Today, September 20th, marked the first day of the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Today and tomorrow are both set aside as business days, allowing media and industry types a little bit of breathing room and meeting time before the Japanese public is unleashed on the show on September 22nd and 23rd. Over 180,000 attendees are expected this year, and more than 200 exhibitors in over 1,700 booths will show their wares in eight halls spanning 54,000 square meters.
Of the 700 titles shown, we were surprised to hear that the largest percentage of floor titles will be mobile phone games, which account for over 30 percent of what attendees will see. PC software isn't far behind with 22 percent. As for the console titles, no one is surprised that the Nintendo DS has the most titles of any console, with over 17 percent on show, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 come in at less than 5 percent each.
But, rather than just rattling off news for the next four or five days, we thought it would be nice to share some of the not-so-covered aspects of attending the Tokyo Game Show. One of those things you never hear or read about is the process of actually getting to and inside the event, so we took a camera and photo-documented our travels to this first day of TGS.
Hit the jump to read and see our journey to the show.
The Tokyo Game Show is actually held right outside the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, located in Mihama-ku, Chiba city at a place called Makuhari Messse. From where we're staying in Shinjuku, it takes about 50 minutes away by train to arrive at the convention center.
Upon arriving via the Keiyo line, we followed the large crowd out of the station and toward the convention center.
Still following. Note: no white people in sight.
Ah, now we're getting somewhere.
Ooh, stop -- photo op. More touching is good. They hit attendees early with ads for Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo. Ask the guys at Japanator if you don't understand.
We have signage!
We thought we could just walk into the main entrance, but we were wrong. Do you see those people on the right?
Yeah...
Mind you, this was a business day, so this line is only industry people. Registered attendees still had to wait in this line to show their credentials and receive their badge. The worst part is that we have to repeat this process every day. This miserable line extends outside into the muggy Japanese heat:
Luckily we were stopped by this kind fellow as we headed to the back of the line. You may know this tall, bald white man as Cheap Ass Gamer's very own Cheapy D. Let's just say that he "helped" our line position greatly. Thanks, buddy.
We made it! We're goin' in. Here's a quick peek at only one of the halls. Stay tuned for much more coverage of the 2007 Tokyo Game Show.
Contest:
11:34 AM on 09.20.2007
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It's true, I saw it happen to a friend of mine.