Tokyo Game Show 2024

If PAX and Disneyland had a baby, the resulting delightful child would be Tokyo Game Show.

With over 3,500 booths and exhibitors spanning all 11 of Makuhari Messe’s immense halls, Tokyo Game Show has well earned its status as one of Asia’s biggest premier gaming events. Many household names in the gaming industry—Konami, Square Enix, SEGA, CAPCOM, Google Play—spared no expense in their elaborate and immersive booths. Over 270,000 attendees, laden with freebies, roamed the halls, balancing bags, fans, and assorted merch in one hand while snapping photos of booth babes posing and beckoning them to their charge. The crowds here might’ve considered rush hour at Shinjuku station ‘cute.’

Our foreign correspondent, Suzu—currently based in Japan—has all the deets on this juggernaut gaming convention.

One of the main highlights of any gaming convention is the chance to test out new games before they officially drop—and the big-hitting gaming companies made it a memorable and immersive experience. The Monster Hunter booth looked as though you were entering a grand tent with glowing drapes, making you feel like you were stepping into the game itself. The Infinity Nikki booth was laid out like a garden party, complete with al fresco play areas under cute parasols. The Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater playtest was particularly immersive, with attendees entering a darkened room reminiscent of a military-style airplane. The video trailer ends with the character dropping into a forest, kicking off the playtest in a forest-styled area, as though you were the character dropped into the mission. Google Play fashioned a castle-like booth with towers and parapets, set up like the new doodle-jump style game where you could compete to win some cool prizes.

Basically, these exhibitors isekai’d us into the games themselves.

Take, for example, the haunted house at the Silent Hill booth, which you could explore before testing out the new game (though our correspondent was not brave enough to enter). Beyond the game exhibits, there were numerous events and activities that kept the day exciting. SEGA, across the hall, was not to be outdone and rocked the venue with a concert featuring Sonic and Shadow jamming in front of a crowd.

Even if you had to spend some time in lines for the games, there was plenty to see. A giant statue of Goku was illuminated by the epic Dragon Ball Z fighting game. We spotted a Mecha, along with one of the booth babes, which you could take photos with. Everywhere you looked, there were either professional cosplayers promoting the booths, booth babes posing for dozens of cameras, or statues and mascots from different games providing endless photo ops.

One unique aspect of Tokyo Game Show compared to PAX (the gaming convention we have at home) was the presence of ‘booth babes.’ Booth babes, promotional models, or campaign girls—depending on your allegiance—are exactly what they sound like: attractive models promoting booths. Like the girls promoting cafes or idols at Akihabara, there were plenty of booth babes posing for photos outside exhibition booths to garner attention (fan service). Photographers flocked from booth to booth to capture the babes, and they certainly commanded attention with their charisma and stunning looks.

For every booth babe, there was an equal number of professional cosplayers promoting different exhibitions. With expertly crafted wigs and incredibly detailed costumes, it felt like they had stepped out of the games themselves. Combined with the immersive booth setups, it was a picture-perfect scene captured by dozens of photographers at each exhibit. One of the most memorable ones was a group of cosplayers promoting an FPS game, dressed in full military fatigues and helmets, complete with (fake) guns. They took turns shooting each other and the crowd, then dramatically fell to the ground, playing dead. It was like being part of a live theater performance.

On the flip side, there weren’t nearly as many cosplaying attendees as you would see at the Australian equivalent of TGS—PAX. In fact, cosplayers aren’t allowed to arrive or leave the venue in cosplay. If you’re planning on cosplaying, you need to purchase a special ticket that grants access to a changing room where you can don your wigs and velcro yourself together.

Another unique aspect of TGS was the lottery system for popular games. Rather than queuing up with the other fanboys and fangirls, you have to win a lottery ticket that tells you when to return and try out the game. If you didn’t manage to nab a winning ticket—better luck next time. This lottery system is commonly used in Japan for events such as concerts, and opinions are mixed—some love it for leveling the playing field, while others dislike the risk of missing out.

Of course, no convention is complete without enough freebies to justify the ticket cost, and TGS didn’t disappoint. After a full six hours at the convention, we were weighed down with about six giant bags each, containing keychains, clear files, furoshiki (a cloth for wrapping obento), badges, fans, notepads, stickers, t-shirts, mini bags, bottles of water, and even a block of calorie biscuits. Grown adults were pushing each other to snag an Arknights freebie. There were also stamp rallies where you could win even better freebies like higher-quality bags and plushies. Our inner gatherers were thriving as we scooped up all the goods we could find, practicing our nonchalant walks past those handing out freebies as if we hadn’t zeroed in on their location.

If you find yourself in Japan and have the chance to attend TGS, I can say with relative certainty that you’ll love it. It can be overwhelming due to how busy it is, but it’s worth it to see all the incredible games, exhibitions, and everything in between. All the major Japan-based gaming companies you know and love are on their home turf and ready to impress. It’s a fantastic weekend that will delight everyone, from the casual to the hardcore gamer, and this correspondent would absolutely love to attend again someday.