TGS 2014: Weekend round-up

While the first and second days of Tokyo Game Show are only open to press and distributors, the doors are open to everyone at the weekend.

On these two days, the masses descended upon the site of Tokyo Game Show, Makuhari Messe (peculiarly in neighbouring Chiba prefecture rather than Tokyo) with each influx totalling around 100,000 people on each day.

Indies and mobile took over this year, grabbing multiple areas across each huge hall. As the only respite from the centre of the crowded show floor, visibility for devs in these areas increased dramatically.

Meanwhile, the death of handhelds has been greatly exaggerated. Each of the big third-party devs were pushing both core and new franchises on 3DS and PS Vita, even if they were reluctant to share any information detailing western releases.

Cosplay Collection Night is a regular feature at TGS, and this year didn't disappoint with all manner of high calibre homemade costumes, with my favourites being Chrono Trigger, Persona Q, and Dragon's Crown.

Nary a yen was left in anyone's pocket by the end of the show thanks to the huge TGS shopping area. Capcom, Square-Enix, Konami, and SEGA all sold exclusive merch that had fans queuing for hours.

Prices ranged from ¥8,100 for Konami's iDroid iPhone case down to ¥100 for official Puyo Puyo gummy sweets from SEGA. I'm not going to lie - I couldn't resist the Fat Chocobo plush after my recent enamourment with Theatrhythm: Curtain Call.

Goodies for playing each game weren't as prevalent as previous years, but there was still the odd keychain (La-Mulana EX), plush (Space Pirate Popet), or tote bag (Monster Hunter 4G) to be won if you kept your eye out.

StreetPassing is as mad as ever in Japan. You can quite easily max out your limit of ten people within a few minutes on the show floor or in one of the waiting areas, and it often looked as if some folks were here just for that.

It's always a little sad to leave such an eventful show floor in the gaming Mecca of Japan, but at least we've left with a glance of things to come over the coming year.

But hey, at least EGX is kicking off today! Will you be about? Let us know what you'll be playing in the comments below!