Here's a few questions--
I've got a passionate dislike for most Japanese games for their plot weaknesses and one-dimensional characters punctuated with terrible dialogue. I know that Western-developed shooters have many similarly well-worn conventions, for example they seem to all have a protagonist that's a marine or a space marine shooting rocket launchers. How are Western-developed *non-shooters* along the lines of RPG's like Fable 3, Mass Effect 2 on PS3, Dragon Age 2, or a strategy game like Civ V being received by Japanese gamers and/or the Japanese gaming press?
By the way, with space being at such a premium in Japanese homes, I'd think a service like Steam would be really popular. Is that correct, or do Japanese gamers still prefer their games in boxes purchased at their local Sofmap?
How's the MS booth looking? Are they still trying to be a contender in the Japanese market, or just paying it lip service like they were a couple of years back? More importantly, did their party have an open bar, or just a lousy cash bar?
Looking forward to your coverage.