TGS Forum

September 20, 2007

Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association
Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.

PressRelease

Theme: “Link up, Reach out, To the World”
The hottest information about games for both consumers and business
is right here in Makuhari.
Development of internationalization—a rapid increase in the number of
overseas exhibitors, the highest to date!
The number of exhibitors, the number of booths, and the number of
titles exhibited have also reached new highs.

　The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), in cooperation with Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (International Business Division), and with special support from NTT DoCoMo, Inc., will hold the Tokyo Game Show 2007 over a four-day period from Thursday, September 20 to Sunday, September 23, 2007. The show has its theme “Link up, Reach out, To the World”, and it will be held in Exhibition Halls 1 to 8, covering an area of approximately 54,000 square meters, at Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, in Chiba Prefecture.
　In addition to a large number of exhibitors from Japan, exhibitors from nineteen different countries and regions—USA, UK, Israel, Ukraine, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Germany, Norway, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Jordan and Russia—will be taking part in the Tokyo Game Show 2007. 217 corporations, organizations and schools, the highest number to date, will be exhibiting at this year’s show. The number of booths has also set a new record at 1,735. There will be 97 exhibitors from overseas, a number which greatly exceeds last year’s total of 51.
　This year marks the full-scale introduction of software titles for the new home game platforms released over the past two years, and a large number of major titles are set to go on sale later this year. The number of game software titles for home video game consoles, including the titles that will be launched at the show and pre-release titles, comes to 702, another new record (650 titles last year).
　In addition to the significant breakthroughs that were made in handheld game consoles last year, the launch of a new generation of video game consoles led to a large expansion in the home game market. This year will see transitions with a vigor that will exceed even that of last year. The reason for this is that games have now permeated the lives of women, seniors, and other people who have not played games before, to say nothing of hard-core games fans, and the great variety of game software that continues to be released is evidence of this. It can be thought that the proactive approach to business development in the game industry in light of this social trend is linked to the expansion of the scale of the Tokyo Game Show.

The features of this year’s exhibition are as follows:

(1) Both the number of exhibitors and the number of booths are the highest to date.

(2) The number of titles exhibited has reached an unprecedented high of 702.

(3) The expansion of the Business Day component of the show has led to an increase in the number of exhibitors both from Japan and overseas whose aim is B-to-B sales.

(4) The number of exhibitors from overseas has reached an all-time high of 97.

(5) The number of exhibitors in the Kids’ Corner has also reached a new high of 13.

(6) The Tokyo Game Show 2007 will be held as an official event of the Japan International　Contents Festival.

　In particular this year, the number of business days at the Tokyo Game Show 2007 has been increased from one day to two, Thursday and Friday, with the aim of strengthening the event’s impact as a trade show and to promote internationalization. On these days, the newly-established Business Solutions Corner and Business Meeting Corner will facilitate business discussions and information gathering between exhibitors from both Japan and overseas and visitors to the show, and will further enhance the show’s impact as an international trade show.
　The Tokyo Game Show 2007 will serve as an official event of the inaugural Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta*1), a series of events that will provide opportunities for publicizing content development in Japan both within Japan and to the world, and for coming into contact with a wide range of content-related concepts and materials.
　*1 The Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta) is the world’s largest integrated content festival. The organizers’ aims are to broaden the appeal of content developed in Japan and to present the “now” of content-related industries both within Japan and overseas. A series of events related to games, animation, manga (comics), characters, broadcasting, music and film held over a 40-day period will provide opportunities for content industry people from around the world to come into contact with a wide range of Japanese content all at the same time. This year is the inaugural year, and the Tokyo Game Show 2007 which starts on September 20 will be the kick-off event. This will be followed by 18 events held in the Greater Tokyo area and seven events in the Chubu (Central Japan) and Kansai (Western Japan) regions. Japan’s newest talent, technology and industries will all be concentrated in these events.

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