Tokyo Game Show

One of the big reveals for Capcom's highly anticipated new versus fighting game, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, at Tokyo Game Show 2009 was the addition of Dead Rising's Frank West to the cast. Capcom is adding several characters to the lineup for the American release of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, so we chatted with producer Ryota Nitsuma about how these changes will affect the gameplay and what else Capcom is hiding up its sleeves.

The Battlefield franchise is well-known for its hardcore multiplayer action. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks to deliver even more explosive online gameplay when it releases in March. X-Play's Morgan Webb got the opportunity to talk to DICE's Karl Magnus Troedsson about some of the new multiplayer fare you and your friends can expect to experience.

Ghost Trick came out of nowhere at Tokyo Game Show. The Phoenix Wright team has moved onto something new, something completely different and we're really hoping Capcom decides to bring Ghost Trick over here. While that question hangs in the air, we were able to capture some great offscreen gameplay footage of Ghost Trick in action. Check it out!

Our crack team of video game experts went all the way to the Tokyo Game Show in Japan to bring back word on Pixel Junk Monsters Deluxe edition for the PlayStation Portable.

PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe contains all the joy, excitement and tower defense you love from the PlayStation 3 PixelJunk games, except it's much smaller and you can play while waiting in line for a bus. We talked to one of the game's creators to get the inside word on what makes it so damn awesome.

Check out the video below, buddy.

I haven't played a Monkey Ball game since the first GameCube one, where my friends and I stayed up super late and almost got someone kicked out of their apartment because of a noise complaint. True...ish story. Here's an interview we did at Tokyo Game Show with developer Toshihiro Nagoshi regarding Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll -- a game that hopefully will generate quite a few more noise complaints.

What better place than Tokyo Game Show to get up to speed on a JRPG? Our TGS team got some face time with tri-Ace's Takayuki Suguro and Sega's Mitsuhiro Shimano to talk about the upcoming 360 and PS3 RPG Resonance of Fate. Find out the game's setting and cinematic approach to the gameplay.

Ubisoft walk throughs a full assassination attempt in their TGS 09 Assassin's Creed II demo. Check out all the stealth action gameplay elements in the video below, including new aquatic forms of travel (including a gondola!) to assist in your overall assassin duties.

Quantic Dreams’ psychological thriller Heavy Rain is one of those games that no matter how much you hear about it or see it in action you always want to hear/see more. Fortunately for you, X-Play’s Morgan Webb caught up with executive producer Guillaume de Fondaumière during Tokyo Game Show to find out more about this terribly compelling title. Be warned though. Should you watch this video, Heavy Rain might just jump to the top of your must-haves list.

When people talk about their experience with a Fumito Ueda game, whether it's exploring hand-in-hand with Yorda in a lonely castle Ico, scaling beasts of unimaginable size in Shadow of the Colossus or watching a trailer for The Last Guardian and knowing the game's probably going to make you shed a tear by the end, it's consistently an experience laden with strong emotions. Ueda's games make people feel something. But what games does he react to?

"Half-Life 2," said Ueda during an interview at Tokyo Game Show last week.

Half-Life 2? I thought shooters weren't popular in Japan. But, again, he nodded. Why Half-Life 2?

(Keep in mind, these answers are delivered through a translator answering hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign language questions over the course of several days. Some of the answer is lost.)

Here's why.

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X-Play heads to Tokyo for week long coverage from Asia’s biggest videogame expo—the Tokyo Game Show. Gaming goddess Morgan Webb gives viewers an all-access pass to the latest games from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft and more.

Don't miss X-Play’s 3 day coverage of Tokyo Game Show 2009, starting Monday, October 5th at 6:30PM ET. It's going to be a Japan-splosion of videogame goodness.

Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Conviction has all the makings of a stellar game: expertly crafted presentation elements, tight gameplay and a gripping story. X-Play's Morgan Webb caught up with Ubisoft creative director Maxime Beland during TGS 2009, and as Beland explained, one of the welcomed side effects of Ubisoft's reworking of the franchise's stealth-action combat is that players will have more control than ever over how the game unfolds.

"Also, what we're trying to do is put the player in control of the pace. So if you want to play it slower, you want to take your time, you really want to be tactical, you can. If you're more of a gung-ho player--I don't think it's going to work that well unless you're really good and you're playing at an easier difficulty level--but other than that, I think you're really going to need to think before you act."

To find out more about some of the new and exciting elements of Splinter Cell: Conviction, be sure to check out the full interview below.

We actually saw Super Street Fighter IV at Tokyo Game Show last week, but we weren't allowed to talk about it…until now. Super Street Fighter IV is shaping up to be a serious upgrade for the brawler, adding at least eight new characters to the mix -- including the return of some old favorites -- and a number of game modes and other additions that Capcom isn't talking about just yet. The game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, had no trouble teasing us about this at TGS.

"You'll see some features that fans have been asking for. Once again to emphasize this is really is about the fans. They've been asking for certain modifications to existing modes [and asking] 'Wouldn't it be great if this kind of mode was in it?' Believe me when I say we've been listening very hard at stuff like that and paying a lot of attention to message board sand that sort of thing. You'll definitely see the kind oo changes you might expect, but also a few surprises, as well. This is definitely a large scale update we're dealing with here."

Team ICO, the developer behind such critically acclaimed titles as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, is known for creating visually arresting and emotionally charged epic interactive experiences. And as lead designer Fumito Ueda told us during Tokyo Game Show, the team’s latest project, The Last Guardian, looks to be no different.

“All these emotions that you feel watching movies and also reading novels—frightening and then crying—all these emotions…I want to be able to generate such emotions among players through my games as much as possible. That would be my final target, my final goal.”

Ueda’s team also put a ton of work into making the giant winged bird-hyena creature that accompanies players throughout The Last Guardian as realistic and believable as possible, so be sure to check out the full interview to find out more about the design process for what is sure to be one of the more memorable NPC’s ever seen in a game.

There weren't as many games at this year's Tokyo Game Show as there had been in years past, but there were still enough quality titles on display -- from both the East and West sides of development -- to compete for a spot on our unofficial and completely unscientific list of top games from the show. Winners shall receive nothing beyond our continued anticipation. Feel free to nominate your own candidates in the comments section!

Top 10 Games of Tokyo Game Show 2009

1) Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

TGS 09 Trailer | Hands-On Preview | Demo First 13 Minutes | Developer Interview

Billy Berghammer:  "However, co-op is the main dish in Peace Walker, and based on our short hands-on time, it's looking quite promising. When playing a cooperative level, players choose which type of Snake they want to use to tackle a mission -- Battle Dress (best armor, yet slow), Sneaking Suit (Snake has a shield, yet if not equipped has weak armor), Jungle Fatigues (balanced), and Naked Snake (little defense, but fast and has a brutal weapons load-out). I initially chose Naked Snake, and enjoyed his speed and vast weapons."

2) Crackdown 2

Gameplay Demo | Hands-On Preview | Developer Interview | Screenshot Gallery

Patrick Klepek:  "Let it be known: Crackdown was made for a robust, sprawling series of multiplayer options. Deathmatch is a perfect compliment to the Crackdown gameplay and the sense of verticality means the ebb and flow is completely different from anything else out there. Unlike a great many other shooters coming down the pike, Crackdown 2 doesn't have to worry about the monster that is Modern Warfare 2; this is another beast entirely."

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X-Play host Morgan Webb caught up with Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda and got some info on upcoming controller-less control system Project Natal. Webb also got to try it out: Lucky!

According to Tsunoda, the biggest game publishers out there are on board with Natal. "Konami, Square Enix, Capcom, Namco Bandai, Ubisotf, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts; That covers pretty much 70 percent of all third-party Xbox sales, so as you can see, the people making the best games are all making Project Natal products," Tsunoda said.

I was already completely looking forward to adding this to my system, (if only for the party games); but after watching Morgan try it out, I'm even more psyched. It looks like a lot of fun.