The Tokyo Game Show is a video game expo / convention held in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. Like the Leipzig Games Convention, but in contrast to E3, the Tokyo Game Show allows the general public to attend during the final two days. As a result, it has much higher attendance than E3.
In 2007, the show was held from 20 to 23 September, with the first two days being business days, whilst on the latter two it was open to the public. The 2008 show was held from October 9 to October 12.
The first Tokyo Game Show was held in 1996. Originally, the show was held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn (in the Tokyo Big Sight), but this format was discontinued in 2002 when the show was held only in the autumn. The show is still held once a year.
The Tokyo Game Show 2008 was held from October 9th through the 12th. Days 1 and 2 was open only to the press while Days 3 and 4 was open to the general public. The CESA reports that total visitors for TGS 2008 tallied 194,288, breaking an attendance record.