One of the major differences between E3 and the Tokyo Game Show is the fact that the general public is allowed onto the showroom floor for a small fee. While this succeeds in giving the show much more personality (evidenced by the hordes of cosplayers thriving within the wings of the convention center), it also makes it infinitely more difficult for the average journalist to obtain hands-on impressions on even the more obscure titles. The titles I actually managed to try out are listed below:

Sega/Sammy - My first destination on Saturday morning was the Sega/Sammy booth, which featured a number of original games, nostalgia titles, and big-name licenses. First on my to-do list was The Rumble Fish, an arcade fighting game that experienced heavy, albeit brief popularity in Japanese arcades within the past year. The arena of The Rumble Fish is strictly 2D, although the character sprites themselves consist of cel-shaded polygons. The game also features a unique and complicated combo system that seems consistent with Sammy, the publishers of the uber-popular Guilty Gear series. From what I've played, the home console version seems to be nearly identical to the arcade game, although information about alternate play modes was not made available to me at this time. The Rumble Fish is set to be released this winter on the PS2.

Taking a short break from the fighting genre, I checked up on one of my old favorites in The Typing of the Dead: Zombie Panic, which is also releasing soon on the PS2. I was very disappointed to learn that, instead of converting The House of the Dead 3 into a typing game, Sega only made Zombie Panic into a port of the original arcade game (which was already ported for the Dreamcast several years ago). If porting an old game was their only goal, then they could have just ported the Lupin the 3rd typing game that's already been available in Japanese arcades for the past two years. This disappointment didn't stop me from aiming for the convention's highest score, which I actually achieved with 4085 points. Admittedly, somebody obliterated it later in the day with 4790 points, but I attribute my abnormally "low" score to the difficulty associated with an English-typer attempting to type in Japanese.

The last game on my Sega/Sammy list was Shinsengumi Gunrouden, the brand new Shinsengumi game also slated for release this winter on the PS2. Hot on the heels of the successful Shinsengumi game by Genki and Konami, as well as the Shinsengumi fervor that has encompassed Japan within the past year, Sega has decided to create its own sword-based game set in 1860's Japan. To accomplish this, they hired famed manga artist and self-proclaimed Shinsengumi maniac Nobuhiro Watsuki to create the character designs for the game, although fans of Rurouni Kenshin may be surprised to discover how noticeably different the characters will appear from their incarnations in the manga. In this game, you take the role of Okita Soushi, head of the 1st Shinsengumi squad, and the most skilled swordsman in the group. Assisting you will be other famous Shinsengumi members, although the demo only featured team-ups with Vice-captain Hijikata Toshizou. Swordplay in the demo featured the use of only two attack buttons (strong and weak) and seemed somewhat simplistic, and at times repetitive, although the booth rep assured me that as your character progresses through the game, more combos can be learned and executed. No word yet on a possible North American release, but given the general public's unfamiliarity with the characters, I'd bet my money on no.

Namco - Being the Tekken and Ace Combat fan that I am, visiting the Namco booth was a fairly high priority (although perhaps the giant Pac-Man balloon hovering above Namco's booth might have had something to do with it as well).

In all honesty, I have nothing bad to say about Tekken 5. However, that may only be because the Kazama fighting style has finally made its triumphant return to the Iron Fist Tournament. In my numerous visits to the booth, I wound up with an 8-2 record with Asuka, although the 5-win limit set by the machines prevented me from discovering my true potential. In general, for the Tekken loyalists who still stand by the T3 and TTT style of play, T5 will feel like a visit to an old, dear friend. And for those that fell in love with T4 for its unique qualities that veered away from Tekken tradition, that old, dear friend will be sporting a mohawk. Sidesteps are back, but walls are still here. Crouch blocking has gone back to normal, but just frames remain. The best of TTT and T4 have finally joined together, and there will once again be peace on Earth - that is, until Tekken 6, when war will break out again.

And speaking of war, I spent a bit of time tinkering with Ace Combat 5 in the other part of Namco's booth. Gameplay has remained essentially the same, although the new Wingman Command system seems to have been greatly emphasized. In AC: 04, the main character was a bit of a lone wolf, but it seems that AC5 forces you to interact and give strict orders to your teammates. AC5 also looks almost exactly the same as its predecessor, but the level of detail in the ground targets and the landscapes has been greatly enhanced. Look for AC5 to come out next month in Japan, and soon after in North America.

Sony - Although the focus of this year's TGS was the PlayStation Portable and Gran Turismo 4, Sony has a few other titles that deserve notice. One of these is Wanda and Colossus, which takes after the Ico tradition of puzzles amidst realistic human feats. No playable demos were available, but the trailer painted a vivid picture of the game, as it featured the game's hero making his way up and attempting to take down gigantic moving statues for the sake of rescuing his love from a coma. "I fight - because I want to see you again," quotes the trailer. I assure you that many eyes will be focused on this title in the coming months.