Oct 2, 2013 6:30 AM

Gallery: Long Exiled, Tokyo's Indie Game Makers See Signs of Breakthrough

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The Indie Games Area was relocated to an auxillary hall alongside the family-themed space and cosplayer area, so many visitors were children or adults in full costume. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
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For the two days when the Tokyo Game Show was open to the general public, the Indie Games Area was in a building located across the street from the main hall. Above: signs show how separate the two events were. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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Lead Programmer "Tony" plays his music rhythm iOS game O! Beat at the Indie Games Area of the Tokyo Game Show. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
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Tony (left) and Dofi (right), makers of O! Beat. Both from Taiwan, they said this year's Tokyo Game Show was their first event as a team, having joined together just six months beforehand. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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"A lot of people came, so I was very surprised," said Masahiro Onoguchi, creator of the fighting game EF-12. He hopes fan enthusiasm for his game will get it featured on the mock-betting site Salty Bet. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
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Henrik Flink (left) and Rickard Westman (right) were showing their game Pavilion, due out next year for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. Both Swedish, the two are now living and working half a world apart since Henrik moved to Tokyo. "It's sort of a Skype company," said Rickard. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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"I've made games before but this is my first commercial one," said Benjamin DuBois, whose coding game JSIDD is currently an Ouya exclusive. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
Photo: Infinity Aerospace
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"To go from nothing to actually having a place where indie developers can very easily come here and show off a variety of games, it's really cool," said Christine Love, maker of Analogue: A Hate Story. This was her first Tokyo Game Show. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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"A lot of the Japanese audience, they don't know the concept of 'indie' just yet." Ryo Agarie feels indie game creators must work to educate the public about what it is they do. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
Photo: Wikipedia
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Gino Kuo (left) and Julian Kuo (right), showing their iOS puzzle/RPG hybrid Hero Emblems, their first game as a team. They said their ability to come to future indie events in Tokyo rested on this project's success. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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Galak-Z, the upcoming PlayStation 4 indie space shooter, being shown at IndieStream inside Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*
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Takumi Naramura, director of La Mulana, shows his game running on a PlayStation Vita for the first time. His company Nigoro is collaborating with Sony and other indie developers on the new IndieStream initiative. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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Keiji Inafune, veteran developer headlining the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter, seen here playing games at Sony's IndieStream event in Tokyo. *Photo: Daniel Feit/WIRED*

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