Today, and for the rest of this week, I'm in Japan for the Tokyo Game Show. I'm accompanying the UKTI's Game Mission, a gaggle of 12 UK-based games and game-related companies on their journeys to the epicentre of the world's gaming scene, who get three days of seminars and meetings with Japanese publishers, developers and dignitaries. While I'm here, I'm going to trawl the show floor myself, meeting a few gaming celebs and a couple of those dignitaries for myself. I'll be reporting back on a daily basis, using a handy Flip video (cheers Jemima) to give you the tweets and whistles, bings and bams on the show floor and behind the scenes. Want to know about the 3D gaming specs? Fancy a peek at the latest in display technology? Or are you interested in getting a first peek at next year's games? Let me know and I shall comb TGS for you.
Some of the action I've already got my eyes on:
The new Nintendo DSi It was launched on Friday, but I'm going to get my mitts on it here. What's the skinny with the camera? How much does the SD slot enhance the experience? Just how big is the new-size screen? Let's have a go at that sexy new download service, please, and then maybe that will get our Greg excited.
Bungie's next Halo project Rumoured to be shown in Tokyo, the newly non-Microsoft studio's got four projects in the works. Most hope one of them is Halo 4. A cryptic message was released a few weeks ago, and it's got most games observers convinced that there'll be a big Master Chief-style show later this week.
Something new from Katamari creator Nobi Nobi Boy's not a secret, but to date little has been said about it. While it's not expected to be playable, the Namco Bandai game will be on their stand. As well as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. Slurp.
Konami's stand The Metal Gear Solid publishers won't be demonstrating a playable version of their forthcoming stealth-a-thon, but I will get to have a go on Silent Hill Homecoming (thankfully in a bright, large venue, surrounded by thousands of people and not on my own, at night, with the lights out) and on the Wii version of Castlevania.
O O O it's Phantasy Star O! The Nintendo DS gets massively multiplayer RPG thanks to this new version of the Sega masterpiece. Really, is there NOTHING they don't do first? Head here for more of their awesome offerings, including Yakuza 3.
And that's just the software, people. Just wait until I get my hands on the hardware.
Keep in touch and do let me know what you want to see. I'll be blogging and twittering - send requests to @aleksk or leave a comment below.
Finally, the all-important companies joining the UKTI's Mission are:
* 3D Creation Studio
* Connect 2 Play
* Games BizDev
* Magenta Software
* Maverick
* Milky Tea
* Northwest Vision and Media
* Playbox Ltd
* Rebellion
* Serious Games Institute
* Testronic Labs
* Universally Speaking
