“You can see the game is very focused on that horror atmosphere, so it’s not made for co-op play,” said producer Masachika Kawata in conversation with Eurogamer back in June. “We’re focusing on the single player this time.”

But did he lie? Did he put the wool over our eyes?!  Looking at the official Japanese site, it reveals that the game supports “2 people” in “communication-play mode.” The site also lists “local play, Internet play, extended slide pad” as being supported by the game. Exactly what form the multiplayer mode takes isn’t clear, but given that some parts of the story see Chris, Jill and others working alongside a partner character, cooperative play probably isn’t out of the question. Or perhaps there’ll be an alternative mode for multiplayer action. I’m hoping for storyline co-op, myself. If it’s multiplayer Mercenaries or something, I may frown so hard I can’t breathe.

Earlier this year, Fumito Ueda (director and lead designer behind Shadow of the Colossus) expressed his concern involving the industry and a belief that Western games could cause problems for Japan’s own gaming industry. Ueda mentioned that the Japanese movie industry suffered a similar fate in the 1970s where it fell into decline due to the blockbusters made abroad.

While Brian Ashcraft (Kotaku’s Japan-based writer) pointed out that two of the three consoles are Japan created, he does believe the change in TGS could be fueled by the rising interest Japan gamers have in games developed outside of the country. The Tokyo Game Show’s big booths this year were smaller with Electronic Arts and Sega combining theirs into one- a first in the show’s history. This, as well as Ashcraft’s statement seem to make Ueda’s suspicions plausible.

When asked about a possible decline, Jeff Brown (EA’s vice president of corporate communication) denied the possibility. “Japan is still in the world’s top three game markets and TGS is an important promotional beat for publishers in that market. For the worldwide market, the value of TGS is determined by the number of retailers, industry analysts and journalists who attend. The September timing of the show provides a good platform for promoting games that will launch in the Western holiday.”

A Microsoft spokeman also believes they still rely on the annual show. “We’re excited about TGS this year as part of our commitment to supporting local events, activities and ways to reach new and existing audiences,” he explained to Kotaku. “Japan is home to some of the most legendary creators in our industry, and TGS is a great opportunity to highlight the creative talent of Japan’s leading third party developers and reinforce our commitment to this unique market.”

The downsizing of TGS’ booths could easily be tied to the lack of major console launches this year. The biggest news this year will likely come from Sony and Nintendo- who boasted their new and upcoming handhelds, as well as an impressive number of upcoming titles. It may simply be due time for another generation of consoles to spark a new wave.

During it’s ongoing press conference at Tokyo Game Show 2011, Sony has just announced that the Playstation Vita will be out December 17th. Keep in mind this is the Japan release only, but we can likely expect the Vita to arrive in North America around Spring 2012 if it’s to follow in the footsteps of it’s predecessor, the Playsation Potable.

To kick off their conference, Sony tosses some statistics our way. According to the most recent count, the Playstation 3 has hit 51.8 million and the PSP surprised me at a whopping 71.4 million. I have a feeling that with the PS3′s price drop, Sony’s going to see their sales numbers steadily rise.

EA Sports Canada has revealed a new trailer for the upcoming NHL 12 this September. The game will feature all new goalie animations and even goalie fights. Players will be able to knock the net off its post as well as players helmets flying off after a big hit. An even bigger announcement for this years version will include the 2011 Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Check out the trailer above and expect more info to come to surface at E3 next month.

Bioware has unfortunately announced a new release window for Mass Effect 3. The game will now be released in early 2012. One of the games Excectutive producers Casey Hudson addressed the game on the official forums stating, “The development team is laser focused on making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone’s expectations.”

No other specific reason was given for the delay other then what was stated above.

Via Joystiq

To accompany the announcement of the 3DS, Nintendo also announced Kid Icarus Uprising. The trailer does not offer the full 3D experience that the game does, but it was still pretty epic. Nintendo definitely did a good job on this game. The trailer for Kid Icarus Uprising showed some fairly detailed characters and environments with some very impressive graphics for the system.

Kid Icarus Uprising has no set release date yet, but has been said to release alongside the 3DS when it is officially released. Check out the trailer, straight from E3, below.