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Hellblade is Ninja Theory's new nightmarish game [Update: Trailer added!]
Ninja Theory revealed its new game, Hellblade, during Sony's Gamescom 2014 press conference. The announcement trailer showed a well-detailed woman clutching a sword amidst some shadowy demons. Sony said the game will arrive first on PS4, prior to other consoles. The developer is known for creating Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry. Update: We've added a fresh trailer of Hellblade below.
Q-Games announces The Tomorrow Children
Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert announced The Tomorrow Children today during Sony's Gamescom 2014 press conference. The game is the result of a collaboration between the PixelJunk studio and SCEE Worldwide Studios. The announcement video of the game showed dwarf-like characters chipping away at walls with picks, then shooting at large glossy creatures with guns.
Gamescom 2014: Obsidian and My.com release Armored Warfare trailer
Obsidian and My.com have released a new trailer for Armored Warfare at this week's Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany. The clip runs for just over a minute and it features plenty of heavy metal war machines doing what they do best in urban environments. See for yourself after the break.
Quick take on Microsoft's Gamescom 2014 press conference
Joystiq's Jess Conditt and Sinan Kubba react to the news from Microsoft's Gamescom 2014 press conference in Cologne, Germany. If you missed the event, get caught up quickly with our recap of the news, then give us your analysis in the comments. Was it a strong showing or was there something you wanted to hear, but didn't?
Xbox Gamescom 2014 press conference round-up: Tomb Raider, Halo Channel
Microsoft held its Gamescom 2014 press conference in Cologne, Germany today. Maybe you followed along with our liveblog and the event's livestream, or pounded away at the "F5" key to see the flood of news slide down our front page. Regardless, we have a recap of this morning's events below (okay, this afternoon where the conference was held).
Here's a closer look at the white Xbox One and its Call of Duty-themed brother
Want to get really intimate with the two new Xbox Ones announced at Microsoft's Gamescom 2014 press conference? Well, unless you're here in Cologne, you probably can't get that close quite yet, but we did find said consoles hanging out behind glass. Good news: the white Xbox One completely delivers on its promise. It's got white plastic! As for the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare-themed Xbox One, well, it's absolutely what it promises: Call of Duty symbols are plastered all over the outside. Of course, that COD-themed box also has a 1TB internal hard drive while the white Xbox One is simply bundled with Sunset Overdrive. Neither box was paired with a similarly-themed Kinect, which tells us not to expect a Kinect in the box when both arrive later this year. Head into the gallery below for a closer look, and we've dropped a couple of Vines of both consoles after the break.
Alienware's 'Alpha' is a half-step toward Steam Machines
When PC gaming juggernaut Valve announced its Steam Machines initiative in Fall 2013, it was unveiled as such: "Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS."
'Rise of the Tomb Raider' is a 2015 exclusive for Xbox One
Hoping for some Xbox One exclusives to be announced at Gamescom? You're in the right place. Phil Harrison, corporate VP at Microsoft, just announced Rise of the Tomb Raider will be coming to the platform around a "holiday" next year (though we're not sure which). It'll be the latest instalment of the legendary franchise, one that's probably older than many of the people who will play it. Even if it isn't the "definitive version."
'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' is getting a custom Xbox One with 1TB of storage
The long-running relationship between Microsoft's Xbox consoles and the Call of Duty brand is expanding into hardware: a custom Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Xbox One is in the works for this holiday. Better yet, it comes ready for all that downloadable content you're going to buy, packing a one terabyte hard drive internally. And what about Kinect? No Kinect, sadly. We say "sadly" because the bundle costs $500. Which is to say, "It costs the same amount as an Xbox One with a 500GB hard drive and a Kinect." Sure, you get Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and you get a custom Xbox One with a larger HDD, but will $500 still be too much for mainstream folks who haven't picked up an Xbox One just yet? We'll see when it arrives on November 4th.
Project Cars' Limited Edition parks five cars in your garage
Bandai Namco revealed a Limited Edition version of Project Cars today, which will include a copy of the game, collectible book and five drivable legendary cars. The collector's book, titled "Project Cars: By Racers 4 Racers," offers a behind-the-scenes look at the game's development and influence from its community during Slightly Mad Studios' crowdfunding process in 2011. The five cars featured in the collector's edition are: The Ford GT40 Mk IV, the BMW M1 Pro Car, the McLaren F1, the Sauber C9 and the Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Coupe DTM. Those that pre-order either the Limited Edition or standard versions of the game will also receive the Modified Cars Pack, which includes three cars: The Ruf CTR3 SMS-R, the Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster and the Ariel Atom 3 Mugen. Project Cars will launch in November on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Wii U version of the racing game, which replaced the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions in November 2013, was previously delayed by the new publisher to 2015. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Super Joystiq Podcast Special: Gamescom 2014 Day 1
The Super Joystiq Podcast specials train is firing up again. Gamescom 2014 is about to kick-off and we have an amazing pre-show group of guests. Tune in to hear Mike Bithell talk a bit about his forthcoming game Volume and the business of indie development, Brenda Romero discusses her history of educating about gender issues and analog game development, and John Romero breaks some serious news at the end. Maybe you've already heard, it went something a little like "I haven't made a shooter since 2000, so..." We'll be back every day with a new special from Gamecom 2014, so stay tuned. (Pardon the minor audio issues on this first Gamescom special. People were fired.) Listen to the Super Joystiq Podcast: Subscribe to the Super Joystiq Podcast in iTunes Add the Super Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator Download the MP3 directly Relevant links are available after the break.
Gamescom 2014: Guild Wars 2 outlines convention plans
Are you ready for a week of gaming news from Germany? Of course you are. Were you worried that Guild Wars 2 might not be part of the festivities? Of course it is. Yes, ArenaNet has gone to Gamescom 2014, complete with chances for fans to win plushies, shirts, and Collector's Editions of the game. The Gamescom events will also include the All-Stars Tournament event. If you're not attending the convention in person, you can still watch the matches on Twitch and follow the developers on Twitter to get in on the giveaway action, assuming you're not too busy with the latest part of Living Story content to notice.
Gamescom 2014: World of Speed's team racing trailer
Slightly Mad Studios and My.com have released a new World of Speed trailer ahead of this week's Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany. The brief video focuses on team racing and demonstrates how you can assist your mates even if you're not running up front. Side objectives like sliding, slipstreaming, and pathfinding are in the mix, though the clip doesn't explain how they work. It's worth watching if you like gearhead eye candy, though, so click past the cut and have a look.
In the shadow of Gamescom: Germany's game scene struggling to grow up
Germany hosts the world's largest annual gaming convention, Gamescom, which last year drew 340,000 attendees and 635 exhibitors from 40 countries. Gamescom kicks off again this week in Cologne for what is sure to be an even bigger, sardine-packed public weekend. For these few days, it feels like Germany is the place to be for video game developers – and then the show leaves, exhibitors return home, and German studios large and small face the realities of operating in a country still in game development puberty. Germany's video game industry is finding its footing economically and socially, and there's a quiet undercurrent of discontent among developers. Things are getting better – states in Germany offer a handful of programs for studios to find funding, though these trail behind the support seen in countries such as France, Finland, Sweden, Canada, the UK or the Netherlands. "The German government is clearly not doing enough to support our industry," says Timo Ullmann, CEO of Dead Island 2 developer, Yager. "But our local governments – Berlin, Bavaria, Hamburg – are much further ahead of things and have identified our industry as an important partner. However, there is always room for improvement. There are simply not enough projects being run in Germany to support a greater number of studios and developers. And that is what we would need in order to have a more flourishing scene. Eventually we will get there over time, but I am unsure how to fix it."
German, Austrian, Swiss games at Gamescom's Indie Arena
Independent developers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are heading to Gamescom this year with the second annual installment of the Indie Arena, a showcase of games from smaller studios across those regions. Games due to display this year include The Last Tinker from Mimimi, The Masterplan from Shark Punch, Mercury Shift from Klonk, Beatbuddy iOS from Threaks, Schein from Zeppelin Studio and Paperbound from Dissident Logic. The Indie Arena is in Hall 9, booth A-032. Last year the Indie Arena featured games to play, developers to talk to and walls to write on. There's a bit of overlap between Indie Arena and the Indie Megabooth, which is making its glorious Gamescom debut this year. Double the indie booths, double the fun. [Images: Indie Arena]
Watch Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's multiplayer reveal on Xbox Live
Developer Sledgehammer Games will introduce Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's multiplayer during Gamescom 2014. What's that, you say? Checking out of reality for a week to go play games in Germany is a bit infeasible? Well as long as you can get on Xbox Live, there's a consolation prize: Sledgehammer's trailer reveal will be broadcasted live on Xbox Live at 1 p.m. Eastern on August 11, with interviews also planned during the presentation. That Xbox locked in a multiplayer reveal on its own channels shouldn't be much of a surprise, considering that Advanced Warfare's DLC will arrive on Xbox One before any other platform. Hopefully Sledgehammer has some neat game modes in store for us – we can only entertain ourselves by fighting Kevin Spacey's army for so long. [Image: Activision]
Combatless MMO Wander releases Gamescom trailer
We last looked at Wander in detail at PAX Prime 2013, but the indie "collaborative exploration" MMO has been hard at work on its cross-platform, VR-friendly, combat-free experience since then. Today, the game's creator, Loki Davison, has released a brief trailer ahead of Gamescom, where Wander will be one of a very few MMOs featured at the Indie MEGABOOTH. Enjoy the video below.
Blizzard opens dedicated gamescom page
Coming this August, gamescom 2014 will continue the tradition of one of the biggest and most important video game conventions in the world. And this year, Blizzard plans on letting even people who don't get to travel to Cologne (it's in Germany) keep track of what they're up to at this massive con, with a dedicated web page for their presence, including livestreaming coverage. It's an interesting move for Blizzard, and an understandable one - gamescom is, on the whole, a big deal and it's likely that they'll be putting a lot of effort into their presentations there, so why not let people from outside the con get a look as well? It's just good PR. This year's gamescom runs from August 13th to August 17th in Cologne, Germany. Dare we hope for a release date for Warlords of Draenor by then? Yes. Yes, we dare to hope for that. Maybe the cinematic? Why not? I'm from Rhode Island and I say release it all! Sorry, got excited, referenced Starship Troopers. it won't happen again.
Journey, Until Dawn, more from Sony heading to PS4
A now-removed post at Sony's Gamescom landing page revealed a handful of new PlayStation 4 games ahead of the publisher's planned Gamescom showing, IGN reports. Sony's full Gamescom lineup, reprinted at NeoGAF, includes PlayStation 4 versions of Thatgamecompany's Journey, Supermassive Games' long-dormant PlayStation Move horror game Until Dawn, and Q-Games' newest PixelJunk series entry Nom Nom Galaxy. Other highlights include PlayStation 4 ports for Hustle Kings, Pix the Cat, and The Unfinished Swan, which was recently outed by a content ratings submission in Korea. The leaked lineup follows Sony's recent announcement that it would court an audience of lapsed gamers with PlayStation 4 ports for several high-profile PS3 games. None of the list's previously unannounced games have been confirmed, but many will likely make their first showing at Gamescom next month. [Image: Thatgamecompany]
Skyforge to premiere at Gamescom
Skyforge, the upcoming MMO from Obsidian Entertainment and the team that brought you Allods Online, will be making its debut at this year's Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Along with World of Speed and Armored Warfare, Skyforge will be presented by My.com at its booth in the business hall and as a playable demo for press. This will be the first reveal of two of Skyforge's classes and brand new locations. Interested players can also sign up for the closed beta for all three games at the official websites linked below. [Source: My.com press release]
