TGS: Microsoft’s pre-show presser

Posted by Kevin in Microsoft | 1 comment

Sep 09, 10

Microsoft’s Takashi Sensui stood in front of an expectant Japanese crowd to outline the past, present and future of Microsoft Entertainment division’s plan for the huge Japanese market after a rather dull, but growing, 5 years fighting off Nintendo and Sony – the home grown talent. He opened with what they had on the the table, a strong online offering alongside much improved hardware.

Going on to new items, he announced a new Slim 4GB model for the market, which will help undercut the competition (namely Nintendo). On top of that he said, “From September through next Spring, we will release around 100 titles. This number is twice that of the same period last year.” Most of these games we already know about. Halo, Gears of War, Fable, etc. Interestingly, none of them are huge titles in Japan in the same way they are in the west.

With that in mind, Square Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto took the stage to announce their offering on the platform, which includes ports of Deus Ex and Call of Duty: Black Ops. They also announced the release of Final Fantasy XIII, which has launched a torrent of death threats and abuse from fans.

Sensui came back on stage to demo Kinect, naturally. How to sell this to the Japanese market? Sonic, of course! Yasutsugu Nishimoto from Namco Bandai announced Atarashii Nou Tore, a brain training style game linked to Kinect based on research in Tokyo University to explore the link between movement and brain power.

Outside of games, the console will bring the Zune Video marketplace to Japan. Bandai Channel, NBC Universal, and Paramount Pictures are all signed up for launch, too.