Tokyo Game Show

I’d heard a lot about the Tokyo Game Show over the years of following the games industry. Often new announcements, footage, interviews, and more would come out of the event. I never imagined I would get to go myself, but living in Japan, I had the perfect opportunity. 

The first Tokyo Game Show (TGS) was held in 1996, and was meant to highlight Japanese developers and their games. Held annually since 2002, it’s only grown each year, and now shares the event with other asian developers, and even international ones. The first two days of the event are only open to industry attendees, but the last two days can be attended by anyone. 

I had seen the event mentioned in a LINE JET group chat, and I'm grateful I happened to see the messages, because otherwise trying to attend the event would never have crossed my mind. TGS was something that existed in news article headlines and gameplay footage videos, it being feasible I could attend in person seemed outlandish. 

But, I grabbed a ticket for only $30, and began counting down the days until I could go see this mythic event with my own two eyes. The event was held at a convention center in Chiba, which was a bit of a pain to get to. On the day of the event, I was supposed to meet up with other interested JETs, but due to some train mishaps and time mismanagement, I ended up on my own. 

It might have been nice to navigate the event with some other people, but this also meant I had the freedom to explore at my own pace. I felt bad running late, so I had them go on without me, with the vague promise of meeting up later, though that never came to pass.

When I arrived at the station, it was immediately crowded. I wasn’t quite sure which way to go, so I simply followed the surge of people. When I saw that the crowds were only getting bigger as I drew closer to the venue, I started getting nervous. 

I followed the flow of people to an entrance, and was greeted by an exceedingly long line. I printed out an advance ticket as instructed, and when I showed it to a staff member, he directed me down an empty path, on the other side of the endless line. I was hesitant, but a few other people were walking that way too, so I pressed on. 

I handed over my ticket, got a wristband, had a quick bag check, and was waved through into the event. The long line must have been for people trying to get their tickets the day of, but either way I was glad I had such a speedy admission. Eventually, I would learn that this was the smaller set of exhibition halls, which may have made my entry much swifter. 

Despite this being the smaller exhibition space, there were certainly enough people. I usually do pretty okay in crowds, my height never makes me feel too claustrophobic, and it’s simply something you have to get used to. When it’s large crowds, plus a pretty unfamiliar, and over stimulating setting though, I have a bit more trouble. 

There were bright lights, rows of booths, and a constant buzz of noise. People stationed at each booth were handing things out. Video screens showed games, computer equipment, gaming accessories, and more. There were people everywhere, some in dazzling cosplay. It was a lot to take in. 

If you’ve ever been to an anime convention you can probably better imagine what this event was like. The Anime Revolution convention in Vancouver was not similar, but this was just on a completely different scale, orders of magnitude larger. Over the four days of the event, it’s reported that 274,739 people attended, in 2019 Anime Revolution reported 25,128 attendees. 

It’s safe to say that this was a lot to take in. I found myself overwhelmed by the crowds once or twice, but overall I’m proud of myself for being able to deal with crowds at that scale. Thankfully, once I got into the venue all I felt was excitement. I grabbed an event guide and tried to plan out all the booths and games I wanted to see. 

My first task was getting out of this smaller exhibition hall(s) and into the main area. This area had halls 9 - 11, which was largely mobile games, gaming equipment, and merchandise. All of the game company booths were in halls 1 - 8. I found a lot of dead ends, before finding a smoking area, and having a quick break to compose myself. 

Eventually, I found my way, and walked all the way down to hall 1. I figured going from 1 to 8 would be the most straightforward method, and then I could clean up anything I missed during a second lap. It’ll be impossible to cover every booth and company, so I’ll mostly stick to the highlights. 

For me, the best was the Atlus booth, a company I’ve adored for a long time now. Ever since I played the Persona games in high school, I’ve kept an eye on this studio. I was delighted by Persona 5, and even more delighted that it helped them break through into mainstream success and acclaim. Their next big project, Metaphor: ReFantazio, was on full display, and I managed to grab a free bag featuring some of the incredible art. 

A big draw of this event is the ability to demo various games from different studios. This was one of the demos I was most tempted by, but Metaphor comes out October 11th, and getting a taste is only going to make the wait harder. Aside from that, every demo line I saw was at least 45 minutes long. Even the smaller games had long lines, and more hotly anticipated games simply closed their lines due to the volume of people already waiting. 

Since I had this lovely free bag though, I began to collect every single thing people were handing out. I figured I would grab as many free pamphlets and papers as possible, and I could sort through them all when I got home.  

Square Enix, Capcom, Sony, Level 5, and a few other booths were the ones that stood out to me, and had great visual design and cool statues and art from their games. I didn’t see any live talks or showcases, since those were all in Japanese, and more likely than not they would be livestreamed and I could see them later. 

I mostly walked around, tried to take in all the sights and booths, and just enjoy this experience. I may never get another chance to go to TGS, and I wanted to savor as much of it as I could.  

I didn’t learn about any new titles to get excited about, but for the games I already knew about, I could feel the excitement building as I got to see them in action. Phantom Brave The Lost Hero, Monster Hunter Wilds, Fantasian Neo Dimension, Dragon Quest 3HD, and so much more were all a delight to catch glimpses of, no matter how small. 

Eventually, fatigue began to set in after a few hours wandering around, and I endeavored to get some cool merch before heading out for some food. To my dismay, most of the merch stores I was interested in were already closed, likely due to the high volume of customers. I snagged a few things from a gacha machine, but this event will mostly live in my memories, photos, and this very article. 

Being at Tokyo Game Show was such a surreal experience, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. It was just nice to be around so many people who love and appreciate the same kind of media that you do. I’ve always struggled to find friends with similar interests in games, and things like this remind you that you’re not alone. Games, and media broadly, can really impact people and bring them together.