Just as the Tokyo Game Show isn’t held in Tokyo (then again, “Chiba” is about as glamorous a name as “Luton”), er, neither is the Games Japan Festa event: it’s held in Osaka. Games Japan Festa 2009 is set for the weekend of November 14th/15th and will happen at Osaka’s surprisingly small ATC Hall. The show runs from 10:00-17:00 on both days, admission is FREE, and there’s a stack of decent-to-good new games to play – highlights including Metal Slug XX, the new Prof. Layton game, Lost Planet 2, R-Type Tactics 2: Operation Bitter Chocolate (nice name!), the 360 port of that new 3D Samurai Spirits game, and possible surprises from Square Enix and Tecmo. Games Japan Festas’ queues for playtime are always much shorter than yer endless TGS shuffle-alongs, so it’s probably well worth a visit. (Directions can be found here.)
Satoru Iwata Video Interview - the late Nintendo president spoke with Kikizo in 2004 as 'Nintendo Revolution' loomed.
Kaz Hirai Video Interview - the first of Kikizo's interviews with the man who went on to become global head of Sony.
Ed Fries Video Interview - one of Xbox's founders discusses an epic journey from Excel to Xbox.
Yu Suzuki, the Kikizo Interview - we spend time with one of gaming's most revered creators.
Tetris - The Making of an Icon: Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers reveal the fascinating story behind Tetris
Rare founders, Chris and Tim Stamper - their only interview? Genuinely 'rare' sit down with founders of the legendary studio.
The History of First-Person Shooters - a retrospective, from Maze War to Modern Warfare