Tokyo Game Show, and why Japan isn’t ready for next-gen home consoles

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http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/10/TGS-610x343.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/10/TGS.jpg)September’s Tokyo Game Show offered the first chance for Japanese players to get their hands on next-gen hardware as well as a larger selection of mobile and social games than has ever filled the Makuhari Messe before. It was a show packed with evidence of handheld gaming usurping home consoles in the region, and of new niches opening up.“The venue has got bigger this year, but at the same time the number of publishers not attending has also increased,” said Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega’s Yakuza Studio. Konami and Level-5 were absent from the main floor, as were many western publishers; Tecmo Koei’s booth bafflingly showed nothing but a gallery celebrating its ancient wargame Nobunaga’s Ambition. And Capcom’s release of Monster Hunter 4 just days before TGS meant there was no obvious must-play game of the show.“However, the attendance is very good, and it feels like a carnival, so I think it’s OK to have simple booths that don’t require much outlay,” Nagoshi said, noting what would turn out to be a record 270,197 attendees. “But I do believe that the future of consoles will be decided with this generation, so if we don’t make the effort to whip up interest, we could lose out.”

http://www.edge-online.com/features/tokyo-game-show-and-why-japan-isnt-ready-for-next-gen-home-consoles/