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Gamescom 2015: Cologne, Germany – EA Press Conference

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ELECTRONIC ARTS Gamescom 2015 Media Briefing:

Wednesday, Aug 5th – 1am.

-EA’s press conference starts with a quick sizzle reel showcasing The Sims 4, Need For Speed, FIFA 16, Star Wars Battlefront, and Mirrors Edge Catalyst, along with their tag line “Live to Play”.

-ANDREW WILSON – EA CEO, takes the stage. Thanks German for hosting one of the largest game conventions, and points out that the games discussed today will feature on the game room floor. Introduced Need for Speed first.

Need For Speed

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-MARCUS NEILSSON – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, takes the stage and shows a quick trailer highlighting the 5 pivotal styles found in Need For Speed: Speed Icon, Style Icon, Build Icon, Crew Icon, Outlaw Icon.

-This years’ Need for Speed is 20 years of history to make the definitive NFS experience. 5 ways to play, and each way is based of a real world icon.

–Need For Speed this year will showcase real-time compositing into the Frostbite engine, merging real world actors with in-game footage. NEILSSON leaves the stage with the new trailer showing.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

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-SARA JANSSON – SENIOR PRODUCER, takes the stage to discuss Mirror’s Edge and her love of the character, Faith. Mirror’s Edge has the freedom to explore combined with an immersive experience. With a hero at the center of everything: Faith.

-JANSSON states that Faith doesn’t need guns. Faith is the star of the game and its an origin story. Faith is a carefree runner, but a little bit reckless. The story will see Faith grow into the person we know.

-The world of Mirror’s Edge includes free-roaming, collectibles, and the companies that spark’s Faith’s journey.

-Trailer: Pre-alpha footage shows free-running and traversal similar to the first game. Wall running, and sliding, big jumps and rolling. Levels look less linear and more open, although less colour, and colourful flares highlight the objectives. More destructive elements: glass walls, lighting fixtures. Fast melee combat.

Star Wars The Old Republic

Star_Wars-_The_Old_Republic_cover-JAMES OHLEN takes the stage, and discusses the new expansion to The Old Republic called Knights of the Fallen Empire. “Become The Outlander” is the tagline. The ability to recruit companions and change destinies is mentioned. Choose the Light Side or the Dark Side is an option. The expansion includes the first 9 chapters and then the rest of the story will be released episodical.

-Game will carry over your existing character, or you can choose to create a brand new one. Release date is Oct 27, and is free for all current subscribers. OHLEN states that this expansion is a return to Bioware’s storytelling roots. A quick trailer wraps the segment.

Sims 4

-“You Create. You Control. You Rule” Live action trailer is shown to start the Sims 4 segment.

-RACHEL FRANKLIN takes the stage to discuss the new expansion.”Everything is up to you, you rule.” Sims 4 gets bigger and better every month. New expansion this November: Get Together. New world. Quick in-game trailer is shown.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

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-JEREMY VANHOOZER – SR. CREATIVE, takes the stage and states the in Garden Warfare 2, the script has been flipped and the Zombies have taken over, and plants are now on the attack.

-Recalls the previously noted 3 Zombies introduced at E3: Captain Deadbeard, Superbrains, and the Imp. Now introducing the 3 new plants: Rose, a sorceress, Kernal Korn and his dual machine guns, and Bouncing Orange, a citrus tank.

-Game now has solo-play and couch co-op across all modes. and introducing the new Playground Battleground. An open-world in-game hub. You can introduce friends into your game and then go to a warp game to start a new game.

-Pre-order’s get a Grass Effects spoofed Z7 mech custom armour for the Imp. Game is available Spring 2016. Gameplay trailer is shown, showcasing the space map on the moon.

Unraveled

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-PATRICK SODERLUND – EA EXECUTIVE VP, comes to the stage and is thankful for video games as they allow creativity, innovation, and passion. Making the next truly awesome game also involves risk. Screenshots are shown of some of the early concepts in development that could lead to the next awesome game.

-To show an example of creativity, innovation,passion and risk, Unraveled is up next.

-MARTIN SAHLIN comes to the stage and says he is just overwhelmed and stunned by the response to his game and Yarny. Slide show of the art, drawings, and Yarny dolls is shown. He encourages people to keep sending in their submissions.

-SAHLIN discusses games and how they can do proper good, and that they’re not just escapism. He says he is glad to be a part of this trend, and he wants to show us more Unraveled footage, promising this is still very early pre-alpha gameplay.

-Level: Sea. All the levels take place in Norther Sweden. The purpose is to make it to the end of each level without running out of yarn, but you can find more yarn throughout the level, The gameplay is all physics-based.

-The game looks gorgeous so far, and is all about overcoming obstacles and is really all about the wonder of discovery and beauty. Will be available on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Star Wars Battlefront

star-wars-battlefront-offers-first-look-at-fighter-squadron-mode-488398-2-SIGURLINA INGVARSDOTTIR – DICE, takes the stage to discuss Star Wars.The weapons and vehicles, the characters. Star Wars Battlefront is all about the thrill of living out our Star Wars fantasies. The game is all about fun, and the thrill of fighting for survival.

-Introducing new game mode: Fighter Squadron.

-Fighter Squadron is a 20 player dog fight mode. Game mode includes Tie Fighters, X-Wings, A-Wings, and Millenium Falcon. The game mode also supports an additional 20 AI fighter so that the action is always intense. This game mode has the most intense dog fights in video game history.

-Promises that Dice and EA still have a lot left to show before the November release. Trailer is shown for the full game including Walker Attack and Jedi fights.

FIFA 16

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-DAVID RUTTER – EA, takes the stage to discuss FUT Draft 16, the Fantasy Ultimate Team Draft. A quick trailer is shown with two legends picking a team and arguing and then playing the game. “What is the best choice: Best Players or Best Chemistry.” And you can bring your fantasy team online.

-New introductions to the game include: Pre-season tournament in career mode, and Player Training in career mode including up to 30 drills.

-Also new to ’16 includes 12 of the National Women’s teams, and promises more innovations across the entire pitch. ’16 promises to be the most balanced and most beautiful FIFA football game.

-9 iconic stadiums, new weather conditions including rain and fog. And 900 new crowd chants. A quick trailer is shown.

And that’s all for Gamescom 2015 press conferences. I’ll be attending PAX Prime 2015 so I’ll have lots of news and insights when I return. Aug 28-31.

-iRogan

E3 2014 – Electronic Arts Press Conference

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Next up is EA’s Press Conference. Expecting a lot of sports titles here, but hopefully we’ll get an update on Star Wars Battlefront.

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So, immediately starting things off we hear the famous Star Wars music and we get a developer documentary from DICE showcasing the research that has gone into making Star Wars Battlefront, and we get some footage of the in-engine visuals, but no gameplay. So just a small glimpse of what’s to come, wetting the appetite further.

We get a bigger insight into Dragon Age Inquisition. Switching between our parties characters. The art and design looks amazing, such detail in the environments. The opening trailer bat this conference is actually presented with a live chelloist up front. A nice touch.

Next up we get a brief blurb about Mass Effect 4 stating that EA’s Montreal studio is working on it, new setting is confirmed but we get some brief glimpses of some familiar races. Original ME team is working on a new IP. Also announced is that the original ME trilogy is coming to the PS4 as a complete package.

Sims 4 is up next. Its a thing, it’s getting released to the world.

EA Canada’s UFC game is on the docket, showcasing their audacity of putting Bruce Lee in a UFC game. We get to see Bruce Lee vs. BJ Penn in the octagon. Standing, striking and some ground submissions are shown. Very different style ground gameplay than previously seen with THQ’s fighting/wrestling games. Fighters show real damage as the fight progresses through the rounds. Get some glimpse of the how the fighters can utilize the cage for leverage.

NHL 15 is the 2nd of what I’m assuming is many sports franchises to be discussed. Finally a next-gen hockey game utilizing EA’s new shared code base structure. All 12 players have their own physics, as well as the puck. Player’s uniforms have mesh physics. Cool stuff. More detailed arenas, players and game presentation. Only a quick montage video. #wantmoar!

Criterion is up next. First words out their British mouths is “we’re moving beyond cars”. WHAT! Don’t do that. Their next game focuses on more than cars: Helicopters, Boats, ATVs, Jet Skis, Parachuting. Only conceptual footage shown, inspired by Youtube’s extreme sport’s nuts. Not really a lot shown, but essentially saying “hey, we’re working on stuff”. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game got called: Redbull Presents: GoPro – The Game. GUH!

Next sports title: PGA Tour 2015. It’s utilizing the Frostbite 3 engine, their tag: Golf Without Limits. Real courses and Fantasy Courses. No loading. Sending things off with a clip of a guy golfing off a tall cliff while a huge military battleship crashes into the islands. Pretty nuts.

More Sports – Madden 15. Making football defense fun again. They focused specifically on the defense half of the game. New context tackles, new camera angles to make it more exciting. Finishes off with a quick montage trailer. Only NBA (maybe) and def FIFA for the remaining sports titles. Whats next though?

Dawngate. Another MOBA game. With the popularity of League, this makes sense, from a financial perspective. Next.

DICE studio is up next with Mirror’s Edge! Is this a reboot or a sequel though? Focuses on Faith. Focused on fluidity of movement, seamless, and stylized. They want to focus on the story of the messengers. We get to see some conceptual footage, not true gameplay, but they reiterate with a quick developer diary of how focused and stylized the game will be, and how it’ll be a little more open for navigation, for different player skill sets. Loved the first title, excited for this new model. #dont_mess_with_faith

Nearing the end here…Quick montage of FIFA 15. Highlighting agility and control of the player, new player physics, and ball physics. The stadium is more alive, the pitch takes damage from wear and tear. New push and agility mechanics for the players. Football fans rejoice!

Last but not least: Battlefield: Hardline. EA and Visceral (DeadSpace) are out to showcase Hardline multiplayer. Its Battlefield Cops and Robbers, might as well be directed by Michael Bay. Added destruction, but its scripted. Level-ution is what COD called it in Ghosts. In this showcase the robbers take out an armored van, and need to escape from the cops. Tons of collateral damage. Looks very pretty, very much Battlefield’s engine. Highlight was the end of the fight where they blow up a crane which takes out the sides of two skyscrapers and acts as a bridge between the two. Definitely seems like a large map.

Hardline small beta announced today for PC and PS4. Available to play.

EA’s conference is done. 14 games mentioned. No mention of NBA. No Battlefront Footage, but they’re working on it. Nothing from Crytek.

Ubisoft is up next.