Matt Schley
September 18, 2014 
I’ll be honest: I’m kind of a lapsed gamer. The newest console I own is the Wii, and when I sit down to play games these days, which is rarely, I usually choose something I’ve already played as a kind of nostalgia kick.
But I’m not far gone enough to say no to the Tokyo Game Show, one of the world’s biggest video game expos held yearly in September. I went to opening day with camera in hand to give our readers a look at the scene and see if I could reinvigorate my gamer spirit.
Solid Snake’s sneaking boots.
Lots of cool Metal Gear stuff on display.
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair.
Bloodborne for Playstation 4 by From Software.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
Interesting smartphone/tablet game called Iraira Camera (“Frustrating Camera”). You point your phone’s camera at the board and navigate through the maze without letting your cursor hit the red lines. Available for Android.
Push Me Pull You is an upcoming multiplayer indie game where you control a dual-headed creature who faces another dual-headed for control of a ball. Hard to explain, but really fun with a cool control scheme and a visual style reminiscent of Noby Noby Boy.
Kira Kira Star Night, a homebrew NES/Famicom game on actual hardware. Pretty sweet.
Kancolle figurines.
So how did Tokyo Game Show shake out for this sometimes-gamer?
There were big impressive booths by the likes of Microsoft, Sony and the other big boys, but like a lot of people these days, I found myself constantly returning to the indie section of the floor. One practical reason was not needing to stand in line for hours to play a game for a few minutes, but indie games are also definitely inspired by the 8 and 16 bit games their designers grew up on, and that style appeals to me. Finally, they’re often games one can pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, rather than the epic, cut scene heavy affairs many majors are putting out these days.
Are you more of an major or indie gamer? Do you even make the distinction? And what looked coolest at TGS? Let us know.
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