TGS2008 : Tokyo Game Show 2008: Final Report

Everyone knows last week we covered the Tokyo Game Show. And once again, we were disappointed.
Some of you who visited TGS will tell us how great it was, but for press people I assure you it sucked. The organization in particular sucked hard.



First of all, when we went to register for TGS Thursday morning, there were two queues, one for foreign press, another for Japanese press. As you know, we're Japanese press, but the event organizers wanted us to register as foreign… After explaining (in Japanese) that we were local media, we were finally able to register.



At 10 O’clock we visited Bandai's booth, and were stopped as we began taking pictures. We were told to get a Press Pass at their Information booth before taking pictures. When we went to get one, we waited 30 minutes for Press Relation Manager. And…he never showed up, and Bandai simply apologized. OK!



Konami’s booth... They were as nice as they were last year and gave us a Press Pass in 30 seconds. The Playstation booth was also nice. We were also able to take screen pictures of FIFA '09, a game developed by EA Sport… But when EA's booth for more pictures of this famous game, we weren't permitted to take any. Was there not a communication problem between these booths?



Square Enix…Like at Bandai's booth, we waited a long time for a Press Pass… Once we got it and started taking pictures four Square Enix staffers forbade us… “Sorry? We waited 30 minutes for a Press Pass, and now we aren't permitted to take pictures?” The staff answered that we could take global pictures. “OK! No problem!”
After taking some, Square Enix checked our photos, and told us to erase one because a screen could be seen in it. Well… Square Enix, what are you afraid of? Are your games so crappy that you don’t want to show them to us? Well, what's the point of being at the Tokyo Game Show if you don’t want to exhibit your games?

On the other hand, some developers were really nice too us, like Sony, Capcom, Konami, Au, Takara Tomy, but Xbox, Bandai, EA, Square Enix… Forget 'em!

Now the question is: what's the point in having a Press Day if the media people aren't allowed to do their jobs?
TGS can be a good event for those who are not from media, for those who want to check out new games, for those who can come to Tokyo, but that’s it… For other people, there’s no interest, really…

No, maybe a little: TGS-babes coming up later today!

Take a look at the pictures in our gallery.