Dismal Tokyo show could imply Japanese gaming 'finished'
Combine a slumping global economy, with a sprinkling of fewer exhibitors and an even smaller dash of video game titles on display, and you have the makings for a very underwhelming Tokyo Game Show (TGS).
Billed as Japan's largest gaming exhibition, the disappointment in this year's TGS was shared by many industry veterans like "Mega Man" creator, Keiji Inafune, who declared the Japanese "game industry is finished" after touring the show floor.
Inafune, who was on-hand to plug his company's latest efforts, such as "Lost Planet 2" and "Resident Evil 5: Director's Cut," shared more of his frustrations after asking a group of attendees what they thought of the event.
The game-maker said through an interpreter, "Personally, when I looked around at all the different games at the TGS floor, I said, 'Man, Japan is over. We're done.'"
While Inafune's comments may come as a shock to some, for an industry suffering from several straight months of decline, his outlook may serve as yet another indicator of just how deep the global recession has gone.
Sony boss Kaz Hirai also did not help matters with his rather dull keynote address at the event.
Instead of dazzling visitors with never-before-seen footage from an upcoming title or pulling back the curtain on a new project, the well-known head of Sony Computer Entertainment spent most of his time on stage rehashing how the online PlayStation Network service is being utilized on the PS3 and handheld PSP, as well as demonstrating the new motion controller that was already unveiled at this year's E3.
Eventually, Sony did show off a version of "Resident Evil 5" that will use the new motion controllers, however most people are still baffled by the reasoning behind the company choosing to make this sort of announcement in private meetings behind closed doors as opposed to during Hirai's speech
That is not to say the show was a total wash; with offerings such as "Assassin's Creed II," "Bayonetta" and "Final Fantasy XIII," this year's event was not entirely without redemption.
However, when the Makuhari Messe Convention Center, which is normally filled to capacity during the TGS, is forced to close off entire sections due to a lack of attendance, it becomes painfully obvious that organizer may soon need to re-evaluate the relevance of the annual trade show, should this trend continue.
As it stands, aside from fewer exhibitors, the TGS also saw public attendance figures contract by nearly 10,000 visitors down to just over 185,000.
This figure actually brought attendance closer to 2005 levels and is a startling difference from the previous two years, both of which had come close to 200,000 visitors.
The one positive statistic organizers can take away from the event is that during the first two days of the show, which is for press and industry professionals only, attendance numbers remained relatively flat.
