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Guild Wars 2 to host its first player tourney at Gamescom
Top Guild Wars 2 players will have the opportunity to duke it out in the game's first International All-Stars Tournament during Gamescom 2014, which runs from August 13th through the 17th. ArenaNet will fly players from Europe, China, and North America to the convention in order to compete against one another. Even if you aren't participating in the tourney itself, you'll be able to visit the Twitch.TV booth to play some GW2, chat with the developers, and partake in other activities. Want to get in on the tournament or any of the other community events during Gamescom? Keep an eye out: We'll bring you more information as soon as the details are released.
Quantum Break leaps to 2015, major showing at Gamescom
Remedy Entertainment slapped a 2015 window on Quantum Break today, and it's planning to showcase the Xbox One game at Gamescom rather than E3. In a teaser video, Creative Director Sam Lake said the studio will present the shooter's time-manipulation gameplay for the first time at the Euro convention in August. Quantum Break's plot focuses on time, with themes of time travel and the threat of the very fabric of time breaking down. That story will be told both across a video game and a live-action TV series, and Lake says we can expect to plenty of crossover between the two. "There are a number of ways in which the game and the show interact," Lake told us last year. "That said, it's worth mentioning that we're not creating a 'choose your own adventure' where, very easily, one tight story gets watered down to many weaker ones. For us, this is much more 'one powerful story told many ways, based on your actions." [Image: Microsoft]
Indie Megabooth becomes an international booth of mystery
Yeah, baby! The Indie Megabooth is expanding its reach across the pond, to the land of Cologne, Germany for Gamescom 2014. The organization announced the news today, while at the same time opening up submissions for their European debut. Not sure what the Indie Megabooth is? Originating at PAX, the Indie Megabooth is a collection of independent game developers who come together to form one giant ... well, megabooth at a show floor. It's sort of like Voltron, if Voltron were made up of video game developers instead of robot lions in space. And now we're going to have that image stuck in our heads all weekend. [Image: Indie Megabooth]
GDC Europe enjoys record attendance
GDC Europe, which occurred right before Gamescom, had approximately 2,250 visitors attend from 56 countries. This is an increase from the "around 2,000" attendees in 2012. The talk of the show was the uses of the Oculus Rift VR headset. We also went over some virtual reality challenges we picked up from the show during our final Super Joystiq Podcast episode of Gamescom (1:54:00 - Oculus Rift development considerations). Okay, there was also plenty of chatter about the Achtung Arcade at GDC Europe. GDC Europe returns next year from August 11-13, right before Gamescom 2014, which will take place August 13-17.
Rocksmith 2014 will work with your electric ukuleles and violins
One of the big features in Ubisoft's Rocksmith 2014 is Session Mode. In essence, it turns your gaming console or computer into a virtual jam band that listens to and adapts to how you play. It's pretty amazing, and we'll be posting a more detailed preview as soon as we can. In the meantime, here's a little sneak peek: Session Mode can work with electric stringed instruments other than a guitar, even if it wasn't intentionally designed to. Jokingly, I asked executive producer Nao Higo (pictured right) if I'd be able to plug in my electric ukulele. Imagine my surprise when he told me it would work. The interface on the screen would still reflect the frets and strings of a guitar (which are very different from a ukulele's), but Higo said the virtual band would still listen to my notes and play along appropriately. Creative director Paul Cross (pictured left) added that a member of the dev team has even managed to successfully test Session Mode with an electric violin. Of course, you can't play the main game with instruments other than a guitar or bass – there go my hopes of becoming an electric sitar virtuoso – but the fact that other instruments work at all is remarkable. Now I just have to find out if I can outfit my virtual jam band with a trumpet and I'll be in business.
