ID :
23639
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 14:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/23639
The shortlink copeid
Tokyo Game Show kicks off to showcase record No. of game titles+
CHIBA, Japan, Oct. 9 Kyodo - The world's largest gaming event, the Tokyo Game Show 2008, kicked off Thursday at the Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo, featuring the latest titles and consoles from more than 200 game companies around the world.
A record number of 879 game titles are exhibited at the four-day expo, up
sharply from 702 a year earlier, according to the event's main organizer, the
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association.
''Titles that developers created with all of their efforts are exhibited, and
we hope many will check them and try them,'' CESA Chairman Yoichi Wada said at
the opening ceremony.
This year's game show is likely to draw attention to the expanded lineup of
software titles as their popularity may decide the future course of a battle
for the next generation of game consoles among Nintendo Co., Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. and Microsoft Corp., industry analysts said.
Competition in the gaming industry is getting tough as front-runner Nintendo
plans to release a new camera-equipped DS portable game player Nov. 1 in Japan,
and Sony's gaming unit is set to launch a new PlayStation Portable game player
next Thursday.
Microsoft recently cut the price of its Xbox 360 game console.
Sony Computer Entertainment said Thursday it will also introduce Oct. 30 a new
PlayStation 3 with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive, double its current model,
but will keep the price the same as the current model at 39,980 yen.
One of the highlights at the expo is the hands-on experience of new titles that
have yet to hit the stores, including Square Enix Co.'s latest Final Fantasy
for the PSP and Capcom Co.'s Monster Hunter 3 for Nintendo's Wii.
Booths of the software makers as well as console makers like Sony Computer
Entertainment and Microsoft were crowded with avid game fans eager to try new
games.
Nintendo does not take part in the annual event, but software makers display
new titles that can be played on the Wii and the DS machines, which have
attracted a broad fan base, including non-traditional gamers like senior
citizens, and women and girls.
Among other highlights is the exhibition space for the fast-growing mobile
phone game industry. Major Japanese cell phone carrier KDDI Corp. showed a
snowboard game in which players can adjust the course and speed of a
snowboarder displayed on a mobile phone screen by tilting the phone.
Japan's gaming market, including both software and hardware, has been steadily
expanding in recent years with the release of new consoles from major game
developers.
The size of the market reached 677 billion yen in fiscal 2007 that ended March
this year, up 60 percent from fiscal 2003, according to data compiled by game
magazine publisher Enterbrain Inc.
But software and hardware sales have slowed in the first half of this fiscal
year, representing a 21 percent drop from the corresponding period a year
earlier, the data show.
Game makers are trying to stimulate consumer appetite with new products to
overcome slowing consumption amid increasing economic pessimism.
In a keynote lecture at the expo, Wada, who concurrently acts as Square Enix
President, voiced concerns over Japan's falling presence in the global gaming
industry as U.S. and European game makers gained power in recent years.
Wada stressed the need for expanded cooperation with other industries,
including television, film and education, to compete with foreign rivals.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President John Schappert told reporters that he is
confident in the success of Xbox 360, referring to the new pricing and a range
of new titles.
Schappert admitted that the current global credit crunch is ''very scary,'' but
added, ''What we do know is people are still enjoying entertainment. In fact,
we have shortages'' of console supplies, he said.
In addition to a large number of exhibitors from Japan, exhibitors from 13
other countries and regions, including the United States, France, China and
India, are taking part in the expo.
The first half of the four-day event is open only to the industry and the
second half to the general public.
Organizers expect 180,000 people to visit the show.
==Kyodo
A record number of 879 game titles are exhibited at the four-day expo, up
sharply from 702 a year earlier, according to the event's main organizer, the
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association.
''Titles that developers created with all of their efforts are exhibited, and
we hope many will check them and try them,'' CESA Chairman Yoichi Wada said at
the opening ceremony.
This year's game show is likely to draw attention to the expanded lineup of
software titles as their popularity may decide the future course of a battle
for the next generation of game consoles among Nintendo Co., Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. and Microsoft Corp., industry analysts said.
Competition in the gaming industry is getting tough as front-runner Nintendo
plans to release a new camera-equipped DS portable game player Nov. 1 in Japan,
and Sony's gaming unit is set to launch a new PlayStation Portable game player
next Thursday.
Microsoft recently cut the price of its Xbox 360 game console.
Sony Computer Entertainment said Thursday it will also introduce Oct. 30 a new
PlayStation 3 with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive, double its current model,
but will keep the price the same as the current model at 39,980 yen.
One of the highlights at the expo is the hands-on experience of new titles that
have yet to hit the stores, including Square Enix Co.'s latest Final Fantasy
for the PSP and Capcom Co.'s Monster Hunter 3 for Nintendo's Wii.
Booths of the software makers as well as console makers like Sony Computer
Entertainment and Microsoft were crowded with avid game fans eager to try new
games.
Nintendo does not take part in the annual event, but software makers display
new titles that can be played on the Wii and the DS machines, which have
attracted a broad fan base, including non-traditional gamers like senior
citizens, and women and girls.
Among other highlights is the exhibition space for the fast-growing mobile
phone game industry. Major Japanese cell phone carrier KDDI Corp. showed a
snowboard game in which players can adjust the course and speed of a
snowboarder displayed on a mobile phone screen by tilting the phone.
Japan's gaming market, including both software and hardware, has been steadily
expanding in recent years with the release of new consoles from major game
developers.
The size of the market reached 677 billion yen in fiscal 2007 that ended March
this year, up 60 percent from fiscal 2003, according to data compiled by game
magazine publisher Enterbrain Inc.
But software and hardware sales have slowed in the first half of this fiscal
year, representing a 21 percent drop from the corresponding period a year
earlier, the data show.
Game makers are trying to stimulate consumer appetite with new products to
overcome slowing consumption amid increasing economic pessimism.
In a keynote lecture at the expo, Wada, who concurrently acts as Square Enix
President, voiced concerns over Japan's falling presence in the global gaming
industry as U.S. and European game makers gained power in recent years.
Wada stressed the need for expanded cooperation with other industries,
including television, film and education, to compete with foreign rivals.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President John Schappert told reporters that he is
confident in the success of Xbox 360, referring to the new pricing and a range
of new titles.
Schappert admitted that the current global credit crunch is ''very scary,'' but
added, ''What we do know is people are still enjoying entertainment. In fact,
we have shortages'' of console supplies, he said.
In addition to a large number of exhibitors from Japan, exhibitors from 13
other countries and regions, including the United States, France, China and
India, are taking part in the expo.
The first half of the four-day event is open only to the industry and the
second half to the general public.
Organizers expect 180,000 people to visit the show.
==Kyodo
