The world's top gaming promotion event, Tokyo Game Show 2009, kicked off Thursday in Chiba as key developers unveiled new titles to hold on to consumers reluctant to spend in a recession.
The four-day expo at Makuhari Messe convention center will see 180 companies and groups worldwide showcase more than 750 game titles, said the expo's organizer, the Computer Entertainment Suppliers' Association.
This year's show was expected to have 1,367 booths and attract about 180,000 game fans who will be given hands-on experience with the latest titles, such as the Square Enix Co.'s latest edition of the "Final Fantasy" series for the Sony PlayStation 3.
Also expected are 168 game titles for mobile phones, a market segment that has been growing, organizers said.
In a speech at the show, Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., noted that the key to the future of the gaming industry lies in the global networking of games.
"Through networking, we can obtain games and various other entertainment contents and speed up in creating an enjoyable environment (for both users and game developers)," Hirai said, referring to the potential for software downloads from the Internet.
"We will not see further growth if we continue to pursue the gaming business the way we have always done and if we do not keep up with the trend of the times," Hirai said, adding that the PS3 is the latest machine to show how games and networks are intertwined.
The annual game show comes at a time when the gaming industry has emerged as one of the few bright spots in the global economic slump. Although game developers have fared somewhat better than other firms, they are still struggling to whet consumers' fading appetites, industry analysts said.
Attention is turning to how the gaming giants, notably Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo Co., and Microsoft Corp., will try to spur sales, whether with new products or price cuts.
Sony, for example, implemented a much-anticipated price cut for the PS3 to stoke sales ahead of the yearend holiday season.
The new PS3, which hit global markets Sept. 3, is slimmer, lighter and sports 120 gigabytes of storage, instead of the current 80 GB, and has dropped ¥10,000 off its price to ¥29,980. Nintendo's Wii is priced at ¥25,000, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 starts at ¥19,800.
Microsoft followed Sony by slashing the price of its top-of-the-line Xbox 360 Elite console, which has a 120-GB hard drive, to ¥29,800.
Although Nintendo has not participated in the Tokyo Game Show since the event began in 1996, new titles will be on display.
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