Gamescom 2011 Day 1 Roundup

While not as big and commercial as E3, Gamescom is still one of the biggest gaming expos outside America. The expo’s first day didn’t really bowl us over with a lot of surprises but there was still a good amount of stuff to come out of Cologne this year. Here’s a quick recap:

Battlefield 3’s new trailer will blow your freaking mind



You’ve drooled over Battlefield 3 footage before but trust me, this video will melt your eyes off. Showcasing the power of the Frostbite 2 engine, the new video from Gamescom demonstrated the game’s multiplayer in all its 64 player glory. And yes, we wept with joy when we finally got to see the game’s jets in action.

The game’s co-operative mode was also shown that you can witness right here.



PlayStation Vita gets a ton of love

Vita getting a ton of love

The PlayStation Vita isn’t even out yet but still it’s getting a ton of love from both first as well as third party developers. Announced at Gamescom 2011 were a bunch of games for the PS Vita like FIFA, the Call of Duty series, an Assassin’s Creed game, Rayman Origins, a new Resistance game called Burning Sky and lots more. And in case you’ve been living under a rock, the PS Vita will be out next year for anything between Rs. 20,000 – 25,000.

PS3 gets price cut

Dropping it like its hot

After much rumour mongering a price cut for the PlayStation 3 was confirmed at Gamescom 2011. The PS3 will now be available for $249.99 or 249.99 Euros. A quick trip to Xe.com tells us that this would be the equivalent of around Rs. 17,000 for the console since India more often than not gets EU prices. We’re trying to reach Sony India for a confirmation but since most of the team is at Gamescom, we’ll just have to wait for another week.

inFamous  2: Festival of Blood announced

Developer Sucker Punch announced a new inFamous 2 game at Gamescom, only it’s not exactly a new game. The game’s a PSN exclusive downloadable title that adds in vampires (yes vampires) into the mix. You see besides the mutants and rednecks, New Marias is now home to vampires and Cole McGrath unfortunately has been turned into one as well. He has only one night to rectify this curse which is when we’re guessing the game takes place.

FIFA in the spotlight

Europeans do love their FIFA

This being a European event and all, FIFA was obviously in the spotlight. EA announced a demo for the game that should be available across Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network by the 13th of September 2011. The game will hit retail by the 27th of the same month in the US and the 29th in UK. Move support was also announced for FIFA 13 so if you’re a fan of the game as well as motion controlled gaming, that’s a double whammy for you. And finally EA announced a new FIFA Street which is like FIFA, only it’s on the err... streets.

NFS The Run looks surprisingly fun



Ever since Most Wanted I’ve kind of lost hope for the Need for Speed series but this year’s The Run looks like it could bring some of the win back. Yeah the context sensitive on-foot segments are a bit weird but racing looks fast and solid and that’s what really counts.

Uncharted 3 looks un-freaking believable



Every time I see Uncharted 3 I feel there’s no way Naughty Dog can top the last video but somehow they do and the video demoed at Gamescom was just mind blowing. Watch it and be amazed.

Weird dance segment



There have been weird segments in gaming expos but this most random choreographed dance kind of took the cake. For a minute there I thought my feed was all wonky but then I realized this was Sony’s way of promoting their new Dancestar game with a Dubstep remix of the Saw theme. Ok then.