In the latest issue of GameInformer, issue 223, November 2011, an article spanning a depressing half page was placed in the magazine summarizing and covering the TGS. The title of the article: "Big Booths, Small Impact". Tokyo Game Show was once a convention that rivaled E3, and was highly anticipated each year. However, in the past couple of years, many have noticed that the show has been losing steam.
While a press release stated that this years convention had the highest attendance record of a whopping 222,668 people, most of the journalists were greatly displeased with what they witnessed. Most of the demos for the large titles such as Skyrim and Battlefield turned out to be old demos from PAX and GamesCom. Microsoft who usually has a large showing was singled out to a booth in comparison, showing off virtually nothing. Big titles such as BioShock Infinite and Modern Warfare 3 were either hidden in a corner, or non-existent. While most or the western press found the convention a disappointment, the Japanese crowd found it pleasing, dressing up and cosplaying.
As the article states, from a news perspective, little was to be told. Little relevance seems to be displayed outside of Japan due to the fact that very little was shown from titles outside the country. By them not embracing western titles, they're hurting the conventions publicity.
TGS might not be the big picture here. Its quite possible that Japans gaming market has sealed itself in its own creative coffin, and they're running out of air. Games from Japan still have a distinct play style that most of today find somewhat archaic.
Is japans market in the gaming world losing relevance and dwindling?
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I'm not surprised, really, that they didn't show off that much at TGS, I think it's mostly the product of massive stuff to produce (Skyrim) and having shown off most of it in the east. I think there's still quite a market in Japan, it's a relevant place with relevant... Stuff...
Just too much, too many people, etc.
No, definitely not. TGS is still very important, and very exciting every year. Many people in the U.S feel that it is the most important country when it comes to video games, therefore E3 is pretty much the only event many people watch. Same thing with sales, you see many people say that "Oh Xbox sells the most", while that is not true at all when it comes to worldwide sales. Then they say worldwide sales don't matter. That is completely false, and stupid. But Gamescom in Germany, and TGS in Japan are just as exciting and relevant as E3 is. Other countries are not at all becoming irrelevant in gaming.
Japanese games are becoming less relevant in the West, that much is obvious.
The title should be "Is the Tokyo Game Show becoming Irrelevant to Western Gamers"? I think the answer is yes. It's still relevant in Japan though.
Japan is f**king stubborn. They dont embrace western games as much as their own