As usual, Gamescom will return to Cologne this year once again and this time with a few (permanent)* changes.
The date for the event changed to a firm date, as this wasn’t the case before.

Luckily the beginning of Gamescom will be permanently held in the last week of August.
The reasons for those decisions have been the exhibitors that complained about the organisation -  it simply was
too complicated to plan without a firm date. Therefore, we will have a certain date we all can aim for.
Most of us won’t have a problem with that but students might experience issues, since the date is now even further
beyond the main vacation time.

We can expect that Gamescom2017 will be held from 22 – 26 August. To specify for our German readers:
The states: Hessia, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia 
won’t have vacations anymore during Gamescom this year.
The other states can attend without consulting a doctor in advance to skip a school day.
(Not that you kids do, no responsibility taken!)

However, although it seems bad for one it's good for another – because many states won’t have vacations
during the event less people will attend and therefore the experience for everyone will increase. It’s not been
a secret that exactly this decreased significantly over the last years.

Family & Friends 2017

This year, Gamescom offers an entire area especially for families to take a break from the big messy chaos
that’s everywhere at the event. Hall 10.2 is designed specifically for the youngest visitors.
What's really interesting is that they offer retro gaming pearls of the last 40 years so kids can actually
get a tidbit of what we all played when we were younger. Additionally a caterer will take care of the food for this hall.
Surely because of that idea I expect more families with their children to come and join the event in this designed area.

Since this is absolutely new and Gamescom does not reveal too much we're not exactly sure what you will find there.
So if you want to bring your family - especially children - or if you are just a big child yourself, go to Hall 10.2
and check it out yourself! I hope there are classic games of our elder generation! (Pong, yay!)

But what we know so far is that you can play HEADIS, and foosball.
What is Headis? Well, apparently it's playing table top tennis... with your head. It does not only sound weird, it actually is.
But guaranteed it will make fun and will be good to your health and soul. At least I hope so, I never considered playing
tennis with my head. Additionally, the evangelic youth invites you to giant foosball matches. Don't get me wrong:
The foosball itself will be giant. That's what they revealed so far and I hope they surprise me for the good!

Gamescom City

Of course, Gamescom wouldn't be what we all love if they didn't come around with a music festival in the city of Cologne.
This year another stage will be available at the Apostelnplatz. Further information has not been revealed just yet
so stay tuned and check out the Gamescom.de website for more. You will still find streetfood, musicians and
of course games after the exhibition closed. As always it's a neatly done after event in a fantastic atmosphere
to get in touch with other gamers, have some drinks and snacks before you go home. Personally, I think this is a great
way of ending an event in the evening. So if you like to stay longer and not immediately attend your way home, join
the organised 'aftershow' in the city and have a good time (and currywurst) after a long day - great stuff!

Anything else

As common you will find the Gamescom business area where publishers, exhibitors and developer are available
for your questions. It needs to be said that only professional visitors have access to this section of the exhibition.
That might be interesting for everyone who attends Gamescom as a journalist and if my colleagues from Opium Pulses 
are in Cologne this year, you should bring your identification so you can gather some nice insider informations.

Another new 'feature' is the 'gamescom devcom' 

Which is a new created conference of developers with international speakers, workshops, networking events and more.
This event will be held from the 20th to the 24th.

Well as you can see, many new things have come to us and a few changes have been made, but overall I am sure that it
will only be for the better. The new areas will for sure increase the fun and experience for everyone. As I can not attend
the event myself, I still hope to get all the information about the topics I'm curious about from the experiences you people
share.

Anything else that needs to be said is that as always, parking lots and the streets are going to be very crowdy, so if you
want to attend by car, make sure that you either be there early enough or park somewhere not too close to the exhibition.
Trust me when I tell you that the traffic jam you will be stuck in later on is absolutely not going to be fun. especially when you need to pee

With those words being said, I wish you all a great Gamescom2017