The world’s top gaming event, Tokyo Game Show 2009, kicked off Thursday in Chiba Prefecture as key game developers unveiled new titles in a bid to hold on to consumers amid the global economic recession. During the four-day expo at the Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo, 180 companies and groups worldwide will showcase more than 750 game titles, according to the expo’s organizer, Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association.

This year’s expo is expected to offer 1,367 booths and attract about 180,000 game fans who will be treated to a hands-on experience with the latest game titles, such as the Square Enix Co.’s latest Final Fantasy series for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc’s PlayStation 3 game console. Also expected to be on display are 168 game titles catering to mobile phones as the mobile phone game industry has become increasingly popular over the years, organizers said.

The annual game show comes at a time when the gaming industry has emerged as one of the few bright spots in the corporate sector which has been hit by the world’s economic slump. Although game developers have fared somewhat better than other firms, they still face sluggish consumer appetite, according to industry analysts.

Against this backdrop, attention is now turning to how gaming giants, notably Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo Co, and Microsoft Corp, will spur consumer appetite with new products and strategies such as price cuts.

In the latest move, Sony unveiled the much-anticipated PS3 price cut to counter its rivals with cheaper game consoles ahead of the year-end holiday season.

The new PS3, which hit global markets on Sept 3, is slimmer, lighter, and sports a 120-gigabyte hard drive, up from the current 80 GB. It carries a price tag of 29,980 yen, down 10,000 yen, whereas Nintendo’s popular Wii is priced at 25,000 yen, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 starts at 19,800 yen.

Following Sony’s PS3 price cut, Microsoft slashed the price of its top-of-the-line Xbox 360 video game console, offering the Xbox 360 Elite console, which has a 120 gigabyte hard drive, at 29,800 yen.

Nintendo, meanwhile, has kept the price of its Wii game console and boasts global sales of 52.6 million units since it was launched at the end of 2006.

Although Nintendo has not participated in the Tokyo Game Show since the event began in 1996, new titles that can be played on its Wii console will be displayed by software makers.

Also on Thursday morning, Kazuo Hirai, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, is expected to give a keynote speech.

As in the previous year, the first two days will be open to the media and people involved in the gaming business and the latter two will be for the general public.

Source: Japan Today [dated 24th September 2009]