You may remember that a couple of weeks ago we put out a call to the creatively-inclined to submit a piece of art directly influenced by video games. 10 finalists would then be selected by the members of our gamescom ‘games as art’ panel, mounted on canvas, signed and shown during our livestream of the event.

The panel – which was held immediately after our gamescom press conference – has of course now been and gone. So, for the benefit of those who didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the winning images in the background, here are the 10 victors, complete with a description by the artist.

Nills van Dammen: This piece of art is a combination from two of my favorite games: Patapon and God of War. If a (new) Patapon game came with a God of War DLC pack, this would be the result. A perfect combination of violence and cuteness. I really love the whole composition of the battle against the Basilisk.

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If nothing else, Sony’s Gamescom 2012 show will be remembered for its bias away from en vogue browns and greys towards good old-fashioned primary colours. From Tearaway and LittleBigPlanet Vita, to Diggs Nightcrawler and Ratchet & Clank: QForce, this year’s press conference was big, bright and beautiful. Heck, even Killzone: Mercenary snuck a bit of neon into its debut trailer!

But perhaps the most colourful reveal of all was larger-than-life PS3 platformer Puppeteer, currently in development at Sony’s Japan Studio. As explained in our announcement post last week, it’s an eccentric affair that sees you step into the shoes of a young chap called Kutaro who has been imprisoned in a magical puppet realm by the maleficent Moon Bear King.

The trailer – which you can remind yourself of at the bottom of this post – looks brilliantly bonkers, and we’re looking forward to bringing you more information on the game later this year as development progresses. For now though, take a look at our video interview with developer Gavin Moore for some insight into what you can expect from the title.

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I’m back. I hurt all over, I have an injury of unknown origin on my shoulder (!) and I have horrifying nightmares involving Bratwurst and Kratos (?), but I’m back. I survived gamescom again.

To celebrate, here’s 30 minutes of Access TV at gamescom 2012 infused with the blood, sweat and tears of our TV crew, myself and Access community presenter Mark Hulmes (who, I’m sure you’ll agree, was BRILLIANT!). If you’re pondering whether or not to watch, here’s a paragraph containing some of the stuff we covered in the shows:

Sony Press Conference, Christopher Walken, Battlefield 4 (?!), Tomb Raider, Crysis 3 multiplayer, Tearaway, Dishonored, David Cage, Hitman: Absolution Contracts mode, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Dead Space 3, F1 2012, Sackboy, Metal Gear Rising, the legend that is KATSUHIRA HARADA (he-who-wears-no-underwear, as he’s now known in the Access office), FIFA 13, PES 13, The Last of Us, NHL 13, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker (Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us), Epic Mickey 2, Beyond: Two Souls and much, much more.

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Here at gamescom 2012, Ubisoft finally granted hands-on access to its newest assassin, Aveline, star of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. In this video, story writer Richard Farrese walks us through some of the new features found in PS Vita‘s first entry in the series.

Liberation takes full advantage of the new Assassin’s Creed III game engine and its simplified control scheme. Gone are the days of leaning on the shoulder button and playing defense during encounters. Press Square for melee attacks, hold and release Triangle to aim and fire ranged weapons, Circle counters, X is used for block-breakers and other moves. It’s a bit of an adjustment to begin thinking offense first in an Assassin’s Creed game, but ultimately it’s likely to be seen as an improvement.

Ubisoft is taking advantage of Vita‘s touchscreen in logical ways: tapping the screen brings up a split weapon wheel where you can select melee weapons (machete, hidden blades) on the left and ranged weapons (blowgun, whip) on the right. Of note: with the whip equipped, Aveline improves her parkour abilities, latching onto structures much as Ezio used the hook blade in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. You may have seen a shot in the gamescom trailer showing Aveline paddling a canoe using the rear touch panel, though that’s entirely optional.

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The shadow war between the Templars and the Assassins spills from the gilded halls of Renaissance-era Europe to the rowdy seaports of the Thirteen Colonies this fall with Assassin’s Creed III, the highly anticipated PS3 threequel. The seismic shifts in geography and time period have introduced changes both large and small in combat, equipment, terrain traversal and more.

But the game’s most dramatic evolution lies in the form of its thrilling naval battles, first witnessed during PlayStation‘s E3 2012 press conference. But during Gamescom, I finally got a chance to control a massive warship for myself. I learned that guiding the craft was a deceptively simple affair, and largely dictated by the ship’s sail configuration. Full sail propels you along faster but limits your turning radius; a button tap drops you to half sail, reducing your speed but giving you nimbler handling and higher cannon accuracy.

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