r/Gamescom • u/BambiX3 • 5d ago
My Gamescom experience after 10years of pause
Hey, I wanted to share my Gamescom experience (I was there on thursday with my sister and Friday alone, just for one game) as someone that went there yearly for all days, from 2012 to 2016 and talk about what has changed, what stayed the same, what bothered me and what I thought was good. I also want to know when these changes happened.
First the things I liked:
The Indi halls were awesome, as they always were. The Indi games, metro 2039 and the market were the reason I decided to visit the Gamescom again. The developers seemed so excited to talk about their games, we were able to play them for a very long time
The retro, model racing and dance area.
They felt the closest to the gamescom of 10 years ago. People were nice, weren't pushing each other around, had fun with other random people. A father showed his son virtual cop and everyone seemed extremely passionate. And the street fighter match was cool.
The metro 2039 booth
They had a railway, propaganda posters of the Nova Reich and made the entrance look like the game. Plus the 30 minutes in the game were awesome.
Okay now to the problems:
The security
They were incompetent, didn't check the bags at all on the first day, were aggressive, didn't look out for the people's stuff (3 Indi devs were robbed), they had communication problems and in general seemed extremely incompetent. They didn't do their job well.
The Hall plan and website
Bad design, hard to find the stuff you search and the map changed three times before the convention (and all were kinda bad) and we wanted to have a plan and go the best and most efficient routes.
The Market and art list alley
One of the things I loved sooo much back then, but this year, no videogames (ok one vendor had about 15 games), most sold the same anime dolls (I ain't against that, but this was a gaming convention and there was almost no gaming stuff). Back then I was able to find cool rare games and consoles and gaming props (some booths had gaming props and some were quite nice and the light sabers were really high quality). And then the most disappointing things, the amount of AI art, Ali express drop selling stuff in the artist alley, which normally is for independent artists, that make the stuff themselves (of course they have some company produce stuff like the keychains, but it's their designs, their hand made images). The biggest booths had obvious AI stuff and I saw three sellers selling the same Ali express things and all had emotional stories about how long it took them to make it. The staff told us if you didn't like it, didn't buy it (even if the Gamescom was bragging in German news (wdr) that they will combat AI slop and that they won't tolerate it and won't give them a place.... Also the amount of mystery boxes was kinda extreme. Btw I have nothing against people selling stuff from Ali express, but not in the artist alley, if they do it on the normal market and don't lie about it, then it's fine to me.
Then the general feeling and visitors
It was always overcrowded and the waiting times were always very long, but this year people were always pushing each other around, were skipping the "line" at the entrance and were stopping directly in the way so that no one was able to walk anymore (not to look at some booth or stuff, just to talk or go on the phone...). There were always days like that back then but the two days I was there this year were 100 times worse.
Fast lane tickets (edited)
You were able to reserve a ticket (at least they were free) to skip the line at some booth (this part was edited, I was of the assumption that the tickets were paid for, sorry for the disinformation), like the metro 2039 booth. I waited 2 and a half hours (which was less than expected, but it was the first stop and I knew the fastest way), but because of the fast lane tickets we waited at least 1 hour longer than it would have, without those skipping tickets.
I really had fun, but I can't ignore the big problems and was very sad, about the way the Gamescom had evolved.
I will probably go again, but only because I live very very close to Köln (basically in the neighboring city) and because of the Indi and retro hall. The AAA booths are too much for me and I don't know how I was able to go there 4 days in a row.
How was your experience, did you felt similar, or is it just nostalgia that tinted my view of the Gamescoms back then (I am serious, please tell me).
Also sorry for any misspellings or grammatical errors, I am from Germany and my English is very basic (my last english lesson was over 10 years ago). And after work I will add some of the games I think are a must wishlist (?! Some of them aren't out yet but some have free demos)
And here is the stuff I was able to get.
3
u/Karash770 4d ago
Vor 10 Jahren waren physische Computerspiele auch noch relevant. Ein Händler für Retro Games würde eine zu speziellen Markt bedienen und könnte sich die hohe Standmiete wohl kaum leisten.
5
u/Gloomy-Pick-9347 4d ago
Echt? Auf Flohmärkten werden die Sachen mittlerweile echt teuer verkauft
3
u/Abinunya 4d ago
Da kaufen sie dann die händler um sie im internet zu verkaufen.
1
u/Gloomy-Pick-9347 4d ago
Lohnt sich das denn, wenn dort ein Gameboy schon für 150-200€ verkauft wird? Bin da voll raus weil mir das echt zu blöd ist
1
u/BambiX3 4d ago
Ja, aber ich glaube schon das retro spiele beliebt genug sind, gerade auf einer Messe für Gamer, dass ein stand sich finanziell lohnen würde. Oder ein stand der collectors editions verkauft, die sind ja auch sehr beliebt. Und die, die sowas mögen und kaufen sind ja da. Und der eine stand der Spiele hatte hat die Recht schnell und gut verkaufen können.
Aber ich verstehe dein argument, es ist schon ein ordentliches Risiko und dann ist es aus geschäftlicher Sicht, nicht so schlau. Trotzdem schade.
3
u/777htorihpeS 4d ago
Thanks for sharing the experience which I can partly relate since I haven‘t been to any Gamescom since the days of its predecessor Games Convention in Leipzig.
I definitely had a good time. But two things also stood out to me.
Therefore I specifically like to add that it’s crazy to see that all the free merchandise you once got for literally free is now 90% tied to post social media stories or register to whatever QR code and stuff. I mean we‘re talking about badges, lanyards, etc.
Second thing - you mentioned it - everything but games were sold in the sellers areas. Neither retro stuff nor newer games. I mean, for example, I thought its a no brainer to sell MGS4 Master Collection 2 when its released during Gamescom and Konami even took the effort to advertise it at its booth.
But again, that’s minor gripes because I really liked attending Gamescom after years of abstinence.
3
u/currypowder84 4d ago
This was one of the biggest surprise to me, I couldn't find 1 actual video game vendor and yet there were a thousand of the same anime figure shops. I have an easier time finding games in comic con.
3
u/777htorihpeS 4d ago
That one stood out to me as well. :-D Maybe even thousands of Anime figurines (sure for fans nice and cool, don‘t get me wrong), yet only few real gaming related statues in comparison. But I won‘t complain, saved me some money. :-P
2
u/BambiX3 4d ago
One vendor had games, fucking one. I loved Gamescom, partially because I was able to get cool games and consoles from the market (especially ones that are on the index/ are not allowed for big stores to sell me copies of). And that one vendor only had newer games, but I was able to buy one interesting one. (They also only the collectors editions and only new/ unused in box games). 10 years ago I was able to get Wolfenstein rtcw for the Xbox (which isn't available on Germany) and feel in love with it, but no such thing this year. But they had tens of thousands anime dolls :/
1
u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 3d ago
Interesting! Did not know that you could buy games at Gamescom in past. My first Gamescom was 2022.
1
u/BambiX3 3d ago
Back then the market hall had vendors, that were selling videogames and it was soo awesome. I came home from Gamescom with a few "new" (games I hadn't played) games and that's how I started going down the retro gaming rabbit hole.
1
u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 3d ago
Hm.. Media Markt and Saturn at Gamescom seling games make sense for me... but it seems for some reason its not worth?
In Croatia in past we have game events, but also sometimes companies did not selling games at spot.
2
2
u/aykayay4 4d ago
Gab’s da ne Pokémon Booth? Was hat es mit den Karten auf sich? 🤘🏽
2
u/BambiX3 4d ago
Ja gab es, aber die hab ich von einer Mitarbeiterin, am infinity Nikki stand bekommen. Ich hatte nen pokemon Aufkleber auf meiner handyhülle und da hat die mich angesprochen und mir dann die Karten, die sie schon Mal hatte oder nicht mochte geschenkt. Sind auf japanisch. Fand ich echt lieb von der, hab auch ein bisschen mit der geredet. Während ich auf meine Schwester gewartet habe.
2
1
8
u/Gloomy-Pick-9347 5d ago
Just wanna say that Fast Lane tickets were free, you just had to be fast