The cover features a bloody rising sun and the line 'Dead or alive: Japan’s game industry faces its own survival horror'. We present a Tokyo Game Show special, with looks at all the major game on display, including Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Ninety-Nine Nights II and Monster Hunter 3.
We also examine the story behind the pervasive atmosphere at this year’s show of gloom and doom, inspired by such comments as Keiji Inafune’s “Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished,” and the conspicuous absence of many leading Japanese developers and publishers. Is the nation which used to lead the game industry really now trailing dolefully behind the powerhouses of the west? Has the archetypal Japanese videogame had its day? Or is it time for Japan's considerable creative force to regain some self respect by realising and building on its strengths?
Elsewhere in the issue we visit Splash Damage, the developer of Brink, a promising reinvention of the online shooter, and Heavenly Sword maker Ninja Theory, which is now producing Enslaved, a retelling of the classic Monkey stories in a post-apocalyptic world, we meet Jordan Weisman, creator of MechWarrior, Shadowrun, ilovebees and many more progressive projects on the frontiers of videogame development, and examine the current state of Nintendo’s WiiWare.
Look out, too, for a look at a fascinating new project to marry virtual worlds to the real world of Google Maps-style satellite imagery by mobile developer Micazook, interviews with Super Meat Boy makers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, Critter Crunchers Capybara Games and new Swedish studio Machinegames.
Previewed: Splinter Cell Conviction, Enslaved, Army Of Two: The 40th Day, plus all the biggest games of Tokyo Game Show
Reviewed: New Super Mario Bros Wii, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Ratchet And Clank: A Crack In Time, Borderlands, Brutal Legend, GTAIV: The Ballad Of Gay Tony, Forza Motorsport 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, Mario And Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter, Might And Magic: Clash Of Heroes, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, LostWinds: Winter Of The Melodias, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, Ju-On The Grudge
Time Extend: The Warriors
The Making Of: Zak McKracken And The Alien Mindbenders