Hijacking this, kind of off-topic:

I might have a chance to visit the Tokyo Game Show in September, and I'm wondering if it's worth my time, or will it just be a purely commercial venue with no hands-on experience.

If it's even remotely like the Bitsummit described in the OP then that would be awesome.

Some background: I'm not a gamer, I simply don't have the time to be one, but I'm very interested in gaming news, game engines, and well, games. I also don't know Japanese, unfortunately, I'm just visiting Tokyo for a short time.

Anyone been to a previous Game Show (or a similar big event) and can say if it's worth it?