gamescom-2009
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Fable 3 will question the foundations on which Fable is built, says Molyneux
Hot off the announcement this morning of Fable 3 coming to Xbox 360 in 2010, Microsoft Game Studios of Europe head Peter Molyneux sat down to discuss the franchise a bit with GamesIndustry.biz. Though the acutely over-promising developer kept tight-lipped about details on the upcoming sequel, he did let slip that Fable 3 will question "some of the foundations that Fable [the franchise] is built on." We're not sure exactly what that means, but we already know that the gesture system has been given a major facelift. The moral choice aims to be a lot deeper than in Fable 2 as well, with Molyneux saying promises you make in your rise to power will affect your position as the people's ruler. We'll be sure to remember these promises when the game releases next year (that's three promises so far, Molyneux!). %Gallery-70430%
See Tower of Shadow in action
This is going to have to be one of those cases of style over substance, because even though we know the trailer for Tower of Shadow looks quite pretty, we can't make out a word of the strange moon man language attached to it. Seriously, what is that, Sanskrit? Barred from informative text, we're forced to critique the aesthetic choices made in the trailer. In brief, the music is great but that title font? Yuck-o. It's like Stryper's font guy half-finished the logo before taking the day off before letting his drunken five-year-old nephew finish up. %Gallery-69616%
Take a timeout to ogle Hori's Tekken 6 arcade sticks
At $150 -- including a copy of Tekken 6, mind you -- Hori's upcoming arcade sticks for the fighter's sixth iteration look to be a pretty decent deal for those of you still interested in picking up a fighting stick. Coming straight out of Namco's conference at GamesCom, we were given an opportunity to check out the Tekken 6 arcade stick. Lucky you, we've also snapped a few pics and added them to the gallery you see below. Let the ogling begin!%Gallery-70479%
New Guild Wars 2 concept art released through Facebook
As ArenaNet has already warned us, their social networking resources will be utilized much more often in the near future. Earlier today, we saw evidence of this on the official Guild Wars 2 Facebook page as four new pieces of concept art for Guild Wars 2 have been released.Now these aren't leaked shots or rumored from a friend of a friend, these are officially the first real pieces of confirmed concept art from the sequel to the highly successful Guild Wars. Follow along in our Guild Wars 2 concept art gallery below to see these images and stay tuned as we continue to bring you more as they're released, including the latest news as it trickles out of GamesCom.%Gallery-70495%
LittleBigPlanet PSP loses multiplayer, and maybe its soul
Like a child with all the world's toys at his disposal but no one to play with, Sackboy drifts lonesomely across the 2D plane. At first glance, the confines of LittleBigPlanet PSP appear to be punishment for the heaps of joy he carelessly reaped with his now missing friends -- even with complete strangers -- as they indulged in orgies of pure fun in the PS3 version. Had he taken these spontaneous acts of foolishness and delight for granted, Sackboy wondered."The one thing we've lost is multiplayer," senior producer Mark Green explained of LBP PSP to Eurogamer at GamesCom this week. "The system is physically capable of doing multiplayer, but perhaps not with the full physics system. On the technical side of things you lose a third of the processing power or a third of the system memory just to do multiplayer at all. With those limitations we couldn't achieve it." Couldn't achieve what? Joy?Green did clarify that the PSP game will feature "full" level creation and sharing (online/ad-hoc) modes. Additionally, further tweaks to LBP PSP include downsizing the game field to one 2D plane (no foreground and background planes) and so-called improvement upon the original's floaty jump mechanic. Did we also mention there's ... no multiplayer?
Namco Bandai to publish Heavenly Sword-dev Ninja Theory's next IP
While light on details, Namco Bandai just used its GamesCom press conference to announce a partnership with Ninja Theory, the developer of the PS3 exclusive Heavenly Sword. Namco Bandai will publish "an original, new IP" from the UK-based developer for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Though they're not sharing any information on the new project (not even a name, fellas?) they did say it would be "released in 2010" with "more details" being "divulged in the coming months." Makoto Iwai, executive veep and COO at Namco Bandai Games America, said of the parnership, "With producers from our North American office working closely with such a strong European development studio, we will be able to create a blockbuster title with strong pan-Western sensibilities and appeal for a global gaming audience." Of course, Namco Bandai's focus on Western-developed titles "with strong pan-Western sensibilities" isn't new ... but let's hope development of the as-yet-unnamed Ninja Theory title goes more smoothly than Splatterhouse.
Here's a beautiful FIFA 10 trailer from GamesCom
We may not know much about the athletes on the various covers of FIFA 10, but we do know that this trailer looks damn impressive. In fairness, the game often looks rather stunning, but the sizzle reel that EA has whipped up for GamesCom (found after the break) is specifically meant to show off the game to its most active market -- which certainly comes through in production quality. Though we don't watch a ton of sports (and we play even less) we're legitimately looking forward to EA's next entry in the FIFA series, set to release this October. %Gallery-69462%
Sony Motion Controller update features pinatas, wizardry, hairstyling
The PS3 Slim wasn't the only point of interest from Sony's GamesCom 2009 press conference -- attendees also got a look at some of the capabilities of the tentatively named (we hope) PlayStation Motion Controller which was revealed at E3 earlier this year. The device's developers created a neat little reel showing off a few of the controller's applications -- GameTrailers got its hands on the video, which is posted after the jump.It looks like skeleton bashing and name-signing aren't the only things the peripheral can do -- the new video shows a few other uses, including piñata smashing, magic casting, light shining and, yes, hairstyling. Does this mean we're one step closer to finally receiving a video game adaptation of Queen Latifah's magnum opus, Beauty Shop? God, we hope so.[Thanks, Jeremy23J!]
Runes of Magic unveils more from the Weeping Coast and Chapter 2
Earlier this month, we had a chance to sit down for a developer tour of the new Weeping Coast area in Runes of Magic. The devs at Frogster were kind enough to walk us through the entire area, making sure to point out key spots along the way. Since we are not able to make it out to GamesCom, this exclusive tour served as a way to show us that same content (and more!) being shown at the German convention.Within the Weeping Coast zone itself, set to go live later this month, there will be much more than just a change of scenery. As you'll see from these 17 new images, we are introduced to new creatures, new instances and tons of new quests. So be sure to follow along in our gallery linked below, and check out the brand new GamesCom trailer after the jump for the upcoming Chapter 2, being released in September.%Gallery-66860%
MGS: Peace Walker screens are hiding under a cardboard tank
Click image to sneak into our gallery Coming up with headlines is tough -- except in the case of these new MGS: Peace Walker screens from GamesCom. There are plenty of screens to ogle (ten, to be exact!), but none tug at the heart strings more than the screen you see above. There's something magical about two Snakes running around with cardboard disguises that just ... you'll have to excuse us, we have something in our eye.%Gallery-70455%
Yesterday's PlayStation news, all in one place
Sony had itself quite a day yesterday, effectively reinvigorating the PlayStation brand with the $300 PS3 Slim and a host of upgrades and updates to the PSP, the PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Network. Now that the dust has settled, we thought we'd throw down a little recap in case you didn't catch it all -- it's clear that the lower-priced Slim has a lot of people talking about finally buying a PS3, but we think things like PSP Minis "snackable" games and the new PS3 firmware 3.0 might be equally important in the long run. Here's the full breakdown: Liveblog: Sony's GamesCom presser coverage live at Joystiq! Live from Sony's GamesCom Press conference (at Joystiq) PS3 Slim and PS3 classic: Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September (updated!) PlayStation 3 Slim unboxing and hands-on! PS3 Slim sized up: smaller, deeper, no Linux or PS2 compatibility Sony sneaks PS3 Slim through FCC under pseudonym, 250GB model discovered Sony finally hacks $100 from 'old' PlayStation 3 price, starting today Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer Editorial: A slimmer, cheaper, better PS3. Was that so hard? PSP: Sony announces 'snackable' 100MB Minis for PSN Store Sony announces three new PSP-3000 colors for Europe PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos
Namco bringing STALKER: Call of Prypiat to PCs this November
click to E.N.L.A.R.G.E. In its GamesCom press conference in Germany this morning, Namco Bandai revealed that it would be handling publishing duties for GSC Game World's latest entry in the STALKER series, titled STALKER: Call of Prypiat. Scheduled for release in November 2009 for PCs only (where's the console love?), this "standalone expansion" contains approximately seven to nine hours of gameplay -- "more if you want to explore the free world." It's not clear if Namco is handling publishing duties outside of Europe, but we'll update this post when we find out. %Gallery-70466%
Namco Bandai announces Majin: The Fallen Realm [update: images!]
[Update: No more Dragon Ball Z screencaps: we've got a couple of snapshots from the GamesCom presentation in our gallery!]At its GamesCom press conference, Namco Bandai revealed a new PS3/360 game from Genji (and Dragon Ball: Origins) developer Game Republic -- it's called Majin: The Fallen Realm. According to our correspondent, the game's introduction had "a very Last Guardian feel."Majin stars a young thief who works with "Majin the beast," who is some kind of big monster, in order to solve puzzles together. Majin is expected to release in Spring 2010. We should have more screens and details later today!%Gallery-70475%
New Castlevania: Lords of Shadow screens are bloody, awesome
Holy crap! We've been connoisseurs of vampire-centric media for quite some time now (thankfully, we've managed to avoid those dreadful books), but we never knew that vampires were made entirely out of blood. At least, that's the conclusion we've drawn from the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow screenshot you see above -- one of a handful of pieces of media we just got our hands on. You can see the whole batch in the gallery below.None of the others feature this bizarre phenomenon -- however, we suppose it's equally amazing that the vestments of Gabriel (the game's protagonist) remain so hemoglobin-free while he's running around, popping dudes like bloated mosquitoes.%Gallery-70457%
Final Fantasy XIV gameplay and emote footage
Holy giant roosters, Final Fantasy XIV gameplay footage has already made its way online courtesy of Gamescom and Gamevideos! Plus, the footage shows off some -- mildly standard -- combat sequences as well. To be fair, we're sure this video would be a lot more exciting if we understood German. As it stands now, we're going by the tone of the presenter's voice, which sounds slightly enthused but generally falls flat in the convincing department.While Mr. Presenter won't be winning any awards, the visuals for the game certainly seem to be worth of a gold statuette of some kind -- possibly something on a fine oak stand with a silver plaque. Oh who are we kidding, the visuals look flat out amazing. This is Square Enix and the Final Fantasy series we're talking about, after all.Check out both mentioned combat video and a nifty animation video after the break.
Sith Warrior officially the next SWTOR class
While not entirely unexpected -- especially since it was playable, but unnamed, at this year's E3 -- Star Wars: The Old Republic's Sith Warrior class has now been officially revealed and discussed by BioWare. We're expecting an official class page by Friday, but for now this Gamespot interview from GamesCom will have to sate our curiosity.It'll come as no surprise that in their effort to emulate classic iconic movie characters, BioWare has decided to make the Sith Warrior a physically aggressive front line fighter who dons somewhat heavy armor. So, if your aspiration as a little boy or girl was to grow up and become just like Darth Vader, here's your chance.Interestingly, while abilities such as Force Choke will be present in the Sith Warrior's skill set, the class leans between pure offense or a balanced defensive-offensive build. With such an emphasis on nitty gritty physical combat, many are starting to wonder if another Sith class will represent something akin to Emperor Palpatine, a heavy force user. We think there's a good chance that may happen, although it's all speculation until the actual reveal.
Marvel not doing 'crappy' movie games anymore, says exec
Marvel Executive Vice President of Global Digital Media Group (wow, long title) Ira Rubenstein tells Joystiq that Marvel is done making "crappy" movie-based games. The executive told us that while the company would like to have games tied to the release of movies, each character should stick to their own worlds. He used the recent X-Men Origins: Wolverine game as an example of what the company is looking to do. The M-rated Wolverine game was clearly not based around the PG-13 escapade in theaters. "We are not doing movie-based games anymore," Rubenstein said following yesterday's announcement of Digital Comics for PSN at Sony's GamesCom press conference. "Actually, wait ... we are not doing crappy movie-based games anymore. You can quote me on that." Oh, we did. Rubenstein tells us that work on Iron Man 2 has been in process since the first game wrapped. He wasn't involved in the first one, so he asked us not to blame him for that wreck. However, he swears the second one is going to be good. He's also really excited about the Thor game and seems proud with the team working on it. If Wolverine is any indication of future Marvel games, it seems that Rubenstein is doing his best to make sure fans of the comics won't be served watered-down Hollywood entertainment.
Fujitsu unleashes CELSIUS ULTRA specs, offers test drives at gamescom
And now we know what the "world's fastest" air-cooled gaming rig is made of -- a 3.33GHz Intel Core i7-975 and a pair of souped-up GeForce GTX 295s running in SLI. They're backed up by 12GB of DDR3 memory, a 150GB WD Raptor as an OS drive and two 1TB storage hangars, but you must be wondering where all that German ultra clocking is. Well, the motherboard is of Fujitsu's own making and a custom tweaker-ready BIOS is promised, but the truth is we really can't see anything overclocked especially for this rig. Which is not to say it won't be the most powerful pixel pusher in the world (this week), with hardware like that we're sure you'll be able to run Vista Business without a hitch... oh yea, that's the listed OS, and since we're spilling bad news, recommended price tag is €4,000. If you're anywhere near Cologne this week, head on down to gamescom, and if you ask really nicely, the Fujitsu people might even let you play on this fiery beast of a machine. See it undressed after the break. [Via Netzwelt]
Fable II 'Episodic' revealed, pay-as-you-play starts Sept. 29 [update]
Peter Molyneux announced, during the Lionhead press conference at GamesCom, that Fable II episodic adventures are on the way. The first chapter is free. Once players get to the ending they can opt to buy the next chapter or buy the rest of the game. The purchase takes place in-game and there are five episodes.The first episode will release on September 29 and no prices have been revealed. The game is fully compatible with Knothole Island and See the Future. We'll keep working on getting more information.Update: Microsoft has clarified that this is not an extension of Fable II, but rather the retail game broken up into serialized chapters formally titled Fable II: Game Episodes. Xbox Live users will be able to download the initial episode, which serves as a "shell" for the rest of the game, on September 29. The original game disc is not required to play, and those who grab part one will have the option to purchase subsequent pieces or the entirety of Fable II (think of it like an XBLA trial). If you've downloaded any of the game episodes and decide to spring for the retail disc, your saves will carry over. No per-episode pricing has been announced but we're chasing more details.
Molyneux announces Fable III at GamesCom, coming 2010 [update]
Peter Molyneux has just announced Fable III is coming later in 2010. You'll play as the son or daughter of your Fable II hero and start a revolution to become the ruler of Albion. We'll update with more details soon. He's just dropping so much info right now. Be back soon!Update: Added details after the break.%Gallery-70430%
