It seems so recently, yet so long ago that E3 ended, and with it,
the annual slow period in the world of gaming. That lull after G3 tends to last around 6 weeks, and this year, we didn’t see much released between then and now. A few sporadic titles here and there, and the odd biggie like The Last of Us: Remastered. However, August always makes gamer life interesting again. One big positive is the kickoff of sports game season, and of course, for everybody else, there’s Gamescom. Developers and publishers always save a little bit for Gamescom every year, and this year is no exception.
Over the next couple days, we’re going to check out what’s happening at Gamescom, and discuss some of the major news and even share some of the things announced that you’ll be able to pick up at Best Buy soon. We start with Microsoft.
Visit the Microsoft Xbox One Store online at BestBuy.ca
The Games
A very intricate showpiece of Quantum Break showing the time manipulation aspect of the game, including how you can affect the world when time has completely stopped, with you able to walk about the world changing things to affect the progression of certain events. It’s kind of hard to describe, so here’s a lengthy video to show you what I mean. Turn down your speakers – It’s a loud one. Enjoy that video though. It’ll be another year or so before you can play the real thing.
Emotionally stripping down a previously fearless and seemingly unflappable Lara Croft, Tomb Raider was one of the most surprising and costly gaming franchise reboots in history. It comes as a shock then (and probably not without some coercing on Microsoft’s end) that the new game Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an Xbox exclusive. The game is being developed exclusively for the Xbox One, meaning series fans will have to get their hands on the system before its release date in 2015.
Halo fans got to see some content from the Master Chief Collection, and learned that the Halo Channel will be out for Xbox One and Xbox 360 just in time for the release of the Xbox Original Series (sounds a bit odd doesn’t it?) Halo: Nightfall. Nightfall will be a huge undertaking for the consoles, and has powerful allies within, such as Ridley Scott who serves as an executive producer. Halo: Nightfall is expected to debut on November 11th, which coincidentally (not really) is the same day the Master Chief Collection releases.
During the conference Microsoft also confirmed the presence of a few transferrable data pieces. Halo 5 Beta players will be able to earn in-game items that they can carry into the final release, and GTA V Online players (for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles) will be able to carry data from their previous gen characters into the next gens. That should be a huge sigh of relief for fans that were awaiting word on whether or not this would be the case.
The consoles
Microsoft also announced a couple of new Xbox One consoles for you to get in on the fun if you haven’t yet.
The Sunset Overdrive bundle will receive the white console treatment, and will feature the game itself bundled with a 500 GB Hard Drive. No Kinect will be included in this bundle and it will be priced at $399.99, the same price as a base system. The Sunset Overdrive Xbox One will hit shelves the same day as the game itself does – October 28th.
Pre-Order the Sunset Overdrive Xbox One White Console Bundle
Then there’s the piece de resistance for both Xbox One and Call of Duty gamers. The Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Bundle features a grey and black console specially branded for the game itself. You’ll also receive a specially branded controller, and the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare game with a headset. The $499.99 console also comes with the largest hard drive yet for an Xbox One – 1 TB!
I imagine that like some of the previous Call of Duty consoles, this one will be available in limited quantities. Though the secondary market for them have calmed down a bit, Xbox collectors might recall that the Modern Warfare 3 360 bundle was selling for upwards of double its release price at one point. The Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare bundle will hit shelves a week after Sunset Overdrive and coinciding with the release of the game itself – November 4th.
Pre-Order the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare XBox One Console Bundle
Stay tuned to Plug In during these coming days for more news and exciting product offers from Gamescom
