(Citizen Star News/Crusty Collins) - 2014-08-17 - A year has passed and here we are again at GamesCom. All four days of the convention sold out prior to its opening (press-only) day on Wednesday (August 13th). Consequently, the first day of public admission already led to crowded halls and long waiting times at the playing stations.

Naturally, only one presentation was really relevant. :) Read on for my personal, concise take on the CIG event 2014.

Mainly big publishers and the two consoles were represented at the big booths of the GamesCom (EA, ActivisionBlizzard, Ubisoft, 2K, XBOX & PS4). Due to Germany's youth protection laws, games with age restrictions like '12 years and older' are only playable behind closed doors and/or curtains (visitors get colored wristbands that show their age group). Still, long queues to play upcoming hits like Destiny, CoD: Advanced Warfare, Evolve, FarCry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Sims 4 and Battlefield Hardline were the norm (as every year).

In the 'online area' free2play & browser games shared the exhibition hall with a big LoL arena, where e-sport matches were broadcast as well as being played live. There was also a small 'indie area' and I was quite surprised at the rather big merchandise area (gaming T-shirts, etc.) and the so-called cosplay "village" (as cosplay is not that big in Germany).

Naturally, any GamesCom visit does not miss out on some Citizen spotting. Beside the obligatory SC T-shirt here and there, I also saw (in the crowd) the legendary 'Colonial Movers', who I was to spot again in full uniform during the 'big night'.

So, Friday night came and 2000 electrified Citizens made their way to the E-Werk (a former substation, about 4 kilometres/2.5 miles from the convention center), where the Star Citizen event took place.

Beside David Swofford (marketing) mingling and THE lamp (which looked its fair share of wear & tear after several events and malt-laden aftershow parties), there were also several orgs 'out in force' in the audience sporting their branded T-shirts. Some Citizens were a bit disappointed that CIG staff mingled less than last year and that someone like Eric 'Wingman' Petersen didn't say hello on stage. Luckily, Chris Roberts' hours-long signing session made up for that.

Expected cheers tsunami-ed through the crowd upon seeing the Badger rover during the Constellation commercial and upon seeing the hot tub/jacuzzi of the luxury variant 'Phoenix'. However, there were also loud waves of appreciation when the racing mode was unveiled, as well as during the short FPS teaser.

As usual CIG went out of their way with loads of info, amazing render trailers/teasers and posters signed by the man himself, which prompted an instant queue of a thousand people. I was most impressed by their prototype for the multi-crew ship combat and am very excited about the Vanduul Swarm Co-op announcement.

Of course, the connie variants are exciting, too. Only question mark remaining: The Murray Cup being held on a planet? Didn't the lore indicate racing in space? Guess, this is a special cup installment. :-)

Although I had to leave early (as I had to catch the last train home), I left exhilarated, having enjoyed a very exciting and memorable evening with a very friendly & warm atmosphere.

See Also

CIG Gamescom 2014 Livestream