Recap: gamescom 2010 as it Happened

All week long, our intrepid EU PlayStation.Blog correspondent James Gallagher has been making the rounds at gamescom in picturesque Cologne, Germany.

Like most of you, the US PlayStation.Blog team has never attended gamescom. We thought we’d let James tell us what it’s like, from the major game announcements to the gaming culture to the restrooms (no joke). Let’s listen in…

For those that have never been to gamescom, I’d describe it as a mixture of E3 and PAX, although I’ve never had the opportunity to visit Seattle.

You’ve got your SCEE press conference, where we try our best to come up with big game announcements and — for me, most importantly — you have thousands of gamers in the beautiful city of Cologne, pulled together in celebration of that shared passion. There to meet them are the fruits of a great deal of imagination and hard work from the German PlayStation team. If you haven’t seen the PlayStation gamescom booth, then check it out via my video tour:

The biggest announcements of the week came from Insomniac Games, who announced both Ratchet & Clank All 4 One and Resistance 3. Insomniac’s President, Ted Price, joined the SCEE President Andrew House on-stage to lift the lid on two brand new PS3 games and I was lucky enough to interview him afterwards.

Another huge PlayStation story landed even before the SCEE press conference had begun, with EA announcing that Mass Effect 2 is coming to PS3, and that the special editions of Dead Space 2 and Medal of Honor will include HD versions of Dead Space Extraction and Medal of Honor Frontlines respectively.

PlayStation Move was everywhere at gamescom and one of the most enduring images I have is gazing across the booth at the masses of glowing spheres of all colours. I’d say that Sports Champions was the most popular title, with SingStar Dance proving popular with those brave enough to play it. I’ll tell you one thing about German gamers: they love their SingStar.

Also extremely popular were the the 3D TVs scattered across the show floor with Killzone 3, MotorStorm Apocalypse, Gran Turismo 5, The Fight and many more all playable in stereoscopic 3D. Glasses have never been so fashionable.

However, despite all the announcements and the games, my favourite part of gamescom is the atmosphere. Cologne is a densely packed city and the close proximity of the Koelnmesse Convention Centre, and it really makes you feel close to the people behind your favourite games.

I have to tell you, standing next to Kazunori Yamauchi at a urinal while Evolution Studios’ Matt Southern washes his hands is a weird experience for any gamer.