Gamescom 2013: Day 1 Review

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Xbox One console, Kinect 2 and controller

Ladies and Gentlemen Gamescom is upon us once again, coming out of Cologne, Germany. The first day is done and in the books and the three big conferences dropped some great information on us. EA, PS4 and Xbox One all had conferences today and release dates, free games and long awaited sequels were announced for all to enjoy and SpawnFirst is here to make sure you’re caught up on all the important reveals.

Xbox One

Exclusive content for the multiplatform title The Division.

Fable: Legend was announced with an unspecified release date

Fifa 14 has a new mode – Ultimate Team, exclusive to Xbox, and the game itself will be free to those who pre-order the Xbox One

There’s also a new Ubisoft Kinect game, Fighter Within.

The Xbox One is following in Sony’s tracks with a  focus on sharing content and connecting your overall experience to friends. You’ll be able to see recommendations and trending content and other social content.

Microsoft also announced new efforts to reach out to smaller and independent developers with a new publishing service called ID@Xbox.

 

PlayStation 4

Sony slapped the Vita with a price reduction, bringing it down to about $199 along with an unspecified reduction in memory card prices.

Son’y PlayStation Vita

Sony also announced a PS3 bundled with Grand Theft Auto 5 for pre-orders, a 500GB PS3 Super slim and 75% off a Rockstar game.

A new feature called The Playroom has been announced that will come pre-installed on all PS4s

90 days of free PS plus will be coming with any sign-ups for PS plus starting tomorrow, mirroring Microsoft’s initiative to bolster subscriptions. Assassin’s Creed 3 will also be free with a PS plus subscription soon, at an unspecified date.

Gran Turismo 6 will coming to you on December 6.

And the biggest news of all: the release date for the PS4 is here! North America is November 15 and Europe, November 29

Sony will also be providing specified gaming bandwith hopefully to make online matches smoother all around.

There is also a new LittleBigPlanet Hub that’ll give you all the tools you see in LittleBigPlanet.

EA

A few game announcements including Peggle 2, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Need for Speed, UFC, TitanFall, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Sims 4 and the biggest one of all: Battlefield 4.

Also, FIFA on mobile will be free to play next year.

It was a good day for video gaming with a lot of big announcements and it’s hard to pick a clear winner. Except of course, for us: the gamers.

Stay tuned, Spawners.