Posted by: Jane Douglas

…for a princely sum of $10,000. But! Only if it’s an old Chocolate handset, and only if it’s got one of five magical serial numbers (see the LG site for details).

Whether it’s a frantic global search for five unique mobiles (the US site says LG “desperately needs to locate the phones”) or a sneaky promotion for the new Chocolate BL20 dressed up like a sudden product recall, it’s gotten our attention. Any guesses?

Posted by: Nik Taylor

So there we go. The games have been packed away, the booth babes have bowed out and the cosplayers have changed back into their civvies and headed home. The Tokyo Game Show is over for another year.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what I’ve seen at this year’s show. The general impression among the people I’ve met over the course of the event is that it’s been a little low on really big news but that, as ever, there have been some genuinely exciting games to be seen. Of those, the titles to get everyone talking have been Resonance of Fate, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Assassin’s Creed II, to name but a few.

We’re going to continue to update the TGS mini-site over the next few days, so keep an eye out for a feature on the highlights of this year's TGS, as well as sights from around the show floor and images of the army of cosplayers that arrived over the weekend.

But for now, from Tokyo, sayonara.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

My word, those folk at Ubisoft have been beavering away. My trip to their TGS booth was like an early look at every gamer’s Christmas list. Every one of Splinter Cell: Conviction, Assassin’s Creed II, Red Steel 2 and Avatar caused roadblock queues on the show floor.

Over the weekend, I’ve been up close with each of those games. Here are a few quick thoughts.

Red Steel 2
This looks like the game the Wii’s MotionPlus was made for. Have you played the sword slicing game on Wii Sports Resort? Did you like it? If so, this is an essential purchase. It’s basically what we hoped the first Red Steel would be (i.e. a sword-slashing game where the Wiimote genuinely feels like a blade) but with technology that’s caught up with concept. The developers told me the MotionPlus was ‘essential’ to this game – in fact it’s MotionPlus exclusive and comes bundled with one, should you require. Hands-on, it’s simple fun without too much thought required which, let’s face it, is what everyone wants from a Wii game.

Assassin’s Creed 2
Is it as good as everyone expects it to be? On the evidence shown at TGS, yes. Ezio moves with an awesome grace, scaling buildings in the blink of an eye and able to sneak around the streets of beautifully realised Italian cities at will. What people want is a game with more variety than the first, something which Ubisoft has taken on board and which was referred to several times during our demo.

I saw some neat touches during a gameplay sequence set in Venice, which included the ability to nick a gondola or dive under the water of the city’s canals to evade capture, as well as the option to pay packs of thieves to assist you in quests. As in the original, everything you see can be reached by climbing the intricately designed buildings, but you’ll also have your eye on your notoriety meter which shows how much interest the local guards will take in you. This looks like a smooth evolution of a quality game, and was one of the stars of TGS.

Avatar
There’s no doubt Avatar is a show stopper. In a gaming world dominated by murky grey-brown shooters, its lush green and blue graphics alone would be enough to make it stand out. But it’s that whole 3D thing that has made everyone sit up and take notice. Having played a couple of stages, I can agree that it works impeccably. There’s no deterioration of screen colour when looking through the colourless 3D glasses, and the game’s images pop out so much that you’ll feel you can touch them.

But is it enjoyable to play? Personally, I found the 3D system a disorienting experience that distracted me from the game I was supposed to be playing. Most of the time I was either looking at the surrounding scenery or wondering whether I was starting to feel travel sick. When I did make myself focus on the game, I wasn’t entirely sure what there was to be had. Levels jump from one reality to another (from blue-skinned tribes-people to jungle fighting marines, in my demo). This will presumably make sense when playing the whole game, but at the moment Avatar looks like a title that’s trying to be all things to all comers, especially given the god-game and RPG elements that have also been thrown into the mix. The risk Avatar runs is that it may not offer enough of one thing to please anyone.

Splinter Cell: Conviction
I watched a play through of a stage from Splinter Cell: Conviction that is a little over halfway through the game. By this time, Sam is in Washington DC, trying to defuse a host of EMP devices that threaten to blow up the whole city. I’m a fan of the Splinter Cell series, so I was keen to see how this one was shaping up. I came away feeling very positive.

Graphically, it’s a revelation by comparison to predecessor, Double Agent. It looks genuinely cinematic, with objectives projected onto in-game surfaces and plot lines picked up via overheard conversations. Sam’s methods of extracting information from the enemy are more brutal than ever, with the player able to decide which ‘persuasion’ to use next. The use of stealth has been reworked to become ‘dynamic stealth’, so you can remain hidden and move quickly, so long as you keep the enemy confused. There’s also a new Mark and Execute feature, which enables you to tag enemies before engaging them, so Sam can do a Jack Bauer on a room and clear it quickly and efficiently. The game already looks so slick, it’s a surprise the release date is as far away as February 23, 2010.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Alienware doesn’t tend to do things by halves, and that was certainly the case with the slew of gaming rigs it unleashed on Tokyo Game Show over the weekend. Among them was the Area 51 ALX, yet to go on sale and the undoubted star of Alienware’s show.

I’d already been told about its spec before I saw it, so I was prepared for a mind-boggling component list that includes an overclocked Intel Core i7 975 3.86GHz quad core processor, 12GB of DDR3 RAM and dual 1.8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 graphics cards.

What I wasn’t expecting was the sheer size of the thing. It’s an absolute beast, dressed all in black with a customisable light display shining out through the darkness. A set of motorised vents on the top rise when extra cooling is required, giving the thing the appearance of a black wolf raising its hackles.

What’s always notable about Alienware machines is care is taken on more than just specifications; there’s also a great attention to detail. Peer round the back at all the various ports and you’ll notice a light that illuminates the whole area. Pop open the case and there’s clear lighting there too – powered by the PC’s internal battery – so you can see what you’re doing when working inside, even when the machine’s not plugged in.

What you won’t see is a hard drive. For this, you need to pop open the opposite side of the machine, which is where the hard drives – all six of them, if you’re feeling extravagant – have been placed for better cooling (as shown in the picture). Each slots directly into place with no need for cabling.

There’s no doubt this is a dream machine for any serious gamer and Alienware proudly declares the Area 51 ALX its most powerful desktop ever. It comes with a price tag to match, of course, with the standard model setting you back $3,999. You’ll need to add plenty more to that figure if you want to get it anywhere near top spec.

If you’re struggling to justify such excess, Alienware was also showing some similarly desirable machines with slightly more palatable price points. The Area 51 (no ALX here) kicks of at $1,999, with a slightly less blistering performance the main reason for the price disparity. Alternatively, there’s the Aurora and Aurora ALX ($1,299 and $2,299, respectively) for those who need a less hulking machine. On top of that, the company also introduced the M15x, a 15-inch version of the company’s M17x and thus dubbed the ‘fastest 15-inch laptop in the world’. Take a look at http://www.alienware.com/ for full specs and pricings.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Remember that weaponized spider mechanoid tank I was blogging about the other day? They finally put a sign up to explain what it’s from. Unfortunately the sign was entirely in Japanese, but I did manage to glean this web address from it: http://tekki.gameyarou.jp/

Check it out and you’ll see the game of which this arachnid war machine is the star. It looks very exciting, as any self-respecting robot game should, but who can tell what it’s called? Probably not coming to a shop near you soon.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Sega’s booth at TGS this year has been dominated by two games: Bayonetta and Resonance of Fate.

The first of these has been big news ever since it made an explosive playable debut at this year’s E3, with game director Hideki Kamiya telling the world (in his best Michael Caine voice) that this was a game that would “blow the doors off the action genre”.

You play as Bayonetta, a witch who has lost her memory and finds herself embroiled in a war against some heavily armed angels. Fortunately, she’s packing a fair bit of heat herself, including a pair of guns she can fire with her feet while cartwheeling. Yep, Bayonetta is that kind of game, high on fast, flashy action, low on caring whether anyone’s going to mind about a witch taking out waves of archangels.

Hands-on, the first thing to report is that it’s really tough. In the opening sequence, before even starting the game proper, it’s remarkably easy to die. That, however, is before the importance of the mighty ‘evade’ button becomes clear. Storming into battle, mashing out button combos gung-ho is not going to cut it. You need to time both your attacks and your dodges if you’re going to stand a chance. Executing a perfectly timed dodge takes you into ‘witch time’, a slo-mo sequence during which you can inflict large amounts of damage. Avoid being hit for long enough and you can finish off enemies with elaborate ‘torture moves’.

The levels I played through included a dramatic ‘descent into Hell’ sequence, where Bayonetta appears to surf into the inferno atop Big Ben, followed by a series of fights that culminate in a boss battle against some kind of hideously overgrown cherub. It’s all very slick, very gothic and often insanely fast. If you like the Devil May Cry series (Kamiya was behind those too), then you’ll feel right at home.

I suspect that whether you’ll get the most from this depends on how much work you’re willing to put in learning those button combos. There are a huge number of them, which you can practice during loading times, and the tougher ones will probably become essential pretty quickly. Having said that, the game does also come with a super-easy mode, apparently added to the game by Kamiya so his mum can play. So if you just want to play through the story while sipping a cup of tea (you can play this mode one-handed), then you can.

I’ve got less to say about Resonance of Fate, as my time on this game was very brief (though I have been surrounded by posters and promotion for it throughout the past four days). I did, however, get a chance to play with the game’s battle system. The game itself is a Japanese RPG that feels like it should be published by Square Enix (moody teens save a crumbling world) but has instead been taken on by Sega, which wants to give it a western slant. So, we get a gritty, dystopian setting where guns (and lots of them) are the best way of fighting back. Levelling up is based on weapons, rather than skills, so as you progress through the game you acquire better weapons or customise those you already have.

Fighting is halfway between a turn-based battle system and completely open play. In battle, you select fight actions for each of your three characters, who you then control as they go into battle. Your weapons are divided into two types – scratch damage and direct damage – with the former taking off a large amount of points from an enemy’s health, but only converted into ‘real’ damage when they are hit with a direct damage weapon. This means you need to synchronise your attacks properly between the three members of your team, and also ensure that you don’t miss. You can gamble when setting up shots by adding more attacks to your go, but if you take a hit while you’re doing this, you’ll miss. If that sounds complex, it’s because it is, but when the system is in full flow it looks very cool and Matrix-like, especially when you chuck in a couple of ‘invincible’ attacks, which send your characters into all kinds of gun-toting acrobatics. But though the game looks funky and has a distinct lack of swordplay and sorcery, it’s still a JRPG at heart, so don’t expect it to change your mind if those aren’t your thing. For everyone else, this seems an innovative take on the genre and one worth looking out for.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

I've had the chance to play a bit of FIFA 10 and PES 2010 over the last few days, which is the first game time I've had with either of these titles. Since I've only played through a few exhibition matches, it's hardly fair to call this a preview of either game. But here are some early impressions.

First up, PES 2010. I've been very disappointed with the last two releases in this series, but this version grabbed me right from the off. As with any football game, what's right about it is somewhat intangible.

The 360-degree control system certainly makes a huge difference. You won't necessarily notice much difference in the way the players move on the pitch or in how they are animated, but the feeling of controlling them is delicately transformed. In particular, the ability to move in any direction at all - rather that just eight - brings manual passing via the right thumbstick into its own. This helps to quickly set up flowing moves that feel like real football.

That's always been the strength of PES, but in the last couple of games it's been tough to create that sense of total football unless you were willing to invest endless hours perfecting tricky buttons combo. I was playing for just a few minutes and straight away felt like I was getting into the heart of the game. What also adds to that sense of realism is the sheer power on show. Take a shot using a top player and you know all about it. As I threaded a pass through to Ibrahamovic, he quickly got it out from under his feet and let fly with an absolute scorcher that you could really feel - which is just as it should be.

On top of that, the graphics in this series go from strength to strength; PES 2010 looks fantastic. In my match between Liverpool and Barcelona, Steven Gerrard looked so accurately craggy that I suspect even his pub landlord would struggle to tell the computer simulation from the real thing.

So onto FIFA 10, which some people would argue took the crown from PES for the first time last year as 'top footie sim'. As ever, this looks the part from the off, and it also has the 360-degree control system. But putting the two side-by-side instantly highlights why these games inspire opposing camps of such ardent fans. FIFA feels like a more arcadey experience - a representation of football rather than an attempt to recreate the real thing.

Gameplay works in a very FIFA way; you'll find yourself almost exclusively funnelled down the channels, or running through balls to the strikers from midfield. On the default difficulty mode, it's a pick-up-and-play experience that feels designed with the casual gamer in mind. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to change the difficulty level on the demo machine, as it would be interesting to see how the game plays out as a tougher challenge.

There are some great additions, though. Keepers play much more realistically. They come for the ball better than keepers in PES 2010, and they don't act like superglue-hands whenever a shot is struck at them. I scored one goal which was hit straight at the keeper, but as he went down he managed to let it under his arm.

Also new are tiny flags that appear above a player during game time if he has strayed offside - so you know whether you should hold off your pass. Of course, the question of realism rears its head here too - it would be interesting to know if this feature could be switched off, although I found it useful.

There even seems to be room for refereeing errors. Another of my goals was shown in the replay to be clearly offside, yet it stood. This could make for some great arguments when playing a game with your mates at home, though if you're playing online you might want to turn down the volume on your headset...

Finally, FIFA retains the one-touch feature on its right thumbstick, which I love as it enables you to instantly take the ball under control or turn a player. If only it was also able to utilise an intuitive manual pass system, as PES does.

To repeat, this is all based on some fairly limited play time, but my early impression is that PES has made significant strides in creating the kind of gameplay that will satisfy not only its purist fans, but also those looking for an easy-to-learn, tough-to-master footy game. FIFA has a stack of new features and also feels slicker than its predecessor, but at the moment my money goes on PES. Just.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Capcom sprang a surprise in Tokyo last night when it threw a preview party for not-out-for-ages-yet zombie masher Dead Rising 2.

Yours truly was in attendance, and I got to spend some quality time on the game’s four-way multiplayer element. Unlike the single player game, which is set in a Las Vegas-inspired Fortune City, multiplayer takes the form of a vicious game show entitled Terror is Reality. In this, human contestants are pitched in with a bunch of zombies in a fight to the death through a number of uber-violent events. Points are scored by eviscerating zombies in all sorts of humorous ways.

We got to play four of the events last night: Ramsterballs, Headache, Pounds of Flesh and Slicecyles. You can tell by the names that, happily, this sequel isn’t going to be any less silly than the first.

First up, Ramsterballs. This sees your contestant loaded into a huge metal cage ball, just like Gladiators, which you have to roll around an arena as you chase the player with ‘the power’. Hit them hard enough and you get the power, meaning you can score points by bashing the pillars that litter the arena. This sends a huge crushing device downwards, pulping the unfortunate undead beneath. Of course, if you get hit before you connect with a pillar, you lose the power and have to go chasing after it again. Your points are based on how many pillars you’ve hit, but you can increase your multiplier by running over zombies before hitting a pillar. This makes the game one of risk and reward; do you go for more zombies and more points, despite the risk of losing the power?

Next came Headache, a game set in what looked like a basketball court in which you have to load booby-trapped Servbot heads onto zombies as quickly as possible. Having done that, you then hit a button at either end of the court to blend those brains. You can carry three heads at a time, and loading more than three zombies at once dramatically increases your multiplier. However, other players can use dynamite on zombies to knock your heads off, so you have to judge the best time to hit ‘blend’.

Pounds of Flesh. Definitely the most flat-out bizarre of the four, and also the simplest. This one involves your character donning an enormous pair of coloured moose horns and using them to shovel zombies onto a weighing platform. The winner is the one who gets the most zombie poundage onto the scales within the time limit.

Finally, Slicecycles. This is excellent fun, since it requires you to ride a motorcycle fronted with a double chainsaw through crowds of bewildered zombies. A bonus round marks out particular zombies for extra points. It’s got the best name of the four, and I would argue it would also win the record for ‘most blood in a game ever’. As you plough your way through the crowds of zombies, blood spatters across the in-game camera – and a particularly profitable ride will leave you barely able to see through the gore. It’s gloriously over-the-top.

The only downside to Slicecyles is that, as the final round of the four, it acts as a multiplier on your previous score. The winner gets their score doubled, while last place has their score halved. We’ll wait and see whether this scoring mechanism remains in the final game, but it could do with tweaking because – with so many points available here – it effectively renders the first three games irrelevant.

Still all the games are great fun and this early look bodes well for a game that should be excellent if it can only iron out the annoying quirks of its predecessor. Bring on the zombies.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

A big hand, please, for Iain Lee, who made it to the Tokyo Game Show yesterday despite having only just stepped off a sleepless overnight flight from London. Iain bravely battled the jet-lag to accompany me to demos of Splinter Cell: Conviction, Avatar, Red Steel 2 and Wipeout 3D. As you can see, we also found time to take in the other sights of the show as well. You can hear our erudite thoughts on this year’s show in a bitesize podcast recorded yesterday afternoon. We put this one together in a cafe outside the main hall, so apologies if the production values are not quite up to our usual impeccable standards!

Listen to the podcast
Visit our Tokyo Game Show mini-site

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Capcom has plenty on display at its TGS booth, but there’s no doubting the star of its particular show. Lost Planet 2 was described to me by a Capcom spokesman as “our Halo”, but with a Capcom edge. That means stacks of big boss battles, punctuated by a whole heap of run-and-gun action.

I played through a couple of stages of the desert episode, areas of the game which show off perfectly the focus on teamwork. Up to four players can go through the campaign together, and playing as a team is key to getting through each stage intact. For one thing, a communal health bar drops every time one of your number gets killed. Die too many times and the whole crew are out. So you need to be a close-knit group.

This was emphasised to me with the example of a cannon which features in one of the desert levels. One person can fire it alone, but it’s a whole lot more effective if, while one person is shooting another is loading in the shells, another is priming them to make them more powerful and the fourth is searching for more ammo.

Another key focus of the game is customisation. Throughout the game, you can pick up bonuses which enable you to tweak your character. There are so many options that Capcom hopes you will never come across another player customised in the same way as yourself. The point is about more than just aesthetics the changes you choose affect the way your character works in the game, even changing the type of weapons you pick up. By playing through the game once, you can build up a personalised character that will enable you to play through a second time in an entirely different way. That custom character can also be taken into the multiplayer element.

Hands-on, the game feels zippy and explosive. It’s using an upgraded version of the proprietary engine that powered Resident Evil 5 (MT Framework). The result, as you would expect, is slicker and quicker than Resi 5, but not an entirely alien experience from that survival shooter. Lost Planet 2 uses a camera system that may take a little getting used to. It’s slung over one shoulder, a la Gears of War, but moving the camera with the right stick moves first your aim and only the camera if you keep it held down. It feels a little odd at first but I found it quickly became intuitive. Check it out yourself by downloading the game demo on PS3 or X360.

Among the other titles on show from Capcom was Monster Hunter Tri, a game I expected to feel very ‘meh’ about, mainly since I’ve never found the PSP versions of the Monster Hunter series particularly enthralling. I’m not alone in that, Monster Hunter games remain a niche interest in Europe. That’s in stark contrast to Japan, where the games outsell the likes of Wii Fit. However, this looks like it may be able to broaden the series’ appeal. It’s on the Wii, which instantly feels a better fit for this kind of RPG. Crucially, the intro tutorial has been tightened and significantly shortened. Rather than playing through five hours of lesson time, this game gets you into the action very quickly.

Again, teamwork is the key, with up to four players able to go off questing. Capcom has overcome the Wii’s horrible online interface by mapping its own over the top. I was told you can just tap in the name of your friend and you can find them straight away, though I didn’t get to see this. The game is, at its core, fairly simple and its certainly limited by the Wii’s graphical capabilities (though landscapes, in particular, look fantastic). But the multiplayer element could make Monster Hunter both fun and accessible for a significant number of people.

Time is tight with so many great games on show, but I hope to fit a few more Capcom titles into my schedule, with Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, Dark Void, Moto GP 09/10 and the intriguing Ghost Trick all on show. I also fancy another blast at Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars after having a crack at playing as Dead Rising lead man Frank West earlier today. Mastering the zombie windmill throw is my aim.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Among all the brand new games and gleaming trailers at TGS are a few interesting oddities, like this display of home consoles through the ages, all of which have been delicately, lovingly taken to pieces. It’s a bit odd seeing that magic box from under the telly reduced to its component parts, a bit like seeing a world-class footballer passed out in the local dodgy boozer. Still, if you like undoing stuff to see how it works, this would probably be your favourite part of the show. Click on the pics to see them a bit bigger.

Sony PS3 (slim and light):2009

Sony PS3: 2007

Sony PS3: 2006

Xbox 360 Elite: 2009

Xbox 360: 2005

Xbox: 2005

 
And, right at the end, an assortment of odds and sods: controllers, a PS1 and PS2, plus some handhelds.

Visit our Tokyo Game Show mini-site

Posted by: Nik Taylor

This dangerous-looking sentry has been keeping guard outside the Makuhari Messe since yesterday morning. If you get close enough, you can even see his red eyes flashing, like some tooled-up Transformer version of Knight Rider’s KITT.

My question is: what on earth is this? Is it a really a robot from the future that everyone’s just too polite to ask to move on, or is it (and this is much more likely) a mechanoid critter from a game I really should know about? Answers in the comments below, please…

Posted by: Nik Taylor

I’ve recently collapsed into my hotel room after a long, hot, exhausting, but thoroughly enjoyable first day at the Tokyo Game Show. The show has so far been light on headline-grabbing announcements, but very heavy indeed in the amount of triple-A titles on show.

Thursday started, as most things at TGS do, it seems, with a queue as I stood in line for my press pass. Once free of those shackles and also the close proximity of the most sweaty journalist I’ve ever seen (it’s hot and humid here – and he was wearing A COAT), it was on to the opening ceremony. My reasons for going to this were partly out of some sense of duty, but mainly because there was a giant silver cat thing waiting in the wings.

Sadly, if predictably, I understood not a word of what was said, as the great and good of Japanese gaming came on stage, spoke earnestly in Japanese about something important and sat down again. At the end, they all got back on stage and put on a pair of white gloves each. I have no idea why. That done, it was finally time for silver cat to get in on the act, as he invaded the stage, accompanied by a bevy of booth babes.

With that peculiar diversion out of the way, I headed into the main hall itself. Or, as I should say, halls. The show is huge, spread over eight massive halls and countless meeting rooms besides. Inside is a cacophony of noise and a maelstrom of high definition graphics. At one point, I found myself cornered by a banging Eurotrance tune (accompanying a flashing Tekken 6 demo), a wailing demo track for Ninenty-Nine Nights 2 and a 12-foot graphic of Fernando Torres emerging onto the Anfield turf. Still, it was better than being stood outside the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker booth, which seemed determined to drive away punters by playing some kind of low-rent Celine Dion soundalike. Never a good idea.

Soon it was queue time again. Finding myself with an hour to kill before my next appointment, I decided to get in line for a crack at the latest God of War III demo. ‘Surely an hour will be enough to queue, play the demo and get out?’ I thought. Not so. With 55 minutes gone, and having moved up to an agonising second in line, I decided to cut my losses and run. Heaven knows what things are going to be like at the weekend when they let the general public in. They expect 180,000 people here on Saturday and Sunday. God of War III, sure to be one of the most popular titles on display, has four playable booths. Those are not good maths.

Still I managed to get plenty of playing time in on other games, including Red Steel 2, Lost Planet 2, Pro Evo 10 and Monster Hunter Tri. Before I knew it, five o’clock had struck and it was closing time. This was one of the highlights of the day for me. Not because I was leaving, but because the PA then plays a version of Auld Lang Syne that sounds like it’s been recorded on an old-skool Casio keyboard. Beautifully bizarre, just like the show itself.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

While today's first day of the Tokyo Game Show was not exactly jam-packed with killer stories, there were still a few interesting nuggets to be had.

Wii price drop
The widely expected Wii price drop has come to pass, with Nintendo announcing a $50 shaving off the cost of a Wii in the States. That knocks Ninty's market-leading console down to just $199.99 (or £123) in time for Christmas. Sadly, it seems there will no price change in the UK and Europe.

Sony's release dates
Sony didn't have a lot to say for itself in either its press conference or chairman Kaz Hirai's keynote, but it did let us in on the release dates of a couple of games. Gran Turismo will finally emerge from the tuning shop on 31 March 2010, while LittleBigPlanet Portable will pop onto the PSP in December this year. That GT5 date is for Japan, though a Europe date should follow soon.

Sony's motion games
The big S's press conference was mainly notable for some more showing off of its motion sensor system, and particularly for a list of games being developed to utilise it. The motion sensitive system (and can it please soon get a proper, catchy name?) is out in spring next year, and will be supported by games such as Resident Evil 5 (Alternative Edition), Ape Escape PS3 and Echochrome 2.

Microsoft names Natal support
While Sony was demoing its magic wands, Microsoft hit back by naming a bunch of publishers already working on games for Project Natal. Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Konami, MTV, Namco Bandai, SEGA, Square Enix, THQ and Ubisoft are all working on games that will use Natal, though there were no details on what those games might be.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

Well, here I am in Japan; bleary-eyed and more than a little jetlagged, but very ready for the four days of Tokyo Game Show that lay ahead. Everything kicks off tomorrow morning with the keynote speech from Sony’s top man Kaz Hirai. He’s expected to announce a price drop for the PlayStation 3, plus a new slimmer, lighter…oh, hang on, that already happened, didn’t it? Of course, that was the whisper for Hirai’s speech, before Sony went and scooped itself at Gamescom. Now we’re left wondering just what the Sony boss will have to say in an address with the somewhat yawnsome title of ‘New tactics for 2009’ (and isn’t it a little late to be plotting for what little is left of this year?) But while you probably shouldn’t expect any major announcements in that one (Sony’s already made quite a few for one year, after all), don’t bet against Hirai having kept back one or two little surprises. A street date for Gran Turismo 5, plus some more on those motion controllers would seem to be strong contenders.

After the Sony spot, it’s onto the show proper. I’m going to be legging it around the floor of the Makuhari Messe getting my hands on as many games as possible, as well as posting the latest news to come out of Tokyo. Come back to this blog to keep in touch or, even better, visit our TGS 2009 mini-site. You can also follow me on Twitter. I can guarantee you at least two big announcements coming very soon, which I would love to blog about right now if I weren’t sure to be deported by the PR police for doing so.

As usual with these events, some developers have crashed the party early by holding their own pre-TGS showcases. Perhaps the most notable news came out of EA’s, where the publisher announced it would be releasing a demo of Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox and PC on October 27. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth from those who say the sequel has come just too soon, dammit.

That’s for starters, but in the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can get to grips with the Tokyo subway system tomorrow, and also get my head around Japanese menus. Dinner tonight was ‘five types of chicken brochettes’, which sounded ace until I realised it meant that each one of the five used a different part of the bird. At least two of them were unrecognisable to me. Gizzards, perhaps. Still, very tasty, nonetheless.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

It's almost time for the Tokyo Game Show, and we're packed and ready to head over to Japan to report all the big news from this top event in the gaming calendar.

Keep an eye on our TGS mini-site for all the big news from the Makuhari Messe, as it breaks. In the meantime, here are some of the big TGS rumours currently doing the rounds.

• Capcom has been teasing us all with the promise of new titles - some people are speculating this could include a sequel for Street Fighter IV.
• After being in development for more years than most of us can remember, Gran Turismo 5 may be released in what remains of 2009. If that’s to happen, the Tokyo Game Show is expected to be the place where GT5's release date is revealed, with a December launch the current favourite. 
• Whispers continue that, while Sega shows off its Japanese version of Yakuza 4, a Western-localised version of Yakuza 3 will be unveiled.
• Nintendo traditionally snubs TGS, but may be preparing its own announcement to trump the stories coming out of the Makuhari Messe. The word is that, before the end of the month, the Wii is getting a price cut of $50 off its current US price - which would see it drop to $199.99. If that happens, we'll wait with bated breath to see whether the reduction is mirrored on this side of the Atlantic.
• Sony has already announced the bulk of the games it will show at this year's event. These include God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo Portable, Heavy Rain and LittleBigPlanet Portable. However the company also says it will be showing two unannounced PlayStation 3 titles and three unannounced PSP titles. As for what those may be... place your bets in the comments below. 
• Motion control is sure to be a big theme of this year's TGS. Apparently, we may also see more from Sony on 3D gaming.
• Another Sony one – we’ve heard the publisher will be announcing an Uncharted 2 PS3 bundle, complete with 250GB hard drive.

Let us know what news you’re hoping to see coming out of Japan in the comments below or on the message board.

Posted by: Jane Douglas

The Econav 435 by Vexia will launch in the UK later this month.

According to its makers at sat-nav specialist Vexia, it is “the first ecological GPS in the world”: a sat-nav that aims to reduce a driver’s fuel consumption (and hence emissions) by advising them, in real time, how to drive more economically.

We recently spoke to David Elder, UK Country Manager for the device, who describes the Econav’s intention to “bolt on to a standard sat-nav system something to make you drive more efficiently”.

It does so by piping in with audio prompts recommending the best gear for your speed and warning about excessive braking. The rest of the time it’s a regular turn-by-turn GPS gizmo – but it can’t do both at the same time.

“85% of journeys are to somewhere you know",” says Elder. “You’ve got no need for guidance.”

So the Econav, he says, isn’t designed to give the driver eco-friendly tips and directions at once.

This amounts to a choice between an eco view (on the right of the picture above), a navigation view (a traditional turn-by-turn sat-nav screen) and an eco-map view (on the left of the picture), which combines eco-driving info with a live map view – so you can see where you are, at least.

In Spain, the Econav’s only market to date, the 16,000 users of the device have saved an average of 15% on fuel, says Elder. This rises to 25-30% on “gas-guzzling” cars. If the owner of such a car cared to drop £170 on an Econav (and used it diligently), it might pay for itself in under a year.

Posted by: Nik Taylor

I spent most of last month wearing an intriguing watch that, its makers claim, can offer all kinds of health benefits thanks to the power of crystals. You can find out more about how it works in my original blog post, but the general gist is that those crystals are attuned to the frequency of the earth, and can therefore have positive effects on your sleep patterns, health and general wellbeing. The chap who demonstrated one to me said it had even cleared up his migraines.

So, having worn one for a few weeks, does it work? Well, in my entirely unscientific opinion (and despite my initial scepticism), I’d have to say a cautious ‘yes’. After wearing the watch for a few days, I was sure I could notice some kind of difference. I’m quite prepared to accept this could all be some kind of horological placebo effect, but I began to feel as though I was sleeping more deeply. Rather than tossing and turning, waiting to drift off, I was lights out almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

There may also have been other benefits, though these are more difficult to pinpoint. The watch certainly got me noticed. It’s a chunky, twin-dial affair that weighs more than my mobile phone, so friends were quick to notice it and ask how it works. I have something of a reputation among those who know me for having a laid-back attitude, and so had plenty of comments about being a less-than-ideal subject for testing a relaxation aid.

Still, I can get as riled as any Victor Meldrew on occasion – never more so than when keeping goal for my local team. And it was there, on the football pitch, that I really started to think there might be more to this interesting oddity than just a few chunky crystals.

Having made a save that was, if I say so myself, rather special, I looked across in pity at the striker who’d made a flailing dive at the floor – then in disbelief at the ref who had, staggeringly, opted to give a penalty. But then something strange happened. I didn’t boil over. I didn’t remonstrate with the ref, or offer him a lift to Specsavers. Instead, I calmly got between the posts and prepared for the spot kick. Considering my usual behaviour on a football pitch, it was a minor miracle. And if wearing this watch can calm me down on the football field, there may really be something to it.

(The watch I tried (pictured) is a Philip Stein Chronograph Gunmetal Crystal & Chronograph Silver Dial – priced at £850. You can find more in the range at the Philip Stein website)

Posted by: Jane Douglas

Video: Leyio personal sharing device

Leyio has tweaked the personal sharing device it launched back in April.

The new version is cheaper (£99) and lower-capacity (8GB) with a micro SD memory card slot.

The device’s new firmware also adds iPod compatibility, with the ability to share with mobiles and cameras also coming soon.

We spoke to Stuart Derricott, UK head of Leyio, and had him show off the new model. (He also wants everyone to know the moustache is strictly for charity.)

Posted by: Jane Douglas

Video: Equalizer Music hat, LP to iPod turntable and Walkie Talkie Watches

Ella Williamson, gadget guru and buyer for I Want One of Those, talks us through three gadgets coming soon to IWOOT.

There’s the flashing Equalizer Music Hat, a turntable that puts your vinyl music on your iPod and a pair of Walkie Talkie watches.