THE Tokyo Game Show 2011

A major feature of the show are, of course, the girls who man the booths as well as cosplayers who attend the show dressed in full costume as their favourite game characters.

However, a combination of hot weather (about 30° Celsius) and continued electrical power-rationing in Tokyo meant that the show floor was often a hot, sweaty affair for both visitors and cosplayers.

Here are some of the more interesting news we got from the show floor as well as various interviews over the two days that we were there.

Akihiro Hino, famed developer, president and CEO of Level-5, the company responsible for creating the Professor Layton series and White Knight Chronicles, talked about the upcoming conversion ofNi No Kuni for the PlayStation3.

The game is essentially a turn-based RPG but with animation and art design from Studio Ghibli.

Originally produced as a game for the DS, it has been converted for the PS3 controls and rendered in a higher resolution for the home gaming console.

The Asian (Japanese language) edition of Ni No Kuni for the PS3 is due out on Nov 17, and will be packaged as a Magical Edition.

The special edition will come with a specially designed PS3 console finished in a light cream colour with gold lettering and a little cartoon character from the game on one corner of the console.

Hino said he wanted a simple and elegant design for the console so that users won't get tired of it over time.

Unfortunately, there are no concrete plans as to whether the Ni No Kuni Magical Edition will be released for the rest of the world.

The company is currently in the process of converting the game into English language and expects an early 2012 release for the game.

Hino also added that apart from the updated visuals, Ni No Kuni for the PS3 differs from the DS version.

"The subtitle of the game is Queen of the White Ashes, and while most of the story is the same as on the DS game, the PS3 version continues where the DS story ends. Let's just say that this version of Ni No Kuni is the complete edition," he said, through a translator.

Hino also remarked that the game is a very large scale RPG that will typically take between 40 to 50 hours to complete.

Fans of Tekken can look out for Tekken Hybrid, which is slated to come out on Nov 22 for the US market for the PlayStation3.

According to producer and series director Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Hybrid, as it's called, is a package bundled with three products.

It consists of a HD version of the original Tekken Tag Tournament with improved graphics, an all-new 94-minute CG Tekken movie, interviews with the producers and a game called Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue.

Tournament 2 Prologue is similar to the arcade version released in Japanese computer game arcades, with all the moves and the graphics from that game.

The only difference between the arcade Tournament 2 and Tournament 2 Prologue is that there are only four playable characters in the Prologue edition and there is no story mode.

However, according to Harada, Tournament 2 Prologue will be playable in 3D for gamers who have 3D-capable televisions.

Capcom's team led by Yoshinori Ono has also been working with Harada's Tekken team to produceStreet Fighter X Tekken. The cross-over fighting game features the characters from Street Fighterduking it out with characters from the Tekken franchise.

According to Ono, instead of merely being the same game but with added characters, Street Fighter X Tekken will have a number of new features incorporated into the gameplay. For one thing, the game allows up to four people to play together at the same time, whether online or offline (with four controllers on the PS3).

This Scramble mode, as it's called, has two player teams pitting themselves against another team of two players.

While previous Street Fighter games had a practice mode, this mode was always offline against the console's AI characters.

In Street Fighter X Tekken, Capcom has included a new online practice mode, where players can go online to practice with other players. Practice mode will have no penalties and time limits so players can really hone their fighting skills against another real player online.

Players engaging in practice mode can also at any time convert the game to a real battle.

Both Ono and Harada were tight-lipped when asked to reveal how many playable characters the game would have, with Ono saying it's "more than you would expect."

It's been a busy period for the producers of Final Fantasy, with the company set to release bothFinal Fantasy XIII-2, a direct sequel to 2009's Final Fantasy XIII, and HD remake of Final Fantasy X.

At a press conference, producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama revealed story and gameplay details of FF XIII-2, due out in January.

As far as the story goes, the Toriyama and Kitase elaborated that a new character from the future will join returning characters from FF XIII in a time travel story that will take place in several time periods in the FF universe.

This male character comes from a future where a catastrophe has practically destroyed the world and he travels back in time in an effort to stop this event from happening.

In the game, the player is free to travel back and forth in time. For example, the player can travel to the future to perform tasks to level up the character enough to face tougher enemies in a different time line.

Because time travel and changing the future is a central theme of FF XIII-2, the producers have made sure that the game has multiple paths the player can follow, which leads to many possible endings.

In terms of gameplay, FF XIII-2 will have a few differences from FF XII, most notably with the addition of Quick Time Events (QTEs) into the cutscenes to "better engage the player" in the cinematic action sequences of these cutscenes.

Interestingly, players who have saved game data from FF XIII can carry over their saved game data to FF XIII-2, although just what effect data from the first game will have on the sequel was not revealed.

The producers also announced a limited edition package of FF XIII-2 that will be bundled with a specially designed PlayStation3.

Also officially announced at the same press conference was the HD remake of FF X for both PS3 and PS Vita.

However, apart from the availability of the game for both of Sony's home console and upcoming handheld device, nothing else was revealed at the press conference.