Gamescom 2015
We’re halfway through the convention season, with more conventions lined up to visit in the next few weeks. Gamescom 2015, held in Cologne, was one of the conventions we visited this year and as always, we’ll do a short recap of how we experienced the biggest European gaming convention.
Last year we attended Gamescom on a weekday, this time we decided to attend it on a Sunday as this day was more likely to be less chaotic. In comparison this was certainly true but the reason was not because it was a Sunday. Before we break down the reasons, I have to mention that the queue was quite long but then again, we were early. Once the doors opened, the stream of people vanishing into the building were inside quite fast.
A notable difference in the organization was the fact that the boulevard didn’t have closed-off sections like it did last year. Instead, they provided two sections, one of each direction, allowing you to walk to the halls without having to walk for miles around the building. This not only allowed a better steady flow but it was also less confusing to figure out where you had to go. Certainly a huge upgrade since last year.
Since we visited Gamescom for the very first time last year, the convention was less stunning as you had an idea of what to expect. However, the size of the convention is still remarkable and will leave you silent for a while. The publishers really out-done themselves this year. Some booths were cleverly designed to fit the theme of the game they were promoting, other booths had huge detailed statues that deserved to be in a museum of gaming-history.
Perhaps it was an optical illusion but the convention seemed smaller in size compared to last year. Six halls were open to the public, with an additional hall purely dedicated to vendors, which seems about the same amount as last year, so why did we have that feeling? It could have been because of the lower amount of people or the improved flow on the boulevard. Both reasons may also be the reason why we felt that the halls provided more space to walk.
One thing is for sure, the majority of the booths were closed off to the sauntering public, seemingly far more than last year. If you wanted to even catch a glimpse of games such as Overwatch, Call of Duty III, Warhammer and Homefront, you were forced to stand in queue. Luckily these queues weren’t as impossible as they were last year. Certain games such as Forza Motorsport 6, Disney Infinity and Guitar Hero Live had a fairly “short” queue-time compared to the closed off booths. If you’re a number cruncher, there were queues of 90 to 180 minutes while Guitar Hero Live was a 20 minute queue when I stood in line. A big difference but the public kept themselves busy by doing what they love most, playing games on their handheld consoles.
Just like last year, several halls were packed with only one to three developers and publishers. The biggest being Blizzard and Sony, where Crytek and Bandai Namco paled in comparison. In fact, they were easily missed. Unlike last year, the indie games weren’t cramped in the vendor hall. They were easy to access and far less crowded then usually. Then again, The Escapists: The Walking Dead and Awesomenauts aren’t exactly categorized as indie games in my eyes.
The vendor hall was packed and had surprisingly more anime and manga, and less action figures than last year. The “official” vendors such as Blizzard certainly stood out but had less animo. I should add that several stores were sold out on particular merchandise.
Cosplayers are a big part of these conventions but the amount of brilliantly crafted cosplays were almost nowhere to be found. Most of the cosplayers were hanging out in the “Cosplay Village” and the most amazing cosplays were commissioned by the developers. Of course, there were some amazing costumes the previous days at the cosplay contests but we missed that. If you are a fan of cosplays, you should visit Gamescom on one of those days.
Overall, Gamescom 2015 was yet another success. The organization had stepped up when it came down to the flow of the mass. Other small details made sure you were awestruck most of the time but the illusion of it seeming “smaller” than last year continues to haunt me. Either way, Gamescom 2015 is a convention I can highly recommend visiting for at least one day, two if you want to play almost every game there is to play.
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