Gamescom 2015: We play the games you’ll play this Christmas

We’re in sunny (and rainy) Cologne this week in order to eat all the sausages and drink all the beer that’s on offer. More seriously we’ll be attending Gamescom 2015 in order to get our hands on as many of this year’s big games as we can in the space of two packed days.

Starting on Tuesday afternoon and pushing through to Thursday it’s going to be games, hardware, system features and VR experiences coming at you thick and fast.

TUESDAY: Microsoft Xbox One press conference

With Sony moving its usual Gamescom press conference back to Paris Games Week in October, Microsoft is the only show in town this year. Despite this, it did a good job of filling the space with a raft of new trailers from big franchises and some exciting new Xbox One features being announced too. Here’s our take on the press conference:

Microsoft senses Sony weakness with exclusive-heavy Gamescom Xbox event
The way back for Xbox One starts here by exploiting Sony’s poor exclusive lineup

Watch out Sky and Virgin – Xbox One DVR/PVR is coming 2016 Microsoft finally deserves to get WIndows 10 into living rooms with powerful Xbox One DVR/PVR

Xbox One can put Kinect debacle to rest with Windows 10 Windows 10 is coming to Xbox One in November, which should remedy sticking plaster OS

WEDNESDAY: Showfloor opens

The showfloor itself opens on Wednesday morning and we’ll be heading to the EA press conference first  to see how the finishing touches are going with Star Wars: Battlefront.

Later in the day we’ll hopefully be checking out the latest from Fallout 4 with Bethesda. Then we’ll be looking at how Windows 10 and Xbox One are going to play nicely together and check out the fancy new rain effects in Forza Motorsport 6.

We’ll also be fitting in trips into virtual reality courtesy of Ubisoft and Oculus Rift, before heading into an apocalyptic future with gaming’s take on Mad Max. Finally we’ll be rounding things off with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Rainbow Six Siege. So expect tweets and pics of all these throughout the day and write ups later on.

Xbox One update – Indepth first look at Windows 10 interface The new Windows 10-powered Xbox One interface is a huge step forward for the console

Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller review – hands on
Our first play with the expensive new controller leaves us mightily impressed

THURSDAY: Behind closed doors

We’ll be kicking off Thursday with a lengthy hands-on session with everything EA have to offer, which should include Star Wars: Battlefront and FIFA 16 among others. We’ll then be getting a deeper look at Quantum Break. We’re also hoping to bring you coverage of Destiny Taken King, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Transformers: Devastation, before we have to jet home to London.