Tokyo Game Show is as much about going shopping as it is playing games. Most of the major game publishers have two booths at TGS: One with game demos, and one selling merch. Some of it’s available elsewhere in Japan, some of it’s only available here. And most of it is really cool.
Above: A company called Anippon sells lots of cool T-shirts with designs inspired by classic Sega hardware and retro arcade games. This year, they had these cushions shaped like Famicom cartridges and boxes. Perfect for when your lower back needs some Family Stadium-shaped support. About $35 each.
Anippon also sells these things. What are they? They’re iPhone 7 cases in the shape of a Sega Genesis controller. A bit pricey at around $30 each, but cool.
If you like BoxBoy!, you’ll love this BoxBoy box. For storing “small things.” Use your imagination. About $15.
Fans of the RPG series Ys had a few different hoodie designs to choose from, like this beautiful pixel-art variation that was also available as a tee. About $60.
Just in case you need to catch some shut-eye while scaring the absolute shit out of everyone around you, there is this Nights Into Dreams eye mask. This was on blowout sale for $6 each, or three for $15.
Music from the Nier games was a hot item at this year’s show, with a limited-edition signed version of a Blu-ray concert disc selling out quickly each morning of the show. Also very popular was this set of both games’ soundtracks on vinyl, for about $75.
The Square Enix product booth had many, many, many great items for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest fans, but these Moogle and Chocobo sugar bowls for your dining table were the most surprising to me. A bargain at about $20 each.
This “black curry” with a sirloin steak and cheddar cheese toppings is being served in the TGS Food Court area, and it is heaven. About $12.
These lemon-flavored Mega Man candies are supposed to look like the iconic game character, but, well...
Not much Okami merch at the show, but Capcom’s booth did have these awesome stickers. About $8 for the set. High-priced stickers, but high-quality too.
Do you take your tea in a Mega Man cup? You should be. It’s simply the thing to do, these days.
Here’s some curry that I kind of don’t want to eat. It’s Resident Evil Green Herb Curry. It’s ready-made curry inside a bag that you’d place in boiling water to heat up.
It’s the 20th anniversary of Parappa the Rapper, and a lot of the merch that’s been in the various Parappa pop-up stores around Tokyo is here at TGS as well. Plushes! Sneaker-shaped pencil cases! Who can choose just one?
This piece of Love Live merch looks like a normal tie that you could wear to work, but only you know that your anime girlfriend is sewn into the lining.
Well, you couldn’t buy this giant plush $300 Mega Man at Tokyo Game Show, but a sample was chilling here to let you know that you can currently preorder it at Amazon or Capcom’s own online store. It’ll ship to you in late December.
A plush that you could buy, for the kind of high price of about $25, was Hello Kitty dressed up like the Kacho from Game Center CX.
Doing any business? Well, then keep your business cards in one of these handsome Kirby metal card cases. For business purposes only.
Finally, if you’re a Final Fantasy V fan, then you’ll want this exclusive CD: It’s full of nothing but arrangements of the song “Clash on the Big Bridge,” which is the tune that plays when you’re fighting Gilgamesh. Don’t worry about the Sold Out sticker if you’re going to TGS this weekend; they’ll have more at the booth each morning.
Want more? Check out the live video that Brian Ashcraft and I shot as we walked through the Tokyo Game Show merch booths.