Not game over, games go social at Tokyo exhibition

CHIBA, JAPAN (AP) - The Tokyo Game Show is highlighting both anticipation and worries in the industry.

Smartphones and other computer-like devices are luring people away from consoles devoted to video games, such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.

Game fans are waiting for the arrival of console upgrades _ perhaps a PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720. Nintendo Co. announced earlier this month that its Wii U home console was going on sale later this year.

Some booths at the show, opening Thursday, are highlighting games for smartphones, a big area of growth, including social games, another expanding area, in which players interact with each other.

Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief executive of Gree, a Japanese social games company, said he was looking to emerging markets for a new wave of growth.