World Hobby Fair yields few surprises
The old boys on parade; Sega, Sony and Nintendo headline the game side
The 16th annual World Hobby Fair has taken place in Tokyo this weekend, showcasing toys mostly, and in particular a handful of displays from the likes of Sega, Sony and Nintendo, with Konami and Capcom looking on from what we can gather. Sega built us all up for the World Hobby Fair, but actually announced everything ahead of the event, including Sonic Advance 2 on the GameBoy Advance, which is due out at the end of the year in Japan and was receiving heavy playing attention from those lucky enough to make it to the front of the queue. Sega also had Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II, Super Monkey Ball 2 and Sonic Mega Collection up and running, although we don't know if the latter was in a playable state. The platform-hopping third party developer also had a version of Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution running, with a peculiarly dressed individual fighting only the worthy, etc. Sony's efforts were a bit more reserved, promoting the new black and blue PlayStation 2 units with Ape Escape 2 the only game receiving much of a boost, although Capcom's Auto Modellista (due out sometime next year at this point) was available to play. Nintendo, presumably already giddy at the prospect of its bank balance next week, what with Mario Sunshine due out in Japan this Friday, was apparently letting gamers queue for up to an hour for a quick go, although some skived off and waited for Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 on the GBA instead. That's right chaps - don't spoil your appetite for Sunshine. And of course, lest we forget, there is a third console. The Xbox version of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was also on display. Other toys we caught sight of included a boxing game with gloves hooked up to motion sensors, where the player actually threw the punches, and it looked a darn sight more "gamey" than similar displays at last year's ECTS. No doubt much more was hidden behind the language barrier, and we invite you to try and decipher it yourselves. Thanks to GameWatch for reporting in such graphic detail. Related Feature - Sonic Mega Games