Finally Going to Gamescom

I’ve been trying to get to Gamescom for years. Even when it was still in Leipzig, I’d tell myself it would happen eventually. Something always came up. This year, finally, I’m actually doing it.

I’ll be there alone, which is fine—nobody I know cares enough to want to come. I can’t say I blame them.

I call myself a retro gamer, though that’s a stupid word for it. I’ve never actually made it to a proper games convention. Missed Tokyo Games Show by a couple of weeks. The E3 always seemed too far, too expensive, too American and impossible. Microsoft invited me to CES once and basically just stuck me in their booth looking at Office software, which was not what I’d hoped for.

But Gamescom is different. It’s happening in Germany, it’s a reasonable distance, and I’m finally doing this.

I’ll be easy to spot—the fat guy with an unkempt beard and terrible haircut, usually looking at his shoes. The nervous one hovering near booth hostesses without the nerve to ask for a photo. I’ll be blushing.

I want to play Fallout 4 if they let me. I want to remember what it felt like to love Nintendo the way I did when I was younger. And if there’s a Street Fighter 5 cabinet somewhere, I’ll try a match, though I’ll probably get destroyed.

That’s all. Just finally going to see what I’ve been missing.