CESA Opens the Flood Gates

TOKYO - Are you claustrophobic? Don't like being squeezed through aisles or pushed through crowds? Well, you'll want to avoid any future Tokyo Game Shows. Like last spring, today (the first public day of the three-day exhibition) was packed with avid game players trying to get a look at the hottest new games. As the doors opened at 9:30 am, they raced to the machines, mostly to the goods area where companies were selling game-based items.

After a few more minutes, the place was almost filled up to the point where it would be nearly impossible to play much of anything. Crowds quickly formed around Namco, Capcom, Konami, Sony, Sega, Square, Taito, and others booths, expanding so that even the aisles were full of people watching videos or games being played at the booths.

An interesting note is that the train station at Makuhari Messe was turned into a “Dreamcast Station” of sorts, with DC banners with bags and tissue boxes being handed out left and right. Of course, the bags were a smart move on Sega's part – giving each showgoer a bag at the station meant you would see the bags everywhere.

So read our Day 2 coverage of the Tokyo Game Show and stay tuned tomorrow for our show wrap-up from everyone at the Video Game Group (staffers from EGM, GameSpot News, and our Tokyo-based team) who attended the show.