INFORMATION ABOUT TOKYO GAMESHOW 2001

Tecmo showed video of Dead or Alive 3, wowing viewers with intense graphics that put it in that upper echelon of PS2 power. I've got to say that the visuals for the Dreamcast version of DOA2 (The one I own) were impressive, however it wasn't quite of the same fighting finesse that was in Soul Calibur. It is a good fighter though, just not in that "legendary" status. I'm sure it will include as much T and A as was in the previous version. You know this game will be played just to see bootys wiggle and breasts giggle.

Namco in conjuction with one of it's subsidiary companies Monolith Soft hinted on creation of "Xenosaga" a prequel to probably the most intriguing RPG for the Playstation released back in 1998, Xenogears. This is one of my favorite RPG's of all time. Most memorable was it's plot, character development, and ultimate storyline. Many of the individuals involved on the original Xenogears project will be working on this game as well allowing for the same ambiance of the game to be recreated again. Yasnuri Mitsuda, music composer for Chrono Cross and Crono Trigger will be returning to score Xenosaga. Xenosaga will fit into the epic story outlined in the first game. Most importantly, it seems MonolithSoft's RPG will be Episode I of the six-part story -- Xenogears itself was Episode V. As outlined in the Xenogears Perfect Works fan book, Episode I covers the period from 15,000 to 10,000 years before the crash of the Eldridge, making it a prologue to the events in Xenogears. One aspect of Xenogears that truly sets it apart is the quality of the musical score, in many instances it is unique amongst it's peers. Something I recommend anyone to do is to download Xenogears Creid Songs from Napster. These are just amazing. I hope that this kind of quality is manifested in Xenosaga. Xenosaga will formally debut on July 8th. (This really makes me want to finish that Xenogears site that I started awhile ago...hmm...)

Squaresoft demonstrated more of Final Fantasy X showing more Full Motion Video and in game real time rendered graphics. Many who viewed it were stunned by the visuals claiming they equaled if not surpassed what Squaresoft accomplished with The Bouncer, however they said that some things looked that they could still be improved upon. Environments were very detailed and lush with colors, and texture. It was mentioned that characters influence water in real time. Guardian forces have been revitalized in a way where you can acutally control the actions of a guardian force after it is summoned, most likely using menu commands like the other characters. Guaurdian forces will replace your character's place in the party during battle. They probably take damage while doing this just like they did in FFVIII.

SEGA announced that it would be supporting X-Box with 11 games including an upcoming release of the very touted Panzer Dragoon Saga a game that became legendary during the Saturn's brief existence. Jet Grind Radio Future was another title SEGA said it would be restoring to the X-Box with a whole new look, as well as Sega GT and Gun Valkyrie. One thing that I kind of figured out about SEGA and MS is that these two have been thick as theives since before the Dreamcast launch, and this whole ditching of the Dreamcast and buddying up with Microsoft may have already been in the works a long time ago. Although SEGA has said that they are not going to be console specific, they seem to have a lot of eggs in Bill Gates' basket.

A Silent Hill 2 demo was shown that played upon the things that made the first game memorable. Out of all the survival horror type games I've played, even Code Veronica on Dreamcast, this title stands out in my mind as being the most chilling game I've ever played. This was like watching a Nightmare on Elm Street movie all over again for the first time only better. According to those who saw Silent Hill 2 in action it was very eerie with those blood stained bathrooms and deformed manthings, and the fog and the odd noises and the darkness. That game kicked ass.

Nintendo didn't show any Gamecube Releases, or at least I didn't find any articles about them showing any GameCube info at TGS Spring 2001, but they did show screens of games for GameBoy Advance that rivive the SNES days like Final Fight and Street Fighter II. There were a lot of good memories in those days. One thing about GBA I'm sensing is that it will be pretty much a miniaturized version of the SNES, and we may see many ports of games that were classic and legendary on that system. I would personally like to see Zelda III: A Link to the Past, Secret of Mana, Castlevania 4, Battletoads (I loved this game, first one was hard, but I loved it), Final Fantasy II, Chrono Trigger, Gradius III, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Star Fox, F-Zero (has already been confirmed), and Super Mario World. I would really like to see a graphically improved version of Zelda I and Zelda II appear on GBA, that would be awesome.

Many of those who went to the Tokyo game show said it was kind of a downer compared to other year's shows, but there were some games shown that will be worth waiting for. It would seem that a lot of these companies are waiting unitl E3 to show the big guns. Video Gamer X will be bringing you coverage from E3, via a field correspondant, "Heckle." He reported what he was able to see last year, and this year he hopes to share his experiences with you again.