Square
Square, of course, is the big fellow here, despite recent hard times arguably the most powerful third-party developer in the Japanese market (you could make an argument for Bandai in that slot, but that stretches the boundaries of cynicism -- perhaps Konami would be a more pleasant compromise candidate). At this particular show, though, it didn't look like a dominating player. The bulk of the Square booth consisted of one long row of Kingdom Hearts, the sharp new Disney action-RPG, and one long row of All-Star Pro Wrestling 2. Both of them were sharp games, especially Kingdom Hearts, but a surprising lack of focus seemed to characterize the booth. Ah, well, we'll wait until next time.
Kingdom Hearts Shots: Keen statue of the hero, Demo pods.
ASPW II Shots: Misawa, and...who?, Big crowds.
Perhaps we were just looking in the wrong direction, anyway. What really pulled onlookers at Square's booth was the video wall, featuring preview movies of PlayOnline and its most anticipated component, Final Fantasy XI. The PlayOnline trailers were remarkably sedate in comparison to earlier promo videos, like those shown at E3 and circulated on the "Other Side Of The Final Fantasy" DVD. This show's trailers mainly featured ordinary older Japanese people interspersed with clips of the service's interface, presumably indicating how a wide range of people will benefit greatly from the joys of online Tetra Master.
He'll whup you in FFXI
Shots: Player profiles, Ordinary guy, Matching, Swooshy.
Occupying the rest of the Square display, including the lane adjoining the Bandai booth, was the new Square Masterpieces line of handheld revivals -- several of the company's 16-bit classics, including Romancing SaGa, Front Mission, Hanjuku Hero, Dice De Chocobo, and so forth, will be coming to Wonderswan Color in short order as part of Square's continuing effort to thumb its nose at Nintendo.
Soft-boiled hero! Wow!
Hanjuku Hero Shots: God bless the egg.
Romancing SaGa Shots: Demo pods, Demo rooms, Classic art.
Bandai
Bandai, of course, is all about one thing: Gundam. Every show, we come back to see a new array of Gundam games -- the platforms change, the genres change, the styles change, everything changes except two facts. One, they're not that good. Two, they draw the crowds like nuts. It's hard to think of a comparably successful seventies holdover in American pop culture. Would a Saturday Night Fever game drive people this crazy? Rocky, perhaps? Who can tell?
This year's Gundam game appears to feature cel-shaded drama/strategy action on PlayStation 2. The game looks typically iffy, but the booth attendants in the abbreviated Earth Federation uniforms are, admittedly, pretty cute.
Hot Zeon action!
Gundam Shots: Zakus flanking, Gah! Cosplayers!
The anime flavor of the month in Bandai-land, meanwhile (as opposed to Gundam, the anime flavor of the last three decades), is One Piece, the slapstick pirate action-comedy currently tearing up the TV airwaves. The game ain't much to speak of, but the giant inflatable characters are cool.
One Piece Shots: Rubberized.
Koei
And finally, we have an odd man out. Koei put on a surprisingly strong and varied showing this fall -- mainly targeted towards the Japanese market, true, but still of high quality nonetheless. The historical flavor of the company's offerings is still in evidence, but it's not as strong as it once was, with sports and other titles mixing with the Nobunagas and Romances of the Three Kingdoms. Of course, there's nothing this show to match Yanya Caballista or Gitaroo-Man in the oddball category, but it'll probably take time to recover from those two.
Going down the line, then, the Koei display ran so: Nobunaga's Ambition for Xbox, bringing the series (finally) into the realm of realtime 3D; Sepa (Central/Pacific) 2001, the long-awaited cinematic baseball simulator; Shin Sangoku Musou 2, the just-released import that will eventually hit the states as Dynasty Warriors 3, and finally...something. We can't parse all these bloody kanji, but it's a PS2 game pitting medieval Japanese swordsmen against each other in surprisingly well-drawn card battle action. If you watched the Koei video wall long enough, you might have also caught a glimpse (as we did) of Houshin Engi 2, a fast-moving 3D RPG set in another of China's historical epics (like the recent Saiyuki for PlayStation). Check back for more on that particular announcement soon.
Who Knows Shots: Samurai card battle.
Nobunaga no Yabou Shots: Dark, but many people.
Sepa 2001 Shots: Contraction of leagues.
Shin Sangoku Musou Shots: The kids, they love it.
