Press start to play the future. And true enough, with one push of the button, virtual reality unfolded itself in front of the record-breaking 271,224 participants in this year’s Tokyo Game Show (TMS), held last September 15 to 17 at the Makuhari Messe convention centre in Chiba.

Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), the organizer of the event, and its co-organizer, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., proudly presented 614 companies and organizations from 37 countries and regions. They exhibited the latest innovations which aimed to change the norms of gaming, primarily through smartphones and virtual reality.

Also, in one of the main forums during the event, they tackled the different concerns that arose since the introduction of virtual reality to the gaming market. They also discussed the upcoming trends in this field and how it could affect the current and future users of the technology.

Participants still enjoyed TMS’ much-awaited international projects. For the Indie Game Area, 68 independent game developers were chosen from 18 countries and regions to be part of the exhibit. Some of the participating countries were the United Kingdom, France, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Another project has been the Sense of Wonder Night, wherein 8 countries from the 68 indie developers presented new games that provoked a “sense of wonder” in the gaming world. The aim of this project has been to encourage creators to seek fresh ideas to continuously surprise the market. Argentina and Singapore were just some of the countries which gave some insights.

The New Stars area gave a chance to 52 young companies, from 8 countries, to showcase their works to the Japanese gaming industry. These included games from Poland, Mexico and Chile.

Another anticipated part of the event was the e-Sports tournament wherein the top gamers of the world converge to display their most impressive game techniques. One of the highlights of the event was the battle between the Japanese team and the South Korean team for the championship games of Sudden Attack and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

There was also a competition for digital art, called the Limits. Together with the tunes of DJ and music producer KSUKE, the artists were given just 20 minutes to create a digital masterpiece about a certain theme. This part of the event acknowledged the artists’ freedom of expression and their role in the gaming industry.

New updates for seasoned video games, like Tekken 7 and Dragon Quest Monsters, were also announced during the event. In a cosplay program, Masked Riders and soldiers from Attack on Titan also attracted cheers from the crowd. There was also an auction of premium game items like a signed poster of the video game, Sengoku Basara.

All are official photos from Tokyo Game Show 2016.