Images2

My grandson would like to go to gamescom in Cologne, Germany next August. We live in the United States, but I have taken him to Europe in the past and am willing to do so for this convention.

The exhibition has a colored wristband system that allows limited access to game booths depending on your age. He will be 15 years old, so is in the 12-15 year old category.

I'd like to know how limiting this is, from anyone that has attended gamescom in the past. The next age category begins at 16 years.

Will we be able to do enough at the exhibition for a few days, to make this a worthwhile trip? I'll plan other activities also, but since this is the major reason for the trip, I need to know how limiting the age requirement is.

What is your opinion of this exhibition over all, and do you have any tips or recommendations for attending it?

Thanks so much.
Grandma Lorrie!

Cowboy1968

It's hard to say how limiting it will be as it depends on what kind of games he is generally interested in.

In Germany or most parts of Europe, the access of minors to computer/console games is limited according to the amount of brutality and other factors of the respective game. So all storage media you find in stores is labelled accordingly.

The easiest way to find out if his kind of games are restricted to older age groups, will be to go to the German version of amazon.com, which is amazon.de
Type the name of the game in the search box. The results should be easy to decipher as the names as almost always identical to the English language version.
When you click on the picture of the games to zoom in, you should be able to identify the age sticker on the cover picture..

If those games are usually 16+ or 18+, it will be indeed a question if a trip to Cologne is worth the money as he won't be able to play those games.
It's probably a good idea to wait another year until he will be 16 at least.

Images2

Thanks Cowboy,

Have you attended this? I'd love to hear from anyone who has any tips on crowds etc.

Cowboy1968

I did, but only on that day which is not open for the general public. So unfortunately, I have to clue if the crowds during the regular days make it hard to actually try out the games. But it is the biggest event of its kind on the planet so it does attract a LOT of people.
You should get a general impression from the video clip on the event's homepage:
http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/g...home/index.php

Note that aside from the actual fair, there is also a Gamescom festival in the city (for free).
Few people would go to the fair for more than one day. It may be a huge event, but it's not THAT big that you'd need more days like at Disneyland or such.

If this was just a side trip from a regular trip you'd do with your grandson anyway, I'd say go for it.
But if it was more or less the only reason, then you may want to reconsider.

Images2

Thanks so much. You've been a great help. He has a friend in Bonn also whom he'd like to see. Still deciding what to do....