Gamescom 2011

Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game from ArenaNet, and while most of the game will focus on player versus environment aspects like leveling and dungeon crawling, many players are seriously getting hyped up for the player vs player (PvP) aspect of the game. Both pickup and competitive PvP were huge driving factors in Guild Wars, and each featured formats with varying degrees of organization.

According to Guild Wars 2 Game Designer Jon Peters, ArenaNet's goal is to create the best MMO PvP experience. They plan to do that by organizing the PvP formats more clearly and simply than they did with the first game.

• VIDEO: X-Play's Guild Wars 2 Combat Sneak Peek

With the way Guild Wars 2 handles structured PvP, players will automatically be set to the maximum level and will get access to all of the necessary skills, items, etc., that they need in order to put everyone on an even playing field. "This makes player skill more important than time invested in a particular character," said Peters. When you leave the PvP environment, your character will go back to the skill and gear it had in the PvE area of the game, but the game will automatically save your last PvP setup so that you don't have to reconfigure everything each time you play. Guild Wars 2 will also let you store templates for builds so that you can try out new builds or return to the builds which you like the most.

Each profession will come with a starter PvP template. Players who have never stepped in to a PvP arena before won't be doomed to failure from the beginning. For the more hardcore players, detailed customization options will be available.

• DETAILS: Guild Wars 2 Hands-On Preview -- Getting to Know the Engineer

Check after the break to learn more about Guild Wars 2's Conquest game type and the MMO's two different PvP styles.

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The next great MMO is here, at least according to NCsoft. The German publisher is already boasting Guild Wars 2 on its home turf of gamescom, but now it's finally been revealed what the MMO vets at NCSoft's Californian studio Carbine have been up to for the last four years. The game in question is called WildStar, and it is a fantasy-action MMO with a focus on dynamic and layered content. I'll talk more about what that means in practical terms in my hands-on preview, but for now let's enjoy the rather less complicated trailer which features a purple haired bunny girl and The Thing's long-lost silver twin. 

The trailer might be a little silly, but Carbine's aims with WildStar are certainly quite serious: "We've learned enough to make the next great MMO," Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney told us yesterday. Have at thee, Guild Wars 2.  

• PHOTOS: WildStar Screenshot Gallery 

By Sinan Kubba

Kinect Star Wars is all about fantasy wish fulfillment, and what beastie have you always wanted to emulate from the massive Star Wars universe? Jabba the Hutt? A Tauntaun? The Sarlaac Pit? How about the fearsome Rancor monster from Return of the Jedi? If your wish was that last one, you're in luck because that particular breed of baddie will be part of the game when it launches later this year.

Not only will you be able to romp and stomp around as a Rancor, but you'll also be able to roar, jump, charge and destroy everything in sight. You'll also be able to chow down on everything from Stormtroopers to Jawas to droids, and the Rancor can also go toe to toe with AT-STs and even pull TIE Fighters down out of the sky. I know the Apprentice could yank giant Star Destroyers down out of the sky in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but he didn't look like a completely badass monster while he did it.

When the mode was unveiled here in Germany, there were adorable little kids bashing things to bits as these creatures. If that's not worth the price of admission to this game, then I'm not sure what is.

Air Guitar, Air Drums, and Air Keyboard. We've all played them. Millions of songs and trillions of notes have long been banged out on nonexistent instruments, and now someone is making a game out of it. Air Band is the lastest innovation to come to Kinect Fun Labs, and it introduces new Augmented Reality technology to Kinect and places you on stage as the star of your living room with a guitar, drums or keyboard. Air Band will be available in Kinect Fun Labs on August 22, 2011.

You know, as interesting as this looks... why couldn't it have come come out years ago? Now I have a closet full of plastic instruments, and what am I supposed to do with those? With Kinect, you're not only the controller, but you're apparently also the instrument as well. Now hand me my light drumsticks and get the hell out of the way.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's latest batch of trailers includes Marvel's Doctor Strange and Resident Evil's Nemesis. There's a video for each character after the break. First, let's watch them fight each other. My money is on Nemesis, he's huge. Then again, Doctor Strange summons moves from his book, and knowledge is power. 

The ultimate fighting battle, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, will be released this November. Keep reading for more.

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Ninja Gaiden 3 will support full PlayStation Move compatibility. Team NINJA and Tecmo Koei made the announcement today at Gamescom 2011. The PSMove will be the first motion control peripheral compatible with a Ninja Gaiden game.

I'm not a huge fan of motion controls but I am a fan of the Ninja Gaiden games. They consistently offer a challenging and creative way to chop, slash, dice and obliterate your enemies. Using my arms and my imaginary katana to kill baddies is bound to be rewarding.

Ninja Gaiden 3 will be released in early 2012 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Commander Shepard is a born leader and that becomes evident in this Mass Effect 3 trailer from Gamescom 2011 called "Squad Leader." The gang is back together, Shepard, Liara and Garrus have teamed up to take out an enemy mech. The battle is bigger than just Earth, the entire galaxy's fate is in question as the Reapers invade. You'll get a chance to defend your home on March 6, 2012.

NEWS: Mass Effect 3: Meets James Vega, Your New Companion

Mass Effect 3 will be released on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Sony announced a new value PSP model, the PSP E-1000, will be coming exclusively to Europe later this year for only €99. The device will not have Wi-Fi functionality, but will instead allow access to the full catalogue of UMD PSP games, and all of the games from the PlayStation Store via Media Go.

The design of the PSP E-1000 will be slightly different than the current PSP models. It will have a Charcoal Black finish, the same finish that you'll find on the PS3 slim model.

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To close out their GamesCom 2011 press conference, Sony has announced a price drop for the PlayStation 3 that will bring down the price to $249 globally, effective immediately. As there are numerous PS3 models, we're not sure if they will all be seeing this $50 price drop, or just the 160 GB model. As we get more details on the price drop, we'll let you know.

With this news, will you be going out and picking up a new PS3 slim for a whopping fifty bucks cheaper?

inFamous 2 Festival of Blood has been announced by Sucker Punch during Sony's GamesCom 2011 press conference. The game is a brand new PSN title coming this October for the PlayStation 3. The trailer showed off a scary New Marais which has been infested by vampires, and Cole McGrath, hero of the inFamous 2 universe, has been bitten by one and has only one night to kill off the head vampire.

The downloadable game will offer new characters, enemies, and hours of gameplay. As we get more details on inFamous 2 Festival of Blood we'll be sure to fill you in.

Sony showed off Reality Fighters, a fighting game for the PS Vita, during their Gamescom presentation today. The portable console will use its camera and touch screen to its full potential to incorporate augmented reality into a fighting game. During Sony's Gamescom press event SCE execs Andy House and Jim Ryan were the test subjects and fought to the death. Okay, they didn't fight to the death but the battle was intense. We'll have more details on Reality Fighters soon.

Does this sound like a game you'd be interested in?

Escape Plan, a new PlayStation Vita game, was announced today at the Sony PlayStation Press Conference at Gamescom 2011. A black and white puzzle platformer for the new handheld console, Escape Plan allows you to try and lead two characters through a series of obstacles with one goal: escape the rooms and don't die.

Escape Plan has a shaded noir feel, and looks sort of like a combination of Limbo and Machinarium. With a twist of humor, the two main characters resemble blobs wrapped in black rubber and can inflate and deflate in order to help them through the puzzles. The first thought that came to my mind was that they looked like they were wearing gimp suits for children, but maybe that just indicates my own personal problems.

In Escape Plan for the PS Vita, you lead Laarge and Lil' as they try and escape rooms filled with all sorts of exciting dangers like giant hammers, electrical currents, falling safes, and other things designed to squash and thwart your attempts.

Sony is definitely focusing on flushing out the offerings for its new handheld, and Escape Plan looks like it will appeal to a wide range of gamers by bringing a bit of humor and challenging puzzles to the Vita.

Sony has announced Resistance: Burning Skies for the PlayStation Vita during their GamesCom 2011 press conference. The game is a first-person shooter being developed by Nihilistic Studios.  Resistance: Burning Skies will feature Tom Riley, a fireman in a time set before Resistance 2, just as the Chimera invade the east coast of the United States.

The demo featured an axe-wielding Riley on Ellis Island, where the US government is researching Chimeran technology. You'll be able to use all sorts of weapons via a weapon wheel from the Resistance series like the Carbine, and they'll have alternate fire. You'll also be able to use the Vita's touchscreen to target enemies and fire off grenades.

The game will also features a new automated cover system. The final, most awesome thing that the demo showed off was the brand new Chimeran Chain Gun. With this crazy powerful gun, Riley was tearing up all sorts of enemies on the rooftops of New York.

No release date was announced for Resistance: Burning Skies but as we get more information on the title we'll be sure to share it with you. 

The below Battlefield 3 multiplayer video is the greatest thing I have seen all morning... maybe the greatest thing I have seen in every morning of my life.  Click on it...and when you pick your jaw up off the floor, leave a comment in our comment section.

BF3 will be released on October 25, 2011.

At its GamesCom 2011 press conference this morning, EA revealed some of the details of SSX's multiplayer functionality. The snowboarding game's online system is called RiderNet, and online play will be split into two categories: Explore mode and Global Events.

SSX will allow you to compete against other players -- your friends and strangers -- in a number of ways. You'll be able to race against other players' ghosts, even if they are not online, as well as competing in traditional leaderboard battles. The Global Events mode makes snowboarding massive, allowing up to 100,000 players to be online at once, riding in different events that you can jump into at any time, as well as allowing you to create your own events.

RiderNet will allow you to "rate" snowboarding drops, and then recomend other runs you might enjoy, based on your preferences. You'll also be able to keep track of your snowboarding pals, as well as make new friends using Ridernet.

The footage shown during the press conference was pretty "gnarly," as the snowboarders say, and we'll have it up for you on our site pretty soon, so watch out for it!

SSX is scheduled for release in January for Xbox 360 and PS3.