TGS undermonetized, but so what?

And Joystiq moaned about Sony's address!

Yawn!

Pffft, Advertising is overrated.
Word of mouth ftw!
heh

I was actually quite sad that Nintendo didn't take this oppertunity.
Although they are popular enough from E3 and it IS the Japanese market.
Still, why the no-show...

Wasn't their any advertising around the places near it?
They may have advertised it be.. i'm just talking crap now.

Eh it was a good show anyway, enjoyed it all

Nintendo doesn't appear at TGS simply for monetary reasons...It is quite expensive to attend these massive gaming fares, with booths,setup,advertising etc...Hence nintendo has historicly skipped this one in order to concentrate on their own events, which they feel better showcase their titles in a more cost effective way.

The reason there is no aedvertising is the location of makuhari messe. Makuhari was made in the late 80 right at the end of the bubble in Japan. It is all skycrapers and hotels. All the skyscrapers have restraunts and convient stores in them so you hardly ever see anyone walking around the street during the day. Only when people are going to work and leaving in the evenings. Weekends it is completely dead. Getting back to the Convention center, It is on the edge of kaihen makuhari about a 10 minute walk from the station. aAll that is close to it is Makuhari baseball stadium ( The team really sucks by the way) and a few hotels which i think are hardly ever filled with anyone except business men according ot my friends that work use to work at one of them.

So basicly what is the purpose of advertising there? The only people that are going to see it are people going to the convetion center for the purpose of the show. And those people will already get plenty of advertising inside the convention center. Advertising is better spent in areas like Akihabura,Shinjuku, and shibuya where people might actually see it and pay a seconds worth of attention to it.

VC, I want to congratulate you. This is a decent article. Nothing special, but way better than the last few of yours. Good job.

As for the lack of advertising, I'm quite suprised to hear about this. I went to E3 two years ago, and I was surrounded by advertising, which is expected considering the event. I'm very suprised that not one company got a banner ad up to greet attendants as they enter. I'd bet that there was some bigger reason that kept the companies from dropping thier dollars, I can't imagine it being from a lack of interest.

"All that is close to it is Makuhari baseball stadium (The team really sucks by the way)"

Dude, it's called Chiba Marine Stadium, home to the Chiba Lotte Marines. You know, one of the teams that went to the 2005 Japan series.

Your statement is kinda like saying "all that's really close to the Bronx is the Bronx baseball stadium (the team really sucks by the way)".

As for Makuhari itself, it's a city of 800,000 people. It wasn't "made in the 1980's." The convention center was built around that time, but the city itself is quite old. It is true that there's not a lot of foot traffic around the convention center when a) there is no convention going on, or b) there is no baseball game or concert at the stadium, but there clearly *was* a convention going on this weekend, and probably baseball games too.

I think some of it's cultural, though. The Japanese just do not respond to in-your-face ads. Tokyo is not nearly as filled with ads as some (including the Joystiqers) think - certain areas have bright neon signs, and Shibuya has all those big screens all over, but Shibuya is the equivalent of Times Square in NYC - it's not what the rest of the city is like. There really are not nearly as many billboards in most of Tokyo as there are in New York. The Joystiq crew must just be used to their city being absolutely plastered with ads - Japan, despite its reputation, is a lot more low-key with its outdoor advertising than we are here.

To chisai Jeff ^
|
(the chisai is in case you are a guy i know named jeff)

Sorry last time I lived in chiba was 2003. And you know what, the baseball team in chiba sucked during that time. I am not a baseball fan or anything, but I am shocked that you said they won the japan series.( My host father at the time was a huge fan of baseball.)

Yeah the makuhari area is quite old as is most of the greater tokyo area. But the new makuhari area was built in the 1980's. It is called new makuhari for a reason, it was suppose to be kind of an experiment in a new way of an industrialized city.

"Tokyo is not nearly as filled with ads as some (including the Joystiqers) think - certain areas have bright neon signs, and Shibuya has all those big screens all over, but Shibuya is the equivalent of Times Square in NYC - it's not what the rest of the city is like"

Man I dont know where you lived in tokyo but about any place on the yamanote line has about a million neon signs all over the place.Any place by a train station has a tons of signs. Sure places in Chiba or Saitama dont have as many, but tokyo-to has a tons. You must of gone to chiba station if you have been to kaihen makuhari. There are tons of department stores in that area with signs everywhere.

I lived in Makuharihongo for a while, just a short ways from the convention center in Chiba. That place is enormous, but the lack of advertising is kind of suspect. Advertising is -everywhere- in Japan. It is more prevalent than in the United States.