Event Tokyo Game Show 1998 Autumn Location Makuhari Messe Date 1998.10.10 - 1998.10.11 1998.10.09 [business day] Time 9:30 - 17:00 Guest [list below] Cost 1200 yen, at the door

• Report version 0.8 by Hitoshi Doi, 1998.10.16

This was the biggest Game Show so far, regarding the number of seiyuu events inside the TGS. But there wasn't any really large one like in the previous ones held by Konami or Sentimental Graffiti related ones. For most of the seiyuu events, you were able to see it if you really wanted to (i.e. wait a hour or so).
[More on the seiyuu events below.]

However there were other events that were very crowded. The events put on by Sega, with Mr. Yukawa (who has become a personality with his TV commercials), were very crowded. Also the event by Enix for their live action mystery game Eurasia Express Satsujin Jiken, was probably the most crowded, as the guests were the popular idols who appeared in the game (Fukada Kyoko, Kato Ai).

The biggest disappointment for bishoujo game fans was the lack of To Heart. It seems so strange that such a popular game wasn't represented. Also there was no Sentimental Graffiti/Journey, but that's understandable since the game is out already.

A disappointing trend this year is the restrictions on taking photos at the seiyuu events. There were more and more booths where photos were not allowed during the seiyuu events. The TGS is about the only event where pictures are allowed, so I wish they wouldn't have these restrictions. Fortunately there were still a few events where pictures were allowed.

The biggest topic this year is probably the Dreamcast (by Sega). The Sega booth was all Dreamcast, and no Saturn. Since the Dreamcast will use a 1 GB capacity drive, hopefully the games will have voices and songs by seiyuu. I hope the 3D stuff isn't stressed too much.

There were two (or three) printclub machines at the Sega booth which had a picture of Mr. Yukawa. I took one with a friend. (^_^;)

There was also a large area for the sale of goods. There were many limited edition goods for sale, and there were huge lines. The popular items sold out very early. The only thing I bought was the limited edition trading cards for Sentimental Journey. There was a set of two Friends telephone cards for 3000 yen, but I didn't want to wait in line for it. They sold out quickly too.

Finally, as usual, there were many companion girls in cute outfits and cute cosplay.

Seiyuu events

Also for the very popular ones, they passed out tickets in the morning, and the tickets disappeared in a few minutes. But for all of these events, it was possible to stand outside and watch the event. (Some required waits of over 1 hour though.)

This time I didn't notice any events taking place in "closed" areas.

There were also two seiyuu events on the main stage.

The list of seiyuu (and idol) events that I could gather is below. But there were probably more..

date	sorted by
1998.10.09	booth	time [Japanese]
1998.10.10	booth	time [Japanese]
1998.10.11	booth	time [Japanese]

1998.10.09
11:30	NEC Interchannel (Favorite Dear)
13:30	T&E Soft (Sonata)
14:00	Media Works (seiyuu audition)
15:30	NEC Interchannel (Favorite Dear)
1998.10.10
11:00	NEC Interchannel (Friends)
12:35	Tomy (Gungho Brigade)
13:00	NEC Interchannel (Friends)
14:05	Nihon Telenet (Cybernetic Empire)
15:30	Media Works (Hoshi no Oka Gakuen Monogatari)
16:30	NEC Interchannel (Friends)
1998.10.11
11:30	Yukes (Eretzvaju)
13:00	NEC Interchannel (Friends)
14:00	main stage (Game Walker Net)
16:00	Yukes (Eretzvaju)

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