gamescom-2011
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Nine minutes of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, direct from Gamescom
Unable to attend Gamescom this year? Well, you're not alone -- and thanks to the internet, you don't have to miss much beyond all of the people and smells and walking. The nine-minute demo above for Assassin's Creed: Revelations is just for you. Now, it goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that this video may contain spoilers. So hit that play button at your own risk! %Gallery-130907%
Need for Speed World's Gamescom trailer has a lead foot
Does the revving of an engine make your knees weak? Do the sleek curves of a Porsche make your heart beat faster? Yeah, me neither. But if pretty cars going really fast happens to blow up your skirt, then we've got a present for you. Straight from Gamescom 2011, Need for Speed World is kicking it into high gear with an adrenaline-pumping new trailer. Fasten your seatbelts and hang on for your life as a Porsche 911 GT3 RS goes head-to-head with a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 (don't they just sound expensive?) in a frenetic race through Rockport. Of course, the other racer isn't the only hazard to your health in Need for Speed World; you also have to dodge and weave through incoming traffic and keep an eye out for the pesky five-o. For the full trailer, shift gears on past the cut.
Escape Plan preview: More than a touch of disappointment
[Ed. note: Fun Bits address some of our issues with controls, as you can see in this interview.] Can I tell you how excited I was to check out Escape Plan? 'Cause I was, like, really excited. It had potential game of the show written all over it, with its black-and-white aesthetic, quirky main characters, and bold showcasing of the PlayStation Vita's many control inputs. And after sitting through a presentation at Gamescom, I was promised hands-on the next day. Ooh, goody! My excitement, however, was immediately rattled after putting just one finger on the game. I was trying to wake up Lil, the thinner of the game's main two characters and introductory plaything, but pushing on the screen to wake her initially didn't do much. After mashing my finger repeatedly against the Vita's touchscreen, Lil finally woke up. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of my problems.%Gallery-130793%
Dance Central sales step up to 2.5M, Kinect Sports kickin' it with 3M
Kinect Sports and Dance Central have reached 3 million and 2.5 million unit sales, Microsoft's Michael Johnson, global marketing director for Kinect games, told us at Gamescom earlier today. Dance Central has performed stronger in North America, while Kinect Sports has found a larger audience in Europe. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg called the two games Kinect's "breakout hits" for the publisher when he announced back in January that the titles had reached a million sales in the US. The Kinect device surpassed 10 million units globally in March. So, it probably comes as no coincidence that both franchises will receive sequels this year. Dance Central 2 talks to the hand this October, while Kinect Sports: Season 2 has a retail field day on October 25.
Kinect Sports: Season 2, Kinectimals Now With Bears dated
Halloween gatherings are about to get a lot scarier. Kinect owners will be able to inject their world of furry friends with pure ursine terror when Kinectimals Now With Bears! launches on October 11, both as a standalone disc and DLC. What's that? You don't think bears are terrifying? We can only presume then that you've never seen a shaved bear.* Things get even hairier on Oct. 25 when Kinect Sports: Season Two: Now With Beards sprints its way to store shelves. And no, it's not really called that, we assume it has, you know, the regular number of beards in it. But we can dream, can't we? *If you were thinking of doing a Google Image Search for "shaved bears" with SafeSearch turned off ... well, maybe just don't do that, OK? Promise us.
Modern Warfare 3 Spec Ops preview: Walk slowly and carry a big gun
At first, I felt odd when I walked away from a hands-on co-op session of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 earlier today at Gamescom. My colleague Alexander and I had just spent the past 20 minutes carefully defusing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, for those of you who don't watch US broadcast news) and murdering potential assailants in a Berlin Spec Ops map, part of a mission named "Invisible Threat." Between laughs, furious button presses, and the occasional expletive, I realized we were having a lot of fun -- far more fun than two grizzled Battlefield vets expected to have with a Call of Duty title, anyway. And soon after our play session, I understood why. That feeling I couldn't place was nostalgia, subtly reminding me that, yes, at one point I used to really enjoy Infinity Ward-developed shooters. As I carefully sniped oncoming baddies, Alex -- dressed in a "Juggernaut" bomb suit, a first for the series -- slowly lumbered around, dodging bullets/missiles/helicopters/tanks (seriously) while I assisted from above. Moreover, his ability to locate the remaining IEDs was based on me tossing up a UAV and spotting them from above, all the while dodging bullets/rockets myself. Of course, that meant I got to regularly drop missiles from said UAV onto the aforementioned waves of antagonists. Points! Somewhere in there, it all clicked. I was back in college, shouting at my roommate to cover my back before we got clipped, frantically popping enemy after enemy, hoping to hold off the never-ending wave for just another few moments so we could complete the mission.
Gamescom awards announced, Battlefield 3 wins Best in Show
Though we're still very much in the thick of Cologne's premiere video game convention, Gamescom 2011, an "independent expert jury" has already picked out the cream of the crop from the titles in attendance. The big winner, pulling down the coveted Best of Gamescom award, is Battlefield 3, which won the designation from a panel of press and publishers with a unanimous vote. The jury also chose a few other big winners from the show's participants, including: Best Hardware or Hardware Accessories -- PlayStation Vita Best Console Game -- FIFA 12 Best Mobile Game -- Uncharted: Golden Abyss Best Online Game -- Star Wars: The Old Republic Best PC Game -- Diablo III Best Browser Game -- The Sims Social Best Family Game -- Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
Konami media roundup: Silent Hill and so many Metal Gears
Konami's media offerings at Gamescom include a new look at the upcoming Silent Hill: Downpour. After the break, you'll find a gallery full of new screens that are creepy, dark, atmospheric, and dark. Konami also included new screenshots of all three updated games in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. You can really tell the difference between the graphical capabilities of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 when both have been amplified! There's also new media for Metal Gear Solid 3D, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights, and more. Oh, and keep an eye out for a surprise guest appearance by Megadeth!
The Joystiq Show - Gamescom 2011 Day 1
The boys are back for round 2, which is technically day 1. Wrap your head around that! The big announcements may be over, but that just means more time for digging into the games on the show floor of Gamescom 2011. Joystiq alum, and current Square Enix EU blogmeister, Jem Alexander, sits in on this one. Needless to say, it's pretty amaaaazing. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes [Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Alexander Sliwinski (@xandersliwinski), Ben Gilbert (@BigBossBGilbert) Guest: Jem Alexander (@jemalexander - Square Enix EU blog) Producer: Jonathan Downin (@jonathandownin - Game Thing Daily) Music: "Bust This Bust That" by Professor Kliq See all show links, and stream the show, after the break.
Portal 2 DLC coming in mid-September
Good news: the Portal 2 DLC hasn't been delayed. Instead of moving it out of its "summer" release window, Valve is releasing the DLC as late in that window as possible. Speaking to Kotaku at Gamescom, Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said that the DLC, which includes new maps, leaderboards, and challenge modes, will be released in mid-September. That's "still technically summer," he noted. If you're upset about this DLC arriving later than you expected it to, but still within its stated release window, let us remind you: this is more Portal 2, that Valve is giving you for free. "Thank you" is pretty much the only appropriate response to that.
Xbox Live now topping 35 million users
Since last January, Xbox Live has grown by another five million users. That's what Xbox Live marketing manager for EMEA Robin Burrowes told me in a meeting this morning where he showed off the new Windows Phone 7 UI-inspired dashboard for the Xbox 360. "Our audience growth is up to 35 million people globally across those 35 countries on Xbox Live itself," he said, explaining that the growth was spurred by the addition of nine new countries at the tail end of 2010. Though he couldn't speak to the divide in terms of paid Xbox Live members versus unpaid (last we heard, there were over 12 million Gold subscribers), he did note that Microsoft is earning "more revenue from the transaction space than the subscription space." That means Microsoft's banking more from digital content purchases (XBLA games, Zune Marketplace, etc.) than from folks paying for the service. Of course, only some of those 35 million users will be receiving the new features of the upcoming fall dash refresh when it launches later this year.
The Witcher 2 marked down to $30 on GoG
DRM-free digital distribution platform GoG has given us another reason to get excited about Gamescom -- a reason that doesn't include the near-constant stream of tasty German beers. For the rest of the week, CD Projekt's The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has been marked down to $29.99 on the GoG storefront.
Gamescom 2011: Guild Wars 2 shows off 40 minutes of gameplay
Hey Guild Wars 2 fans, bummed that you're not at Gamescom right now getting your paws, claws, or ferns on the game? We have the next best thing: nearly 40 minutes of video footage for you to digest. On the Gamescom floor, ArenaNet's Chris Lye took time to walk Wartower.de through the full Guild Wars 2 demo for the event. During the tour, he shows us character customization, the Asura, and the Charr starting experience, capping it off with a giant dragon boss encounter. So what's Lye looking forward to playing the most when the game goes live? "I've already found it: the Asura Thief. I love the size, I love the animations on the Asura, and I love how great they are as Thieves." Grab some popcorn and settle in for the full video after the jump!
Gamescom 2011: Wargaming.net reveals World of Battleships and World of Tanks trailers
Wargaming.net is having a busy Gamescom, as the company has not one, but three MMORPGs to hype. Yesterday we brought you a first look at World of Warplanes via an exclusive in-depth interview, and today we've got two new trailers for your perusal (one for World of Battleships and one for World of Tanks). World of Battleships is, of course, the newest thoroughbred in Wargaming.net's stable, and the Gamescom trailer is a high-quality affair that captures the heavy metal feel of the game and the awesome power inherent in the warships that players will be steering across the high seas. Unfortunately there's not a lot of gameplay footage (and what little there is is highly stylized and subjected to various video filters), so we'll have to wait for a followup clip to get a close look at visuals, game mechanics, and the like. The World of Tanks trailer is also heavy on the CG and features a series of violent vignettes designed to show off a few of the game's more noteworthy armored vehicles. You'll find both clips after the cut.
Gamescom 2011: Transformers Universe reveals the Brawler
Gamescom, roll out! At this week's convention, Jagex set up a Transformers Universe booth to demonstrate some of the customization that will be in next year's game and give players a taste of the choices they'll be making when the game goes live. The team also used this opportunity to talk about the first revealed class, the Brawler, and show concept art of these hulking piles of scrap metal and stubborn perseverance. Senior Producer Kris Jones says that the Brawler will be the front line of defense in a fight: "Players who like to engage as the tank in co-op team play will be drawn to this Brawler Class. The strength and resilience of this class makes it the perfect choice for those who like to get up close in a battle environment, for those who like a good brawl." You can check out the Brawler in the gallery below. Transformers Universe is slated for a 2012 release, and interested players are encouraged to sign up to receive more info about the upcoming beta. %Gallery-126338%
Gamescom 2011: WildStar reveals first three races and classes
After yesterday's unveiling of Carbine Studio's colorful entry into the MMO races, we've been understandably curious about this WildStar and could have s'more, please? Fortunately, a fan site has dug out some details about three of the game's races and classes, all of which can be seen in the hilarious trailer that Carbine released. On the racial side, players have the Granok, Human and Aurin to choose from. The Granok are hulking, cigar-chomping slabs of rage, the Humans are exiles looking for a new home, and the Aurin are cute bunny-people who must go through Q-tips like mad. As for classes, players who prefer to get up close and personal with their enemies would do well to choose the Warrior, who boasts a number of strong tech and melee attacks, which are powered by fuel cells and adrenaline, respectively. Spellslingers use a pair of special pistols to stay on top of ranged damage, relying on a balanced rotation of magic and gunplay to keep up with DPS. And finally there's the Esper, your standard Mage class, who uses psychic spells like Telekenetic Strike to do massive damage to helpless enemies. There are reportedly more classes and races than just these, and we'll keep our eyes on Carbine as more details pour out about this promising title.
New Mario and Sonic Olympics, Sonic Generations trailers
Time to check in with Mario and Sonic ... and Sonic and Sonic. We've overloaded this post with blue hedgehogs, by presenting new Gamescom trailers for both Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and the already Sonic-laden Sonic Generations.
PowerUp Heroes' secret origins revealed in bundled comic
Ubisoft has unveiled a new trailer for PowerUp Heroes, its upcoming Kinect fighter. Though it might not feature the coolest stock room ever, it does have much more gameplay than the debut trailer released earlier this year. The company also announced that new copies of PowerUp Heroes will include a comic book that "unveils the secret origins of the main character, Volta." And here we were thinking that players were supposed to be the main character. You know, what with the Kinect and all. %Gallery-130780%
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded fires off MI-6 mode trailer
Beyond looking good in a tuxedo, an MI-6 agent must be skilled in many other areas. The MI-6 mode in GoldenEye 007: Reloaded will test each operative in a variety of ways: defense, stealth and martini preparation -- well, okay, not that last one.
Seen@Gamescom: The Battlefield 3 MiG-21
Even though we'd been warned that a Battlefield 3 branded MiG-21 jet would be advertising this October's shooter, the sight of a massive jet sitting amongst thousands of Gamescom attendees was jarring. Maybe even more jarring was the awkward dummy sitting in the MiG's cockpit, dead eyes staring into the Koln Messe's depths. Actually, the tens of thousands of dollars it cost to brand and ship the jet from Berlin to Cologne is most jarring of all. But hey, we totally got our picture taken in front of a jet! Wooo!%Gallery-130903%
