'Gamescom 2011' opened its doors in Cologne on Wednesday with some 550 vendors from 39 countries showcasing their wares.

"This year, exhibitors from China, France, Iran, Korea, Canada, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Taiwan and Mexico are participating for the first time," says Gerald Böse, managing director of Kölnmesse, the company that organizes the event.

The fair features a more international atmosphere, faster and more challenging games with razor-sharp graphics thanks to technological optimization. But visitors looking forward to sensational novelties from the world of digital entertainment may be disappointed this year. Instead, many developers are simply presenting sequels to their previous hits.

The latest editions of two established football games, 'FIFA 2012' from Electronic Arts (EA) and 'Pro Evolution Soccer' (PES) from Konami, are expected to attract a large number of Gamescom visitors.

Old and young, men and women

According to software developers, every third German above the age of 10 and every second household with children regularly plays games digitally - either on the personal computer, a gaming console or their cellphone. "The manufacturers are developing games that can be used on all end devices," Gamescom spokesman Franco Fischer told dpa.

Game downloads are also rising in popularity compared with boxed games sold in stores, Fischer said, adding that dtp for instance is developing the arcade game 'Awesomenauts' for the Playstation Network and XBox Live Arcade online platforms. "But I don't think box games will disappear," Fischer said in the same interview.

Another interesting development, according to the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU), is that every second gamer is female. A large number of women have 'discovered' gaming thanks to interactive titles for the Nintendo Wii that involve singing and moving, as well as conventional games that can be played online on social platforms like Facebook.

Slump or upswing?

The computer game industry employs 10,000 creative minds in Germany alone. The industry's annual turnover was close to two billion euros last year. Expectations for this year are mixed, however.

Ralph Haupter from the Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) predicts the market will experience a drop in sales in 2011 before picking up again in 2012.

The BIU, however, is more optimistic. "Our sales volume has gone up 2 percent," managing director Olaf Wolters told reporters before Gamescom opened. "We have increased sales of games for personal computers and laptops by eight percent."

Buy online rather than in the shop

By the end of the first half of 2011, the industry had already surpassed last year's overall result by 1 percent. Software developers now expect a surplus of some 3 percent for the whole year.

According to Olaf Wolters from the BIU, this growth is largely due to new distribution channels. Online game shops such as Steam saw digital distribution grow by 45 percent last year to capture 18 percent of the market.

Alongside software it's also hardware, of course, which contributes to the rise in sales, says Ralf Haupter from Bitkom. But consoles' lifespans are getting longer. While new generations of gaming consoles used to be rolled out every five years or so, the industry has shifted to platforms that "live with cycles of seven to eight years."

The organizers hope that Gamescom 2011 will attract some 25,000 visitors before its closes its doors on August 21.

Authors: Dirk Kaufmann / Nina Haase (dpa)
Editor: Sam Edmonds