Tokyo Game Show Sees Record Number Of Games

Representatives from Tokyo Game Show organizers the CESA have revealed that this month’s Tokyo Game Show will host the largest number of titles ever seen at the event, with a total of 573 games on public display – 57 more than the previous year. The event had been seen to been declining in importance in recent years, being cut back from two shows a year to just one in 2002. However, this year’s event has coincided with a general recovery in the Japanese games market and has further been boosted by announcements of the downsizing of the E3 event in Los Angeles. Of the 573 games documented the greatest number are for the PC with 127 titles, followed by mobile phone games at 125 and 100 different PlayStation 2 titles. A total of 52 Nintendo DS titles will be show, alongside 33 PSP games and twenty Xbox 360 titles. Eighteen PlayStation 3 games will be exhibited (Sony had previously promised 27 playable PlayStation 3 games, but it's likely that more will be shown behind closed doors) but only 5 Wii titles. As usual Nintendo has chosen not to attend the event, which has also limited the number of third-party Wii titles being shown. The most popular genre of game at the show are action titles with 129 different examples, followed by role-playing games with 76 games and simulation titles at 49 (a fairly broad term used in Japan, where generally the terms strategy game would be used in the West). A total of 35 puzzle games will be exhibited, 33 adventure titles, 28 sports simulations, 23 shoot ‘em-ups and 16 racing games. A total of 184 other games are listed as miscellaneous, no doubt an indication of the eclecticism of today's game scene and the rising popularity and importance of non-traditional titles such as Brain Training. The 2006 Tokyo Game Show is due to take place on September 22th to 24th, with further information available at the official website.