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STO space and ground combat at Gamescom
Gamespot got some hands-on time with Star Trek Online during Gamescom and came away from the experience thoroughly impressed by what Cryptic has been able to do with the license. We're glad to hear it, especially since PAX is coming up soon and we're expecting to get a little face time with the game ourselves.Basically, it looks like Star Trek Online's space combat is exactly what you'd expect, in a good way. There's rerouting of power from one system to another and the ever-important maneuvering of your ship for optimal shield and weapons usage. Plus, they seemed to be quite impressed with the graphics. Oh, space vistas we cannot wait to see you through Star Trek goggles.Mission structure and ground combat were also touched upon. It seems like away teams will only be able to carry two weapon types into battle, although we're not sure if that scales with game progression or not. Interestingly, Cryptic mentioned that special weapons would eventually become available depending on your faction and "type of character" you play. We can't wait to find out more for ourselves in just a little over a week's time.
Nearly 20min worth of SWTOR gameplay video
If nearly 20 minutes of Star Wars: The Old Republic gameplay footage narrated by BioWare developers themselves is the kind of thing you get excited about, then today is a very exciting day for the both of us.IGN is hosting the video that's so huge it comes in four parts. Here's where it gets awesome: It'll show you lengthy gameplay for the Bounty Hunter, Smuggler and Sith Warrior classes in addition to some of the game's planets. Plus, BioWare gives you something of a director's commentary of what's happening with each of the classes. In effect, it's almost pure nerdnip.Even at almost 20 minutes long, we found ourselves feeling like it all went by far too quickly and there's a definite possibility we may re-watch it again. That seems like a good sign of things to come, at least for BioWare and not so much for our social lives. Check out all four videos after the break.
New The Secret World info at PAX to be 'biggest thing yet'
It looks like GamesCom won't be getting all the late summer glory this year, as PAX now has two large MMO events tied around its massive people-crushing finger. The first is of course the Star Wars: The Old Republic public demo in the main hall, but the second seems no less grand.Funcom's Erling Ellingsen has told VG247 that the reveal for The Secret World at PAX will be "the biggest thing on TSW yet." which is certainly a statement that delivers a lot of excitement. However, beyond the confirmation of new details being revealed in Seattle, WA on September 4th through the 6th, Erling's lips were sealed.Rest assured that Massively will be speaking with Funcom, potentially with a high amount of fervor. So if you're looking for that new info come the first weekend of September, it should be awaiting your acumen right here.
Video: a walkthrough of GamesCom
GamesCom is a ginormous show. Just to give you an idea, we took a brisk walk through the complex, which came out to a total of 26 minutes. What you won't see in the video (which moves at a much faster pace than we did!) is the business center, where many of our meetings were held, and the southern side of the complex where GDC Europe occurred. We've placed a map after the break, complete with a Family Circus-style map highlighting our route.
GamesCom enters the ranks of E3 on its first year
With a bajillion gaming conventions going on this year, and the global economy being the way it is, you'd think gamers would need to pick and choose their events more carefully. You would actually think that if you decided to run your brand new gaming convention the exact same days as BlizzCon, you're in for some problems. Well, you'd be wrong.GamesCom in Cologne, Germany has just reported its attendance numbers and it blew away all expectations. 245,000 people attended the 5-day event that exhibited 458 companies from 31 countries. Quite a feat considering it was their first year. Our parent site, Joystiq, was on the ground at GamesCom and can provide more helpful statistics such as liters of Kölsch consumed and number of times they ran into champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko. Very important stuff.
RUSE VIP beta later this year, strategy is to sign up now
Ubisoft's RUSE will cunningly deploy a "VIP Beta" later this year. The beta is currently announced only for PC, and access to it can be attained by signing up on the game's official website (while some codes were also given out at GamesCom). An Ubisoft representative told us there's "a chance [the beta] will go public, based on how the VIP access testing goes first." Our hands-on time with RUSE at GamesCom was similar to our previous experience with the title, which is to say that it could be an impressive strategy game, so long as some serious work is put into making the console controls more intuitive. The game is still scheduled for Q1 2010, but with such an influx of high-profile titles during that time, we're wondering if that official release window is just a clever ruse. %Gallery-48492%
GamesCom 2009 attendance at 245,000
The inaugural year of GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, was a whopping success, reeling in 245,000 visitors according to the Koelnmesse. Event organizers reservedly noted that they were "very pleased with the result," but we're sure the Kölsch was flowing like the Rhein behind the scenes. The show is already scheduled to take place in 2010 from August 18-22. After the break, you'll find some "official" statistics and some random "unofficial statisticals" from our time at what some now call the third pillar (E3 and TGS being the other two) of video game trade events.
Cosplay record attempt fails at GamesCom, Guinness believes TGS attempt could 'smash' record
If we had a "sad panda" costume, we'd put it on right now for this post. The GamesCom attempt to break the Guinness world record for "The Largest Gathering of Games Characters" failed this weekend -- but it wasn't an "epic fail." Joystiq spoke with Gaz Deaves, Guinness' video games records manager, who told us 311 cosplayers were present, which was 65 short of the record set at London MCM Expo on May 23 of this year. Deaves explained that once the line was cleared, organizers didn't think it would be fair to keep the folks waiting while they went looking for more people on the show floor -- a good thing, considering the heat already caused our pity meter to go into overdrive for the folks hotboxing inside the Tetris blocks and full Yoshi costumes. The organizer's eleventh-hour change of venue from the South Hall entrance to a random location between two halls in the enormous complex probably didn't help costumed revelers attend the event either. The next attempt to break the record will likely be London Games Festival or MCM Expo, which have applied the last two years, successfully breaking the record on both occasions. Deaves tells us, "However, the big competitor who has yet to apply is TGS. I expect Tokyo could smash this record; however, until they've been officially counted they can't claim it." [Image: Koelnmesse] %Gallery-70732%
Final Fantasy XIV release for 360 hindered by Xbox Live
When Final Fantasy XIV was announced by Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Jack Tretton at E3 2009, it was met with no small amount of elation from the crowd. But when he stated that it was a PlayStation 3 exclusive, this no doubt withered the hearts of Final Fantasy XI players the world over who play it on the Xbox. Fortunately, that statement wasn't quite the truth. Square Enix was quick to clarify that Final Fantasy XIV on console is not exclusive to PlayStation 3, just that it will be at launch. While FFXIV will be available for PS3 and PC in the beginning, there is a 360 version in the works as well. VG247 caught up with Final Fantasy XIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka at GamesCom, who gave an update on FFXIV on the Xbox 360. Tanaka explained some of the hurdles involved with bringing their upcoming title to Microsoft's darling of the console world. He said,"... for FFXIV, because 360 has its own policy with Xbox Live that is different from [the] internet, that's something we're in discussions with Microsoft [about], to come to an agreement. That's one of the reasons it's not going to be launched at that point."
Marvel shows us digital comic service on PSP
Marvel executive Ira Rubenstein was super nice enough to give us a closer look at Sony's new Digital Comics service for PSN at GamesCom -- and we repay him by having a camera that apparently refuses to focus ... sorry. The comics, which Marvel suggests should cost roughly $2 each (Sony has the final say on price), will become available in December. The company isn't currently discussing whether there will be a subscription model. The initial offering of comics will be from the "all audience" category, so we won't be seeing any of the niche Marvel stuff just yet. You can't really see it due to the focusing issue, but the PSP picture is beautiful. We're looking forward to seeing more of the service.
How to reach the Reach beta on ODST
Bungie is trying to make entry into Halo: Reach's beta as easy as possible -- at least if you pick up Halo 3 ODST next month. Bungie explained to Joystiq at GamesCom ODST's main menu will host an "extras" tab, which will contain access to the Reach beta once it activates sometime next year.Bungie considers the beta to be "a big part of the value of the disc." And as much as the studio hopes that the beta launch will "work like buttah," we're already preparing to shut down our tips box on that day to stop the whining wave of entitlement when if something inevitably goes wrong.
Halo 3 ODST's multiplayer disc: all frag, no Chief filler
The easiest way to encapsulate Halo 3 ODST's multiplayer disc is to call it "Halo 3 Multiplayer Complete." That was our takeaway from a meeting with Bungie at GamesCom today. Discussing "the other game" in the ODST box, the Bungie rep reiterated, "It's all the multiplayer maps we released with Halo 3, then all of the DLC we've released since then, along with three new maps."The standalone disc pretty much means that precious Xbox 360 hard drive space can be cleansed of Halo 3 maps ... of course, there's always the option of putting the whole disc on the HDD as well. The Bungie rep explained it best by saying, "It's like putting in Halo 3 into your Xbox, except it doesn't have the campaign."%Gallery-64703%
Cosplayer gathering at GamesCom attempts to break Guinness record
Over 400 cosplayers are expected to gather and break the Guinness record for "The Largest Gathering of Games Characters" today at GamesCom. We were looking forward to telling you if they broke the MCM London record of 376 characters ... but we forgot one little detail: Um, all those people need to be officially counted and that seems to take a really long time.With a couple Guinness representatives on hand, each cosplayer has to write down the name of their character and respective game. Following that, a photo gets taken and then they get to bake in the summer sun -- waiting for everyone else to be counted. We felt really bad for the Tetris pieces! We'll update when we get the official count.Update: It failed.%Gallery-70732%
Overheard@GamesCom: Kicking babies is bad
The protagonist in Activision's Singularity has the ability to age and, um, youth-enize people and objects, which led to a burning question on the minds of a few people during a presentation of the title during GamesCom. See, when you age enemies, they'll turn to dust. However, when un-aging them, they'll turn into "Reverts," creatures in an unnatural state that can assist or attack the player. It only seemed reasonable to those in the room: Why wouldn't they be turned into babies?An Activision rep explained, "If we start turning them into babies, and kicking babies, we're going to run into ratings issues." Oh, come on! There's the ... and the ... okay, we can't really argue with that. It's also worth mentioning that Singularity's violence is edited on the show floor -- something about German censorship issues. %Gallery-45668%
Tony Hawk Ride comes with padding for your hardwood floor
Activision will ship Tony Hawk Ride's skateboard peripheral with some extra padding in the box for those without carpets to place it on. A company representative told Joystiq at GamesCom today that the board will ship with "two strips, stickers," but couldn't precisely describe the thickness or provide an example. He implied the strips would run along the long flat bottom on both sides, which still makes us nervous for folks with hardwood floors if they -- or a rambunctious group of children -- attempt an ollie with the peripheral. For the record, the rep told us the "recommended surface [to play on] is carpet."We asked the rep if the company plans to introduce a prophylactic that could cover the bottom of the board, but were told, "[We] haven't decided on that." Assurances were made that the board has gone through lots of durability testing -- even though it's not the board we're worried about. It uses 4 AA batteries and can apparently last 30-40 hours, with a "sleep mode" kicking in after about 30 minutes to an hour.
GamesCom offers a closer look at the Sith Warrior class
It seems Star Wars: The Old Republic is the next big thing. We've been raving about it for months and this week's GamesCom gave the press and, more importantly, the public a chance to get down and dirty with BioWare's biggest project to date. IGN took the time to nip to the Jedi Temple and revealed that BioWare were spoiling attendees with a brand spanking new demo focusing on the Sith, specifically the Warrior class. Indeed they report this demo was basically a back to basics with this mysterious sect, focusing on their training on Korriban – could this be their starter area? They report it examines their mentality and beliefs within the Star Wars universe. After all, if you're going to roll a Sith you need to understand how their minds work as well as taking them down pits and killing giant worms. The piece is amazingly detailed and does more than enough to whet the appetites of Star Wars fans as well as Team Massively. Check it out by clicking here and you might want to start thinking up evil-sounding names while you're at it.
First Majin: The Fallen Realm trailer is charming
If you want to demand innovation in your games, you have to be willing to embrace things when you don't totally get them. Take this trailer for Majin: The Fallen Realm. for instance. We don't exactly understand the relationship between this young boy and his mossy Wild Thing, but we're ready to clasp both of them to our bosom until we "get it." The picture painted of the friendship seems like a really interesting one, especially in that last shot. Honestly, we're just glad to see man and monster's relationship evolving beyond oppressive slavery.
New DCUO screens appear out of GamesCom
From the deep recesses of GamesCom comes the one threat that no one predicted. The arrival of... "them."Yes, "they" have appeared. All eight of them. They've come marching out of the convention to media sites across the internet, seeking superheroic domination over the masses. They show images, amazing images, of things to come in our future. They are... screenshots!Ok, so perhaps the screenshots don't deserve their own movie trailer, but they are quite impressive. DC Universe Online is shaping up to be quite a gorgeous game in its own right, and we've gotten eight more insights into the game. S.T.A.R. Labs is featured prominently in these shots, and we even have one of Batman facing off against the Joker.Check out our gallery below, and be transfixed!%Gallery-70606%
Heavy Rain features 10 voiced languages, subtitles in 6 more [update]
Heavy Rain will be fully voice acted in 10 languages, with subtitles available for all spoken languages, plus six more languages. These details were disclosed during a presentation at GamesCom this afternoon, when Quantic Dream founder David Cage introduced Pascal Langdale (pictured right), the actor playing the English-speaking version of Heavy Rain's Ethan Mars, and discussed the extensive voice work necessary for the game's many branching scenes. Knowing a single Blu-ray disc can store language data in bulk, we were curious about how many language options would be available in the game. As it turns out, if Cage had brought in all of Mars' voices, the room would have gotten pretty tight. Check out the confirmed list of languages after the break. (We're still waiting for official confirmation on a couple -- the Quantic Dream team couldn't name them all off the top of their heads.) Update: Heavy Rain's associate producer and localization manager, Romain Castillos, has given us the official list of languages and subtitles. %Gallery-70367%
No demo for Borderlands - at least not 'before launch'
The October 20 release of Gearbox's Borderlands will not be accompanied by a demo, but that doesn't mean that there won't be one. A 2K representative informs Joystiq, "Everyone is really, really focusing on getting the game done for release ... that's not to say there will never be a demo, just not before launch."New properties typically have a hard time breaking through in the infamous fourth quarter release window, and Borderlands is certainly no exception. 2K Games' BioShock, a bit of an unknown quantity at the time, benefited from its pre-release demo, which sent buzz through the roof. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford said in a GamesCom presentation that he hopes folks will be driven to the original property through solid word of mouth.
