If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

This week, Electronic Arts is named the worst company in America yet again, Microsoft executive Adam Orth is no longer employed after disastrous new Xbox tweets, and a Saints Row movie might be in the works.

You’ll also find previews for Civilization V’s Brave New World expansion, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.

News

• The DeanBeat: BioShock Infinite is art trapped in a violent video game
• 21 year-old CEO aims to be the ‘next Disney,’ starting with an iPhone game
• Check out Ray Liotta, Joey Pants, and more in Black Ops II’s Mob of the Dead
• Adam Orth, Microsoft game exec who insulted fans on Twitter, has left the company (updated)
• Rayman Legends gets 30 extra levels thanks to delay
• League of Legends is crushing World of Warcraft in China’s Internet cafes (exclusive)
• Bethesda finally unleashes its Skyrim 1.9 update on consoles
• Microsoft: Sorry if Orth offended you — no comment on next Xbox

EA Troubles

• EA is Consumerist’s Worst Company in America … again
• SimCity Mac due in June; EA restores ‘Cheetah’ speed
• EA Mobile Montreal layoffs: Publisher confirms it cut jobs

Mobile

• Zynga targets core gamers with Battlestone action-RPG for mobile
• Mobile dominates new game sector investments in Q1
• Gamification startup Badgeville names new CEO
• Rightware delivers benchmark tool to identify the fastest smartphones and tablets
• Sony adds native support for DualShock 3 on Xperia Android devices
• Green Throttle taps BioWare vets to build Android game for the living room
• Zynga Mobile amps up its third-party publishing with biggest game yet
• Kabam’s new $50M fund helps Japanese mobile games head West
• Elite Beat Agents developer reveals tower-offense game for mobile
• Virgin Gaming to provide Xbox Tournaments app with cash prizes (exclusive)

Multimedia 

• Rockstar publishes every Grand Theft Auto radio station on Spotify
• Saints Row film possible under Deep Silver
• Irrational releases beautiful alternative BioShock Infinite covers for printing
• Education game invokes Civilization and others to teach math
• Street Fighter live-action series needs crowdfunding to start filming

Tech

• Nvidia’s Project Shield on schedule for Q2 release (video)
• Durango (Xbox 720) rumor roundup: Always-on, Xbox Mini, and more
• Nvidia shows off stunning graphics with Kepler Mobile chip
• Nvidia investing in ‘once in a lifetime opportunities’ in mobile
• Microsoft’s next Xbox could take over your TV just like Google TV
• Oculus Rift dev kit: Good virtual reality involves science and easy assembly
• PlayStation Vita update: Sony adds folders and more

Previews

• Civ V’s Brave New World expansion lets you conquer the world with trade or culture wars (preview)
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is ’80s stupid awesome (preview)
• Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded has innuendo without explicit sex (exclusive preview)

Interviews

• Killer is Dead creator Suda51 contemplates sequels, multiplayer, and cosplay (interview)
• Facebooker-turned-game dev Tam stays calm in the mobile storm (interview)
• Sega: Dealing with the console transition, mobile boom, and Sonic (interview)

Pieces of flair

• 35 gaming companies targeted in 4-year-long attack
• What’s going on with GamesBeat: Community update #1
• Dark Souls II screenshots leak online and first in-game trailer (gallery)
• BioShock Infinite’s extreme violence is completely valid
• From Civ and XCOM to cute monsters: How Firaxis went casual with Haunted Hollow

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

The sequel to From Software’s beloved Dark Souls is still a ways off, but publisher Namco Bandai is ready to roll out the first look at the game later today.

For the impatient, however, we have 10 leaked screenshots, which we’ve confirmed are legitimate, from Dark Souls II for the PlayStation 3. Namco Bandai plans to release the difficult role-playing game in 2014 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Check out the first images from Dark Souls II in the gallery below. We got the screens from the leak on NeoGAF:

Dark Souls II follows up 2011′s Dark Souls. It will bring along many of the mechanics and difficult gameplay that fans love about the original and its spiritual predecessor Demon’s Souls, but From Software also wants to make it more accessible.

It’s unclear what that means, but from these early screens — it just looks like more Dark Souls.

IGN has a 12 minute video of Dark Souls II in action along with commentary from the developers.

Additionally, Namco Bandai released the following in-game trailer:

Via NeoGAF

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

My mother (pictured with me above) doesn’t know much of anything about video games. However, I discovered that making her watch trailers for upcoming releases and recording her reactions can lead to comedic gold.

This time, I exposed her to a few of the trailers played during this year’s Video Game Awards, which showcased some of the most anticipated games coming out in 2013.

Below each video is the dialogue that took place between my mother and me while we watched. Her words are in red. I know some people accused me of making this all up last time. Again, I swear that this is all 100 percent real.

Dark Souls II

This one’s called Dark Souls II.

Oh, jeez. Why are they all so dark? Why aren’t some happy? No wonder the world’s going to pot.

You said that last time.

‘Cause that’s how I feel. There’s blood. There’s a sword. Oh, he looks like a mad knight. What’s this called?

Dark Souls II.

Is this in medieval times?

I think it’s more of a made-up fantasy world.

But there’s no electricity.

No, there’s no electricity.

Oh, my lord. Are they in the clouds?

I think it’s just misty.

Is he a good guy or a bad guy?

I think that’s the good guy.

What’s he searching for?

Probably things to kill.

Things to kill?!

Like, bad things. Like monsters.

Why does he want to kill them?

Because they’re monsters!

Why doesn’t he just leave them be and get the heck out of there? Oh, he looks like Freddy Krueger. Who’s the guy who wore the mask?

Oh, that’s Jason.

Jason! That’s what he looks like. Oh, there’s a dragon. Is the dragon his friend?

Probably not.

Wow, look at all the arrows in him. How was Dark Souls 1? Was it the same thing?

Yeah. It was really hard.

Well, they must have liked it because they made a Dark Souls II.

Yeah, well, Dark Souls was a sequel to a game called Demon’s Souls, so this is kind of like the third one.

God save your souls.

What did you think of that?

Nah.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

This week, the voice of GLaDOS from the Portal series shows up in the trailer for the movie Pacific Rim, Disney buys South Korean game developer Studio Ex, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II gets more zombies, now on the Nuketown map.

You’ll also find reviews for Uncharted: Fight for Fortune and Guardians of Middle-Earth.

News:

• The DeanBeat: The accelerated change of the game industry
• Black Ops II keeps players engaged with the start of League Play and more
• Endgame: Syria — a game that explores the nation’s civil war
• Journey composer is fine with winning a VGA on the red carpet
• This week in the Nintendo Download: Crimson Shroud, Batman, and Adventure Time
• How Gears of War toys are being marketed to children
• Contrary to popular belief, Call of Duty multiplayer engagement is still healthy (exclusive)
• Fight monsters, collect loot, and build a castle in Gree’s new role-playing game
• Miniclip and Univision target Spanish speakers with U.S. online game site (exclusive)
• Portal’s GLaDOS is a movie star — we’re not joking
• Funcom removes subscription requirement for The Secret World
• Everyone’s a winner: Zynga’s new Elite Slots Facebook game
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II developer Treyarch unleashes Zombies on its popular Nuketown map
• McDonald’s includes toys of Moshi Monsters’ virtual pets in Happy Meals
• Historic epic makes history: Assassin’s Creed III hits 7M sold in a month
• It’s dangerous for developers to go alone. Scopely offers help
• Angry Birds animated film to debut in 2016
• How a game design student in California brought Portal to a graphing calculator
• GameLaunched is the new gaming-only crowdfunding platform
• THQ giving away Metro 2033 to promote upcoming Metro: Last Light
• Nokia engineer hacks Windows 8 to get free games (and provides full instructions)
• Xbox 360 to get 40 new entertainment apps on Xbox Live
• The Humble THQ Bundle gets less humble with Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
• Disney pushes into Asia with purchase of South Korea’s Studio Ex
• PopRox Entertainment’s social game might let you pay off your mortgage
• Games Workshop to release video game adaptation of Space Hulk
• Backers successfully fund Sportsfriends — the bundle of JS Joust and other odd multiplayer games
• Meteor Entertainment taps Live Gamer to power virtual economy and payments for Hawken (exclusive)
• Prepare your controller-throwing hands: Dark Souls II is coming

Mobile News: 

• Apple names top free and paid apps of 2012
• Fit Brains expands its mind-training brand to mobile devices
• Corona Labs acquires cloud service provider Game Minion
• Fiksu introduces real-time bidding tracking to its user-acquisition tool
• Flurry says communication and news mobile apps hold our attention the longest
• After five No. 1 hits, Disney Mobile to launch three new holiday games and four big updates
• Test your knowledge: The first fully synchronous multiplayer trivia game for mobile devices
• OpenKit to release open-source social mobile gaming services with no lock-in for developers
• Block-builder Roblox goes mobile in time for the holidays
• Applifier raises $4M to for expansion into mobile game replays
• Jibe raises $8.3M to build rich, real-time communications for games and apps
• Nintendo releases official Pokédex for iOS — and it costs $5.99 apiece for each region
• A company other than Nintendo is launching its own ‘GamePad’ tablet

Previews:

• Dead Space 3 ain’t a walk in the park (hands-on preview)
• Insomniac’s Fuse promises some intense multiplayer co-op battles (hands-on preview)
• With Company of Heroes 2 multiplayer, ‘every battle tells a story’ (preview)
• Resident Evil 6′s new modes put an undead spin on competitive multiplayer (preview)

Interviews:

• Sony Online Entertainment chief says PlanetSide 2 online frag game is a smashing success (interview)
• Insomniac’s Ted Price says the industry’s malaise mandated drastic changes to Fuse sci-fi game (interview)
• How Journey’s composer ended up working on Leisure Suit Larry (exclusive interview)
• Why Company of Heroes 2 could warm the frozen real-time strategy market (interview)

Reviews:

• Uncharted: Fight for Fortune plays its cards right (review)
• Guardians of Middle-earth dispels the difficulty of online battle arenas (review)

Pieces of flair:

• 10 gorgeous custom game covers (gallery)
• BioShock Infinite’s generic protagonist fits into every game (gallery)
• Here are just the trailers from Spike’s Video Game Awards (you’re welcome)
• How a family of four remade the first Grand Theft Auto V trailer with Lego

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

Spike aired the 10th installment of its annual Video Game Awards last night, and if you’re like us, you were more interested in the world premiere trailers than you were in watching host Samuel L. Jackson work the word “motherfucker” into as many sentences as possible. We’re here for you, readers, so we’ve gathered all of the show’s cool new trailers without all that extra fat. You know, like the awards.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

The Phantom Pain

The Last of Us

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Dark Souls II

Gears of War: Judgment

Tomb Raider

BioShock Infinite

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

I hope you didn’t think you were done. Just because you put down Dark Souls doesn’t mean Dark Souls has put down you.

Developer From Software confirmed it is working on a sequel to its popular and insanely challenging third-person adventure game.

For the unaware, Dark Souls is the follow-up to Demon’s Souls. It pits players against fiendish enemies, all of which are difficult to dispatch and capable of killing the hero at any time.

Fans laud it for being so difficult. They claim that’s part of the very special experience. Dark Souls II will more than likely play into that. The previous titles have also featured creative asynchronous and asymmetrical multiplayer, where different users can leave messages in the game world for others to read.

---

GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---