With a record number of booths and exhibitors, with some reports indicating as many as 2,000 booths from 480 exhibitors, The Tokyo Game Show for 2015 represents one of the biggest gaming shows of the year after E3 and Gamescom. The event is one of the most popular, and important, in the Asian games industry as it is recognised as the launch pad for a number of new releases from Asian based developers and brands.
Sony captured many of the headlines at this years event with news that they are cutting the price of Sony PlayStation 4 in the Japanese market just in time for the holiday season. No news yet on whether this price cut will be shared among other markets. Sony also announced that Kingdom Hearts fans can look forward to Kingdom Hearts II.8: Final Chapter Prologue coming out on the Playstation 3 and 4 sometime in 2016. This will form part of their Kingdom Hearts collectible series containing Kingdom hearts 1 and 2 that will be also released in 2016 just in time, potentially, for Kingdom Heart 3. Other news from Sony’s gaming arm focused on a Bloodborne expansion , Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 6 and a new Resident Evil spin-off.
With the Japanese mobile games market purportedly standing at nearly $7bn it is no surprise that a number of established mobile developers are exhibiting at the conference. Recognising that the mobile gaming industry is at the cusp of a golden era, many industry leaders attend the conference hoping to showcase their latest update. Supercell, the Finnish developer behind the blockbuster mobile game Clash of Clans, had crowds enamored with their first visit to the gaming conference. This market represents somewhat of a last bastion for many mobile game developers with App Annie reporting that smartphone app sales in Japan outstripped those of the USA in July. The event will feature independent and major developers over its four day run with many of them looking to capture attendees interest through game offering and unique booth setups.
Gaming giant Microsoft have chosen to not attend this years event but with more than 1,200 gaming titles and exhibitors from 37 countries, there is bound to be something to meet everyone's tastes. For anyone itching to keep up to date with what is happening at this years event there are a number of feeds available through the likes of Nerdist, Gamespot and Wired.