TGS 2007 details released

The Tokyo Game Show 2007 is shaping up--and the event looks set to be the biggest ever. The TGS Web site has just been updated to include a list of exhibitors that will have booths at this year's event--so far, it totals 168 companies taking up 1,708 booth units. Last year's show, by comparison, had 148 exhibitors occupying 1,701 booth units.

The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, which organises the event, commented that it attributed the supersizing of this year's event to the fact that "this year marks the full-scale introduction of software titles for the new game platforms released over the past one to two years."

The theme of this year's TGS is "Link up, Reach out, To the World." The event always has a loose "theme;" last year's was "New Excitement. New Sensations. A New Generation," and 2005's was "Your Front Row Ticket to the Next Generation of Gaming."

Some of the exhibitors confirmed for this year include Capcom, Koei, Konami, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, Sega, Sony, and Square Enix.

There will also be a number of themed pavilions, including an Australia Pavilion, a Canada Pavilion, a Taiwan Pavilion, and a Thailand Pavilion--each highlighting games from their respective countries. Alongside these will be other specialised areas, including a mobile contents section and a children's games section.

This year's TGS will run for two days for business and the industry, September 20 and 21, and will be open to the public on September 22 and 23. As part of this, last year's Developer Tools and Middleware Corner will be renamed the Business Solutions Corner, and this year will have 29 exhibitors compared to 12 last year. 180,000 people are expected to attend from across the world.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai will deliver the keynote address on September 20, titled "A Look at Our Business Strategy Toward New Growth: The Expanding PlayStation World." Other sessions will focus on online games, characters, mobile phone games, finance, and marketing.

Nintendo was notably absent from the exhibitor list, although a spokesperson for the company told GameSpot that its absence from the initial lineup did not necessarily mean it would not be present. They said, "We've not announced our plans yet for TGS 2007. Although it is worth nothing that we haven't taken part in many TGS events over the last few years--so were we not to be present it would not be unusual."