TGS '07: The masses overrun the Messe
Japan's premier gaming event opens its doors to frenzied hordes of booth babes, cosplayers, game fans, and media.
TOKYO--The third day of the Tokyo Game Show is the first day that the doors of the Makuhari Messe open to the public. During the prior 48 hours, admittance to the suburban convention centre was reserved solely for members of the media and industry insiders with clout enough to gain entry.
GameSpot's temporary Tokyo HQ on the 46th floor of the plush Tokyo Bay Makuhari Hotel had a bird's-eye view of attendees massing in front of the convention centre hours before it opened. The line's size began to swell around 7 a.m., eventually stretching all the way around the Messe's extensive circumference--five or six people wide--by the time the doors were unlocked at 10 a.m.
The heavy turnout wasn't exactly a big surprise. The event's organisers at the Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA) had already stated that this year's TGS had record numbers of companies and booths. Indeed, by mid-afternoon, the crowd's density made movement within the convention centre difficult, and many game stations were turning away potential players. By CESA's forecast, over 180,000 people will attend this event--a number that seemed conservative to anyone emerging from the jam-packed scrum on the show floor.
This year, TGS' show floor was split into three main areas. Halls 7 and 8 housed the kids, education, and merchandising areas and the food court. Halls 4, 5, and 6 contained the booths of some of Japan's highest-profile publishers: Sony, Sega, Konami, Tecmo, and Namco Bandai, as well as the mobile-games area. Finally, Halls 1, 2, and 3, where the public enter the show, is home to more big names such as Square Enix, Capcom, Koei, and Microsoft, along with the Overseas Pavilion, which featured stands from Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, and Australia.
Of the 217 companies exhibiting this year, Sony had the biggest booth, with myriad games on display in Halls 4 and 5. In Hall 6, the game giant showed off its recently announced Dual Shock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3.
Kitty-corner to Sony was the Konami booth, where the central focus was on the PlayStation 3 exclusives Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Online. To emphasize the series' martial themes, the area was decked out like a military base, complete with barbed wire, sandbags, and warning signs.
In Halls 1, 2 and 3, Square Enix had installed a closed megatheatre, where it was showing off trailers of its upcoming titles. On the first business day of TGS, the company had announced it would be bringing three new Kingdom Hearts titles to the world, and its booth sported some life-size Kingdom Hearts figures. Playing on the outside was the short but sweet trailer for the Xbox 360-exclusive role-playing game Infinite Undiscovery, which seemed to generate as much confusion as interest.
Just in front of Square Enix, Capcom had constructed one of the more imaginative booths of the show, with each game on display in a customized room. For example, creepily framed flatscreen TVs sat above Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles Wii stations inside a haunted house, complete with dim lighting and gothic chandeliers. (Unfortunately, despite the ornate nature of the display, Capcom expressly forbade photography of any sort.) Nearby was the semi-infamous game Parse Rorunpe: Empty Wars of Magic, which has players navigate onscreen action by sitting on and manipulating a vibrating broom.
In between Halls 3 and 4 lay the heart of cosplay territory. The throngs of elaborately costumed attendees drew crowds of photographers who stand in line to snap pictures of their subjects in a variety of different poses. Some of the more enthusiastic shutterbugs asked for autographs and stopped to chat with them afterwards.
In the merchandise area, Square Enix and Capcom set up stalls stocked with soundtracks, plush toys, figures, and clothing. There were also a number of other companies with smaller, queue-less booths selling a variety of goods, including some questionable products. Within minutes of the show opening, the queues for both were already very substantial, and continued to grow as the day went on.
Though Microsoft was on hand to try to boost the Xbox 360's flagging fortunes in Japan, another next-generation console maker was nowhere to be seen. Although there were a huge number of Wii and DS games at TGS, Nintendo's absence was glaring, especially because Satoru Iwata used TGS 2005 to introduce the now-ubiquitous Wii Remote. But while the Mario Factory being MIA was at the back of everyone's minds, it didn't deter the crowd from drinking in TGS's overflow of sights and sounds.
Content you might like…
-
Battle Of The Booth Babes
Games? Who cares about games? Our reporters give a personal view on ECTS's finest assets.
- Sep 7, 1999
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Nov. 'biggest month in Xbox 360 history' - Microsoft
Despite dip in console sales, Aaron Greenberg says Xbox 360 hardware, software, and accessories sales were a record $838 million--thanks largely to Modern Warfare 2. Full Story
- Posted Dec 11, 2009 11:31 am PT
- 93 Comments
-
Martin Sheen, Tricia Helfer sounding off in Mass Effect 2
BioWare's sci-fi RPG gains celebrity voice cast, including Seth Green, Keith David, Adam Baldwin, Michael Hogan, Carrie-Anne Moss, more. Full Story
- Posted Dec 10, 2009 11:10 am PT
- 86 Comments
Featured Stories
-
Nov. sales down 7.6%, 6M Modern Warfare 2s sold - NPD
Activision blockbuster can't save industry from posting eighth loss in last nine months; New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Assassin's Creed II, Left 4 Dead 2, Dragon Age make top 10. Full Story
- Posted Dec 10, 2009 4:03 pm PT
- 434 Comments
-
Under 114,000 ride Tony Hawk in November
US sales figures show Activision's heavily hyped, peripheral-based reboot of once-iconic skate series sells just 67,000 units on Wii, 30,000 on 360, and 16,000 on PS3. Full Story
- Posted Dec 10, 2009 5:03 pm PT
- 221 Comments
-
Borderlands expands with Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
Second add-on to Gearbox's postapocalyptic RPG-shooter includes new "Smash TV" mode, bank storage, skill points; 360 edition due Dec. 29, PS3 Jan. 7; PC TBA. Full Story
- Posted Dec 10, 2009 12:39 pm PT
-
Mega Man 10 charging up
Capcom's blue bomber to get another retro revival on WiiWare; Sheep Man the latest addition to robotic rogue's gallery. Full Story
- Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:17 pm PT
- 235 Comments
-
EA Sports announcing new game in January
Community manager indicates an original title from Electronic Arts' athletic label will be revealed next month. Full Story
- Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:35 pm PT
- 233 Comments
Submit News
Related Game
- Konami
- Kojima Productions
- Modern Action Adventure
- Release: Jun 12, 2008 »
- ESRB: Mature
Related Games
Recent News
-
Dec. game sales drop to cap 'miserable' 2009 - Analysts
Double-digit drop predicted for last month of the year; Modern Warfare 2 "sucking the air" out of lesser games' sales, 2010 delays justified.
79 Comments
Sign in / Sign up