Video games in every nook and cranny of the 17th Impact
Video games are a whole part of the festival and once again this year, gamers were delighted with what the publishers and associations had in store for them, including about a dozen guests!
The video game photo album
Focus on the guests
Let’s start with our Video Game Guest of Honor, Junichi MASUDA, GAME FREAK inc. director, invited in partnership with Nintendo. He started as a programmer and music composer for the Pokémon franchise 20 years ago and brought together all the Pokémon fans at a masterclass on the Ichigô stage. After talking about his career for a while, he mentioned a few anecdotes and presented an exclusive new Pokémon for the very first time, Tritox, which will appear in the upcoming Pokémon Moon and Sun.
Kaméhaméha and Dragon Ball Z fans had to attend the Dragon Ball Event with Masayuki HIRANO, producer of the game Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, in partnership with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment. The highlight of the event: Hironobu KAGEYAMA performing the cult opening of Dragon Ball Z Cha-la Head Cha-la on the Také stage, which was crowded on this occasion. He also sung on the Ichigô stage before the ECG Season 6 finals on the booths of BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment and Amuse France.
The President and CEO of KOEI TECMO, LTD., Hisashi KOINUMA, offered an exclusive demonstration of the upcoming A.O.T. Wings of Freedom. There was a bonus for you on Saturday as he was not alone on stage: Yui ISHIKAWA, the famous seiyû (voice actress) playing Mikasa Ackerman in the anime and video game, joined him.
The fighting game par excellence, The King of Fighter XIV, was presented by its producer, Yasuyuki ODA, in partnership with Deep Silver. He talked about the new add-ons of this upcoming game during a panel which many gamers attended. The King of Fighters XIV is coming this summer!
After attending the festival a first time last year at BRAVE WAVE’s booth, Saori KOBAYASHI, the composer of the cult soundtrack of Panzer Dragoon Saga, was back to perform on stage for 2 showcases. She was joined by Eri ITO, a singer who also worked on the Panzer Dragoon games (Saga and Orta), as well as Crimson Dragon, and the symphonic orchestra JAGMO who attended the event for the second time.
Let’s keep on with video game music! The 17th Impact welcomed Go SHIINA, the composer of Tales of, God Eater, Tekken Ace Combat, or THE IDOLM@STER themes, who gave signings, in partnership with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment.
The Karasu stage proposed another music event related to Splatoon. The Squid Sisters, the game popstars, performed an outstanding show, the meeting of high tech and art in a performance dedicated Splatoon fans.
On the publishers’ booths
Located in the hallway between halls 5A and 6, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment invited you on their booth where they had set up a central stage featuring various events, games, tournaments, air Kaméhaméha, and more frenzied shows.
You could have a go at Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for the first time and also at God Eater 2: Rage Burst and Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, as well as the classical licenses of the publisher such as Taiko no Tatsujin. One Piece Burning Blood and Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 were also available to be played, with tournaments and many prizes to win.
Nintendo welcomed the attendees with many competitions with the latest releases and an exclusive game, so much expected by the fans, the upcoming Zelda. Demonstrations of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were taking place on the booth stage and also “behind closed doors”. The Zelda license was well represented and you could play several of its games. An exhibit went through the history of the game which was celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Everyday, the attendees could compete in tournaments: Splatoon, Pokkén Tournament, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, Monster Hunter Generations, and last but not least Super Smash Bros. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, on top of the coming of Junichi MASUDA, you could get the exclusive Xerneas and Yvertal, in their chromatic forms. Yokai Watch also had pride of honor with a giant Jibanyan on the booth.
As virtual reality is getting more and more popular, PlayStation presented the PlayStation VR. On a dedicated booth, various games offered you exceptional gaming experiences!
Apart from the booth, PlayStation met you on the Také stage for an event about Gravity Rush 2 on PlayStation 4, to be released in a few months.
Square Enix was the meeting place of all Final Fantasy fans. You could try Final Fantasy XV, to be released in a few months’ time. Other Final Fantasy games were featured such as World of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age. The executive producer of World of Final Fantasy, Shinji HASHIMOTO, was available for signings. But there was more! Other games to be released in the coming months were also available for playing, such as Star Ocean 5, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, Dragon Quest Builders, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and I Am Setsuna.
Not only the Final Fantasy games, but also other media of the license were under the spotlights. Takeshi NOZUE, the Director of the CG animation film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, as well as the producer of the anime Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV, Akio OFUJI, were attending the festival. They were part of the Final Fantasy XV Universe event on the Yuzu stage.
The KOEI TECMO/NIS/SNK booth highlighted its latest and upcoming releases like A.O.T.: Wings of Freedom, which you could play for the first time in France. The producer and director of the game Hisashi KOINUMA presented the game on stage, joined by the voice actress playing Mikasa Ackerman, Yui ISHIKAWA.
The new opus of The King of Fighters XIV was also under the spotlight. Its producer Yasuhiro ODA showed a few combos on the Také stage on this occasion.
More events and gaming
Many associations took part in our programming to propose vintage and recent video games, as well as the ever so popular rhythm games!
The huge booth of the association MO5.COM proposed 30 years of vintage video games, for everyone to play! There was also a Saturn Bomberman tournament, with the finals on the Také stage on Sunday. Even UMI☆KUUN gave it a try and fought his fans.
For their first coming, Streets of Rage France proposed beat'em up games from the 90s, and Loisirs Numériques focused on multi-player games. Ouest Games proposed vintage games with Duck Hunt, Tekken 3, Soul Calibur… Rhythm games had pride of honor with the specialized associations, Epitanime-JVM and DDR-Belgium. More of a dancer? Dance Dance Revolution and Just Dance made you move! Kinda lazy? Project Diva, Taiko no Tatsujin and other games gave the tempo.