Tokyo Game Show is the ultimate event spotlighting the next year's upcoming video games and is held annually at Makuhari, Chiba, a 20 minute train ride from Tokyo Station. In this episode, I return to TGS after a year off to check out what's changed.

VIRTUAL REALITY
This seemed to be the real champion of this years event.

In 2013 SONY had a VR headset unit on display, but the games weren't very realistic. It was more of a monitor inside goggles to me.
This year, SONY showed that it has some serious chops in the VR field with it new VR unit. They let me have a go at a multi-player game.

LOVE LIVE
I tried out a new Japanese dance game where girls (or possibly confused boys) can become a cute idol and dance with their friends while playing a game using a sensor that registers foot steps.
To a popular idol tune, step into the circle when the beat comes your way. Miss it and your friends will probably pound on you for failing miserably. On this day though, I was with a bunch of guys who were just as confused as me. However, the game was rocking and a lot of fun.

The Most Amazing Booth Ever!
The Granblue Fantasy booth was absolutely gigantic!
Ridiculous!
It's a social media game that has taken off in a big way in Japan, making it's way to the international markets later this year.
I'm not sure how to play the game, but what I do know is that their booth was another world.
The centerpiece was a full sized ship where cosplayers could pose for photos, even up in the sails!

Of course there are so many other amazing booths to visit with a lot of new companies entering the gaming market like Amazon, Google, loads of Indie games from different Asian countries. Taiwan and Singapore had good showings. Even YouTube was on site showing off technology that allows gamers to live stream themselves playing, recording the action.

All in all, Tokyo Game Show was a massive success on the day I went. It's worth spending a day, sit down and try some games – the lines can be long. I had to wait 45 minutes for the Sony VR game, but it was really worth it!

See you next time TGS!

MUSIC Credits:
My favorite! TeknoAxe
https://www.youtube.com/user/teknoaxe
Night Runner by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Crusade - Video Classica by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/r....oyalty-free/index.ht
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
This show has been created and produced by John Daub ジョン・ドーブ. He's been living and working in Japan for over 18 years and regularly reports on TV for Japan's International Channel