s golden age in which the likes of Capcom and Sega were at their brilliant best. Sega's Japanese division retreats further and further from the west, and there's a painful sting as it once again refuses to localise its most high-profile series, Yakuza - while at the same time announcing a Chinese localisation of the next game, Yakuza 0. Capcom, meanwhile, maintains a relatively quiet profile, preparing another Monster Hunter assault while keeping the Resident Evil series gently ticking over as it awaits a grander return.
Nintendo is absent, as ever, even if its presence is felt elsewhere in Tokyo, where the release of Super Smash Bros. on 3DS is one of the biggest of the year - the equivalent, perhaps, to the launch of Destiny in the west. Hoardings promote face-offs between Mario and Rockman, and nearly every StreetPass you pick up on public transport (which is plenty - there's no better place in the world to pick up those last few puzzle pieces than Tokyo's metro) is another player boasting of owning the brawler.
Read more…
More...