Tokyo Game Show focuses on social, smartphones

It's not quite game over at the annual Tokyo Game Show opening Thursday, but with smartphones, tablets and other computer-like devices luring people away from the once-dominant consoles devoted to video games, the rules of the game have changed.Adding to the uncertainty is the long wait for the possible successors to such game consoles as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 - perhaps a PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720. Nintendo's Wii U home console goes on sale in November in the U.S. and Europe, and on Dec. 8 in Japan."The game industry in general is still very much in a state of flux," said game veteran Mark MacDonald, executive director at Tokyo-based 8-4, which localizes and consults about games, including "Monster Hunter 4," one of the blockbusters displayed at the show."Mobile and social games continue to grow, and although some business models have emerged, everyone still seems uncertain of their future. Will they keep growing? Will they be looked back on as a fad? Or are they the future?" MacDonald said.This year's TGS has a focus on smartphone and social games

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