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Dragon Age Inquisition – Gamescom recap

Dragon Age Inquisition is prepared to take a big step up from it's predecessors.
Dragon Age Inquisition is prepared to take a big step up from it’s predecessors.

EA’s Gamescom conference started off on a high-note with Dragon Age Inquisition. The new Dragon Age focuses on utilizing a variety of ways to play and greatly expands the options and customizability of your character and followers.

You’re given the ability to lead up to nine character on journey — the most ever for a Dragon Age game and with nine customizable classes and an impressive 200 different abilities within the skills tree.

Bioware is focusing on letting players “fight the way you want to fight.”

Along with customizable fortress “Skyhold” your options within the world are even more advanced. You’ll be able to expand your influence, begin new missions, and strengthen the Inquisition from your fortress.

With nine followers and the unique characterisitics and traits take control of followers in battle by pausing the game and shifting the camera to an over-head view for a strategy game-style approach to combat.

Dragon Age Inquisition’s combination of strategy elements, within the lush RPG core gives the game high potential moving forward.

Dragon Age Inquisition will be launching on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and PC on November 20th this year.

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The crowd comes to life in the new NHL 15 gameplay trailer

NHL 15's new AI promises a greater diversity to offensive play.
NHL 15’s new AI promises a greater diversity to offensive play.

The atmosphere of a hockey game is realized in EA Sports’ most recent iteration of the NHL series.

NHL 15 presents one of the most incredibly immersive sports games ever released. The authentic arenas display oustanding authenticity and the active crowds that include super-fans, taunting opposing crowds, and a great variety of distinct animations, make the feeling of a digital hockey game grow beyond that of arcade hockey.

Beyond the improved atmosphere of the arenas, the gameplay is looking sharp and the visuals look spectacular.

Check out EA Sports’ latest Gamescom trailer below –

NHL 15 will be releasing on Xbox One and Playstation 4 September 9th, this year. It will also be releasing on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, but not quite at the same level of visual presentation.

Get an early look at the gameplay as EA will be releasing a demo August 26th.

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Newly announced Xbox One updates | USB Support, “snap center,” and threaded messages

Xbox One consistently receives updates from Microsoft and some significant changes will be coming in their update later this month.
Xbox One consistently receives updates from Microsoft and some significant changes will be coming in their update later this month.

A massively improved social experience and enhanced media access lead the new features coming to Xbox One later this month.

One of the greatest assets that had evolved over the course of the Xbox 360 was the “Xbox Guide,” but microsoft had elected to forgo the guide in turn for the multifunctionality of the Xbox One interface. Many Xbox gamers have expressed their dismay with the lack of an “Xbox Guide” for the Xbox One.

That will all change now as Microsoft has unveiled the “Snap Center” — a single snappable hub that will incorporate players’ friends list, messages, parties, and achievements.

The console is also expanding the media access players have. USB support will also be added with the updated, and users will be able to watch and listen to their own personal music and video collection.

The Xbox One’s greatest quality may be just how quickly improvement and changes are being made to the console, and the dedication Microsoft has shown to their fanbase with “Xbox Feedback.”

Many of the features now coming were directly requested by fans, and with updates coming each month to fine-tune and enhance the interface the Xbox One is consantly evolving for the better.

Here’s the full list of improvements and changes coming later this month:

  • New “Friends” tab – The Xbox One home screen will feature an additional tab that will display your friends, their activities, and game leaderboards.
  • The Snap Center – All the functionality of the Xbox 360’s Guide is coming to the One. Friends, parties, messages, and achievements all in one easily accessible location.
  • Threaded Messages – This is a feature that took a surprisingly long time to develop for the Xbox platform, but you’ll now be able to see your history of dialogue between yourself and other gamers.
  • USB/DLNA Media Player – All of your personal music/video content will be available to you through external USB hard drives. Also support DLNA playback.

    Supported file types: (3gp audio, 3gp video, 3gp2, aac, adts, animated gif, asf, avi divx, avi, dv avi, uncompressed avi, xvid, bmp, jpg, gif, h264, avchd, mjpeg, mkv, mov, mp3, mpeg 1 ps, mpeg 2, mpeg 2 hd, mpeg 2 ts, mpeg 4 h264 aac, mpeg 4 sp, png, tiff, wav, wma, wma lossless, wma pro, wma voice, wmv, wmv hd)

  • Stream TV straight to smartglass devices
  • Boot to TV – Consoles will be given the option to display TV right as the consoles is turned on from standby mode.
  • Mini guide – Currently the One Guide takes up nearly the entire screen, but the new mini guide will display show information and give users the ability to change channels without interrupting what is currently playing.

 

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First gameplay trailer for Dead Island 2 showcased at Gamescom

With Hollywood as your playground, Dead Island 2 looks to take a step up from it's predecessor/
With Hollywood as your playground, Dead Island 2 looks to take a step up from it’s predecessor/

Deep Silver’s first showcase at Gamescom reveals some new undead chaos in the city of Los Angeles.

Almost three years after the initial release of the first Dead Island, there seems to be an even greater emphasis on the absurd this time around. The “Sunshine & Slaughter” Dead Island 2 gameplay trailer demonstrates a massive variety of ludicrous ways to take down the zombie invested city.

Electric shocks, freezing the undead where they stand, smashing their heads with sledgehammers, and a mass amount of other approaches are available to satisfy your zombie killing needs.

Dead Island 2 will be releasing Spring, 2015 on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC.

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Halo 2 Anniversary coming to Gamescom

343i showcases their plans and improvements for Halo 2 in The Masterchief Collection.
343i showcases their plans and improvements for Halo 2 in The Masterchief Collection.

While the remastered Halo 2 multiplayer is just a small fraction of what will be coming from 343i in The Master Chief Collection, fans should be excited to hear that 4v4 mulitplayer will be available to gamers who make the trip to Cologne, Germany for Gamescom.

For those who won’t be making it to Gamescom, 343i will be keeping fans in the know with twitter updates, twitch streams, and more updates through Halo: Waypoint.

While Ascension has been confirmed as a playable map in the open 4v4 multiplayer, 343i also mentioned that another un-announced map will make an appearance at Gamescom as well. For those who are even more dedicated fans and want to put their Halo skills to the test 343i is hosting a legendary 4v4 tournament with a grand prize of $10,000.

Those who enter will be able to either piece together a team before hand, or form a team on station as they battle in the “winner stays” game series.

Full rules here:

“If your team wins 10 matches in a row, you’ll take the top spot on the daily leaderboard, and if another team tops your score (and wins 11 in a row), you’ll need to swing back and reclaim your spot. At the end of each day, the top teams will advance to the Sunday finals…”

The developer will be unveiling new information regarding both the Master Chief Collection and Halo 2 Anniversary as a part of the Xbox team’s annual press meeting streaming live on Twitch.TV/xbox August 12 at 2 p.m. CEST (8 a.m. EST, 5 a.m. PDT).

 

 

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Ubisoft reveals their games lineup for Gamescom

Far Cry 4 to have the biggest demo-installation in Ubisoft's history during the upcoming Gamescom
Far Cry 4 to have the biggest demo-installation in Ubisoft’s history during the upcoming Gamescom

Assassin’s Creed Unity, Far Cry 4, The Crew, Tom Clancy’s The Division, The Settlers Kingdom of Anteria, and more are coming to Ubisoft’s Gamescom 2014 presentations.

Gamescom is just a week away and those who make the trip to Cologne, Germany will have much to see from Ubisoft and it’s vast lineup of games. The developer/publisher is providing a total of 154 pods for gamers who’d like to get hands-on with the likes of The Crew, Far Cry 4, and the recently announced Assassin’s Creed Rogue.

90 of the pods will be solely for Far Cry 4. This will be the largest playable-demo installation in Ubisoft’s history.

Ubisoft will be presenting Assassins Creed Unity and  Far Cry 4 gameplay in dedicated 150 person and 85 person showcase theaters.

Fans will also be treated to a first look at The Division’s Xbox One gameplay, a Meet the Developers session, game give-aways, and Cosplay competitions.