Western games may have won the Tokyo Game Show this year

Monster Hunter Frontier G coming to Vita

Online action RPG Monster Hunter Frontier G is making the jump to Vita, Capcom announced at the Tokyo Game Show.

 

It will be the first entry in the phenomenally popular series to make the jump to Vita, and is due next year. It will share some connectivity with the PS3 version – cross-save and cross-play.

Capcom hasn’t had much else to say on the topic, but has opened a teaser site. According to IGN‘s translation, the Vita and PS3 version will share servers, although a PS3 exclusive server will be available.

The subscription MMO was first released on PC in 2007, and came to Xbox 360 in 2010. In late July, announced for PS3 and Wii U later this year. the various ports do not share servers.

No version of Monster Hunter Frontier has ever been released outside Japan. It’s known variously as Monster Hunter Frontier Online and Monster Hunter Frontier G; the G was added after a major upgrade issues in April 2013.

Gamers gather for look at new PlayStation, Xbox

Gamers were gathering Thursday for the start of the Tokyo Game Show, an annual extravaganza that this year will give punters their first real taste of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

Gamers are gathering for the start of the Tokyo Game Show, an annual extravaganza that this year will give punters their first real taste of the Xbox One (seen here) and PlayStation 4.

Developers from more than 350 companies in 33 countries were vying to showcase their latest offerings, with special areas in the vast Makuhari Messe convention centre set aside for romance simulation games, cloud gaming and the booming smartphone and tablet game sector.

Around 200,000 people were expected at the event, which runs until Sunday just outside the Japanese capital, with many relishing the chance to get their hands on the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft.

The home-grown PlayStation 4 hits shelves in North America in November, in time for the holiday shopping season, but will not be available to Japanese buyers until February.

Sony announced the roll-out earlier this month, seven years after PlayStation 3 debuted. It will be the first time the company’s home market will not take the lead.

Company bosses said Japanese developers had been slower to exploit the potential of the new console and Sony wanted to wait until the software was ready before unleashing their latest offering.

For the original PlayStation, 18.6 percent of global sales were in Japan. Its successor, the PlayStation 2, tallied 14.7 percent of sales at home, while the PS3 racked up 11.9 percent, according to data from VGChartz Network.

North America, by comparison, accounted for about one-third of all PlayStation sales.

The new PlayStation will sell for just under 40,000 yen ($400) in Japan, about the same as in the United States.

The rival Xbox One, meanwhile, will be rolled out in 13 countries, including the US, Britain and Australia, on November 22. No date has been set for its release in Japan, although it will reportedly not be before 2014.

Experts say that while a hardcore of gamers will likely never forsake them, consoles have found their market share squeezed by the spread of smartphone and tablet gaming.

Free-to-play offerings on those platforms tempt casual users not willing to shell out $50-plus for a title on a dedicated machine.

Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, told convention-goers in fluent Japanese Thursday that the PlayStation 4 had been developed to make it competitive in the new world of gaming.

“For game consoles to be at the centre of the home they need to have high quality content which all family members, from children to adults, can enjoy,” he said.

“Also important is to offer the experience of social networking… we have really pushed the status of games to that of films and TV.

“In our next generation PS4, we have added new functions and services,” he said, including networking with other game players through smartphones and tablets.

The Tokyo Game Show is open to media and industry professionals on Thursday and Friday. General admission begins Saturday.

 

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Inside PS4’s new VR headset

Sony’s next big peripheral expected for fall 2014 launch, said to be more accurate than Oculus Rift.

Three months ago, Sony made a big splash at E3 touting the PlayStation 4 to the world. At the same time, though, it was already laying the groundwork for another notable consumer technology venture.

As media and buyers got hands on time with the upcoming console and debated the WWE-like theatrics of the Sony and Microsoft press conferences, the company was holding top secret meetings with developers and publishers, showing off a virtual reality headset for the PS4 and drumming up support for it.

Officially, Sony isn’t talking about the device, citing its long-standing policy of not commenting on rumor and speculation. But people in the know say the company is making a major push with the technology – even greater than it did with the PlayStation Move three years ago. (Like the Move, the headset will be sold separate from the console.)

The headset (which is not tied to the company’s existing Wearable HDTV Personal 3D Viewer, pictured above) uses the PS4’s PlayStation Eye camera, like Move did, for head tracking. This, say people who have used it, makes the headset even more accurate than the Oculus Rift – though it does present some aesthetic challenges.

At present, the working prototype for the headset, which select developers currently have in house, looks much like Oculus’ better-known VR system – with ping pong balls attached. The design is not expected to be final.

While there have been reports that the system will make its debut at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, those appear inaccurate. Sony does not wish to distract buyers in the days leading up to the PS4’s launch – and, as yet, there are not enough games that can showcase the technology.

People with knowledge of the product say they believe the headset will launch in the fall of 2014, but that date, too, is subject to change.

While this isn’t Sony’s first time experimenting with virtual reality, it does appear to be the company’s most serious. Several years ago, developers at GDC showcased a prototype game using the Personal 3D Viewer to select members of the media, though no version was ever released for that system. (That could be because the product was expensive and never sold in the North American market.)

The headset could be a differentiator for the PS4 – and could be part of the reason Sony is so aggressively targeting independent developers in the upcoming generation. Microsoft is not believed to be working on similar technology – and Oculus has said its focus with the Rift is PC and mobile technology.

Sony’s device will certainly be a rival to Oculus. That company, though, has momentum on its side. After an incredibly successful Kickstarter, which brought in just shy of $2.5 million, Oculus raised $16 million in Series A venture capital led by Spark Capital and Matrix Partners. Sony is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, but it has been experiencing significant financial hardships in recent years, which could erase some of that financial advantage.

Oculus also has been recruiting high-level developer talent to its roster. A month ago, id Software founder John Carmack signed on to become the company’s chief technical officer.

“I believe that VR will have a huge impact in the coming years, but everyone working today is a pioneer,” said Carmack at the time. “The paradigms that everyone will take for granted in the future are being figured out today; probably by people reading this message. It’s certainly not there yet. There is a lot more work to do, and there are problems we don’t even know about that will need to be solved, but I am eager to work on them.”

Oculus declined to comment on Sony’s headset when contacted by GamesIndustry International.

Sony’s push into virtual reality brings to mind its ‘jump in with both feet’ approach to 3D two years ago. That didn’t work out for a number of the same danger factors as VR. Players weren’t crazy about wearing the glasses – and the fast-moving 3D images, combined with the fact that gamers blink less than passive TV watchers, resulted in player headaches.

The most significant problem, however, was lack of publisher support. Sony is working hard to ensure that doesn’t happen again, making something Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said at the launch of the PlayStation 3D monitor just as relevant today.

“I think it’s a very similar analogy to HD,” he noted. “Content will drive adoption.”

 

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Destination PlayStation 2013 Announced,”a First Look at all the Amazing New Releases Coming From” SCEA

While E3, gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show are all focused on showing off new games and products to the press and public, Destination PlayStation is all about retailers. SCEA has announced that they’re holding another Destination PlayStation in 2013, but because of its retail focus don’t expect to see any official reveals.

Luckily, it’s likely at least some announcements will leak, just like how this year we found out about LittleBigPlanet Karting and the next God of War. Games like Ascension, Beyond and The Last of Us are basically guaranteed to be there, as are casual titles like Wonderbook‘s Diggs Nightcrawler and Walking With Dinosaurs. The Vita will certainly be a huge focus for Sony as better retail support is vital to its chances at success.

It’s possible that the PS4 will be shown, but probably only to the bigger retailers who are less likely to leak things or accidentally announce them. As for Gaikai, don’t expect Sony to announce anything to retailers about it, considering its whole point is to basically put them out of business.

We’re excited to announce the 13th Annual Destination PlayStation event, hosted by Sony Computer Entertainment America, February 25-28, 2013. This year’s destination brings us back to the picturesque Sonoran Desert and the luxurious Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort. As our guests, you’ll be treated to food, drink, play, and a first look at all the amazing new releases coming from Sony Computer Entertainment America Entertainment in 2013.

Destination PlayStation will run from February 25th to 28th and we’ll let you know what gets leaked.