Gamescom Becomes World's Largest Gaming Event

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Gamescom Becomes World's Largest Gaming Event



Last week's Gamescom [http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/] event in Cologne, Germany, was pretty darn successful. How successful, you ask? Successful enough to be the biggest gaming event of all time.

I think it's fair to write off Gamescom 2009 as a success. Not only did we see a good number of announcements and unveils - looking at you, Fable 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93974-Sony-Reveals-PS3-Slim-Drops-PS3-Prices-to-299] - but as it turns out, a lot of people came to check out the show. More people than have ever gone to a games industry event before, in fact.

Here are some numbers: Gamescom '09 featured 458 companies from a combined 31 different countries. There were 17,000 trade attendants from within the industry, and a whopping 228,000 consumers who came to check out the latest and shiniest in videogames. Together, that gives us a staggering attendance of 245,000 people. Holy crap.

"The Gamescom premiere ran splendidly," said Oliver P. Kuhrt, managing director of Koelnmesse GmbH. "We are very happy with the enthusiastic response of both exhibitors and visitors. This has established Gamescom as a leading trade fair straight away." Yeah, you read that right - 245,000 people in the show's first year.

Unsurprisingly, the show will be returning to Cologne next year, scheduled to take place on August 18-22. Apparently, not all Germans hate videogames after all. Who knew?

(GI.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gamescom-becomes-worlds-largest-games-event-attracting-245-000-visitors])

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LeonLethality

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Mar 10, 2009
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not much to say but wow, the ps3 slim really pulled the audience, and fable 3 wouldnt be enough to convince ME but well I'm but one man, and those numbers dont lie
 

GamerLuck

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Jul 13, 2009
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Was Gamescon open to the public? i know E3 isn't, which greatly sucks, and was just wondering whether it was the same for this one...

And what about Guild Wars 2?!?!?!?! We finally get proof that AreanaNet hasn't been twiddling thier thumbs all this time, and from all that in game sceanery, it looks like they are doing a damm good job. Cant wait to see that released... too bad its gonna take till 2011 in all likelyhood(thats my number not thiers).
 

GamerLuck

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Jul 13, 2009
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Spucktier said:
GamerLuck said:
Was Gamescon open to the public?
the first day was press only (19th) but the following 4 days were open to the public, yes.
Oh cool... now lets hope it stays that way and in a couple years i can make it to Germany....
 

Frybird

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Jan 7, 2008
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Nice!

I really liked the Gamescom, despite having to wait quite a bit to play Beatles: Rock Band (thanks, damn BBC!) and Mass Effect 2 (I pity the fools who quered up for Diablo 3, having to wait up to 4 hours).

Sad thing most reactions in a german forum were quite bitchy, moaning about the lack of playable stuff (Ok, so i really missed opportunities to play Games like Assasin's Creed 2, the new Castlevania or Alan Wake, but seriously, there was enough for one entire day to play), long waiting times (well, that comes with large numbers) and the lack of booth babes (wich is...weird and not really my opinion, then again my main interest were GAMES, damnit!).

But i guess many people are still bitter about the move from Leipzig to Cologne (to prevent having Europe's Greatest Gaming event in the middle of nowhere)...
 

Spucktier

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Jul 13, 2009
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GamerLuck said:
Spucktier said:
GamerLuck said:
Was Gamescon open to the public?
the first day was press only (19th) but the following 4 days were open to the public, yes.
Oh cool... now lets hope it stays that way and in a couple years i can make it to Germany....
it will stay that way. before it was called gamescon it was called games convention and held in Leipzig, Germany. It has been open to the public even then. There isn't that much of a dedicated gaming press in germany, so that's why these gaming events have to be public to generate some revenue
 

WJeff

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Aug 14, 2009
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You'd think it would be E3, but E3 killed itself by making itself a closed door event, coincidentally during the worst E3 year in recent memory. Even now that it's open again, the damage has been done.

And I had never heard of Gamescom before. But yeah, some big announcements are sure to make a game convention popular. Especially an announcement as big and exciting as the PS3 slim, or as big and annoying as Fable 3.
 

Simalacrum

Resident Juggler
Apr 17, 2008
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Holy crap, does that mean its now surpassed E3 and TGS as the premier gaming event of the year? 0.o

edit: I also find it rather ironic that its held in Germany, a country notoriously known for currently trying to ban violent videogames in the country...
 

hansari

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May 31, 2009
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Simalacrum said:
Holy crap, does that mean its now surpassed E3 and TGS as the premier gaming event of the year? 0.o
It would be nice to see some competition now. When it comes to unveiling things in the video game industry, much has been concentrated on E3.

Would be nice to see stuff get spread out now.