TGS 2014: Why Japan’s Third Parties Are Rising Again

<p>So the Tokyo Game Show is over for another year and what a show it was&period; This was a big statement from the Japanese video game industry which has been heavily criticised in the past few years&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s not so uncommon for the western media to portray an ailing Japanese game industry struggling to keep pace with the technology of their western counterparts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>From the sixth game generation to the seventh&comma; the likes of Activision and Bethesda have arguably moved western publishers up a rung in the Japan game industry&period; TGS 2014 was then the first Japanese show to focus fully on the eighth generation&colon; a chance for eastern publishers to start afresh and show what they could do&period; This year they delivered&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;67326" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-67326" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05071237&sol;Dragon-Quest-Heroes-PS4-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-67326 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05071237&sol;Dragon-Quest-Heroes-PS4-BagoGames-300x169&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Dragon Quest Heroes PS4 BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"169" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-67326" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">A special edition of Dragon Quest Heroes comes to PS4 and PS3 next year&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Capcom and Square Enix have come away looking the strongest&period; Both companies seem to have made the right start to this generation&comma; certainly made evident with Final Fantasy&&num;8217&semi;s new-generation debut&period;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;hit-road-final-fantasy-xvs-newest-trailer&sol;"> Final Fantasy XV looks incredible<&sol;a>&comma; visually and aesthetically&comma; as an open-world looks to be a far cry from the linear corridors of <em>Final Fantasy XIII&period;<&sol;em> If the game truly is as good as it looks&comma;<em> XV<&sol;em> could very well be the entry to restore the franchise&&num;8217&semi;s reputation&period; On the other end&comma; Square Enix is also pleasing fans by bringing the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;final-fantasy-xiii&sol;">FF XIII trilogy to PC <&sol;a>and by<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;final-fantasy-type-0-hd-dated-ps4-xbox-one&sol;"> updating Final Fantasy Type-0<&sol;a> for its half-miraculous release on the West&&num;8217&semi;s new-gen consoles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The publisher&&num;8217&semi;s even bringing PlayStation exclusive<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;sony-pre-tgs-dragon-quest-heroes-brings-franchise-back-playstation&sol;"> Dragon Quest Heroes<&sol;a> to new-gen systems to boot and Capcom&&num;8217&semi;s also pleasing fans by developing Resident Evil&colon; Revelations 2&period; Similarly to FF XIII&comma; both Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 faced accusations of being dumbed down&period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;resident-evil-revelations-2-officially-confirmed&sol;">Revelations 2 <&sol;a>may be  a cross generation game but it shows that Capcom is moving in the right direction&period; Let&&num;8217&semi;s hope that Capcom&&num;8217&semi;s onboard with the program when they inevitably announce a <em>Resident Evil 7<&sol;em> for last-gen consoles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;66502" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-66502" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignleft"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05073512&sol;Final-Fantasy-XV-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-66502 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05073512&sol;Final-Fantasy-XV-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Final Fantasy XV Car BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"168" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-66502" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">FF XIII was criticised for not having enough towns&comma; a problem which Square Enix is seeking to avoid in FF XV&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Both publishers aren&&num;8217&semi;t just relying on old franchises though&period; They&&num;8217&semi;re also eyeing the future&semi; albeit in very different ways&period; Square firmly believes that the industry must embrace cloud computing to remain fresh and profitable and the company&&num;8217&semi;s likewise investing heavily in a new collaboration with former president Yoichi Wada&comma; the ironically named<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;square-enix-reveals-cloud-gaming-service-shinra-technologies&sol;"> Shinra Technologies<&sol;a>&period; <strong>”We want developers to create entirely new games with revolutionary game experiences&comma;”<&sol;strong> Wada tells us&period; Capcom&comma; on the other hand are placing their bets on the new consoles&&num;8217&semi; ability to run free to play  titles&period; Its mysteriously mysterious exclusive&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-deep-ise&sol;">Deep Down<&sol;a>&comma; will be Capcom&&num;8217&semi;s big test to come with a new pricing model that&&num;8217&semi;s surely heralding things to come if it hits the jackpot&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So what was <em>really <&sol;em>so great about TGS 2014&quest; That Japanese publishers are finally throwing their general support for consoles behind their love for handhelds&period; The 3DS may be missing out on<em> Resident Evil&colon; Revelations 2&comma;<&sol;em> but Capcom&&num;8217&semi;s still putting their money where their mouth as far as <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-ace-attorney-prequel-features-sherlock-holmes&sol;">Monster Hunter 4U<&sol;a> <&sol;em>and the new <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-ace-attorney-prequel-features-sherlock-holmes&sol;">Ace Attorney spin off<&sol;a> are concerned&period; Square Enix is still churning out quality RPGs for the system and the pure joys of<em> Bravely Second <&sol;em>and <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-can-play-cloud-strife-final-fantasy-explorers&sol;">Final Fantasy&colon; Explorers<&sol;a> <&sol;em>don&&num;8217&semi;t lie either<em>&period;<&sol;em> The upcoming PS Vita RPG <em>Chaos Rings III<&sol;em> is also looking good&period; By all accounts&comma; Capcom and Square Enix might just fight to the finish line in a better place than they started&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;67179" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-67179" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05071655&sol;Metal-Gear-Solid-5&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-67179 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;05071655&sol;Metal-Gear-Solid-5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Metal Gear Solid 5" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"168" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-67179" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Metal Gear Solid V adds companions with Snake in the field&comma; including the sniper&comma; Quiet&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Of course&comma; they weren&&num;8217&semi;t the only publishers at TGS 2014&period; Bandai Namco impressed many with the open world Tales of Zesteria for the PS3 as well as the cross generation Dragonball Xenoverse&period; What was lacking was more major titles exclusively for the current generation&period;  A full reveal of<em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-new-character-catalina-joins-tekken-7&sol;"> Tekken 7<&sol;a> <&sol;em>would have complimented their showing nicely&period; Konami had one of the best games of the show with <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-2014-metal-gear-solid-v-will-release-2015&sol;">Metal Gear Solid V&colon; Phantom Pain<&sol;a><&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; TGS 2014 showed how truly reliant on franchise names Konami has become&period; Scratch the &&num;8220&semi;directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro&&num;8221&semi; credit away and their wasn&&num;8217&semi;t much to show for&period; P&period;T&period;&&num;8217&semi;s pants-wetting Silent Hill <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tgs-scare-easy-maybe-stay-away-silent-hills&sol;">teaser<&sol;a> might be fascinating&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s a far cry from the reality of a game disc&period; Sega had a good showing with the <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;watch-first-gameplay-footage-yakuza-0&sol;">Yakuza 0<&sol;a> <&sol;em>and Phantasy Star games&comma; but there wasn&&num;8217&semi;t anything to speak of for its new prize&comma; Atlus&period; An<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;persona-5-also-coming-playstation-4&sol;"> anime trailer  for <em>Persona 5<&sol;em><&sol;a> is never a bad deal&comma; though&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>TGS 2014 was a great showing&comma; nothing more&comma; nothing less&comma; yet it&&num;8217&semi;s the former that shows at the end&period; Maybe it&&num;8217&semi;s just all too unlikely that eastern publishers will never rule the industry like in the days of the PS2&comma; but they may yet achieve parity with their western rivals&period; With Capcom and Square Enix leading the charge&comma; the future is looking just a tad brighter for Japan&comma; and TGS 2015 could shape an even better one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&lbrack;divider&rsqb;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What did you think of the Tokyo Gameshow&quest; Tell us in the comments below&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;