Of the many gaming conference in the world, E3 is known to
launch the craziest game reveal and consoles, ComicCon is all about the comic
book nerds, GDC is for the gaming industry and developers. But what about
Gamescom? It’s the biggest celebration of gaming in the world.
Last year, Gamescom ended with over 85’000 attendees,
between the public, developers, investors and of course, members of the press.
So when you have the chance to go try out brand new unreleased games, hear
about new reveals, and have one on one interview with the biggest names in the
gaming industry, would you miss it? Of course not! So the At7addak team is
packing up their bags, grabbing their controllers, setting up their cameras,
and off to the lovely city of Cologne Germany next week.
As with the E3 Expo 2012, myself and my team will cover the
event as if you were there with us, bringing you in-depth look at some of the
most exciting line-up of the year, between EA’s title and press conference,
Sony, Capcom, Ubisoft, Activision and much more.
With Electronic Arts bringing its full catalogue of upcoming
games, we are going to give another fresh look of their upcoming shooter: Medal
of Honor: Warfighter. After checking it out for the first time at this year’s
E3 Expo, I was blown away by Medal of Honor for two reasons: it’s a feast to
the eye, and it fixed so much of the original game.
Next stop will be of course to check the iconic FIFA 12, and
how they are aiming at revolutionizing once again the football simulation
world. With Messi on the cover, they might have won a lot of fans already, but
what about the rest of football fans?
Also we’ll have a look at the coalition of threes with
Crysis 3, Dead Space 3 and the recently announced Army of Two: The Devil’s
Cartel, hopefully bringing you gameplay videos and developer interviews.
Ubisoft is also attending Gamescom by revealing the list of
their games that will be playable from August 16 to 19 at the show. Assassin's
Creed III will of course be part of the most looking forward games at Gamescom,
bringing both the console and Vita version. Far Cry 3, Ghost Recon Online,
Splinter Cell and the epic arena game ShootMania Storm.
Demonstrations of Splinter Cell: Blacklist and hopefully
more information about Watch Dogs will be also scheduled throughout the event.
And during the fair, Ubisoft will show their power, and their e-sports strategy
expansion through the European Shootmania Storm Tournament.
If Microsoft and Nintendo are not going to be attending
Gamescom this year, Sony is well indeed the only publisher and console
manufacturer to be present in Cologne. The Japanese company is going to
showcase most of its E3 2012 line-up including the gorgeous Beyond: Two Souls,
The Last of Us, the epic brawl game Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, God of
War Ascension and presumably the rumored two new IP called Rain and Until Dawn.
Capcom are also heading to Germany, going big with a pre-Gamescom
conference, on August 14th, where they will be talking about their future
plans, and hopefully give us some details about their rumored new IP, Remember
Me, that was trademark a week ago by the publishers.
Already planned for a long time, Resident Evil 6, Lost Planet 3, Devil May Cry DMC are logically
scheduled to be showcased, with new demoes and ways to show you more action.
Konami on the other hand are planning big, and took
advantage of the calm, to unveil its program this week. The most important
European exhibition of video games can count on the support of the Japanese
firm who will presents their FIFA 13 rival, Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, Metal
Gear Rising: Revengeance, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Castlevania: Lords
of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.
Of course, Activision not ready to miss an opportunity to
showcase their multi-million sold Call of Duty series will be having their own
event at Gamescom. Sorry to rub in your face fellow Call of Duty fans, but Call
of Duty: Black Ops II will be playable and accessible to everyone at Gamescom
this year, so we will be bringing new footage and information about the game,
as well as hopefully some Zombie mode Intel.
In addition, a mini-tournament, in partnership with Turtle
Beach, will be organized, with a lot of prize to be won. If you watch our Call
of Duty Black Ops II trailer analysis, you should know by now that Activision
is betting a lot on e-Sports.
On the other end, Blizzard have also great announcements,
including the launch of the world premiere trailer for World of Warcraft: Mists
of Pandaria. Things are going to be pretty wild in the world of MMORPG.
Finally, leave some room for a lot more of features about
Square Enix’s Tomb Raider reboot, Hitman Absolution and the upcoming fighting
game sensations including Tecmo Koei’s Dead or Alive 5 and Namco Bandai’s
Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Also make sure to watch out for Bethesda’s Dishonored,
Doom’s collection and news about the Elder Scrolls Online.
For those looking for more peripheral and accessories news,
we will be also passing by the stands of Razer, Turtle Beach, Steelseries and
MadCatz to see all those new shiny toys.
Finally throughout the week, the ESL Intel Extreme Masters
Series will be happening in the same time as Gamescom, with the seventh season honoring
tradition and the kickoff will be given again on the 15th and running until the
19th of August in Cologne, as the e-Sports circuit will pit some of the world's
best players to compete for the crown.
The Intel Extreme Masters Season 7 will feature two new
official tournament games, the rising stars of the e-Sports scenes: Starcraft
II and League of Legends. The selection for the Gamescom even is already
ongoing, and some of the biggest teams in the world are fighting as we speak,
with names such as SK Gaming, Team Fnatic, and more from all three major
continent.
So to all of you fellow readers, tune in next week starting
August 14th until 19th as we bring you the best and most expansive coverage of
Europe’s best and biggest gaming conference, live from the city of Cologne,
Germany, with your very own Rabii “Rabitocom” Ghaith, Jalal “Ascalon” Adra and
of course myself, Nazih “King Ozimandus” Fares. Until next time, Guten Tag!
Ozimandus has been reviewing games and gadgets since 2003. He's not afraid of speaking his mind, and loves to share his love of everything geeky.