A necessary inconvenience The world’s largest video game convention is stepping up its security measures in light of the recent terrorist attacks in Europe. At this year’s gamescom, every attendee (general public, press, and exhibitors) will be subject to safety precautions before entering the convention center. We received an email that outlines the process. Starting at 7:00am every day, safety authorities will begin conducting bag checks. The gamescom team expects long queues and asks that visitors help expedite things by leaving any unnecessary bags and rucksacks at home....

Print them yourself A friend just turned me onto these, and I know they’re a few days late, but outside ofthe creepy Miitomo hot dog person, these are damn cute. Over on the “Play Nintendo” activity site, the Big N put together a collective of New Year’s cards (you know, like the valentines you give in grade school), which run the gamut ofMario, Animal Crossing, and the aforementionedMiitomothemes. Another thing that caught my eye is thatJibanyan, a character from Level-5’sYo-Kai Watch, is the only third-party character in the “Friends” section of the site — almost like he’s first-party now....

The times, they are a-changin’ Some graph-making and data-pulling byEurotechnology Japanhas proven your worst fears true. Three relatively new, mobile-focused game makers (GREE,GungHo,DeNA) have had a higher operating income and higher net income since the last financial year than the combined, Voltron-like forces of Nintendo, Sony, Namco Bandai, Konami, Takara Tomy, Square Enix, Capcom, and Tecmo Koei. Yikes. The article points out that GREE has been struggling a bit of late, with income dipping, but also that the infographic doesn’t include GungHo data for the full year, so that little red line representing those three companies will still be going higher....

Selecting a 1-star rated school inCollege Football 25‘s Dynasty Mode can be one of the hardest challenges for any player. In sports games likeFC 24, the star rating is a simple reflection of how good the squad is. In Dynasty Mode, all schools have a certain prestige level, which is symbolized by the stars. This creates an interesting scenario: there are schools with reasonably good squads, but their programs aren’t good enough....

My childhood fantasy Creative Assembly made the right call by choosing to focus on theVampire Coastfor its nextTotal War: Warhammer IIexpansion. When a mad vampire leads a fleet of undead pirates and giant crabs, you know things are escalating. Today’s trailer forCurse of the Vampire Coastsets up the conflict. To put a stop to the recently-awoken merwyrm Amanar, you’ll need to find a special harpoon and learn three verses to an ancient shanty....

The Oni army returns! Toukiden: Kiwamiis coming to North America and Europe in 2015, Koei Tecmo confirmed today. An expanded version ofToukiden: The Age of Demons,Kiwamifeatures an extended story with new characters, fresh weapons and abilities, and twice as many demons to use them on. Toukidenwas developed byDynasty Warriorsstudio Omega Force, and released earlier this year on PlayStation Vita. The title is a grim take on Capcom’sMonster Hunterseries, wherein warriors known as Slayers defend the last vestiges of humanity from an endless tide of demons....

Maybe blow yourself up to find a warp zone this Famicom Friday Part of what draws me to Famicom games is the fact that I missed out entirely on the culture around it. Not only am I of an age that would have given the Super Famicom more significance, but — and this may shock you — I’m not Japanese. One of my biggest windows into the Famicom culture isGame Center CX, a Japanese show that involves a guy, Shinya Arino, in an office playing video games for hours at a time in an attempt to beat them....

Valve is pretty high up on the hit lists of PS3 fanboys, due in no small part to the studio’s refusal to develop PS3 games. The company has refuted the idea time and time again, but today has come a step closer to admitting that Valve may eventually bring its titles to PS3. In fact, Chet Faliszek is sure it’ll happen. “Before we do anything on the PS3 we need to be able to support it in the right way,” explains the Left 4 Dead writer....

Get amped Thomas Was Alonecreator Mike Bithell’s stealth puzzle gameVolumesneaking to PlayStation Vita on January 5, the developer announced today. And if you’re planning to pick the game up then, you might want to take advantage of this week’s PlayStation Network sale, which has the (cross-buy compatible) PlayStation 4 version discounted to $13.99, down from the original $19.99 asking price. It’s also going for$9.99 on Steamand via PlayStation Plus, if you’re looking for a better deal....

Less than two years after the release ofWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflight, theWorld of Warcraft: The War Withinexpansion is right around the corner. For the first time ever, Blizzard has opted to do somewhat of a staggered release, with Early Access being granted four days early entry into the expansion for players who get the Epic Edition. Here is when theWorld of Warcraft: The War WithinEarly Access officially begins and what you can expect from the early release....

Maybe you’ve never heard ofMagicalTimeBean, the studio behind the highly addictive tower defense/adventure titlesSoulcasterandSoulcaster II, but if that genre doesn’t appeal to you, maybeEscape Goatwill. Featuring a purple goat and his (or her?) wizard hat-wearing sidekick mouse,Escape Goatis a retro puzzle title that was recently released on the Xbox Live Indie Games market place featuring over 50 unique levels, an amazing soundtrack, and some clever game mechanics. I refer to MagicalTimeBean as a studio although all the game’s design, programming, artwork, and music were created by the studio’s single employee, Ian Stocker....

Nice of the Aliens to wait their turn Focus Entertainment has announced thatAliens: Dark Descent, a new video game adaptation of the terrifying sci-fi series, will officially launch June 20 on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms. The new game, which was first announced duringSummer Game Fest 2022, will see a squad of hardened marines taking on an infestation on the dark planet, Moon Lethe.Aliens: Dark Descentis a real-time strategy title and will task the player with efficiently equipping, maneuvering, and affording their troops with the tactical advantage over hordes of Warriors, Face Huggers, Queens, and, of course, the soul-sucking capitalism of Weyland-Yutani....

Will you kill, or merely murder? A dramatic new trailer has appeared for upcomingAssassin’s Creedtitle,Odyssey. The cinematic features protagonists Kassandra and Alexios musing over the power of choice, and the decisions that players will make on their own journey through Ancient Greece. Amusingly, it then presents an example of such choices, like “Will you let an imprisoned family be murdered or not?”, the kind of “deep” choices video games like to present to the player that basically require you to be either a saintora monster....