Tokyo Game Show bigger and better than ever

12.10.2008 by Patrick W. Galbraith

Tokyo Game Show 2008 (TGS), held October 9-12 at Makuhari Messe, lived up to its reputation as the world’s leading, and certainly its largest event for electronic entertainment. After what was described as a disappointing Games Convention in Leipzig, TGS seemed even more like manna from the heavens. The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, Nikkei Business Publications, MITI and NTT Docomo collaborated to bring in 209 exhibitors manning 1768 booths, the highest numbers since TGS’s establishment in 1996. The inclusion of tie-ins to the Japan International Contents Festival, the world’s largest and longest season of comprehensive contents events, was also effective. A full 879 titles were displayed, up from 702 last year because of what organizers described as a boom in sequels for popular franchises on console, handheld and mobile platforms and a new market in women and seniors. TGS occupied eight halls (dwarfing C3xHobby, the other notable event hosted by Makuhari Messe), a whopping 54,000 square meters, so it didn’t seem crowded despite some 180,000 souls passing through over the course of four days. Aside from the games themselves, visitors enjoyed the “Sense of Wonder Night” screening of international games, TGS Movie HD 5.1 Theater and the Game Science Museum.

Square-Enix dominated this year, with almost 30 titles on parade and numerous anime, product and tie-in announcements. Just to name a few: “Chrono Trigger,” “Dragon Quest IX” and a new “Valkyrie Profile” for DS, “Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time” and “Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days” for Wii, “Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road” card game with arcade machines, “Kingdom Hearts: Coded” mobile game for Docomo, “Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep” and “Final Fantasy: Agito XIII” for PSP, “Final Fantasy XIII” and “Final Fantasy: Versus XIII” for PS3, “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete” on Blu-ray Disc and even an iPod exclusive RPG called “Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes.” The list is endless, and no other software maker could compete. Of course the Playstation pavilion was all theirs, and most popular at Xbox seemed to be “Fallout,” “Last Remnant” and “Star Ocean: The Last Hope,” the latter two Square-Enix offering. Nintendo, usually noted as an exception for going their own way with family-friendly entertainment enjoyed by women, children and seniors, also notably carried Square-Enix titles for Wii and DS. This seemed a little incongruous given their presentation.

Capcom was the next big winner with “Monster Hunter 3,” which came complete with its own promotion village at TGS, “Street Fighter IV” and “Biohazard 5” and "Biohazard Degeneration." Many are predicting one of their titles, perhaps the smash-hit “Monster Hunter,” to take the prize for best game this year. Konami could also take it with “Metal Gear Solid 4,” a popular attraction at TGS. Konami also erected a haunted house-like booth for “Silent Hill: Homecoming,” which was a visceral and terrifying experience. SNK made a splash with “Kimi no Yusha” (Your Hero) and “King of Fighters XII,” the former a promising RPG and the latter an updated installment of the venerable 15-year-old fighter that now looks a lot like “Guilty Gear” and hopefully will be as good. Marvelous Entertainment may have a hit with the stylish “Arc Rise Fantasia” RPG, and Taito’s “Space Puzzle Bubble” was enjoyable. As a collector of the original figures, seeing "Testudo Musume" on DS was rewarding. Most random was probably an earthquake simulator that was consistently swarmed by fans photographing “booth babes” getting shaken up by magnitude seven tremors. Most disappointing was likely the EA booth, which had little to offer despite its size. Something definitely to watch out for is the entrance of the Japanese cell phone industry into gaming, with Docomo and AU especially pushing hard. Docomo had content from Bandai, Konami, Taito and others.

In addition to the more spacious venue and decidedly less hectic pace than events such as Wonder Festival and Comike, TGS was a virtual feast of sight and sound. Bright, flashing displaying emerging from low lighting; the dull roar audio tracks and promotion videos; scantily clad booth babes on every corner; an atmosphere that can only be described as dramatic. While there were two-hour waits to test popular games or see trailers for particularly anticipated titles (by late morning some were already giving out tickets to come back in the late afternoon), there was much to see even standing in line. Most people just played their handhelds while waiting patiently and quietly. As the organizers said, there were many family groups of women and children and even some older folks in the placid mobs. Many made their way to the Kids Corner, the most relaxed area where 19 exhibitors operated 75 booths in what approached a school festival. There were many gaming institutions and professional schools with works on display, general interest titles to test and an area for dining nearby.


On the commercial and goodies side, TGS official merchandise was offered for the first time, but the 12 exclusive items lost out to the Capcom booth, which had a strong showing for “Monster Hunter.” It was right next to the new “Monster Hunter Trading Card Game” testing area, complete with a card-wielding cat cook, so many fanatics stopped by. Event regulars such as Cospa and Square-Enix Showroom were on hand, but both were carbon copies of their retail outlets.






There was an area for cosplay, but Makuhari Messe as always limited it to a tiny strip sandwiched between two halls. The intrepid photographer willing to brave going against the tides of people in transit from one hall to another – and hell bent for leather on getting there! – could look forward mediocre costumes, but with some good showings for (of course) game characters. The Final Fantasy and Pokemon franchises and various fighting games were the best represented, but the random "Macross Frontier" cosplayers preparing for the new movie were the most outstanding. They will certainly be at Comike, the largest gathering of cosplayers, so those who didn’t catch them didn’t miss much.

One of the most pleasant surprises at TGS this year was the international participation. Exhibitors from 13 countries (USA, UK, India, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Finland, France and Hong Kong) came, with Taiwan displaying some especially impressive work. From story and practice (getting Shokotan's image) to characters (one looked like Ranka Lee) and style, they went pound for pound with many Japanese companies. The Netherlands also drew a lot of media attention.

Tokyo Game Show 2008