ALEX QUEJADO WRITES — The 10th Annual Game Show and Trade All-Round, stylized as G-Star, took place from November 20- 23 in Busan, South Korea. G-Star, a major gaming convention showcasing upcoming projects from Korean and foreign developers alike, is widely regarded as the fourth most popular game convention in the world. The attendance rate illustrates its growing popularity; with over 200 thousand estimated visitors, G-Star’s numbers rival Japan’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS), considered to be the third largest gaming convention and often raking in approximately 220 thousand visitors.
Present at the show was Korean game giant Nexon, popular for their massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as Maplestory, Mabinogi and Vindictus. Nexon showcased a trailer for the former’s long awaited sequel, Maplestory 2, and an upcoming first person shooter (FPS) which will be based on the popular Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex anime. Also present was NCSoft, the developer behind Aion, Blade & Soul, and the Lineage series. NCSoft revealed Lineage Eternal, which will be the next game in the series, as well as Project HON, a mecha based, giant robot tanks shooter.
Perhaps the biggest piece of eye candy at G-Star (in a very literal sense) was the demonstration of the upcoming Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The Oculus team brought with them the latest iteration of the Rift, the Crescent Bay prototype, for attendees to demo. This iteration boasts better specs than the previous Developer Kit 2 (DK2) with a higher resolution display and integrated audio. Oculus wasn’t the only thing turning heads; Samsung showcased their upcoming Gear VR (virtual reality) which will operate on Oculus software. The Gear VR will operate on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 and is slated for release later this month.