August 15 draws near and with it Gamescom 2012. The GameSpot Gamescom hub is the next best thing to being there, with none of the risk of being trampled on the Koelnmesse concourse.

If it's glittering nuggets of news you're after, look to the press conferences. This year's show adds media briefings from big publishers Capcom and Ubisoft to the usual line-up of Sony and EA, and these might turn up a few sparkly flakes (game announcements, new hardware).

Capcom promises an "event to remember", Ubisoft says it will unveil new free-to-play games, and at EA's conference we're sure to see more of the publisher's upcoming heavy hitters, such as Dead Space III, FIFA 13, and Crysis 3. Sony's annual Gamescom showing might bring us a new, even slimmer PlayStation 3, say the rumours, as well as a new action title called Rain--a name recently trademarked by the House of PlayStation.

Conference times

Tuesday August 14

Capcom: 11AM local time (10AM UK time, 2AM Pacific, 5AM Eastern)
Electronic Arts: 4PM local time (3PM UK time, 7AM Pacific, 10AM Eastern)
Sony: 7PM local time (6PM UK time, 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern)

Wednesday August 15

Ubisoft: 3PM local time (2PM UK time, 6AM Pacific, 9AM Eastern)

GameSpot will bring you the best of each conference at its Gamescom hub. Gamescom 2012 is held at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, on August 15-19.