Tokyo Game Show attendance hits all-time high

  • By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot
  • Posted Oct 14, 2008 1:03 am GMT

Annual game show attracts nearly 195,000 visitors, breaking the show's all-time record yet again.

TOKYO--Last year, the Tokyo Game Show hit a record-high visitor count, attracting crowds with a playable Metal Gear Solid 4. It was also the first public event in Japan that saw Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 consoles all playable on the show floor, which proved another major draw.

This year, attendance reached yet another all-time high. The show attracted more than 1,000 visitors beyond the number that visited the previous year. The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), which organizes the expo, reported that the number of visitors to TGS 2008 was 194,288, up from 193,040 in 2007. The 2008 Tokyo Game Show ran for four days, with the first two dedicated to business and the final two open to the public.

The number of visitors during media- and business-only days was dramatically lower compared to last year. However, with all three consoles now hitting their stride, there were considerably more games on the show floor. The gaming public was all too eager to pick up the slack, with each of the two general-admission days surpassing last year's tallies by more than 5,000 visitors.

The breakdown of visitors for this year's Tokyo Game Show is below, with 2007 attendance figures in parentheses.

Day 1: 27,305 Visitors (29,783 Visitors)
Day 2: 24,178 Visitors (32,390 Visitors)
Day 3: 71,639 Visitors (64,795 Visitors)
Day 4: 71,166 Visitors (66,072 Visitors)
Total: 194,288 Visitors (193,040 Visitors)

Previous TGS attendance 2002-2005 (annual event):

2006: 192,411
2005: 176,056
2004: 160,096
2003: 150,089
2002: 134,042

Previous TGS attendance 1998-2001 (semi-annual event):

2001 Fall: 129,626
2001 Spring: 118,080
2000 Fall: 137,400
2000 Spring: 131,708
1999 Fall: 163,866
1999 Spring: 163,448
1998 Fall: 156,455
1998 Spring: 147,913

6 Comments

  • Media_Mind

    Posted Oct 21, 2008 4:05 pm GMT

    great~

  • NeoNavarro

    Posted Oct 16, 2008 7:30 am GMT

    I really wish I could have gone to the game show.

  • saxplayer3

    Posted Oct 14, 2008 5:33 pm GMT

    Wow! More and more people are starting to follow this stuff in person. No offense to GameSpot, but it looks like a lot of serious gamers are now going to hear it "straight from the horse's mouth." A fine example of how the number of truly serious gamers is on the rise. A lot of this can probably be accredited to Nintendo's policy of attracting casual gamers. Sure, they start out casual, but before you know it Nintendo has them: hook, line, and sinker!

  • MatzeEdend

    Posted Oct 14, 2008 5:32 pm GMT

    I'm guessing the TGS is getting more popular primarily because of the decline of E3... us gamers need someplace to go, and I wouldn't mind going to Japan... if I could actually afford it

  • PS3fan78

    Posted Oct 14, 2008 1:41 pm GMT

    Yet another great show by sony,

  • vaejas

    Posted Oct 13, 2008 7:13 pm GMT

    Woohoo! I am totally the '1' in 411 for 2006.

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