TGS Attendance Numbers Padded Nicely By Press

With the hearts and minds of Japanese gamers won over by Nintendo and its casual-skewing software, this years Tokyo Game Show saw those in the nation issuing a collective “meh”. The press? They had to show up, helping to pad this year’s attendance figures by an extra 30,000 for a combined total of 193,040 over four days. By comparison, last year’s three day show pulled in an impressive 192,411 over just three days.

But who can blame attendees for a lack of interest in the 2007 flavor of TGS? The market leader didn’t show up and many games were simply old news or Western focused. Despite the fact that a playable Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Online had a big presence, as did Devil May Cry 4, most attendees seemed to be taken by Wii and Nintendo DS titles—Biohazard: The Umbrella Chronicles, Final Fantasy IV, and the sequel to Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village.

Has Tokyo Game Show peaked? Unless CESA expands the thing to five days or somehow convinces Nintendo show up—or a massive shift in tastes occurs—the show may see even further declines next year.