Twenty years ago, two new video game trade shows launched in Tokyo with the hopes of capturing the attention — and yen — of gamers in Japan. The first Tokyo Game Show (TGS) took place from Aug. 22 to 24, 1996, and was followed that November by E3 Tokyo, a Japanese offshoot of the U.S.-based Electronic Entertainment Expo. The first E3 Tokyo was also the last.
Though the American original has gone on to become the world's premier gaming convention, E3 Tokyo lost out to TGS in attendance. That left TGS to dominate the market, and this year it marks its 20th anniversary as it opens its doors to the public on Sept. 17 and 18.
"Tokyo Game Show was meant to be a promotional event for consumers and the first year's theme was, 'Try games at the game show,' " says Tatsuo Tomiyama, managing director at the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, which runs TGS. He adds that the event's main goal was just to energize sales. Since then, however, TGS has developed considerable cultural credibility.