Gamescom 2012 Days 3 and 4 Roundup!
By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist
Gamescom is an experience. There’s no other real way to say it.
I thought it was busy on the Press day. I thought it was packed on the others. The weekend was something an order of magnitude busier.
Across Saturday and Sunday for both Shannon (Leliah) and myself it was a blur of fantastic booths, noise and lights.
Raiderz and Aion kept up the insanity previously recorded constantly pumping out music, giveaways and drawing crowds to experience Raiderz on the floor. They really set the stage, literally, with cosplayers and crowd pleasing.
Red 5 and Firefall were everywhere across the convention and had a fantastic looking booth waiting to draw people in to try out the beta.
All the other games you might think of there were out in force. Trion Worlds kept the crowd entertained with Storm Legion demos, playable End of Nations and more. Warface extended their presence into another hall in an excellently appointed helicopter set up while Defiance squared off against Call of Duty and Sim City.
Not to be outdone by anyone, World of Warcraft drew large crowds to watch their various orchestral pieces and the ever popular dance competitions. Pretty girls doing the elf dances are good, but you just can’t beat an enthusiastic guy Hammer Timing like crazy. You can also take it from me that that’s the best time to try Mists of Pandaria while everyone is distracted and enraptured.
Biowares The Old Republic eventually let other people in on the new reveal video that we got our exclusive sneak peak of at the community party. For anyone who missed that news, new planet, new raids, new race and new pvp. You will not be disappointed by the efforts of the team on this one.
Being mostly concerned with online games is a saving grace for me, there were plenty of console titles around and about but online games clearly took the show for me.
It’s not all just games though; attendees could expect to be entertained by a rather popular cosplay village in Hall 10.1 and retro gaming exhibit in 10.2. Not enough? Indoor carting and biking as well as bike and skateboard competitions. For my first convention I must admit I was rather impressed that it wasn’t all just games and merchandise but people having fun in a vast number of ways.
It was nothing less than an experience, admittedly at times an exhausting one due to the heat and a mystifying one on occasion. E-sports is a huge thing, but I never really understood until I came across the masses staring adoringly at League of Legends and Starcraft up on the big screens. Next year… next year I may even be able to work out who I should get excited over. I say this because random German men escorted by a brace of security guards and hounded by hordes of fans… are a sight to see, even if no one can quite tell me who he was.
OnRPG’s Gamescom coverage has only begun though. Come back early tomorrow for my take on The Secret World’s showing, our Best of Gamescom Awards, and much more!