GamesCom 2009 attendance at 245,000

The inaugural year of GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, was a whopping success, reeling in 245,000 visitors according to the Koelnmesse. Event organizers reservedly noted that they were "very pleased with the result," but we're sure the Kölsch was flowing like the Rhein behind the scenes. The show is already scheduled to take place in 2010 from August 18-22. After the break, you'll find some "official" statistics and some random "unofficial statisticals" from our time at what some now call the third pillar (E3 and TGS being the other two) of video game trade events.

• 245,000 attendees. Breakdown: 17,000 trade visitors and 228,000 "end consumers."

• 458 companies attended from 31 countries.

• The gross floor space for the show was 120,000 square meters -- that's 1,291,669.2 square feet.

• Number of liters of Kölsch consumed by us: 6. Number of times "excess" was experienced: 0.

• 100,000 extra revelers could be counted if one were to consider the public celebrations and concerts at Tanzbrunnen, the Lanxess Arena and downtown Cologne.

• Approximate tent count at the GamesCom Camp: 300 -- no current estimate on how many folks stayed there. On Thursday night we were told it may have been about 700 people.

• Amount of money we saved by GamesCom tickets granting access to free public transportation: €48.

• Number of new consoles announced: 0. Number of consoles that went under the knife: 1.

• Number of times homeless guys asked us for for cash: 8. Number of times bridesmaids accosted us for cash: 3 -- still have no idea what that was about.

• Schnitzels consumed: 3.

• Attendees at GDC Europe earlier in the week: 1500, with 250 media reps.

• Number of times running into champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko: 1. Number of times he introduced himself: 1. Number of times we had any clue who he was: 0. Number of times we regretted not getting a photo of him playing Tony Hawk Ride: 6 ... now, 7.

(We'll add more if we think of them.)