TGS for men, women and children [update 1]

by Vladimir Cole { Sep 22nd 2006 at 11:27PM }

On our way to the Makuhari convention center this morning we decided to take a quick census to better describe the difference between TGS and E3 (and between gaming in America and gaming in Japan).

To gather this data, we stood at a chokepoint on the way to the convention center and counted the number of men, women and small children to walk by.

As the table below shows, women comprise approximately 25% of the attendees at TGS. The actual number of women here is somewhat higher because we conducted our census at 10 AM, after most of the booth ladies were required to be in costume and posted at their show-floor stations.

We lack similar data for E3, but our gut feeling is that there are at least triple or quadruple the number of women at this show, many of them arriving with significant others and children in tow.

Update 1: Reader Eric responds, "of course comparing the number of women at TGS and E3 is pretty irrelevent seeing as TGS is open to the public today and tomorrow, while E3 is not."

Great point. However, let's not kid ourselves. E3's "industry only" policy and age-restrictions were habitually ignored. That's part of the reason why exhibitors pulled the plug on E3: it was full of hardcore gamer nerds who had no business reason to be there. TGS at least doesn't even pretend to be "industry only." In the end, the people that showed up to E3 and the people that show up to TGS are the hardest of the hardcore. We think it's interesting that "hardcore" in Japan tends to include many, many more women.

Tags: japan, japanese, jp, tgs, tgs06, tokyo, tokyo game show

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Eric Von Shpeel @ Sep 22nd 2006 11:39PM

of course comparing the number of women at TGS and E3 is pretty irrelevent seeing as TGS is open to the public today and tomorrow, while E3 is not.

DWells55 @ Sep 22nd 2006 11:47PM

I really wish I could have been there. But alas, the funds do not allow for such. Actually pretty interesting statistics though.

Hey Joystiq, any chance you could do a password system like Engadget? It'd save me a loit of trouble and give me time to comment more. Pretty please ;)

LK @ Sep 22nd 2006 11:53PM

The press is full of hardcore gamer nerds who had no reason to be there. Shit, anyone with a somewhat popular website was a part of the "press".

Jeff @ Sep 22nd 2006 11:58PM

"In the end, the people that showed up to E3 and the people that show up to TGS are the hardest of the hardcore."

I would not really agree with this, having been to several TGS's myself in the past.

TGS is heavily promoted as a family event (booth babes and families are not mutually exclusive in Japan). It is covered in the mainstream press and is advertised on children's TV shows and in manga and other outlets for kids. Obviously, if you are a 10 year old kid, you are going to have to beg mom and dad to take you.

Tokyo is a city of around 14 million people in the immediate vicinity (depending on what you count) and even Makuhari is home to 800,000. TGS is the biggest thing going on in the city this weekend. So you don't need to be the "hardest of the hardcore" to go. All you need to be is a kid with a mom.

Probot @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:05AM

"it was full of hardcore gamer nerds who had no business reason to be there."

I disagree. The gamers are the only people that should have been there. There is no need for a retailer trade show anymore. I think they should have just chaged an entrance fee and opened up it up to the public.

Greg Costikyan said it best in his E3-changes post:

http://www.costik.com/weblog/2006_08_01_blogchive.html#115444606866481345

Vazel @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:08AM

And btw, nice post Jeff. Gave me a greater understanding of how TGS is viewed over there.

Amir @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:14AM

I agree with you Jeff, its like having a free concert at golden gate park, you have a high density of people that enjoy that type of event. Japan has been known to be a technical savy culture, so this would be considered a main stream event. I like the TGS, I think I almost prefer it more so than E3, though I have to say that it would be nice to have something like that in each state here with a pop. of >1 million

Brandon @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:44AM

Why is it everytime I hear something about E3 from the gaming media, it's about how "Sweaty gamer nerds won't be there anymore HOORAY!"? WE'RE YOUR FRICKIN' READERS. Could you atleast empathise with our loss a LITTLE?!

phantom42 @ Sep 23rd 2006 1:22AM

how much do school hours/days factor into this attendance?

Yardarm51 @ Sep 23rd 2006 6:39AM

Having lived in Tokyo for 8 years and counting and having been to the TGS every year I think your numbers are a little skewed. The reason being that if you take your samples a little later in the day the number of children will rise. The number of families coming out is impressive. Hall 5 acutally has a full children's play area set up every year. This year they had a huge Rockman (Megaman in North America) play area fully stocked with games and costumed attendants. Very very savvy.

Phantom... school was in session today for some schools. There was a stat holiday today (Saturday Sept. 23rd -Autumn Equinox) but some schools keep their doors open to prepare for Cultural Festivals or Sports Festivals which are traditionally held this time of year. Another interesting thing about today was that the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team had a home game. Their stadium is just up the road from the convention centre so you saw a lot of folks wandering around the game show in the morning and then heading for the stadium to catch the game in the afternoon. The train rides home are always nuts after the show floor closes but as the game ended about the same time today was way way more insane than usual.

otakucode @ Sep 23rd 2006 11:49AM

There's no shame in being a gamer in Japan. People in Japan don't worry about what other people do nearly as much as they do in the US. If someone does something they don't find appealing themselves, they don't feel the need to tear one another down for it. Witness their schools, where a kid going to give a speech will have his classmates tell him to do his best. Whereas in America, the kids sit by and hope he screws up so they can ridicule him.