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A brand new display dubbed "Television Game Museum", courtesy of Tokyo Game Show producer CESA, has been designed for this year's event. The exhibition will outline all the major steps taken throughout the history of console gaming, beginning with Nintendo's Famicom (or the Nintendo Entertainment System, as it's known in the Western world) and leading up to the current generation of game systems.

Sadly, in a neglectful yet not too surprising manner, all pre-NES consoles - to name just a few, the Magnavox Odyessy, the revolutionary Atari 2600, and even Nintendo's very own obscure Color TV console series, all circa 1970's - appear to be completely left out.

This "museum" goes one more step further: Within each credited video game year will be a small assortment of notorious titles set alongside their corresponding console. Young gamers will be able to experience the fun via the "Retro Gaming Corner", an exhibit dedicated to educating the younger crowd about ye olde gaming days while also allowing the seasoned veterans an almost virtual trip back in time to bask in a more nostalgic era.

The "Television Game Museum" display is cosponsored by Nintendo, Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment, and by Microsoft. The Tokyo Game Show will begin September 22nd and go on through the 24th.

Source: GameSpot

Square-Enix has thrown eager fans yet another bone in the form of some spankin' new media concerning the Nintendo DS's remake of Final Fantasy III. Featured within this batch is a handful of screenshots depicting the different modes of transportation accessible across the game's World Map. The real highlight, however, is a new gameplay movie showing off a brief portion of dungeon exploration as well as the characters engaged in battle - a boss battle.

Final Fantasy III DS is now set to release in North America on October 3rd.

Japan's Tokyo Game Show, scheduled to be held at the Chiba prefecture's Makuhari Messe from September 22nd through the 24th, should be packed with an alleged record number of participating companies this year. According to a recently updated list, the annual show's organizers are anticipating their largest ever group of 134 exhibitors presenting about 1,702 game related products. Additionally, over 160,000 in attendance are surmised for the 10th anniversary event - a total slightly below last year's.

The three-day show's theme this year, as disclosed by the Tokyo Game Show website, is "new stimulus, new feeling, new era." In the words of the Japanese game industry trade body Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), "[the theme] is meant to reflect the changing and converging landscape, one in which consumer consoles, online games, mobile games and next-gen are all supported."

As a final note, Nintendo, formerly holding its Space World event each year as a means in which to publicly showcase its upcoming games and systems exclusively, will once again forgo making an appearance at the TGS.

For more information on the Tokyo Game Show, check out the event's official website (in English).

Source: Gamasutra

Perhaps it was merely overlooked, but regardless a third Paper Mario title has been announced. In this new game you'll play as Mario, of course. But joining your playable characters will be both Peach and Bowser, though their parts seem unconfirmed, it seems possible that they might actually be playable in battle and normal gameplay, rather than just the bit parts they had in previous Paper Mario titles.

The game is slated for release sometime in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Source: IGN

One of Square-Enix's head honchos presented a ton of new delicious tidbits of news in a recent interview with the Japanese gaming site Dengeki Online, primarily concerning the upcoming PS3 games Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII as well as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for the PSP.

First of all, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII were both originally slated for the PS2, but eventually production was moved to the next generation of consoles because Tetsuya Nomura, who was Versus' project director, was still working on Kingdom Hearts II at the start of production. We know that the three games in the FF XIII project (the two previously mentioned as well as Agito for mobile phones) will share the same universe but other than that we have only speculation. Anyhow, here's some big news: FF Versus XIII is going to have an intense action battle system, but the "real" FF XIII is going back to the ATB, with an extra emphasis on speed and chain comboes. The girl from the trailers is the game's main character, but she'll also have allies in battle (surprise, surprise...). Also worth noting, both FF XIII and Versus XIII will have classic Amano logos, but FF XIII's background will be white and Versus' will be black.

Nomura is really set on making FF Versus XIII different from the classical FF tradition, so his team is combining members of the FF VII and VIII teams for visuals and his Kingdom Hearts team for the game's engine and interface (FF XIII is being worked on primarily by the FF X / FF X-2 team) to create a classic FF feel with a new action-oriented battle system. Nomura also emphasized the fact that the word Versus also has two meanings: the English definition of identifying two or more opponents and the Latin definition of changing directions.

And now, here's some interesting news for FF VII fans. The PSP game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII will be centered around four characters: Zack, Aeris, and two male characters yet to be identified. The game will implement voice acting, a materia creation system, and the abilities of Shinra's SOLDIER members. Unfortunately, Nomura refused to give out any more details.

Source: RPGFan

While very little is thus far known about Square-Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy romp (the thirteenth one, that is), Japan's Famitsu magazine earlier this week revealed a few previously masked details apparent in the screenshots featured within the article: Next to the protagonist's Hit Point meter below the screen, an ATB (Active Time Battle) Cost stat can be seen. This would not only indicate the return of the Active Time Battle system (and possibly an accompanying ATB gauge), but more importantly suggests a required "price" in points for every move each player executes. Another new feature, visible in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, is a gauge in the shape of a circle. Famitsu speculates that a number inside the circle must, through some unconfirmed means, be met and, along with varying accomplished conditions, will allow characters in battle to enter an "Overclock" status - perhaps Final Fantasy XIII's version of previous games' hyper-powered attacks attained in similar fashions. This alleged Overclock status forces all but the active character into a sort of slow-motion state, but at the same time can reportedly be quite precarious business to carry out.

Lastly, the article has informed that the words next to the ATB Cost stat read "Lighting" (although it's unclear whether or not this is a misspelling of "Lightning" by the writer) and has been judged to be the protagonist's first name. Additionally, the weapons used by the female protagonist - a gun and a sword - are in reality two weapons in one; as dictated by the predicament or the enemies involved, this changable weapon can be toggled from one to the other.

As to be expected, the subject of a Japanese release date for Final Fantasy XIII has not yet been openly negotiated.

Source: RPGFan