Introduction
With every year that passes us, Tokyo Game Show continues to grow exponentially, with more and more fans from all across Japan and the world, coming together under one enormous roof to share their passion. Whether you’re a casual gamer or looking to be the next eSports champion on the main stage, Tokyo Game Show 2018 has brought both worlds together to encourage fans to create a community is united. This years event showcased a lot of spectacular titles, ranging from Kingdom Hearts III to Judge Eyes from SEGA, along with a plethora of heavy-hitters from Bandai Namco and more. If you haven’t been to a gaming event in Japan, then Tokyo Game Show is one that you certainly cannot miss!
Tokyo Game Show -Basic Information-
| Tokyo Game Show 2018 Website: | https://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2018/exhibition/english/ |
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| Length of event: | September 20-21 (Business Days) September 22-23 (Public Days) |
| Location: | Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan |
| Admission: | ¥ 1,500 |
What to Expect
Tokyo Game Show is Japan’s E3 equivalent, and showcases a lot of titles that will release in Japan before they reach the western shores. It’s also a place where aspiring students come with their universities and set up booths to show off their development prowess to the gaming world, in hopes that a big publisher will notice their hard work. This years event showcased just about everything ranging from indie titles not only from Japan but from all across the globe, major titles from companies like Square Enix, Sony, SEGA and more, plus a plethora of other activities that gamers can participate in. Tokyo Game Show 2018 is the candy shop for passionate gaming fans, and there’s a cornucopia of sweet options to choose from. With game demos up on display for fans to pick up and play, along with attractive booths for everyone to take photographs of, Tokyo Game Show 2018 has become an event that’s not just an attraction, it’s an experience unlike no other.
Walking into the event is like seeing the future, almost like a Neo-Gaming version of Tokyo where neon lights shine brightly around you, booths looking like they’ve come out of a futuristic fairy tale, and games that continuously push the boundaries in terms of their visual appeal and presentation. Cosplay girls are scattered all throughout the event, and whether you’re male or female there’s always something to appreciate about their outfits, even if they may be a bit too revealing at times. Tokyo Game Show 2018 is becoming more of a blockbuster event rather than just a simple gaming expo like it used to be many years ago, gaining the attention of people outside of the gaming world, and again eSports taking precedence. Whether you like it or not, eSports are certainly becoming more than just a trend for gamers; they’re now becoming a lifestyle choice for a lot of people, and Tokyo Game Show 2018 is creating that platform for them.
What to Bring in Order to Enjoy the Event
Tokyo Game Show 2018 is nevertheless an event that’s all about the games, whether it’s on a competitive level or simply just for entertainment. If you want to capture all of the action, then we highly recommend carrying around a camera —if you own one— or simply grabbing your smartphone and snapping whatever you can, because the venue is a visually stimulating ordeal. If you intend to do any sort of shopping for those limited edition goodies, then definitely carry around a large amount of yen because items aren’t going to come cheap. On top of that, make sure you grab an extra bag! If you want to buy a Christmas list of things, the venue bags aren’t really the most durable and so you’ll need to carry something a little more sturdy.
After all of that shopping, you’re most likely going to either be thirsty or hungry... or perhaps both, in which case you’ll need that extra money to grab some food. Luckily, the venue has a decent amount of restaurants and shops for you to grab a bowl of ramen or if you’re low on yen, maybe a few onigiri and some water to stay hydrated. All in all, make sure to come prepared if you intend to stay long because lineups to play games are taxing on the feet, and just walking around for even an hour can be a tiresome experience. Most importantly though, bring some of your friends along so that your overall experience may be just a little bit more exciting!
What to do While There / What is Available
Like any other gaming event, Tokyo Game Show 2018 is all about the games and getting the chance to try them out before the rest of the world. It’s that feeling of exclusivity that is quite alluring to fans and getting the chance to play a game that isn’t out yet is a soothing experience. There’s quite a lot to do since Tokyo Game Show 2018 is massive, with almost every hall being used for just about everything. If you want to experience the foreign side of the event, there are halls dedicated entirely to foreign companies and their upcoming titles for fans to check out. Many of them are indie titles but you should never undermine the indie scene since there’s surprisingly a lot of titles that stand out, even more so than the AAA titles that many of us become subjected to. You then have the main section of the event which caters to all the major companies like SEGA, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, Konami, Sony, Level 5, Koei Tecmo, KLabGames and the list goes on. In this area you’ll find a plethora of new games to play such as Dead or Alive 6, Dragon Quest Builders 2, JUMP FORCE, Kingdom Hearts III and more. It’s pretty much a gamer’s dreamland and every corner you turn there’s always something that piques your interest.
For us, the most attractive booth at this year’s Tokyo Game Show has to be Sony’s PlayStation booth, because it just had this very futuristic feel to it, but still maintained a simplistic aura. The bluish hues really helped to set the tone once you walked in, and it felt like walking into a nightclub full of gaming consoles ready to be played with. Lineups weren’t as long as we expected, but that would mostly be due to the fact that we attended on business day, and normally both days typically only cater to those in the industry. We imagine that lines would be mind-blowingly long on public day, but thankfully we had the fortunate chance to attend earlier and not experience that. Another very attractive booth that takes second place on our list is KLabGames because every year, their booth continues to grow even bigger, and its bubblegum pink hues really stand out in a remarkable way. It’s certainly eye-catching in every possible way, with its cosplayers looking even more beautiful every time. Their booth also had a good balance of both music entertainment, along with popular titles for players to experience such as Love Live!
We spent a good chunk of time walking around the booth and playing some Love Live! for ourselves, which you can read more about in our booth report for KLabGames later! Cosplayers this year really stood out, and the models definitely took things to another level with their appearance. Some of them definitely were more revealing than we expected but hey, if it grabbed your attention and brought you to the booth, then surely the marketing paid off! Shoutouts to SEGA and the mobile gaming booths for that!
Another big surprise that we encountered during Tokyo Game Show 2018 was the appearance of Samsung, a Korean company that’s notable more for their smartphone and television products, now making waves at the show. This proves that Tokyo Game Show 2018 is once again evolving into something bigger, allowing for more companies to come together under one roof to share the gaming experience. Look forward to more detailed breakdowns of the games we played at the event in our post impressions, which will be up soon!
Final Thoughts
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Overall, Tokyo Game Show 2018 delivered in every possible way and we were more than ecstatic about how things turned out. We saw a lot more popular faces wandering around the event like Hideo Kojima, Toshihiro Nagoshi (creator of Yakuza franchise), Yu Suzuki, among many more. This only solidifies the fact that Tokyo Game Show is an event that cannot be ignored and will only continue to attract hundreds of thousands of fans every single year. Thanks to all of the developers and producers we had a chance to interview as well, be sure to look out for those!
For all things otaku, be sure to keep it locked here on Honey’s Anime!
Author: Rob "NualphaJPN" B.
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