Nintendo to skip Tokyo Games Show - as usual

The Tokyo Games Show takes place once again this year on September 16th to 18th at the Nippon Convention Centre in Chiba City, and promises to have some of the world's first hands-on playable Xbox 360 - and maybe even PlayStation 3 - titles.

Nintendo's Revolution, however, won't be there - and nor will Nintendo itself, with the Kyoto-based giant once again avoiding the bright lights of TGS, just as it does every year.

Up until a few years ago, Nintendo ran its own event, Spaceworld, as an alternative to TGS - but in the last couple of years, it has instead opted for embarking on nationwide hands-on campaigns, bringing its latest systems and titles to customer sampling events around Japan.

As yet we don't have any details of what's planned for this year, although rumours abound that the firm will reveal more details of Revolution in August, and a major promotional drive for the DS and the new Legend of Zelda title in early autumn seems likely.

So there you have it - the annual "No Nintendo at TGS" story, out of the way with what we hope is a minimum of fuss. Look out for another one around the same time next year.