CHIBA, Japan (AP) — A startup little known outside Japan that offers games for cellphones is emerging as the new star at this year’s Tokyo video game exhibition, usually dominated by big-name console-makers like Sony and Microsoft.
Gree Inc., which began just seven years ago, had its first booth ever at the sprawling Tokyo Game Show, which previewed to media Thursday ahead of its opening to the public later this week at an event hall in this Tokyo suburb.
Its stardom underlines the arrival of “social games,” played on smartphones and tablet devices. That means people are turning to games the same way they are using social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Yoshikazu Tanaka, the 34-year-old founder of Gree, said he was serious about expanding business overseas.
