Each year, the crowds at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) get bigger and bigger. This year, there were 223,753 attendees over the four days (two press days and two public days), which is the largest turnout ever. Traditional video games for handheld and home consoles are taking up a smaller and smaller portion of the show each year. This year, for example, they accounted for only 30 percent of the games on the display. The other 70 percent were for smartphones.
However, the lines for smartphone games were manageable throughout the show, allowing players to actually get hands-on with upcoming titles. Traditional handheld and console games were another story. Fans lined up for hours to play big titles such as "Metal Gear Rising," "Ace Attorney 5," and "Monster Hunter." While these were eagerly awaited titles, two of the most anticipated were nowhere to be seen — and it wasn't the first time that's happened.
The glaring omissions — "The Last Guardian" and "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" — have become part of gamer folklore.