The 2008 Tokyo Game Show came and went, passing us by in a blur of foot blisters, cramped train rides, drained wallets, and probably too much Japanese fast food. We’re back home now in the beautiful United States of America, where refills are free, girls are curvy (no offense, Japanese ladies), and you can’t lose $20 by dropping four coins.
Now that we’ve slept off the jet lag, caught up on Heroes, and finally played some Dead Space, we feel like we can finally reflect on the madness that was the Tokyo Game Show last week. Hit the jump to check out our first ever Destructoid Tokyo Game Show Awards GET!.
[Okay, so this isn’t so much an awards listing as it is a quick pick by each TGS-attending editor for several categories. ]
BEST GAME OF SHOW GET!
Jim Sterling: Saint’s Row 2. I played it long before the show, but it was better than everyone else I played.
Nick Chester: American Nick says: A freakin’ game that has you tapping on a cardboard box, Sega’s Let’s Tap for the Wii, was the most fun I had at the Wii. Japanese Nick says: Monster Hunter Tri GET!
Dale North: It’s a sad day for TGS when the game of the show for me was about trash. The PlayStation Network title Gomibako was easily the most fun I had at the show.
WORST GAME OF SHOW GET!
Jim Sterling: Muscle Impact. Not only was the game awful, with barely interactive Wiimote controls (big shock there), the swag they gave me was an insult.
Nick Chester: Wii owners and Nintendo freaks, please stop holding out hope — Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is really very awful.
Dale North: Minna de Spelunker. A Spelunker remake? Seriously?
BIGGEST SURPRISE OF SHOW GET!
Jim Sterling: Sonic Unleashed. Whenever anyone told me what I’d been checking out on the showfloor, I’d tell them: “Go try Sonic Unleashed. It’s actually not crap.” It was surprisingly fun and I cannot wait to play it in full.
Nick Chester: The biggest surprise of the show was how generally boring it was. Crowded, for sure, but the reason I joke with people that Saint’s Row 2 was the best game of the show it’s because nothing really stood out for me. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not even sure TGS actually happened.
Dale North: No Team Ico announcement anywhere! What the hell?
SLEEPER HIT OF THE SHOW GET!
Jim Sterling: I’m going to say Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce just because I need some Koei love somewhere. Seriously though, it looks like a radical departure for the series with an actual aggressive AI, detailed backgrounds and Monster Hunter-style gameplay.
Nick Chester: Parse Rorunpe, an arcade game in which you ride an actual broom and touch a screen to activate spells. Also, female witches in small outfits. How can you go wrong?
Dale North: 7th Dragon. It’s the game I expected everyone to be talking about, but it never really came up in conversation with other outlets and press members. A runner-up would be Sega’s Yakuza 3. It seemed like I was the only foreign press member that was excited about it.
COOLEST BOOTH OF SHOW GET!
Jim Sterling: Sega had a very strong and dominating presence on the show floor with a very impressive booth and a wall of Culdcept cards. I liked.
Nick Chester: Capcom’s booth, because one day they had a dude on stage singing about Bionic Commando.
Dale North: There were lots of cool ones this year, but I’m with Jim on the Sega booth. And, although it’s a cop out, I’m also with Nick on Capcom. Capcom had amazing little mini booths within a larger one. The Biohazard 5 and Street Fighter IV sections were amazing.
BOOTH WITH THE BEST BABES GET!
Jim Sterling: Definitely From Software. Theirs was certainly the sluttiest, at any rate.
Nick Chester: I’m married, and therefore I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Dale North: As always, I love Takara Tomy’s booth. I don’t even know what games they had there. Plus, Twister.
HOW SHITTY WAS THE PRESS ROOM GET!
Jim Sterling: I wisely avoided that thing like the plague.
Nick Chester: Which part are you talking about? The part where Japanese press would camp out at every chair all day long? Or the part where they’d leave their bags on the table, holding a spot — while they worked the show floor — and would have their friends scream at you in Japanese if you moved their stuff? Because both of those parts were awesome, and I have no idea what you mean by “shitty.”
Dale North: I worked on the floor, drinking watery orange juice while surly Japanese press members stepped over my head. I was so close to balls-to-head so many times. For the world’s largest game show, its a pretty small room. TGS, you need to fix this.
