It’s gamescom! But I’m sure we’ve all seen enough photos of people intently playing games at booths, and excitable crowds baying at something going on on a stage. So here’s Spider-Man skulking around while people play boardgames, and some ball grabbing on the paysafecard stage.
gamescom photos: Koelnmesse / Thomas Klerx; Koelnmesse / Oliver Wachenfeld; Koelnmesse / Thomas Klerx
gamescom isn’t where you’ll find the biggest crowds of the gaming week though. For that we head to Shanghai, and The International Dota 2 Championships 2019 – or TI9 to its friends – at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. It looks massive.
That was the opening ceremony on Tuesday, and when it wraps up this weekend it’ll pay out in excess of $33 million in prize money – a new esports record. Jeepers!
Now to Los Angeles, and the USS Iowa, where Shanghai’s Yostar Games chose to celebrate the 1st anniversary of their “anime-themed 2D shooter and RPG mobile game” Azur Lane. Why? Because the game “features a wide range of anime ship girls”.
There were cosplayers dancing to “symphony and jazz versions” of music from the game, performed by members of “the famous Japanese music circle Active NEETs”. It all sounds utterly baffling, especially given that the USS Iowa is a museum these days. I do hope it all took place during opening hours.
And finally let’s swing by the New York Nintendo store, where for some reason there was a back-to-school event last weekend.
I’m not entirely sure what role Nintendo products have in preparing children for a return to school, but hey, it sort of looks like a classroom there, and that’s a teacher – Bill Vacca of Bradt Primary School in New York – so it’s definitely educational.