Gamescom 2012 kicked off earlier this morning in Cologne, Germany. Despite being a media-only day, the hallways are already buzzing with excitement and leave me thinking just how awesome it’s going to be when gamers from around the world arrive tomorrow to get their first look at what games are on show here.

Wayne and I headed into Hall 6 to take some photos and give you a glimpse of what you can expect to find inside this massive hall. With Activision, 2KGames, Blizzard Entertainment and EA all in this hall, you know that you’re going to spend a lot of your time wondering around here and being awestruck by the sheer size of the stands.

As you enter on the left of the hall, there is a massive 2K Games stand. Borderlands 2, which releases on the 21st of September, dominates the area and was attracting a healthy crowd, even before the T-shirt giveaway started. The stand is adorned with artwork from the game, and looks just plain awesome. There is also a section of the stand that is showing NBA 2K13 and XCOM.

Moving further into the hall now, you will notice that you’re being dwarfed by the absolutely colossal Call of Duty: Black Ops II stand. To my mind this is the biggest stand I have ever seen in my three years of attending gamescom. Very impressive, and a demonstration of the might
that the Call of Duty franchise is today. The fact that it is black as well makes it very eye-catching.

Just past this EA starts to dominate the hall, taking their usual back area to showcase their incredible line-up. SimCity and Medal of Honor: Warfighter take centre stage with gigantic posters, while a SimCity artwork is busy being prepared. Both titles are on display, while FIFA 13’s set-up is as thematic as it always is with Messi featuring on the game’s posters.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is back this year, and various characters from a Galaxy far, far away were spotted mingling with the show visitors. The Need For Speed: Most Wanted display is a sight to behold, with flashing police lights on top of fast, hot cars that you can drive in the game. Crysis 3 was pumping with a long queue already winding it’s way around the stand.

Further to the front, on the right side of the hall, is where you will find Blizzard Entertainment. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and World of Warcraft attracting the masses.

As you can see, Hall 6 is not to be missed. In fact it’s a good place to start your gamescom journey. Stay tuned for more photos from the showfloor, coming soon!

Tags: 2kgames, activision, blizzardentertainment, borderlands2, callofdutyblackopsii, crysis3, ea, fifa13, gamescom2012, medalofhonorwarfighter, nba2k13, needforspeedmostwanted, photos, simcity, starcraftii, starwarstheoldrepublic, worldofwarcraft, xcom