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CHIBA, Japan — “Japan is over,” Mega Man producer Keiji Inafune once lamented, visiting the Tokyo Game Show in 2009.
It’s no secret that the Japanese game industry has long since lost the dominion it once enjoyed over the world of videogames. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; a broader chorus of voices means a greater variety of video games. But every year the Tokyo Game Show feels a little emptier and sadder, even as it sets new attendance records. The people keep coming, there are just fewer Japanese video games for them to see. Some of Japan’s biggest videogame makers sometimes fail to show up, and the ones who do sometimes don’t bring any games with them.
WIRED is on the show floor and we’ve been collecting (and lamenting) the latest signs that Inafune-san might have been right. Here are the saddest, weirdest scenes from the Tokyo Game Show floor.
Above:
No Nobunaga
Tecmo Koei, publisher of the lucrative Dynasty Warriors franchise, had zero games in its booth. Instead, it put up a gallery commemorating the 30th anniversary of one of its earliest hits: Nobunaga’s Ambition, a historical strategy game. Even though there will be a new Nobunaga game out later this year, the only games to be found in Tecmo Koei’s booth were two editions from the 1980s preserved in a glass case.
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Monster Hunter Meh
Capcom remains one of Japan’s more successful publishers with a number of hit franchises (Mega Man, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter to name a few) but most of the games in its booth are smartphone and tablet apps. Instead of Monster Hunter 4, the 3DS hit released just days before the show, there’s Monster Hunter Smart, its free-to-play smartphone spin-off.
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Grand Theft Booth Space
Capcom used to publish the Japanese editions of the Grand Theft Auto series, but this year Rockstar is taking charge and releasing a localized version next month. Somehow this lead to the biggest single title in Capcom’s booth, one taking up nearly a third of the space, being Grand Theft Auto V.
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Barely There Bayonetta
Bayonetta 2 is a highly-anticipated sequel and one of the few high-profile games coming to the Wii U. Back in 2009, the original game was a cornerstone of the Sega booth. But in 2013, her only presence on the show floor was a poster for an upcoming animated movie. Nintendo, who is publishing the sequel, does not normally participate in the Tokyo Game Show.
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Mobile Madness
GREE is Japan’s largest mobile gaming publisher and for the second straight year, their booth has stood tall in the central hall of Makuhari Messe, looming over all other booths save for Sony’s. That’s an awful lot of trade show real estate dedicated to free-to-play mobile phone games. Once the crowds show up on the public days, can you imagine waiting in line to see the latest tap-the-fish game?
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What, No Pocari Sweat?
Speaking of booths that leave a sour taste in your mouth, this year Monster Energy Drink is the “official drink” of the Tokyo Game Show. Besides handing out hyper-caffeinated canned beverages, the Monster booth is also promoting the Japanese release of the next Call of Duty. For all the Mountain Dew and Doritos jokes made about major game franchises in America, Call of Duty had, until now, been featured in Japanese publisher Square Enix’s booth — minus the caffeine.
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Tanks but No Tanks
Looking for some more modern warfare? World of Tanks, a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game has an entire booth to itself this year. Of course, a sizable portion of the booth is devoted to a tank with two models sitting on top. The game is also being promoted in Japan through a collaboration with Girls & Panzer, an anime about high school girls who drive tanks.
-
Snake? Snaaaaaaaake!
And then there are the parts of the Makuhari Messe, which a few years ago would always be packed to the gills, that are now a ghost town. Major Japanese publishers Level-5 (the Professor Layton series) and Konami (Metal Gear, Castlevania) have no booths at all this year.
-
CHIBA, Japan — “Japan is over,” Mega Man producer Keiji Inafune once lamented, visiting the Tokyo Game Show in 2009.
It’s no secret that the Japanese game industry has long since lost the dominion it once enjoyed over the world of videogames. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; a broader chorus of voices means a greater variety of video games. But every year the Tokyo Game Show feels a little emptier and sadder, even as it sets new attendance records. The people keep coming, there are just fewer Japanese video games for them to see. Some of Japan’s biggest videogame makers sometimes fail to show up, and the ones who do sometimes don’t bring any games with them.
WIRED is on the show floor and we’ve been collecting (and lamenting) the latest signs that Inafune-san might have been right. Here are the saddest, weirdest scenes from the Tokyo Game Show floor.
Above:
No Nobunaga
Tecmo Koei, publisher of the lucrative Dynasty Warriors franchise, had zero games in its booth. Instead, it put up a gallery commemorating the 30th anniversary of one of its earliest hits: Nobunaga’s Ambition, a historical strategy game. Even though there will be a new Nobunaga game out later this year, the only games to be found in Tecmo Koei’s booth were two editions from the 1980s preserved in a glass case.
-
Monster Hunter Meh
Capcom remains one of Japan’s more successful publishers with a number of hit franchises (Mega Man, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter to name a few) but most of the games in its booth are smartphone and tablet apps. Instead of Monster Hunter 4, the 3DS hit released just days before the show, there’s Monster Hunter Smart, its free-to-play smartphone spin-off.
-
Grand Theft Booth Space
Capcom used to publish the Japanese editions of the Grand Theft Auto series, but this year Rockstar is taking charge and releasing a localized version next month. Somehow this lead to the biggest single title in Capcom’s booth, one taking up nearly a third of the space, being Grand Theft Auto V.
-
Barely There Bayonetta
Bayonetta 2 is a highly-anticipated sequel and one of the few high-profile games coming to the Wii U. Back in 2009, the original game was a cornerstone of the Sega booth. But in 2013, her only presence on the show floor was a poster for an upcoming animated movie. Nintendo, who is publishing the sequel, does not normally participate in the Tokyo Game Show.
-
Mobile Madness
GREE is Japan’s largest mobile gaming publisher and for the second straight year, their booth has stood tall in the central hall of Makuhari Messe, looming over all other booths save for Sony’s. That’s an awful lot of trade show real estate dedicated to free-to-play mobile phone games. Once the crowds show up on the public days, can you imagine waiting in line to see the latest tap-the-fish game?
-
What, No Pocari Sweat?
Speaking of booths that leave a sour taste in your mouth, this year Monster Energy Drink is the “official drink” of the Tokyo Game Show. Besides handing out hyper-caffeinated canned beverages, the Monster booth is also promoting the Japanese release of the next Call of Duty. For all the Mountain Dew and Doritos jokes made about major game franchises in America, Call of Duty had, until now, been featured in Japanese publisher Square Enix’s booth — minus the caffeine.
-
Tanks but No Tanks
Looking for some more modern warfare? World of Tanks, a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game has an entire booth to itself this year. Of course, a sizable portion of the booth is devoted to a tank with two models sitting on top. The game is also being promoted in Japan through a collaboration with Girls & Panzer, an anime about high school girls who drive tanks.
-
Snake? Snaaaaaaaake!
And then there are the parts of the Makuhari Messe, which a few years ago would always be packed to the gills, that are now a ghost town. Major Japanese publishers Level-5 (the Professor Layton series) and Konami (Metal Gear, Castlevania) have no booths at all this year.
All photos: Daniel Feit/WIRED
Daniel Feit is a freelance writer living in Japan who has been contributing to Wired Game|Life since 2009. His passion for karaoke exceeds his ability.
Read more by Daniel Feit
Follow @feitclub and @GameLife on Twitter.
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