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TGS 2023 took place last week from Sep 21 – Sun, Sep 24, 2023. For those who couldn't attend, we’ve got you covered! Let’s dive into the event and explore what its all about!

Tokyo Game Show commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. TGS is one of the world's largest gaming events, and it's a great place for anime and gaming fans to check out the latest and greatest in the industry.

Held annually in the Makuhari Messe convention center every September, it is a fun time for those otaku brave enough to leave their homes. The main focus is on Japanese games, but in recent years the international video game developer section has been growing. The event lasts four days, two for industry attendees (business) and two for the general public.

The convection was first held in 1996 and has been growing ever since. The total number of attendees for 2023 was around 240,000 thousand, slightly less than the 2019 pre-covid convention. While many gaming conventions around the world have been downsizing, TGS is still going strong. Some big names like Sony and Nintendo were missing this year, but with good attendance there is hope they will return in the future!

The number one thing you can find at TGS is… lines. Line up to get in.

Line up to play a game.

Line up to get food.

Line up to use the bathroom. If you do not do well with crowds, TGS is probably not for you…

The layout varies each year but you can find exhibition areas consisting of various types of games, education, hardware, eSports and merchandise. The convention used Halls 1 through 10 of Makuhari Messe so it is pretty massive in scale. If you are hoping to try every major game, it may not be possible even if you attend multiple days.

The General Exhibition Area is the heart of the show, taking up the largest amount of space, and is held where digital gaming entertainment or any related products or services are showcased.

Many well-known companies such as Bandai Namco, Capcom, Konami and Square Enix have demo areas here, in addition to smaller, growing companies like arcade-style mobile rhythm game Arcaea’s developer, lowiro.

Many of the big AAA games that were recently released or that have upcoming releases were available to check out. Some of the exhibits that had the most hype were for Final Fantasy XVI and 7 Rebirth, Metal Gear Solid Master Collection...

Atelier Resleriana, Fate/Samurai Remnant and of course all of the Hoyoverse games like Genshin, Honkai and in development Zenless Zone Zero.

As more of a hardcore gamer myself (counter strike 4 lyfe!), miHoyo games never really appealed to me much but the art style for Zenless Zone Zero has me interested enough to give it a try on release!

In addition to offering game demos, many of the larger booths also had stage performances, voice actor and creator talk shows, offline game competitions/stamp rallies and TGS limited gifts for stopping by.

Sprinkled throughout the endless sea of monitors (and lines) are booths covering gaming devices such as headphones, controllers, furniture and any other gaming/portable item you can imagine. Big names like Republic of Gamers (ROG) had their lineup of gaming computers and laptops on display. Don’t need to upgrade your rig? Then you can check out the plethora of gaming chairs, custom keyboard keycaps or complete immersive gaming rigs! While many of the booths had a heavy emphasis on gaming, there were also some standard personal computer products as well as booths specifically for business solutions like cloud and data storage.

The Game School area showcased information on Japanese universities and colleges offering information about digital art, animation, computer programming, and other programs of study related to the video game industry. These booths also display student work. It houses colleges such as Chuo Institute of Information and Design College and TOKYO COOL JAPAN COLLEGE.

The indie games section might not have the same buzz and allure as the main section but it is just as lively. With smaller booths and only a few pc’s/devices set up, it may look rather small but the sheer number of exhibitors is overwhelming. For those that don’t like lines, this might be your go to section! Since there are so many companies in this section, you can usually find an open spot and a friendly dev waiting for you to try it out.

The indie nature makes it a bit more of a personal experience and many of the actual members working on the game are there to answer questions and get your feedback! Two separate sections were entirely dedicated to developers from Korea but you could find games from creators all over.

One particular title that caught my eye was Call of Boba. Marketed as a Simulation Roguelite RPG, your mission is to save a struggling boba tea shop by battling enemies with boba tea ingredients. Not as cute as the tea time cats, but blasting baddies away with tapioca balls has a unique charm.

Cosplay and Merchandise

No weeb event is complete without cosplay and merchandise. Many of the larger booths hired cosplayers to draw a crowd and showcase their characters. The mobile game Snowbreak had a large area for cosplay photography.

Tarkov got in on the action with their own dedicated cosplay area.

 

Photo Credit @pvtLynx0717

Synduality, whose character designer is popular illustrator neco, recreated one of their mechs and completed the scene with their own cosplayer. Outside of the convention hall, you can find lines of people waiting to take pictures of those public attendees dawning the outfits of their favorite game character. As a man of culture, I skipped this section to focus on those pixelated waifus. 

The merchandise section had a mix of goodies available for sale. Kojima Productions had their Ludens figures on display along with the newly announced Hideo Kojima cutie from Prime 1 studios. We got a chance to visit their showroom earlier this year. If you missed it, check out our YouTube video! 

Along with general merchandise like shirts and keychains, Square Enix had a booth specifically focusing on music and vinyl records.

Dead or Alive Venus Vacation goodies were on display along with some collab illustrations by artist Yom.

Needy Girl Overdose had a lineup of t-shirts on display. Even if you don’t want to buy anything, it is still worth it to walk around to see the character panel or memorabilia on display.

TGS is one of the conventions all gaming fans should attend at least once in their life. If you couldn't make it to this years event, hopefully we can see you there next year!

Thank you for reading!