Live: Phil Spencer's Gamescom keynote
Catch it here from 6pm BST.
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The first day of Gamescom's about to wrap up with Phil Spencer's keynote, which is taking place from 7pm local time - and that translates to 6pm BST in the UK. After the stealth conference Microsoft held yesterday it's fair not to expect much in the way of news, but after Andrew House's pointed dig at the Xbox One's more fluid policies we may at least get a little corporate fisticuffs. There's no stream, unfortunately, so Martin Robinson will be here to fill in the details. And if all else fails he'll be sure to fill you in on the interior decor of the Tanzbrunnen in which the keynote's taking place. It'll be fun!
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Hey hey, we're in the theatre which is bathed in purple light and has lots of men wearing the classic blazer/jeans combo prancing about.
This is Gamescom's opening ceremony, in effect. Speakers are to include Dr. Philipp Rosler, the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology as well as a speech from Jurgen Roters, the Mayor of Cologne.
That's your amuse-bouche - Phil Spencer's your main course.
As we're in Cologne, think of him as your pork knuckle and spatzle.
podgek293: when's phil on so?
I don't know! Messaging has been strangely vague about this whole thing. All I'd say is brace yourself for disappointment.
I'm really not expecting much but a few pleasantries from Phil. I think Wes and I are the only journalists in here. Everyone else seems like they've got proper jobs, 'cos they're rocking the blazer and jeans look.
Also they're all schmoozing instead of typing inanities into their laptops. I don't think they've even bought laptops with them!
I'm an intruder livetexting a meet and greet for the great and good of Cologne, basically.
podgek293: i'm studying auditing at the moment... nothing can disappoint me at this stage
Ha! Well, don't say I didn't warn you.
MikeStubbsy: Martin, as this is going to be boring, can we have a Podcast at the Eurogamer Expo as a dev session please. Could get some good guests on it?
That's a great idea. We've talked about something along similar lines before, but it's definitely something we should do this year. Will look into it!
MikeStubbsy: Martin, as this is going to be boring, can we have a Podcast at the Eurogamer Expo as a dev session please. Could get some good guests on it?
That's a great idea. We've talked about something along similar lines before, but it's definitely something we should do this year. Will look into it!
I definitely have eaten something today, and am definitely not drinking a glass of red wine right now. If either of those things weren't true this could be very entertaining/messy/the last thing I ever do for Eurogamer.
Right now absolutely nothing is happening apart from some canapes and general chit chat.
Canape situation: a kind of half wrap with salami and mozzarella in it, and a kiwi in a shotglass.
We've got translation headsets, so I'm expecting this to be delivered in German.
We're up and running! There's a video running that's making Gamescom look all dramatic, with action shots of people playing MMOs from the stage floor. 'The world is holding its breath for Gamescom 2013'.
Sven Lorig's on stage, and he's milking this moment in the spotlight. This is the fifth year of Gamescom in Cologne, and this year it's bigger than ever.
Phil's in the room right now. Not sure if Kirsty's going to be joining him.
Anyway, back to Sven - he's talking about how he used to have to download games on tapes and it took 15 minutes. Is he talking about piracy?
Philipp Rosler, the minister of Economics and Technology is on stage now.
Wearing blazer and jeans combo, natch.
He says he's one of the first generation of gamers, having started playing with the ZX81.
He doesn't play much these days as he's the chairman of the Free Democratic Party, but he still loves games.
Games play a big part in the German economy - 30,000 companies, 30 billion Euros generated. It's one of the most important industries in Germany.
The next generation is going to boost the economy.
Games are the driving force behind new technologies.
And games can be responsible for the growth of the economy in Germany. That goes down well - a round of applause from the crowd.
Games are really important for mechanical engineering - they can provide systems that help that industry.
And Gamescom is a great platform for this progress.
Rosler wraps up by saying the games industry should be proud of what we've achieved. I'm holding back the tears here.
Nearly half of all gamers in Germany are female.
And that's a great way to lead into our next speaker. She's a female as well!
I should point out those weren't my words - they were those of our host.
So it's Angelica Schwall-Duren on stage. She's the Minister of Federal Affairs for Europe and the Media of North-Rhine Westphalia
Her business card must be A4-sized.
There are about 380,000 gainfully employed people in the industry in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The city of Cologne becomes alive during Gamescom. It's ful of impotence.
Sorry, she said impetus. I think both words are applicable though.
France is a partner for Gamescom this year. And that makes Angelica proud. She's welcoming the French.
A lot of impetus emanates from France, apparently.
"We're looking forward to a productive exchange and many fruitful collaborations." The crowd went wild for that. I wish you could see this - it eclipses the Sony conference at E3 this year. There are tears all round.
She's wishing us a successful Gamescom. Back at ya Angelica! We've one more speaker before Phil rocks up.
It's Jurgen Roters, the mayor of Cologne. Apparently he loves EA Sports games - he used to be a sportsman himself.
Lovely anecdote from our host - once an interviewer tried to interview Roters while running, to show how athletic Roters was. It turns out the interviewer couldn't even talk, because Roters was running so fast!
Phew, he should take that one on tour. Almost as good as Peter Moore's impromptu set yesterday. Cologne's basically eclipsing Edinburgh as the home of comedy in August.
Anyway, Roters is joining us via video link. He doesn't look like he could run that fast.
He's all broken up not to be here. The games industry faces new challenges, and they're rising up to them very well.
podgek293: @abrahamwilson he's trying to decide what tshirt to wear first
He's going topless.
Right, the mayor's done, so Phil is up next.
More than 40 world premieres here at Gamescom, but the focus is on the next gen of consoles says our host.
It's an understatement to say that Phil Spencer, our next guest, is a big player.
"Is he going to announce a new game, is he going to announce the date of the Xbox One launch" says our host. My money's on no.
And he's here on stage. No jeans - Phil's rocking a proper suit tonight.
"It's an honour to be here - it's an amazing show this year. Every year I'm inspired by the creativity and the passion of people here."
"For those here expecting me to market the Xbox, that's not what I'm doing."
He's here to talk us through trends, and what challenges the next generation presents.
None of the changes has been as dramatic as the power the cloud has revolutionised how we play, create and share.
The future's now, and the future's powered by clouds.
Isn't that like steam power essentially?
Games are more personalised now, says Phil. And they're more accessible.
Storytellers can create powerful new world, and audiences can connect with the games and each other like never before.
rotsujin: Spence used to have such glorious hair
Still has. Fine mane.
rotsujin: Spence used to have such glorious hair
Still has. Fine mane.
rotsujin: Spence used to have such glorious hair
Still has. Fine mane.
First, he's going to talk about personalisation.
The real magic doesn't come from algorithms etc - it's about context, adn about the developer understanding your experience.
Imagine a game that could recognise a change in engagement, or recognise you blinking or changing expression. That's becoming possible today, and developers are just scratching the surface.
This stuff can only be extracted and configured in the cloud.
Accessibility next. The latest server tech allows greater access to gamers.
You can stream the most extravagant graphics now.
In the average day of a consumer they play tablets - and more people are playing games now than ever.
Hieronymus: He's not talking about X1 right? within 5 minutes he already dropped in references to the cloud and Kinect and Xbox Live. The sly bastard
Yup, this sounds like a marketing pitch to me!
The scalable cloud technology gives developers unprecedented reach. A few of you have pointed this out, but given the current climate this is all a bit uncomfortable.
Today we've moved into a world where multiple devices can expand our gaming beyond the living room.
If you think this is boring to read, by the way, you should try sitting through it.
Devices can now be intelligently connected.
And no one device is king.
Finally, Spencer wants to talk about making games more imaginative. Characters can now blur the lines between the virtual world and reality.
Almost all of the launch titles use the power of the cloud in some way.
They're using the cloud to personalise the games for each player.
And for analytics, the cloud can be used to make games better in the future.
When YouTube burst onto our screens, it allowed people a medium to instantly express themselves. And gamers started using it. Machinima got 262 million viewers worldwide last year. And for most of last year it was the most popular channel on YouTube.
Advances in cloud technology are where the future is. As creative leaders, MS's ability to innovate is magnified by the innovations in technology.
As we look forward to the next generation, we've the technology to build creative gaming experiences.
Change that was once considered disruptive is now embraced. There's never been a better time to be a gamer.
He's about to wrap up. One last thing.
Xbox One is available in all territories from this Friday. It's being bundled with Halo 5.
Sorry, nodded off. That last bit might have been a daydream.
In reality, this happened: canapes, a Mayor, the cloud.
podgek293: did you knopw Dan Castellaneta was in Buffy for an episode
I didn't. That's fascinating!
Sorry, I guess. But also thanks for coming!
That's genuinely a wrap. We're hitting the showfloor tomorrow, and will have actual new things to tell you. See you then!