GC 2009: PlayStation 3 Slim Impressions

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely heard that Sony officially announced the PlayStation 3 slim model today, technically still just known as the PlayStation 3. Fortunately for us, Sony was kind enough to drop off a system to our office a couple hours after the announcement so we've been able to hold it, caress it and even play a game or two on it.
Read More ►

GC2009: EA Press Conference

Electronic Arts held its official Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, showing off a number of new features and trailers for already announced games, and dropping more than a few release dates for their upcoming catalog. The evening started with a bang, thanks to a trailer showcasing all the titles in the current lineup. Though we'll be previewing most of these games in playable demos on the show floor and private meetings in the business center, tonight was a good opportunity to see them all in a compressed form and get a sense of what to expect from our more in-depth sessions later this week.

After a high energy trailer showcasing many of the more popular games in EA's catalog, Dr. Jens Uwe Itat, general manager of European publishing for EA, opened the conference with a few words of pride about EA's influence in Europe and the more than 200,000 people expected to attend Gamescom this week. He then handed things over to EA Sports' president Peter Moore who catered to the European crowd by introducing the latest version of FIFA, which Moore promises will be "the greatest football game in the world."
Read More ►

GC 2009: Sony on PS3 Profitability, Backwards Compatibility, and More

Today is a big day in PlayStation land. The slimmer PlayStation 3 is official, the system only costs $299.99 as of tomorrow, there are bite-sized games coming to the PSP, and digital comics are a reality. What a time to be alive.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Heavy Rain @ Sony's Conference

Sony's press conference here in Cologne has ended and the internet is already swimming with excited chatter regarding the newly announced (but long anticipated) PS3 Slim, as well as the addition of PSP "miniS" to the PlayStation Store, which will serve as bite-sized downloadable games at a reduced price for the casual consumer. However, one of the most exciting moments for me, as a PS3 gamer, was when David Cage took to the stage and discussed the upcoming, extremely mature title, Heavy Rain.
Read More ►

GC 2009: - Sony's Aussie PS3 Announcements

Fresh from Sony's showcase at this year's GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe made a few key announcements that directly affect PS3 and PSP-owning Aussie gamers.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Microsoft Press Briefing Live Blog On the Way

With Sony's Gamescom Press Conference all wrapped up, it's Microsoft's turn to hit back. On Wednesday morning from 10 to 11 AM here in Cologne, Germany, a press briefing is scheduled at the Koelnmesse, site of Gamescom 2009. Scheduled to speak are representative from Microsoft Game Studios and Lionhead studios, which seems to indicate we could hear something very interesting indeed.
Read More ►

GC 2009: PS3 Slim and Price Drop Announced

The worst-kept secret in gaming is official: the PS3 slim is real. During its Gamescom press conference today in Germany, Sony announced the new system, which will retail for $299 US (or 299 Euros and 29,980 yen) and will hit shelves the first week of September.
Read More ►

GC 2009: PSP Minis on the Way

The rumors were true - the PSP (and PSPgo of course) is getting its own version of the App Store. Well, it's just the PlayStation Network, but the idea of bite-sized apps and games are on the way by the name of Minis. These games will feature a 100MB size limit, with 15 games launching on October 1st (the day the PSPgo launches), and a total of 50 titles will hit in 2009.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Heavy Rain Dev on Mature Games

One of the most intriguing PlayStation 3 titles on the horizon is Heavy Rain from development studio Quantic Dream. The company, led by founder and CEO David Cage, has made a name for itself by telling genre-pushing adventures and Heavy Rain, with its ultra-realistic graphics and deep storyline, might just take everything to the next level. At the European Game Developers Conference 2009 in Cologne, Germany, Cage philosophized about creating narrative for so-called mature games, explained the challenges that lay ahead and the benefits in store for players.

Read More ►

GC 2009: Mass Effect 2 Interview

Anybody lucky enough to make their way to the Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany will be amongst the first to get their hands on a playable demo of Mass Effect 2. For those of us, including yours truly, who can't make the trek, we've gone to Executive Producer Casey Hudson for an update on how the game is coming along, what Gamescom attendees can expect, and much more. There's even a little talk about Project Natal in here. Enjoy the new trailer and then get the latest details here.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Dante's Inferno Gets Release Date

During Electronic Arts' press conference in Cologne, Germany, the company announced a final release date for Dante's Inferno, a God of War-inspired action game. Dante's Inferno will ship in North American on February 9th, and in Europe on February 12th.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Bioware Reveals New Mass Effect 2 Character

Bioware unveiled a new character for Mass Effect 2. 'Grunt', a "violent and unpredictable" Krogan fighter, will be teaming up with Commander Shepard for this go around. Of course this new Krogan teammate has strong physical attributes, but like Wrex before him, he'll need to be tamed as well.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Brutal Legend Getting Demo Treatment

Electronic Arts announced this morning a Brutal Legend downloadable demo will be available this September. This news comes out of Cologne, Germany, but we expect the demo to make its way over to North America as well.
Read More ►

GC 2009: The Sims 3: World Adventures First Look

We've had a lot of fun with The Sims 3 since it shipped in early June, and we're not the only ones. According to EA, there have been 3.7 million copies sold since then. The Sims 3 did a bang-up job of widening the scope of the game, giving us the ability to explore entire towns without a single loading screen. That did bring up an interesting question as to how EA would then expand the game, and we got a first look at the newly-revealed The Sims 3: World Adventures to see the expansion pack strategy.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Q&A;

Gamers that were looking for an adventure set in Robert E. Howard's classic Hyborian Age and mythology created in his numerous Conan the Barbarian novels were thrilled to check out Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the MMORPG from Funcom and Eidos. Populated with mythical creatures, lost civilizations, and gods frequently seeking the destruction of the world, Age of Conan gives players a sense of what it is like to be a Cimmerian, Stygian or Aquilonian. Now, a little over a year and a half later, a new expansion is poised to present the newest realm for the game, the eastern Khitai Empire.
Read More ►

GC 2009: CCP Announces a Console First-Person Shooter MMO

This could be absolutely brilliant. At GDC Europe 2009, CCP's Hilmar Veigar Petursson announced a new product called DUST 514, and it's not at all what we expected.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Sony Conference Live Blog

With Leipzig's Games Convention a thing of the past, Cologne's Gamescom 2009 has taken the center stage here in Europe, to bask gamers across the globe in a sea of beautiful digital goodness. We're here in Germany to report on the show and one of the big events that PlayStation enthusiasts can look forward to is Sony's press conference.
Read More ►

GC 2009: PS3 Slim Predictions

Pretty much every living person on the face of the Earth with an Internet connection is expecting a slim version of the PlayStation 3 to be announced tomorrow during Sony's Gamescom press conference, which kicks off at 9:30am PST and will be live blogged here on IGN. Rumors have been flying for months, and if you haven't been following them or would like a refresher course, you should check out our rumor roundup. We'll know everything one way or another tomorrow morning, but before the official unveiling happens, we're going to do our best to make an educated guess as to what it'll be, what it'll cost and when it's coming out.
Read More ►

GC 2009: SK on Eternal Darkness Sequel and Leaked IP

Only minutes after his session on cloud computing completed, we cornered Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack and showered him with questions we knew he couldn't possibly answer. Still, at least we can say we tried to get him to go on the record both about the recently leaked name of the company's next game and also about the possibility of a sequel to Eternal Darkness. So what did the outspoken Dyack have to say on the subjects?

"I can't tell you anything," he said, shattering our dreams.
Read More ►

GC 2009: Crytek Still Predicts New Console Cycle in 2012

Cevat Yerli, Crytek's president and co-founder, gave a talk on where graphics have come from and where they're going at GDC Europe. Following much the same format as last year, he traced the evolution of Crytek's engines, from Far Cry and the first CryEngine through to Crysis 2 and the CryEngine 3. While no video was shown of the in-development, multiplatform shooter and follow-up to the CryEngine 2 powered, PC-only Crysis, Yerli again affirmed he believed a new console cycle would arrive sometime around 2012.
Read More ►