As of fifteen minutes ago, there were as many attendees at the Makuhari Messe as their are colons in the above headline. With the KDDI and Sega booths nearly empty, the biggest crowd we spotted was at the Idolmaster display. We cut through the throngs of TGS attendees to get to the press room just before the crowd politely shuffled in and expect a different story upon our return.

Tokyo Game Show Day 1 was absolutely insane—and that was the press only day. It was just as mad as E3 at the Sony booth.

Check back in a few minutes to see what a difference a few thousand Japanese early risers can make on the convention floor landscape. Once more into the breach, dear nerds. Wish us luck.

UPDATE: Wow, that took longer than I thought. Crushing crowds invading the Sega and Namco booths follow.

Here they are. I'm trying to stay out the unwashed crowd, but I've seen a few areas so dense, you can just walk on the shoulders of the Japanese otaku without having to touch the convention floor. Unfortunately for KDDI, the real crowd is swaming 'round the Bandai Namco booth.

We're planning on pulling the fire alarm in a bit to see if we can clear out some space and get some hands-on time with Ridge Racer 7. Michael McWhertor