Onsite Exhibition

The games can be played on this website and they are also available at the onsite exhibition held at Tokyo Geidai’s Ueno campus.
In order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the number of visitors is controlled. Please make reservations through the form below.
Onsite exhibition period: March 17-18, 2023

Greetings

  • 桐山 孝司/Takashi Kiriyama
    桐山 孝司 Takashi Kiriyama
    Professor, Department of New Media
    Dean, Graduate School of Film and New Media
    Tokyo University of the Arts

    New Directions Presented in GEIDAI GAMES 04

    GEIDAI GAMES 04 will be held with the attendance of the team members from USC for the first time since the GEIDAI GAMES exhibition started in September 2020.
    The Japan-US Educational Initiative on Creating Games between Tokyo Geidai and USC, which had included online elements since its launch in 2018, turned out to be a good practice for global collaboration in the COVID-19 situation. However, this time, we expect that the dialogue happening in a physical exhibition will bring forth many inspirations.
    There are also new components which will be presented at GEIDAI GAMES 04 that bring games into an art context. Under the ArtDX project, which promotes the application of digital technologies in the entire university, Ryoya Usuha started a new course of game production practice for undergraduate students. Some of the results from his class will be exhibited. PhD student Issei Yamagata will be showing “Farewells” as an outcome of his research in the doctoral program. In the Art Innovation Center, an exhibition of an old Yokohama streetcar using photogrammetry and volumetric capture (4D scanning) will be displayed. We would be grateful if you could enjoy these exhibits as new developments of games in the arts.

  • 岡本 美津子/Mitsuko Okamoto
    岡本 美津子 Mitsuko Okamoto
    Vice President
    Professor, Department of Animation
    Graduate School of Film and New Media
    Tokyo University of the Arts

    Findings on the A to G Project

    One of the research themes of the games track at Tokyo Geidai is what we call the A to G Project. We are trying to find common grounds in the production pipelines of animation and games. At first glance, the thought and making processes of animation and games seem similar, but in fact, the divide is quite wide.
    Generally, in the preproduction stage of animation, first comes a reliable storyboard followed by layouts which are rough designs for the actions and backgrounds in each scene. Then, the animating begins, usually from keys to inbetweens. In most cases, it is possible to imagine what the final film will look like even in the beginning stages.
    On the other hand, when creating a game, the prototype and its later versions are playtested again and again as it develops into a vertical slice, alpha, beta, and so on. Between each step the game is tested and reviewed, therefore sometimes changing its course completely. What it ends up being could be rather different from how it was first planned.
    Even the word “finished” has very different connotations in animation and games. In our graduate school, a finalized animation cannot be modified in any way after its release. However, the games students can continue to polish and debug their thesis projects after they are finished for school and prepare them for public release. Many of them go on to make upgrades and patches after the release as well.
    In animation, the end of production is the actual end, but in games, there is no end to the production.
    The chain of thought that generates when comparing animation to games seems to go on forever. There are many interesting aspects worth pursuing.

GEIDAI × Industry

  • Industry Involvement in Academia

    Up until the end of the academic year 2019, one mentor from the Square Enix Group was assigned to each student. A new practice was implemented in 2020 where one mentor gives guidance to all of the students and their projects comprehensively. Producer Takashi Tokita began this new journey with us and has stayed on in 2021 as well. Now appointed as Tokyo Geidai Visiting Professor, Tokita continues to provide advice that is on the mark and eye-opening.

  • 時田貴司/Takashi Tokita
    時田貴司 Takashi Tokita
    Producer, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. Visiting Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
    Tokita began creating games in 1984 as a part-time job while pursuing theater. He has participated in games production as a designer, planner, director, and most recently, as producer. His main projects include FINAL FANTASY IV, LIVE A LIVE, Chrono Trigger, the Hanjuku Hero series, and Nanashi no Game.

    A Game Is Art and Dream Combined

    The origin of games is said to be the simulation of growth and survival. While there are a variety of games such as fingerplays, sports, and board games, digital games in particular have constantly evolved with the times, and the ways to enjoy them keep becoming more and more diverse. In Japan, games have never been confined to one genre. They have joined hands with film, manga and anime, and have walked together in an entertainment alliance. And many creators contributed to this force with their work.

    Art = 芸 (gā)
    Dream = 夢 (mo͞o)
    Game = 芸夢 (gāmo͞o)

    芸夢魂 = The Game Spirit
    This is my motto that I conjured up on impulse when I was young. I’ve been using it for a long time now, and it has grown on me as a pretty good coinage. It’s about expressing the spark born out of your heart by pouring everything you have into realizing it. By sharing the game you made, you can connect with other people. The world opens up in front of you. The coronavirus chaos is still binding this planet with tension, but your Game Spirit is one-of-a-kind and free to traverse categories and boundaries. I look forward to seeing new worlds through your games!

Credits

Organized by
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media
Cooperation
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
City of Yokohama Culture and Tourism Bureau
Tokyo Geidai ArtDX Projects
Tokyo University of the Arts COI-NEXT
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media
Takashi Kiriyama   Mitsuko Okamoto   Yuichi Matsumoto   
Asako Eguchi   Nahomi Maki   Ryoya Usuha   Keigo Ito
Noriko Yoshino   Isamu Kubota   Yoriko Nishikawa
Tokyo University of the Arts International Initiatives Planning Section
Mihoko Toshima   Motoshiro Fujii
Square Enix
Takashi Tokita
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
Andreas Kratky   Peter Brinson
Key Visual
Meijun Fu (Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media)