After two years of absence because of COVID-19, the Tokyo Recreation Present made its return this yr. The theme was “Nothing Stops Gaming”, and whereas one must not ever underestimate the facility of an upset mum or dad to do exactly that, I feel it’s a broadly true assertion. Even with how tough it’s to enter Japan proper now because of COVID-19 rules, many corporations, impartial builders, and others got here from all over to welcome the present again to Makuhari Messe.
Understandably, this present noticed a giant drop in attendance in comparison with the final one in 2019. Whereas that present noticed 262,076 individuals come over the course of its 4 days, this yr’s present had simply 138,912. Nonetheless, that’s not dangerous contemplating the journey restrictions and present state of issues. I’d think about that quantity will recuperate extra every year as issues slowly return to “regular” on the earth.
Consistent with that drop in attendance, the variety of corporations taking part was additionally considerably down in 2022 in comparison with 2019. Whereas that present was virtually busting the venue at its seams, this yr had retreated all the things again into the primary halls. Nonetheless a far cry from the darkest days after I first began attending, however it was clear that issues have been scaled again. Even the businesses that did attend reined of their cubicles a bit.
Certainly, one of many extra elaborate cubicles at this yr’s present was for the Steam Deck, which is being dealt with in Japan by Komodo. A elaborate fenced-in lounging space was out there for many who needed to strive the brand new gadget out forward of its launch in Japan. Basically, Steam help is on the rise amongst publishers and indies alike on the Tokyo Recreation Present. The newest development that the native trade is making an attempt to make occur, blockchain video games, additionally had extra space on the ground than I might have anticipated.
It really was surprising simply how a lot cell gaming has fallen off on the Tokyo Recreation Present. I famous this development final time, however it has gotten even worse. Solely a small handful of indies had cell titles on supply, with the bulk having Steam or Swap video games on show as a substitute. Virtually not one of the main publishers had playable cell titles at their cubicles, and a few had no cell titles represented in any respect. Cell gaming remains to be the dominant portion of the market in Japan, however I feel the businesses have found out that most people who play cell video games don’t actually care in regards to the Tokyo Recreation Present.
As for the climate, the forecast referred to as for a hurricane, however we ended up avoiding it on the day we attended. Certainly, the climate was about as good as you would anticipate from Japan in September. Solely a little bit sizzling. Very humid. Advantageous climate to be strolling round in for hours on finish sporting a masks, little doubt. Oh, and far to my chagrin, the Burger King situated close to the venue closed someday within the final two years. That’s the one Burger King I get every year, and I used to be somewhat trying ahead to it. Oh nicely. I’ll get that Whopper one other time, one other place.
