TGS 2006 and Akihabara: The Ultimate Nerdy Day

I have had a really long day today and do not horribly feel like making a huge post that TGS deserves but I will try my best. Bare with me.

The Tokyo Game Show or TGS opened to the public today and there were plenty of people that were bustling about trying to get in.

This was the line:

















When I saw that line of poor nerds wasting away for tickets, I told myself that there was no way I was waiting that long, not a chance. Fortunately, unlike the bazillion people in line, I planned ahead and went to the TGS website and downloaded the form to get an advanced ticket at a discounted rate. All I had to do was show this nice lady inside one of the buildings my paper and after paying, I got my ticket. The entire thing took less than ten minutes which is about four times better than what the people in line were making out.

Here is my ticket:



















Now, though I disliked the looks of long line, I did get possibly my favorite picture of the entire excursion. Mario, like all plumbers, is a working class, beer and cig kind of guy. I have always known this in my heart but today, I got proof.
















I love that pic.

Anywho, once inside, I felt a tad like I was in that movie, The Wizard, when they all walk into the Nintendo World Championships. This is what greeted the attendees.
















Once through the gate, I was free to roam the convention and oogle some of the new games and whatnot. It was fun for about the first half and hour and then it got kind of old. I think I could have played the PS3 or at least looked at it but I was not going to wait 90 mins. to do so. I guess I am just not that hardcore. But I did get to see some very impressive video of a war game that has battles in it that are on par with some from the Lord of The Rings movies as far as magnitude goes. It looked great and if other PS3 games look as good or better, it will be a pretty system to play. That being said, I still think the system is too expensive and will do poorly because of it. At least until Sony decides to drop the price. Sony did announce that the PS3 would be cheaper in Japan than in the US. The PS3 will retail here for about $460.00.

My main goal of for the trip was to play the Wii. That did not happen. In order for that to happen, Nintendo would have had to of shown up for the convention and they were no where in sight. Personally, I think that is a stupid move on their part. Both Sony and Microsft had a huge showing and for Nintendo to not even be there, that says something. I partially think this is because Nintendo is very focused on American sales more than Japanese sales at the moment. After all, they are releasing the Wii in the United States first and the US will also see more units than Japan will. I hope Nintendo does not leave its Japanese fan base in the cold because Japan is the reason Nintendo even has a leg to stand on right now as far as money goes. Weekly, the Nintendo DS Lite sells four to five times as many units as the PSP in Japan. There are some weeks where every other console on the market combined doesn't sell as many units as the DS Lite alone does and this is why Nintendo is still in the running at all. Anywho, enough about the lack of Nintendo, I am just a tad irked about it at the moment.

I got to play the upcoming Harvest Moon 2 for the DS and it looks nice. You control the character's movment with the use of the touch pen and sometimes, if you have big hands like me, that means that the view of the game gets a tad obscured by your paws. After a few minutes, I was able to adjust a tad so it wasn't so bad but it was kind of annoying. The game looks like it will be a nice addition to the Harvest Moon family though.

The game that I really enjoyed playing was a game called, PaperMan. It's a first person shooter but its a very creative and fun take on the worn out genre. In the game, you control a character that looks very cute and anime-ish from the front but us almost two dimensional from the side. You are made out of paper. The game is very Japanese, graphically, and you get all of the standard weapons you would expect a shooter to have. Its very fun and the graphics on top of some play tweaks due to the two dimensional characters make for a fresh game that I think will attract the people that are looking for something to play at a party rather than hardcore gamers looking to kill realistic looking creatures and characters. I enjoyed it and was assured that it would reach American soil. They also gave me a shirt, a poster, some snacks, and little light-up hearts to wear on my head.
















Overall, while I am glad I went to TGS, I was kind of let down by it. Perhaps I expected too much, perhaps I am just not enough of a video game fan to stand in line play a game that I can't buy and may never be able to. I did enjoy looking at all of the booth bunnies though. Its amazing how the Japanese can and will use sex to sell anything and everything. Here are a couple of examples:































Ok, so that last one was a cat and not very sexy at all, but still cute and fun to look at.

After TGS, I headed to Akihabara for a look around and explored a bunch of new areas there that I have never checked out. I also played tour guide to a couple of guys and showed them the stores that sold English games. For the first time ever, I did not by one thing for myself while there. There just wasn't a ton that I wanted that I couldn't get in Fukuchiyama or online. It was kind of sad. But all in all, it was a fun time and I had a good day. If you want to know about specific titles I saw at TGS just drop me a line and I will tell you what I saw. I also shot some video that I may try to get on here. It shows everything off rather nicely.

I am not sure what I am going to do tomorrow. I had planned to go to TGS again if I needed to but now I don't think that will be necessary. I think tomorrow I will go watch the Cosplay kids in Harajuku and go explore Shinjuku a little. If I see anything fun, I will update tomorrow night as well. Night Night!