20th August video games round-up: PS5 gets a price hike in the US and gamescom provided Silksong hands-on
All the news and events in the world of video games today.
Update: That was the world of video games today on 20th August. A full transcript of everything that occurred today is available below if you wish to digest it all at your leisure.
It's 20th August, and we're back with another daily live report. We'll be running down all the day's news and events, checking in with what you are up to, and providing some hopefully entertaining commentary on the world of video games.
Today we've got plenty going live on the site, but we'll also discuss what everyone made of gamescom Opening Night Live, share thoughts on Kirby Air Riders now we've had some time to think on it, and talk about the games to play to get over the mid-week hump.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Morning, everyone. Welcome to another day in video game land. We've got plenty to talk about today, including your thoughts on Gamescom Opening Night Live which took place last night. Also looking for your takes on the Kirby Air Riders reveal.
We've played Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4
Dawn of War 4 was revealed at ONL yesterday evening, and our Chris has already had the chance to play it. The good news is that he feels the game is going back to its roots, and he sounds really rather excited about it - even without Relic at the helm.
Play Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds before release
A Open Network Test for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is launching next week and running over that weekend. If you're on the fence about the upcoming Sega racing game, that's your chance to check it out.
Gamescom ONL round-up
For two hours last night we saw some video games. Good, bad, soulslikes, violent, soulslikes, soulslikes, Bubsy (in the pre-show unless I imagined it), and some soulslikes. We've rounded everything up in one article for you so you can take it all in in considerably less than two hours.
Some early thoughts on Gamescom ONL coming in from you lot (my fans).
Akshay Arrison says: The Sekiro anime is definitely interesting and I dig the art style they've gone for. Not sure how long action sequences will look though
Akshay Arrison says:ONL? I really don't like the format, I don't like how samey it all looks with soulslikes and gachas. Even Capcoms games are all starting to get a certain look which I don't really care for. Lego Batman looks fun, Yotei is looking much more impressive graphically now and I do love that Playstation keep giving these free DLC for their games. I'm intrigued to see how Indiana scales on the Switch 2, may actually be a good look at the actual capabilities of the Switch 2. The Outerworlds 2 and NG 4 are also looking good.
mcmahonman says: Morning Tom. Can't believe they are still making Bubsy games. Who is asking for this? As for ONL, I thought the Sekiro anime looked cool and I'm sure Ghosts of Yotei will be solid but not much else grabbed me. Horror shooters aren't my thing but that Project something or other looked interesting.
Morning mcmahonman!
Rogueywon says: If Bubsy is back, can Cool Spot be far behind?
Now we're talking! Where is the campaign to bring back Cool Spot?
Get high on life again in February
Onimusha: Way of the Sword hands-on
Dom has played Onimusha: Way of the Sword and loves it.
Anyone looking forward to this from Capcom?
Resident Evil Requiem will make your heart pound
Resident Evil Requiem is far from the first game to adopt the "thing follows you around" gameplay system, and it won't be the last, and yet somehow it still manages to get your heart pounding.
Huge queues for Silksong at gamescom
We're only on day one of gamescom, with the show itself not even open to the public yet, and we're already seeing huge queues to get some time playing Hollow Knight: Silksong. Ed has looked into the reaction from fans since the game came out of hiding at ONL last night, plus what else is coming this week for the game.
Kirby Air Riders was only revealed properly yesterday, but it already feels like it was an age ago. I'm with Fallout2 (presumably not a sentient version of the game, but an actual human) - I watched some of the Direct again this morning and it looks good.
Fallout2 says: Uh, so that Kirby racer looks... rather good? I'm not the biggest fan of racers, but it looks like it's been lovingly made. Great tunes.
Picking the quirkier, more interesting games out of the Opening Night Live noise
Matt Wales has ventured into the ONL showcase again to pick out a bunch of the more under-the-radar games that you might have missed because of all the noise of the show.
At this point, it's almost tradition that Gamescom Opening Night Live draws to a close with a collective sigh. Again I send my prayers to the stars that the OmniGeoff may one day concede - and this goes for the equally interminable likes of Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards - that shorter, more focused is always better. Imagine the sustained enthusiasm you could generate without all that flaccid, glassy eyed filler! And so in that spirit of relative brevity, here's a quick list of some of the slighty under-the-radar announcements from this year's show (and pre-show) that managed to get us quite excited.
ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X will launch on 16th October
Will Judd went hands-on with the new Xbox ROG handhelds at gamescom, which now have a release date of 16th October.
To be clear, these aren't proper handheld Xboxes that will play any Xbox title, despite the "this is an Xbox" branding, but they're still capable handheld gaming machines that can play PC games natively, or stream Xbox titles from an Xbox console or Microsoft's cloud streaming service. Compared to the old Ally devices, the new Xbox models have been spruced up with new AMD processors and a streamlined Windows operating system. That should translate into better performance and a huge step forward in usability, and could make these the best Steam Deck competitors so far.
Alex Donaldson drove all the way to gamescom in this (he wishes!). I expect if it'd been offered he'd have jumped at the chance to drive a Bond car.
Go behind the scenes here, with an exclusive look at what it's like being a writer at gamescom. Dom here, using what in the industry we refer to as a 'laptop' or 'Macbook' to write words into a document. Amazing stuff. This is what the site's Silksong preview looked like before it was on the site.
PS5 gets more expensive in the US
If you are in the US and want to buy a PS5, maybe do it today. The console, in all its versions, is increasing in price by $50 from tomorrow.
Tropico 7 is coming in 2026
Thanks for joining us today. We hope to see you tomorrow for more news and events in the world of video games.