Poster for Tokyo Game Show 2019. (Image via Gematsu)

From 5G network to e-sports, Tokyo Game Show opens on Thursday

On Thursday (12/9), Tokyo Game Show, organized by Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and Nikkei Business Publications Inc., kicked off at Makuhari Messe Convention Center, Chiba Prefecture form 12 – 15 September.

As 5G development is trending worldwide, Tokyo Game Show also became a battlefield to showcase the advantage of having a 5G network for gamers both professional and casual. The first two days were reserved for industry and media while the event is open for the public for the reminding days.

Not as huge as E3, the September event always has its charm and sometimes unexpected trailers and announcements are made on this event. About 655 exhibitors with up to 2,000 booths, including 305 from some 40 countries, are showing its latest products and offer playable experiences for over 250,000 visitors.

Interestingly, in this 2019 edition, Nintendo and Microsoft decided to be absent. For this 2019 edition, it is safe to say that Square Enix is the winner by taking the highlight showing the latest trailer to the remake of one of its most well-known games, "Final Fantasy VII", and other announcements.

Square Enix, now having established a spacious booth dominated by "Final Fantasy VII"’s displays, hailed many people to its exhibition forming a long queue. Many people were willing to wait to have a taste of their sweet nostalgia with the game.

Final Fantasy VII had taken over the internet by the storm after it released the latest trailer featuring Shinra’s secret agent team, “The Turks”, and the latest appearance of Aerith, Tifa, and Cloud in one frame. The game is set to release in March 2020.

A gift that keeps on giving, Square Enix also announced the remake version of Final Fantasy: Chronicles which is set to release in early 2020 for PS4, Switch, Android, and iOS. To the enthusiasm of Kingdom Hearts’ fans, Square Enix dropped the bomb by announcing a DLC for Kingdom Hearts 3, called “ReMind”. Square Enix teased them by not telling them the exact date but mentioning only “this winter” on its trailer. A few weeks after its release in early 2020, Sora and Co reaped 3 million copies.

CD Projeckt’s “Cyberpunk 2077” was also seen in the event. However, because it is unplayable, people are gathering to see its promotional clip of the game that features Keanu Reeves in it. Hideo Kojima’s “Death Stranding” was also featured on the event with its latest 7-minute trailer.

Capcom also did not want to miss a thing. It announces its latest project, “Resident Evil: Project Resistance”, and Namco Bandai dropped the release date of its Dragon Ball’s game, “Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot” which is on 17 January 2020.

Hiroyuki Yoshida, director of major mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc.'s consumer business department revealed the future of the gaming industry under the fast 5G connection. Said to be 100 times faster than its predecessor, downloading a 2-hour movie takes only three seconds.

Featuring AR experience with “Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition”, Yoshida showed how 5G network helped in holding a vast competition, mentioning these terms: “low latency”, “high speed”, “large-capacity”, and “simultaneous connection”.

Beginning its service in 2020, Docomo was said to hold a competition using a 5G network where about 100 players are connected simultaneously on the event. These competitions also aim to attract Japanese players to try e-sports. In Japan, e-sports is not as huge as it is in the European continent, China, the U.S, and South Korea.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/tech/High-speed-5G-esports-in-spotlight-at-Tokyo-Game-Show