Effectively, that’s one other Tokyo Recreation Present within the books. The 2023 present was my ninth time attending the Tokyo Recreation Present, and my eighth masking it for TouchArcade. I’m beginning to really feel the years, my associates. Fortunately, my son has been attending the present with me for the previous few years as TouchArcade’s stalwart cameraman. Having him with me retains me from slacking off an excessive amount of, regardless of how drained I’d get. Anyway, as I normally do, I’m ending off my protection for this yr with a few of my basic ideas on the present and what attending it was like.
I typically say there are solely two sorts of climate for Tokyo Recreation Present: very very popular, or very very hurricane. This yr, it appeared just like the climate couldn’t resolve. It was fairly sizzling, and it additionally rained a bit all through the day I used to be there. The trains had been additionally working late, which meant that for the primary time ever in my historical past of masking the Tokyo Recreation Present, I wasn’t there for the opening. Effectively, I suppose issues occur. We didn’t are available in too late, at the very least. On-time sufficient to attain some restricted objects on the merch space for a sure pal, which was the necessary factor. Upon arriving at Makuhari Messe, the large venue that Tokyo Recreation Present makes use of annually, it was simple to see issues had modified quite a bit from the earlier yr.
Japan took just a little bit longer to get again to regular after the peak of the COVID pandemic when in comparison with most Western nations. Because of this, final yr’s Tokyo Recreation Present was quite a bit smaller than standard. It didn’t fill out the complete area of Makuhari Messe, not by a protracted shot. The indie space was small and had a whole lot of areas put aside with indicators apologizing that the developer couldn’t find yourself attending. The crowds had been quite a bit sparser, and you possibly can truly line up for an enormous recreation and never spend half the day within the queue. Everybody was masked up, and there was a bottle of sanitizer on nearly each flat floor across the present.
This yr? For higher or worse, it was enterprise as standard. Makuhari Messe was stuffed to the bursting level, with among the meals distributors compelled to arrange outdoors as a result of there simply wasn’t a lot room left in the primary halls. There have been tons of individuals round, and it was simple to see that the lifting of journey restrictions was a part of the rejuvenation of the crowds. The Tokyo Recreation Present was in tough form the primary time I got here again in 2009, and it’s superb to see simply how vibrant it’s these days.
As for the video games themselves? It was fascinating to see cell gaming making a little bit of a comeback with the massive exhibitors. In recent times I’ve discovered extra of curiosity within the indie space than the among the many large corporations, however this yr it was the alternative. Not many cell video games in any respect within the indie space, however there was rather a lot to see in the primary areas. All in all, it felt like there was a very good stability of the completely different gaming markets on the present. A lot of console video games, numerous laptop video games, and many cell video games. The combination is a bit completely different yearly, and it’s uncommon to see issues as balanced as they had been this yr.
It’s grow to be a little bit of a working joke annually that after I end the present I swear up and down that it is going to be my final. I get older, I’m getting extra exhausted extra shortly, and I don’t assume it’s any secret to common readers that my well being has been in a bizarre place for some time. There’ll come a day after I can’t deal with masking the Tokyo Recreation Present, and I do know it. However I’ve determined that so long as I can cowl it, I’ll. So I’ll say with some certainty, and hopefully this isn’t a flag of some sort, that I will probably be on the 2024 Tokyo Recreation Present. I simply knocked on a lot wooden. Masking this present every September has grow to be a part of my routine for the yr, and as a lot as I pay the worth for going, I believe I ought to prefer to stick with it.
In abstract, the 2023 Tokyo Recreation Present was a stellar return to kind after a number of uncommon years. There have been a whole lot of nice video games to see, numerous fascinating sights to absorb, and many methods to blow your money and time in case you had been trying to. Masking it was a whole lot of work, nevertheless it was immensely satisfying to be doing it once more for all of you. I’m wondering what we’ll see at subsequent yr’s present? I’ll begin marking the times on the calendar, associates.
Take a look at all of our protection from this yr’s Tokyo Recreation Present: