Today was a special day, as I got to go to one of the biggest video game conventions in the world, Tokyo Game Show. Frisco, Buff David (yes, that's his nickname. Also, less azn David), and I took an hour and a half train ride to Chiba, outside of Tokyo, to Makuhari Messe. This convention center was definitely a large one, but the sheer amount of people that attend this convention made it difficult to believe. I'd estimate it somewhere above 60,000, though I may be way off. Every hall was packed with people, enough that you couldn't go through any one path without pushing and shoving through bodies. It was very much like the many rock and metal concerts I've been to, but the audience was more stereotypical, they wore less deodorant, and had significantly more acne.
All of the many booths, games, cosplayers, and atmospheres were awesome. It was definitely something special to me I'm not going to forget. I was about 40 feet away from the man behind the Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima. I got to buy Bemani (music rhythm game series) merchandise directly from Konami, the company that makes the games. I saw some of the best cosplayers ever, even if the amount of people taking pictures of them was CRAZY. It was quite the day. Oh, and I experienced my busiest train ride ever. I thought I had been packed in like a fish in a tin can before. Nope. It was very much like the concerts aforementioned where you can't help but have four people pushed against you with barely room to breathe.
Pictures that I've posted to Flickr should help give you an idea of the wonders of TGS I experienced. I got to play Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for the Wii U, which was NEAT, especially with the homages to Nintendo character costumes almost every fighter had access to. I also tried out a game called Fantasy Life for the 3DS. It was an RPG, but it was in Japanese of course, so I had a bit of difficulty understanding it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, almost as much as my final demo I played: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core-R for the PS Vita! Longest. Name. Ever. But so fun! I got to play quite a few rounds as my favorite characters (Millia and Chipp <3) before running off to merchandise land. Unfortunately, said merchandise was ridiculously expensive, especially the limited edition Square Enix Final Fantasy CDs, so I had to duck out of blowing too much cash. Darn.
After the long train ride home and taking a bit of a rest, a few of us went out to hunt down the Taito Station arcade that was SUPPOSEDLY somewhere around the shopping malls 15 minutes away. It took a lot of effort and asking people who had no idea, but we found the place tucked away in a side alley beckoning us in. It was grand, though the time there was cut short by closing time. Fortunately, just as I was about to start a UFO catcher for a wonderful prize, the attendant came up and opened the machine. He adjusted the box of the figure I was trying for to make it easier to knock down! He closed it up, I put my money in and.... whiffed. The embarrassment. So he goes "wait wait wait" and opens it up again, adjusting it further for an even easier grab. Here we go! Round 2.... fail. WHY?! So he adjusts it one last time, unnecessarily as it's already on the verge of falling in on it's own, and I don't play anymore mind games with this machine. I push that sucker down and nab myself a $30 Hatsune Miku figure for about $4. HOLLA! Ahem. So we returned back to MISH, a full day concluded with yet another win for this kid. How I'm going to transport back all these things is becoming the real question, though...
The next day was fully and completely devoted to being a hermit. For the first time since arriving, I was able to dedicate an entire day to just lounging around by myself, web-browsing, reading, and enjoying the sounds of the city from my room and balcony. Life is good. I left my room maybe a total of twice all day to go downstairs, which was very okay with me. Tomorrow would be the first day of school, so rest time was much appreciated...
Again, check the Flickr for pictures of TGS! Thanks for reading, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment