Here I am standing at 6:00 in the morning to fly from 8.30 towards Cologne, or “Köln” for insiders. Fatigue is felt even if the stimulus is great especially since it is my first “convention”. Besides, it does not feel out of place on the way it is easy to identify “geeks” and gamers, who became the majority in the crowds the closer the exhibition center.
(Left visitors rush to get bracelets USK, providing access to video games. There are three categories: 12-15 years, 16-17 years, and the last to access all the games: 18 years and older. smarter returned without a bracelet because it was sufficient only to show his identity card)
Just arrived (10 minutes after the doors opened), the input is already crowded. The wait does not feel by cons, as it is more than easy to find conversational partners. Once composted my ticket, I headed for the stands most in demand, in halls 6 and 9. The aisles are also full to bursting.
Once at Hall 6 I head to the booth Diablo 3 Blizzard, unfortunately I should have guessed: that’s posher rooms that are open and have found a queue of 4 hours. I talk to people in the queue: last year we could stand / sit for 8 hours … Encouraging.
Finally I resigned myself to go look at other booths, hoping they will be less crowded. But do not expect miracles. We find that large licenses in this hall … and therefore adequate files.
Sometimes, however, to find niches (when it’s time to eat, for example). I manage to access Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm after only an hour of waiting and hungry. We can say that the perception of time changes when you play. I am about to finish the first mission mode rush, when an employee of Blizzard comes up to me and tell them to stop, frustration when you hold us …
There were no fewer than 150 computers for SC 2, Diablo 3 and World of Wacraft, 50 each.
Then I go to the Hall 9, where we find, the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2 published by NCsoft (if I remember correctly it was even the biggest stand of the hall)
To rouse the people publishers organize quizzes and distribute T-shirts. Besides, it works pretty, it’s the lure of free and collector editions. Myself caught in the heat of me desperately to catch a T-shirt. Yet I am not a fan of the brand, but hey as I said earlier, it’s FREE * drool *.
After doing a little tour of the hall Gamescom the only remains for me to visit is 8, located in the north. It includes Gears of War 3 with its queue monster. Yet this is only a demo video.
Next (or just outside the picture) you can indulge in a game session of Age of Empires Online. Firstly the graphics cartoonisés skeptical, I met a game designer who worked on the project and who enlightens me with his knowledge. Ages better than the cartoon graphics and a realistic two that allows for a very low minimum (this game runs on the PC). Because it is free-to-play, microsoft still ensures an income by selling items, civilizations, etc. … in-game.