Spending 1 hour at this years Gamescom 2012 in Cologne before they close for the day. So it does not really count as a whole day. Today the fair opened for the public until Sunday. Will go tomorrow, just stopped by on the way home.
Last year it was really (too) crowded. It usually is already quite full on Thursday and the last two years it got even more crowded until Sunday. Worst time is around noon. After 3-4 pm it gets a little better.
Arrived around 7 pm-ish to use the chance to take some pictures.
Swimming against the current. A steady stream of gamers flows to the train station.
Staging area where they hand out the bracelets. Don’t be fooled, it will not be this empty tomorrow morning.
Main entrance. At this time rather the exit. They learned something from last year and are opening another entrance at hall 11 for those who already have a ticket. The hall 11 entrance is right next to the main entrance.
Some gamers queuing up for Borderlands 2. Thought the first one was a surprise hit. Release date: September 21st. Might be faster to just wait than to wait in line.
Last year the Diablo III area at Blizzard was walled of. Now post release there is nothing to hide.
A rare sight to see no lines and only a few gamers actually playing.
Again, I do not expect it to look like this before 5 pm.
Neither will the SC2 part of Blizzards’ booth be so idle:
Nor the WoW expansion part – Mists of Pandaria:
RaiderZ across the isle:
This one gives an impression of how empty the halls are in the evening.
Public transport simulations:
EA manages to retain visitors’ attention even at closing time. Isles are already empty. But do not be fooled, there are really a lot of visitors around, slowly moving to the exits.
EA brought some cars along for NfS Most Wanted
FIFA ## never fails to attract fans
Apart from the fenced-off part the area was empty. Not really sure about their motivation to wait in line for … what?
More NfS hardware
Of all sports title I had actually not seen a handball game before. Might try this tomorrow.
If you squint you can read “My Body Coach 3” on the glass
Body Coach 3 in action
Have your picture taken – in defiance
The “case king” or “caseking” (see above) ruling supreme over some contest.
It.is.back!!! In 2010 I raised my brow ().
In 2011 Landwirtschafts-Simulator 2012 made it’s way to the 3DS.
Now it is not only back:
They built a controller for it!!!
This puts Steel Battalion to shame
Strictly speaking you need to have one of those age indicating bracelets to play any game not rated “0” at Gamescom. They should be handed out here I was told at the info stand. But someone already had left his/her post. It was almost closing time so this is understandable. Would have saved the time picking one up tomorrow, one queue less.
Nintendo and Microsoft are notably absent this year. But Sony is still around, wich is a good thing.
2010 and 2011 Sony had put up the best showing I thought. Many games, most could be played with reasonable queuing time.
Also like the visual style of their (huge) booth.
Little Big Planet Karting:
Many beanie bags with PS Vitas to play around
The move based games were popular. Some do not like move. It just does not make the gaming experience better for most “classic” games. When there are games where the concept fits, I actually prefer it to the controller-free Kinect. But I think I can count my move and Kinect games on one hand.
Ubisoft and Konami booths. PES has a similar attraction level as FIFA.
PES 2013
Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs murals. Would like to play both tomorrow. But need to find out if there are playable demos or just video trailers before standing in line.
More Ubisoft. I would really like Splinter Cell Blacklist to be good.
Farcry 3
Konami promising Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
But I did not see it at their booth. Walked around it once. They do have their own broadcast studio, though.
World of tanks seems to be getting some media attention lately. The booth was already closed apart from the large video wall:
Next door: End of Nations
Across: FireFall. Will try to play it tomorrow, both was already being shut down for the day.
League of Legends was a huge hit last year. This year they moved to hall 8.
Unobstructed view over some competition seats.
Spending 1 hour at this years Gamescom 2012 in Cologne before they close for the day. So it does not really count as a whole day. Today the fair opened for the public until Sunday. Will go tomorrow, just stopped by on the way home.
Last year it was really (too) crowded. It usually is already quite full on Thursday and the last two years it got even more crowded until Sunday. Worst time is around noon. After 3-4 pm it gets a little better.
Arrived around 7 pm-ish to use the chance to take some pictures.
Swimming against the current. A steady stream of gamers flows to the train station.
Staging area where they hand out the bracelets. Don’t be fooled, it will not be this empty tomorrow morning.
Main entrance. At this time rather the exit. They learned something from last year and are opening another entrance at hall 11 for those who already have a ticket. The hall 11 entrance is right next to the main entrance.
Some gamers queuing up for Borderlands 2. Thought the first one was a surprise hit. Release date: September 21st. Might be faster to just wait than to wait in line.
Last year the Diablo III area at Blizzard was walled of. Now post release there is nothing to hide.
A rare sight to see no lines and only a few gamers actually playing.
Again, I do not expect it to look like this before 5 pm.
Neither will the SC2 part of Blizzards’ booth be so idle:
Nor the WoW expansion part – Mists of Pandaria:
RaiderZ across the isle:
This one gives an impression of how empty the halls are in the evening.
Public transport simulations:
EA manages to retain visitors’ attention even at closing time. Isles are already empty. But do not be fooled, there are really a lot of visitors around, slowly moving to the exits.
EA brought some cars along for NfS Most Wanted
FIFA ## never fails to attract fans
Apart from the fenced-off part the area was empty. Not really sure about their motivation to wait in line for … what?
More NfS hardware
Of all sports title I had actually not seen a handball game before. Might try this tomorrow.
If you squint you can read “My Body Coach 3” on the glass
Body Coach 3 in action
Have your picture taken – in defiance
The “case king” or “caseking” (see above) ruling supreme over some contest.
It.is.back!!! In 2010 I raised my brow ().
In 2011 Landwirtschafts-Simulator 2012 made it’s way to the 3DS.
Now it is not only back:
They built a controller for it!!!
This puts Steel Battalion to shame
Strictly speaking you need to have one of those age indicating bracelets to play any game not rated “0” at Gamescom. They should be handed out here I was told at the info stand. But someone already had left his/her post. It was almost closing time so this is understandable. Would have saved the time picking one up tomorrow, one queue less.
Nintendo and Microsoft are notably absent this year. But Sony is still around, wich is a good thing.
2010 and 2011 Sony had put up the best showing I thought. Many games, most could be played with reasonable queuing time.
Also like the visual style of their (huge) booth.
Little Big Planet Karting:
Many beanie bags with PS Vitas to play around
The move based games were popular. Some do not like move. It just does not make the gaming experience better for most “classic” games. When there are games where the concept fits, I actually prefer it to the controller-free Kinect. But I think I can count my move and Kinect games on one hand.
Ubisoft and Konami booths. PES has a similar attraction level as FIFA.
PES 2013
Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs murals. Would like to play both tomorrow. But need to find out if there are playable demos or just video trailers before standing in line.
More Ubisoft. I would really like Splinter Cell Blacklist to be good.
Farcry 3
Konami promising Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
But I did not see it at their booth. Walked around it once. They do have their own broadcast studio, though.
World of tanks seems to be getting some media attention lately. The booth was already closed apart from the large video wall:
Next door: End of Nations
Across: FireFall. Will try to play it tomorrow, both was already being shut down for the day.
League of Legends was a huge hit last year. This year they moved to hall 8.
LoL tournament theater. 15 minutes before closing time.
Directly next to the LoL theatre the SC2 high level play still pulls a crowd
So to sum up 1 hour of Gamescom 2012:
Refreshingly calm in the evening. Still a few lines for the big titles. For theaters: Still unclear most of the time if there is a playable demo or just some video reel. Which I could watch from my smartphone – waiting in line somewhere else. Where there IS a playable demo.
Riding into the Cologne sun set until tomorrow.
