Gamers spent $992.5 million dollars on consoles, peripherals, and new physical video games in March — a number that’s 10 percent less than a year ago mostly due to slowing console sales.

Financial tracking firm The NPD Group just released its report for the video game industry for March 2013. That $992.5 million is down 10 percent from $1.1 billion last year. As always, it’s important to note that these figures don’t include digital sales on Steam, Xbox Live Marketplace, or any other digital-distribution platform.

Hardware sales took the biggest hit. Gamers only spent $221.6 million on new consoles. That’s down 32 percent from $324.7 million in 2012. A saturated market and news about next-gen systems from Microsoft and Sony are both impacting sales.

We’ll take a look closer look at hardware in a second, but first, let’s look at the software chart:

Software

Here is a list of the best-selling games in March 2013:

1. BioShock Infinite (360, PS3, PC)
2. Tomb Raider (2013) (360, PS3)
3. Gears of War: Judgment (360)
4. God of War: Ascension (PS3)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
6. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS): 365,000 units (415,000 with eShop)
7. MLB 13: The Show (PS3, Vita)
8. NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
9. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (360, PS3, Wii U)
10. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (360, PS3)

xx. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity (3DS) – (145,000 retail + eShop)
xx. Fire Emblem (3DS) – (64,000 retail + eShop)

If you include home consoles, portable consoles, and PC, physical-game sales were actually up 2 percent from $592.2 million in 2012 to $602.4 million.

Those numbers were up despite approximately 20 percent fewer new games compared to March 2012.

“March 2013 launches generated close to 70 percent more dollar sales per SKU than last year,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “The performance of new launches was a major driver of the overall software growth for this month, with games launching in March 2013 selling over 40 percent more units than new launches in March 2012. There were positive trends for new launches that were seen across consoles, portables, and PC.”

In February, Sega’s big stinker, Aliens: Colonial Marines, cracked the top 10 list. In March, it’s Activision’s awful The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct making it all the way to No. 9. That’s not bad for a title that only scored a 55 out of 100 in its GamesBeat review.

As usual, this is an Xbox 360-dominated chart, with a few PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS games sprinkled in here and there. No Wii U or Vita exclusive made the top 10, as once again those systems didn’t really have any significant releases throughout the month.

The 3DS did have a very strong month, though.

“With solid performances of new games like Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, 3DS software sales increased over 50 percent from last March,” said Callahan.

Finally, both BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider set new opening-month records for their respective franchises. Clearly, the positive reviews, marketing push, and anticipation was enough to pushy BioShock Infinite over the top. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider has competely a successful comeback. Now it’s up to publisher Square Enix to capitalize on that.

Hardware

The Xbox 360 sold 261,000 units last month. That’s down 29 percent from 371,000 in March 2012. This makes the Xbox 360 the best-selling home console for the 27th consecutive month.

As usual, Nintendo and Sony didn’t share any numbers telling us how their hardware performed. But estimates have put Nintendo’s new console, the Wii U, at sub-100,000 sales for the last two months. The release of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate could help improve those numbers slightly, but that franchise isn’t a system seller like it is in Japan.

In total, gamers spent $402 million on Microsoft hardware, software, and accessories. That’s more than 40 percent of the total consumer spend in March. That’s going to leave Sony and Nintendo in a race for a distant second place.

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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!

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It turns out that four is not a magic number as both Gears of War: Judgment and God of War: Ascension struggle to perform in March.

Microsoft and Sony both had major exclusives for their home consoles last month in Gears of War: Judgment and God of War: Ascension, but both underperformed compared to their predecessors, according to analysis from investment firm Cowen & Company. BioShock Infinite, meanwhile, sold an estimated 665,000 copies on consoles in the 10 days following its release in March, and Tomb Raider sold approximately 696,000 units on consoles in its 33 days on the market. Both of these games, though, are multiplatform titles.

“We had expected sales trends to improve in March due to a strong core lineup,” reads Cowen’s note to investors. “However, while some titles appear to have done well, including Square Enix’s Tomb Raider and Take-Two’s BioShock Infinite, two historically strong franchises appear to have significantly underperformed.”

Cowen estimates that Gears of War: Judgment, the fourth release in the franchise, sold 425,000 units on consoles. That’s down from over 2 million in the first month for Gears of War 3 in September 2011. God of War: Ascension, the fourth major release for a Sony home console, only moved 360,000 units on consoles, Cowen predicts. That’s also down from around 1.1 million for God of War 3 in March 2010.

All of these numbers only include console sales. It does not represent any revenues through the popular PC sales service Steam.

Despite the success of Tomb Raider and BioShock Infinite, Cowen expects total game-industry revenue to drop double digits compared to March 2012. The firm doesn’t expect to see growth until August with the early release of Madden and later with Battlefield 4 and Grand Theft Auto V.

Industry sales tracking firm The NPD Group will release its report for the month of March this Thursday after the markets close. We will have full coverage on that with analysis at that time.

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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!

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This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

It’s official. You really shouldn’t bother buying a Triple-A game on release date because the publisher is just going to slash prices by 50% the following month. Amidst all the SimCity drama and CEO resignation, EA launched a new deal this week, funnily enough calling it a “Player Appreciation Sale.” There are some decent titles in the mix for EA’s sale, but two titles that immediately stand out are Crysis 3 and Dead Space 3, both now at $30 with free shipping across all platforms.

Fans of action RPGs should really check out this week’s just-introduced “Humble Bundle Weekly Sale,” where individual titles are up for grabs at the $1 minimum price. For this week, the popular indie game Bastion is on sale. Pay more than the current average and you’ll receive additional goodies such as the soundtrack, art pack, sheet music, and cell phone ringtones.

Since last Thursday, Gamefly rolled out a “Spring Break PC Sale,” which will have new titles on sale each day until Friday. Titles of choice for the day are Deus Ex Human Revolution for $5 and Hitman Absolution at $12.50.

Note: We update our GamesBeat weekly deal post every Tuesday with the latest deals. For last week’s deals, check below the “Last Thursday” headline.

Tuesday New Deals

Crysis 3 (PC, 360, PS3) — $29.99 at Origin. For the price, the console versions are decidedly good deals, considering physical copies of the game are rarely on sale.
 

Dead Space 3 (PC, 360, PS3) — $29.99 at Origin. While we prefer the first and second Dead Space installments over the latest, this is a solid price for a recent release.
 

Bastion: Humble Bundle Weekly Sale — Pay What You Want. Pay more than the current average of $2.65 to receive additional digital goodies such as the soundtrack, or pay the $25 flat rate to get the game along with physical merchandise.
 

GameFly Spring Break PC Sale. Titles of choice: Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $5 and Hitman: Absolution for $12.50.
 

Last Thursday

If you think you’re done playing Assassin’s Creed 3, you’re not thinking like a game publishing executive. (Fact: DLCs will never end.) Happily for those looking for more content on AC3, the Season Pass is on sale this week at Gamefly for $24 after coupon. Five DLCs are planned with two released thus far: “The Hidden Secrets Pack” and “The Battle Hardened Pack.” Next week we’ll see the release of some actual gaming add-ons (in our opinion) with the first installment of the episodic The Tyranny of King Washington. If you plan to play through the entire 3 episodes and didn’t pre-order AC3, the Season Pass is worth considering.

On the console front, PS3 exclusive God of War: Ascension was released earlier this week. The only “deal” we’ve seen thus far is strangely at Gamestop for $5 off. While the $5 discount isn’t much to write home about, you’ll find that PS3 exclusives are rarely on sale so soon after release, with Newegg previous-year pre-orders being the only real savings we’ve seen. So if you didn’t pre-order 6 months ago at Newegg and you’re thinking about getting Ascension, Gamestop is the place to go (did we seriously just recommended buying something at Gamestop?!).

Recent Releases

This Tuesday’s release: God of War: Ascension (PS3) — $54.99 at GameStop after coupon. Yes we know $55 is just $5 off MSRP but everywhere else legitimate is selling this PS3 exclusive at full price. So it goes for console gaming deals.
 

This Tuesday’s release: Dead Space 3: Awakened (PC DLC) — $8 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Reviews so far are a mixed bag. List is $10 so at least you’re not paying full price here.
 

Upcoming Releases

Assassin’s Creed 3 Season Pass (PC Download) — $23.99 at GameFly after coupon. The season pass will give you access to all 5 DLCs (3 already released), the latest being the upcoming Tyranny of King Washington.
 

March 19th: Gears of War: Judgment (Xbox 360) — $59.99 at Microsoft. Yes that’s full price but it comes with pre-order bonuses: free Xbox LIVE 1600 points ($20 value), the Alex Brand playable character, and the Hammerburst weapon.
 

March 19th: The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (Xbox 360, PS3) — $37.49 at Amazon. The comic-based game is excellent. We’re slightly iffy about this TV-based one. Everyone loves Daryl, but Merle? Meh.
 

PC Download Deals

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (PC Download) — $24 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Activates on Origin. Usually around $40 to $50 at most places. Comes with base game, Premium Service, and Head Start Kit.
 

Crusader Kings 2 (PC Download) — $7.99 at GameFly after coupon. Steam activated. Fans of grand strategy titles will want to check this one out.
 

Saints Row The Third (PC Download) — $7.49 at GamersGate. Next best is $32 at Green Man Gaming. Steam activated. The industry is wack when you have studios that can produce solid titles like these and still have the publisher go kaput.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC Download) — $6 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Activates on Origin. Usually around $20. Another decent title from a now defunct studio. Sorry for your loss, Rhode Island.
 

Combo Buying Deals

Best Buy:Buy 2 Pre-Owned Video Games, Get a 3rd FREE. Your average buy two get 1 free. All those pre-owned titles people trade in to Best Buy? They gotta offload them somehow.
 

GOG.com: Pick 5 Games, Save 80%. 20 games to choose from for this Good Old Game deals. Some decent titles including Alan Wake and King’s Bounty: Crossworlds.
 

If you enjoyed this week’s GamesBeat gaming deals, check back next Thursday, same bat-time, same bat-channel for more gaming deals.

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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!

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All it takes is one rat to ruin a restaurant’s reputation. A lot of critics felt they spotted a vermin running around God of War: Ascension’s kitchen when they went to review it prior to its release.

The latest entry in the action beat-em-up series is due out today for PlayStation 3. A day-one patch will accompany the title that directly address a small but significant issue that a few reviewers had with the game: It rewards players for killing a female character with a trophy titled ‘Bros Before Hos.’

In the patch, developer Sony Santa Monica renamed the trophy to a gender-neutral “Bros Before Foes.”

Sony Santa Monica sent the following statement to Joystiq:

We have created and will soon push out a patch for God of War: Ascension that alters the title of one of the game Trophies. The text was offensive to some members of our community and impacted their enjoyment of the game. We are endlessly committed to ensuring that our community can fully enjoy the experiences the team has created. As such, we’ve addressed the feedback and amended the Trophy in question.

Sony Santa Monica’s critics called the trophy misogynistic. Elevating the female enemy from “ho” to “foe” should alleviate many of those concerns.

God of War: Ascension takes place 10 years before the events of the first game. It follows Kratos as he deals with gods, monsters, and anger issues.

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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!

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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, SimCity launches but suffers catastrophic sever issues, PETA claims Ubisoft is glorifying whaling in Assassin’s Creed IV, and Boy Scouts can now earn badges for game design.

You’ll also find reviews for SimCity, God of War: Ascension, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow — Mirror of Fate, and Dollar Dash, as well as previews for Dead Space 3 Awakened and Gears of War: Judgment.

News

• The DeanBeat: The revenge of the old farts who outlast evil and survive in the games business
• Maxis: It’s ‘fair’ that reviewers ‘punished’ SimCity for server issues
• Lord British returns with his first new role-playing game in 15 years
• SyFy’s Defiance television show and Trion World’s online game are in the home stretch after five years
• Free-to-play online gaming company Bigpoint gets a new CEO
• SimCity producer addresses fan outrage over server issues
• Videogamer: The Film explores gaming innovation from all perspectives
• Researcher uses Xbox 360′s Kinect game sensor to measure your breathing
• Amazon stops selling digital copies of SimCity as EA shuts off in-game features (update)
• SimCity not working for you? 5 alternative city-building games
• Boy Scouts can now earn a badge for game design
• You’ll either love or hate this new Deadpool trailer — first good look at gameplay
• Bunchball launches Nitro 5.0 with focus on enterprise gamification
• Core-gamer spending slows as industry prepares to transition to the next generation
• EA closes SimCity servers for maintenance, and even the alert message is broken
• Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter blazes to $900k goal in six hours
• Xbox Kinect’s upcoming midair multitouch is gunning for you, Leap Motion
• Ubisoft to PETA: ‘We do not condone whaling, just as we don’t condone a pirate lifestyle’
• From Flash to Steam — how Adult Swim is building a publishing empire
• EA: Rumor that we’re killing Dead Space is ‘patently false’
• With a magic puff of smoke: Snoop is back in Way of the Dogg rhythm game
• Wizard of Oz social game hits a million players on Facebook (exclusive)
• Journey’s art director starts his own studio
• EA shuts down BioWare San Francisco
• Can’t download SimCity? You’re not alone (update)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines co-developer TimeGate Studios lays off some staff
• SimCity’s always-online functionality trips up the review process
• PETA: It’s ‘disgraceful’ for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to ‘glorify’ whaling
• Dota 2 surpasses Skyrim’s record for most concurrent players on Steam
• Skyrim 1.9 update: New difficulty setting and ‘Legendary Skills’
• You are the new Desmond in Assassin’s Creed IV
• Ubisoft: 40 percent of Assassin’s Creed IV is naval missions
• Assassins’ Creed IV: Black Flag is pirates vs. ninja
• Call of Duty co-creator Jason West leaves startup Respawn Entertainment

Mobile News

• AdColony sees huge growth for video ads in mobile apps, with 1 billion views to date
• Happy birthday to you: Free stuff from Google for your Android phone
• Subway Surfers creator explains why co-development is key in mobile games
• Chasing Temple Run, Zynga launches Running With Friends mobile game
• Humble Android Bundle 5 live: Super Hexagon and more
• Proletariat releases iPhone game LetterRush from the ashes of Zynga Boston
• How Green Throttle’s Arena will surpass Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo
• iPadocalypse: ‘iPad shipments collapse’ 50% in January (but there may be a very good reason)
• With Temple Run: Oz, Disney will test how far a hit franchise can run
• Guitar Hero creator’s Green Throttle Arena turns Android gaming into a hardcore experience (exclusive video)

Reviews

• Kratos’s softer side still kicks plenty of ass in God of War: Ascension (review)
• Dollar Dash is not worth your dimes (review)
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow — Mirror of Fate can’t quite translate 3D gameplay into 2D (review)
• A ‘big data’ experience revives the glory of SimCity (review)

Previews

• Psychological horror returns to Dead Space with Dead Space 3 Awakened (preview)
• Gears of War: Judgment makes some refreshing tweaks to an old formula (preview)
• Underneath Fuse’s brilliant combat system is a steep learning curve (preview)

Interviews

• Gears of War: Judgment writers debunk the series’ dude-bro reputation (interview)
• Crytek chief puts on his Warface and says why Crysis 3 for Wii U ‘had to die’ (interview)

Pieces of Flair

• SimCity server errors inspire a wave of memes (gallery)
• Electronic Arts’ digital revenue will surpass physical game sales this year (infographic)
• New Thief in the works at Eidos Montréal — here’s a bunch of confirmed screenshots

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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!

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Games critic Adam Sessler’s video review of God of War: Ascension floored me. He has demonstrated a level of critique that we rarely bestow upon video games.

The majority of the review details Ascension’s visceral combat, stunning visuals, and shortcomings in level design, set moments, and pacing. But the last two minutes focus on a what he calls “a depressingly unfortunate aspect” of the game:

After the very best boss battle in the game, there’s a cutscene which displays one of the most violent things I have ever seen in a video game. It’s Kratos boot-stomping a Fury’s [editor's note: pictured above] face in. While the image of a woman’s face being kicked in is borderline, the overall dark, nastiness of the franchise and its lack of gender roles — outside of the famous sex scenes — kept it just inside a tonal context. But following the conclusion of the cutscene, you get a trophy. This one: “Bros before Hos.”

This gut punch of misogyny irredeemably sours this game and is shocking that such a talented developer would traffic in such a contemptible attitude. I have always liked the adult fantasy of the God of War games — that Grand Guignol silliness — and in this moment, it’s all reduced to some frat house joke, making me ashamed that I ever thought it was more than that in the first place. God of War: Ascension doesn’t rise to the standards of the previous three console titles, but its technical accomplishments and several moments show real creativity and experimentation. It just doesn’t always do it in the service of a good time.

Maybe, it’s just for the bros. And they can have ‘em.

The amount of hate in the comments section of the YouTube video over a legitimate critique of the game is shocking. People have been writing things like “it’s just a game,” “feminazi,” and “you wouldn’t be saying this if Kratos was stomping a man’s face in.”

Sessler did recognize that the act of kicking in a woman’s face is acceptable in the game because that fits in with Ascension’s tone. The issue would be, or should be, treated the same if the achievement was labeled “chicks before dicks” or “castration nation.” So it would not have mattered if it were a man in her place. Hate-based violence toward any gender is unacceptable.

Source: Santa Monica Studios

Yes, this sort of violence is acceptable because it fits the tone and context of the game, whether man or woman.

The critique over the Trophy is not for the game but rather at developer Santa Monica Studios. Within God of War, face-stomping is OK, but when Santa Monica has an Achievement that is hateful, it is putting the act in a misogynistic light and telling players to look at the act in that way.

Achievements break the fourth wall and reward players. When that reward congratulates you and promotes hate and violence toward women, it crosses the line. Santa Monica is the one telling players that they should see this act of violence in a hateful context and glorifying that point of view.

It’s also disheartening because the Achievement does not fit the God of War series in any context. The games are dark, adult fantasies about revenge, rebelling against power, dealing with the ghosts of the past, and Greek mythology. That is all wrapped up in a blanket of gratuitous violence, but that violence worked within the context and tone of the series. Kratos is not hateful toward women nor influenced by a hatred for either gender. This achievement is a display of immaturity on the developer’s part that tragically makes Kratos out to be a hateful character and undermines the seriousness of Ascension’s story and the series’ lore.

From the wave of comments that are flooding the video’s YouTube page, this situation also highlights that this juvenile mentality is also a problem within the gaming community. With regard to people who commented things akin to “it’s just a game” or “it’s fiction, get over it,” I can assure them that no one would be saying that if it was a film or novel that made this same kind of poor joke. People on television, newspapers, websites, social media, and blogs would be just blowing up about something like this and how wrong it is. So why is it considered acceptable to encourage — or worse, ignore — these sorts of issues in games?

Mature gamers, however, have been supportive of Sessler’s comments, which is what we should all be doing as a community. Sessler has proven to us today, against a tremendous backlash, that this sort of sexist attitude in the game industry should not be tolerated. With this review, he is holding games up to the same level of critique that are common of film, literature, and music and is demonstrating that this sort of attitude will no longer be encouraged or ignored. I sincerely hope that other critics take notice and rise up with him and other intelligent gamers to push and demand for a patch removing the offensive Trophy. Let’s show the industry that we have matured and will not accept hatred toward any gender.

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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!

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[Apologies for the review being a little late. Due to some technical problems, Giancarlo had trouble connecting to Sony's prerelease online sessions for God of War: Ascension's multiplayer modes. We didn't want to publish the review until Giancarlo was able to spend more time with multiplayer, which he did earlier today. Of course, keep in mind that the issues he experienced is in no way indicative of what the servers will be like when the games comes out. We also know that other reviewers fared better than Giancarlo did. So your experience may vary. -- Ed.]

Every inch of Kratos pulsates with power. He can cut down his foes effortlessly with his twin Blades of Chaos. He can tear off the wings of a harpy using just his bare hands. But when Ascension begins, you won’t find the former Spartan general celebrating a moment of victory — you’ll see him chained up like an animal, tortured by his captors. He looks defeated. His body is weak.

Sony Santa Monica has emphasized the humanization of Kratos in God of War: Ascension (out Tuesday exclusively for the PlayStation 3). In previous God of War games, Kratos was a revenge-spewing machine, racing across the ancient Greek world at 1,000 miles per hour until he satiated his blood lust. And he’s not all that different in this prequel — chronologically the first game in the series — as he still obliterates an army of mythological creatures in brutal and violent ways.

But to the developers’ credit, we do see a side of Kratos that’s never been shown before. He’s self-reflective, haunted by visions of a past he doesn’t understand, and he’s also (dare I say it) vulnerable. So vulnerable, in fact, that he doesn’t even engage in any tongue-in-cheek sex minigames, which has been in every other God of War so far.

That alone should tell you that Ascension is a slightly different beast from the rest of its ilk. It preserves the hack-n-slash spectacle from the games before it, but it also adds cinematic tweaks that make you forget that what you’re seeing is running on a nearly 7-year-old console.

What you’ll like

Awe-inspiring levels and boss fights

God of War’s most distinguishing characteristic has always been its sense of scale, with Kratos fighting legendary monsters who can seem as large as entire cities. Ascension wastes no time in getting to the good stuff: Within the first hour, I was fighting the hundred-arm Hecatonchires, a menacing giant whose body served as the foundation for a prison. This is the domain of Ascension’s three main villains, the Furies (sisters who act as judge, jury, and executioner for anyone who betrays a blood-oath to the gods).

While I fought a bunch of smaller enemies on a constantly moving platform, the Hecatonchires kept trying to swallow us with his disgusting maw filled with sharp fangs and spider-like legs — Kratos and company looked like mere ants in comparison. Despite the word’s overuse, “awesome” is the only description I can think of that aptly fits the sensation of seeing these set pieces in motion.

It doesn’t hurt that Ascension has a near-flawless visual presentation. Aside from odd quirks (like pixelated birds flying next to an otherwise beautiful backdrop of the ocean), God of War: Ascension is one of the best looking PS3 games I’ve ever seen. It particularly works well with the over-the-top violence. I almost had to turn away from the TV after seeing the gruesome animations play out many times: brains popping out of elephant men’s skulls after Kratos cuts them wide open, the way that two bloody halves of what was once a gorgon just hang in the air after he executes it, and how the cyclops desperately clings to life even as its entrails spill out of its stomach.

With the PS3 nearing the end of its console cycle, my mind kept wandering back to the PlayStation 2 release of God of War 2, which came out in 2007 (only a few months after the PS3 launch). It was the last major triple-A release for the then-6-year-old hardware, and in terms of visual fidelity, it was the best the PS2 would ever get. I believe the same could be said for God of War: Ascension.

Even if you don’t have any interest in playing it, I highly recommend hunting down someone who does and watch them play Ascension on a huge TV. Seeing videos of it online on a computer screen does not do it justice.

Cinematic combat

The graphics aren’t the only reason the violence can seem so real and disgusting. It’s also because of how Ascension stylishly frames the action with its virtual cameras — they zoom in close when Kratos is about to deliver a finishing blow and pans out when he’s fighting screen-filling creatures like the Hecatonchires. It’s one smooth transition after another, and they rarely obscure your vision or get stuck at weird angles. Some cuts from one camera to the next can seem disorienting, especially during Ascension’s less-than-stellar platforming segments. But for the most part, you can trust it.

They even make the choreographed button-prompt kills — which have become less intrusive now that they show up on the sides of your screen and not in the middle of it — appear exciting again. But if you’re not a fan of that, the developers also made sure to leave room for some creativity: When you grapple against certain weakened monsters, the fight switches to an Infinity Blade-style 1-on-1 scenario, with the camera sitting just a little behind Kratos’ shoulders. You can dodge left or right to avoid attacks and use your light and heavy moves to finish the job.

It’s an intimate approach to combat that makes you feel like you’re right next to Kratos as the blood and guts fly from his helpless opponents. Make sure you eat something before you start playing.

Skill-based multiplayer

Multiplayer is a fun mix of traditional modes and God of War’s combo-driven fighting system. Though you don’t play as Kratos, the nameless warrior you’ll end up customizing has similar moves and powers, the details of which vary depending on the god you align yourself with (Ares, Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon).

You can’t just mash buttons and hope to win. You need to pay attention when your opponents are open for grabs, when it’s the right time to use your quick attacks over your heavy attacks, and how long it takes for your special moves to cool down. The result is kind of like a skill-based version of rock-paper-scissors. Once you figure out how it works, it feels satisfying to put someone up against the proverbial ropes as you take him out with one devastating combo after another.

And it’s not just about killing other players. The maps usually have their own objectives to distract you from improving your kill-death ratio. In the Forum of Hercules, the famous demigod will spawn monsters that attack everyone and you can earn extra “favors,” or points, for defeating them. In the city of Troy, you can help fend off the Greek invasion by manning a large catapult. And in a level ripped straight out of the film 300, you can kick people down into a deep well for the ultimate humiliation.

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Kratos, the God of War, is more than just some mindless killing machine. The truth is, he’s angry for a reason — developer Sony Santa Monica plans to explore that theme and the warrior’s more compassionate side in the upcoming God of War Ascension for the PlayStation 3.

I played Ascension at a recent event in Los Angeles and learned that despite all of his rage, Kratos is actually capable of empathy (but apparently not smiling). His frustration might also have to do with some plumbing problems.

“There were people that we talked to after God of War 3 that were like, ‘I just didn’t like him!’ said game director Todd Papy. “They were like, ‘I love the game. I just didn’t like playing as him.’ It’s because he was so angry, and they felt like they couldn’t bond with him.” And so began the developer’s push to show a little more humanity for the God of War and venture into new territory with him as a character.

Ascension takes place a year to a six months before Aeres tricks Kratos into killing his wife and daughter along with the rest of their village. Through in-game cinematics, we see how he grapples with that loss. Kratos also makes a couple of compassionate gestures, like reaching out to a dying person and rescuing a man by shoving him out of the way of an incoming spear.

By the end of the journey, Papy says we’ll see Kratos show a little remorse for all of the killing and destruction he brings. Does this mean the chaotic God of War might even shed a few tears?

“We thought about it, and it was one of those things where it’s more about how do we sell those emotions but at the same time make him feel like the alpha male that he is. …” said Papy. Translation: No crying for Kratos.

OK, so he’s not too big on sorrow. But what about happiness? “We actually tried to make him smile, a full-on cheesy teeth smile … and it didn’t look right,” said Papy. “So it’s more of a smirk now.”

I suppose Kratos won’t be winning any acting awards for displaying a wide range of emotions. But for a guy who likes to mercilessly stab Cyclopes in the eye and rip beetle-men in two, it’s a start.

Besides, we all know what really makes a man a man, right? At least, I thought I did until the end of the introduction area I played, where Kratos made no attempt to hide his shame when flying through the air.

His skirt flew up, and I was shocked by what was (or rather wasn’t) underneath. Papy had a technical explanation for Kratos’ — ahem, shortcomings. “If we give it too much of a bulge, it’ll pop out with the skirt, and it just doesn’t look right.” Fair enough.

Then I asked lead character artist Patrick Murphy for the real reason Kratos has something in common with a Ken doll. “He’s just super-relaxed all the time. Nothing excites him!” And there you have it.

Fans, however, can get excited for God of War Ascension and its slightly more compassionate Kratos when it launches on March 12.

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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!

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Once again, we tap our team of video game characters for lessons in good taste and proper etiquette!

We established long ago that video game special-edition packages are only any good if they include a mutilated corpse statue. So naturally, publisher Deep Silver planned to include one (see below) for the UK/Australia Zombie Bait Edition of Dead Island: Riptide, the upcoming sequel to its surprise zombies-in-paradise hit. Shockingly, some people objected to a headless woman in a D-cup Union Jack bikini. Deep Silver tweeted out a heartfelt apology mere hours after announcing the product, citing its complete shock that anyone would find it even slightly offensive despite a badge on the box that reads “WARNING: Includes content that may cause offense.”

It’s unclear as of yet whether Deep Silver plans to keep Chesty McHeadless in the package. Should it? And what could the publisher possibly replace it with? What say you, panel of experts?

Launch the gallery for wisdom!

Dead Island: Riptide is due out in the US on April 23 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

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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!

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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, Epic Games president Michael Capps retired, Call of Duty: Black Ops II earned $1 billion in 15 days, Irrational Games pushed BioShock Infinite’s release date again, and Zynga filed to make real-money gambling games in Nevada.

You’ll also find reviews for Far Cry 3,  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Writer Rumble as well as previews for Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

News:

• The DeanBeat: Expert advice on staying alive in Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer
• Army of TWO: The Devil’s Cartel makes the Mexican drug wars seem glitchy
• What do game investors think about Kickstarter?
• Irrational Games pushes back BioShock Infinite release date
• PMC and Machinima will tout this year’s DICE Summit video game awards show
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II beats Halo 4 in NPD’s dismal November game sales list
• These missing Tomb Raider games could be entombed for good
• Dishonored’s first downloadable add-on pack is all about challenging your skills
• This week in the Nintendo Download: Lego Lord of the Rings, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and New Super Mario Bros. 2
• Peanut Labs extends its self-serve platform for creating market surveys (exclusive)
• God of War: Ascension multiplayer finds a sweet spot between shooters and fighters
• With ex-Zynga developer carrying the flag, Kixeye invades Canada
• Zynga files for right to make real-money gambling games in Nevada
• Assassin’s Creed III’s first add-on pack is erasing player progress
• The Four Bikers of the Apocalypse usher in the second add-on pack for Trials Evolution
• Pikmin 3 slips out of Wii U ‘launch window,’ will debut in spring
• Fire Emblem Awakening out on 3DS in North America in early February
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II hits $1B in sales in 15 days
• Bunchball shows off the ‘rock stars’ of gamification
• ‘Toxic’ League of Legends player responds to his 1-year ban
• Zynga’s new theme park game CoasterVille goes live today
• Facebook announces top games of 2012: SongPop music trivia game comes out on top
• Social media surfaces layoffs at game companies NCSoft and Petroglyph
• A Wii U update is available now — it should improve system stability
• The Ins & Outs of PlayStation All Stars’ newest fighters: Kat and Emmett
• Epic Games president Michael Capps retires
• DICE slips in a Mirror’s Edge reference (tease?) into the latest Battlefield 3 expansion
• The Slingshot Content Pack for XCOM: Enemy Unknown available today
• First Assassin’s Creed III add-on pack available now for Season Pass holders
• Replay Games fetches a new game and a chief creative officer (exclusive)
• Guitar Hero co-creator’s Green Throttle Games raises $6M to reinvent TV games
• Adobe launches new cloud-based game development tools
• Dragonborn expansion definitely coming to PlayStation 3
• Try out wizard battles in Ni no Kuni’s magical world tomorrow (updated)
• Android game console maker Ouya shipping its developer prototypes this month

Mobile news:

• After closing OpenFeint, Gree cuts jobs in U.S. offices
• Ngmoco goes next-gen with high-end graphics in The Drowning tablet game
• Brazil’s biggest mobile content publisher unveils its first game for the U.S.
• Social casino app goes to the city with New York-New York slot machine
• Tylted welcomes several top social-game developers to its mobile platform
• PlayPhone adds 20 games to its mobile social gaming network
• German ‘startup factory’ HitFox expands globally with four new game distribution businesses
• Cut the Rope developer’s next game is Pudding Monsters
• Enterprise gamification goes big as Badgeville teams up with Capgemini
• Fingerprint Digital to launch 7 new mobile education apps for kids
• Rovio adds the ice world of Hoth to Angry Birds Star Wars
• Kabam acquires Balanced Worlds game studio in China
• Swarm hopes to swoop in and help out developers fed up with Gree (exclusive)
• The Walking Dead: Assault brings top-down black-and-white shooting action to iOS

Reviews:

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Dragonborn is a pint-sized Morrowind (review)
• Threeview: Call of Duty: Black Ops II reviewed by a critic, an analyst, and an academic
• Far Cry 3 is a superior rumble in the jungle (review)
• Writer Rumble is a vicious but therapeutic exercise for former English majors (review)

Interviews:

• Ben Cousins wants to prove mobile first-person shooters aren’t a pipe dream (interview)
• With a new leader, Ngmoco shoots for mobile gaming empire (interview)
• ‘Reverse Tetris’ puzzler Dream of Pixels may be critically acclaimed, but how is it selling? (interview)

Previews:

• Fast monsters in the tall grass will scare you to death in Crysis 3 (preview)
• Flutter is a kinder, gentler Pokémon with real-world butterflies (preview)
• Pull off some ridiculous time traveling heists in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (hands-on preview)
• Tomb Raider is at its best when it’s not emulating Uncharted (hands-on preview)

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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!

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God of War: Ascension’s multiplayer mode is an interesting blend of first-person shooters, fighting games, and unsurprisingly, the series’ solo campaign. “It sounds cheesy, but we really did look at ourselves for inspiration,” said Whitney Wade, the senior producer at developer Sony Santa Monica. “Obviously were not a shooter — I think those are the most successful types of multiplayer games — and we just don’t have that type of gameplay. So it was more of a challenge.”

The developer is instead cherry-picking the best elements from those and other competitive games. I checked out how this new God of War installment is branching out from its single-player roots at a Sony open house in Santa Monica, Calif. Fans will be able to test out this new mode when the beta comes out — “soon.” Until then, here’s my take on the game’s unique blend of genres.

Controls like a fighter, plays like a shooter

One of the first things players will notice about Ascension is that the controls and moves are pretty deep. Anyone who has made it through a previous God of War game shouldn’t have too much trouble. Sony Santa Monica did stress the importance of the tutorial, however, and had all the visiting journalists work through it before we could knock heads.

After we survived basic training, we knew how to throw down with an array of light and heavy weapon attacks, kicks, grappling chain moves, blocks, parries, dodges; you get the picture.

It feels like a fighting game in that regard, especially when you factor in the special moves. With the hammer, I could pound the ground and rattle nearby opponents or knock them into the air and string together a combo. The way these special moves recharge on a timer adds a nice strategy element.

While Ascension’s multiplayer mode might control like a fighting game, the 4-on-4 team mode “Favor of the Gods” flowed more like a shooter. We got to run around the nice, open areas of the Desert of Lost Souls. I appreciate how the stage was big enough for me to provide support for my comrades instead of constantly fending off attacks.

Players earn points for their teams from killing opponents and collecting orbs from chests, maintaining control over special altars, and springing traps successfully. I didn’t catch whether my three-kill streak (that I knew about because a sentence announcing it flashed on my screen) resulted in a bonus for my side or not. I’d be surprised if it didn’t  though, since if you land a nice combo or take someone out in a particularly brutal fashion, the gods award your team extra points.

To accent the kill, Ascension borrows the fatality finishing move aesthetics from Mortal Kombat and puts it to good use. I remember bashing one opponent’s skull in with my giant hammer and gutting another one with my sword so that his intestines burst out. Rather than that ending the match, however, those guys respawned and everyone continued to compete for the highest score.

At the end of the round, you see who had the most kills, deaths, assists, and so on. Based on your performance, the game awards XP points to level up with, similar to the more recent Call of Duty installments. You can eventually unlock new armor to upgrade your warrior. The developer emphasized that they’ll have a match-making service to ensure that the bouts stay as balanced as possible.

No snipers allowed!

No one likes a cheap death. One thing I always hate about shooters is quickly dying from a hidden sniper or someone sneaking up from behind with a shotgun. Ascension’s third-person view and emphasis on close-range combat should hopefully result in a lot less unexpected casualties. In fact, environmental hazards are the main instant ways to die as spikes or flames might shoot up from traps in the ground. Even though they only go off when your opponent walks over trap, the flames will still burn indiscriminately. I learned this the hard way.

To mix up the action that echoes the popular brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, nonplayable background characters mess with scrappers on the field. Hercules periodically sends out a shock wave that’ll knock late jumpers off the ledge. Polyphemus the giant cyclops likes to smash puny humans with his elephant-size hands.

We’ll see when the beta comes out if the PS3 faithful like God of War: Ascension’s multiplayer mode enough to put down Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 or PlayStation All-Stars. From the looks of it, they just might, since Sony Santa Monica is putting in a little something for each of those types of fans.

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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!

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We live in a digital world, so it only makes sense that we now search for love via the same Internet we use to find adorable cat pictures. But what about our favorite video game characters? Just because they’re not real doesn’t meant they don’t still need a little romance. That’s why we made Extra Hearts, a dating site for fictional, digital people.

This time, we’re looking at the profile of the God of War himself, Kratos. Let’s see if he can put aside his famous rage long enough to attract a mate.

Dislikes: Minotaurs, sirens, banshees, medusae, wraiths, krakens, hydras, harpies, basilisks, centaurs, Persians, titans, gods, and demigods.

Likes: Killing all the things I dislike.

Background: I’m still not over my last serious relationship, so I’m just looking for someone (or two) to share a few quick-time events with.

My Perfect Date: I would stumble upon you waiting for me, already topless, and then slowly approach you as you marvel at my ashen body and riveting manliness.

Most interesting thing about me: I have a very famous dad. Well, had.

You should message me if: YOU ARE PREPARED TO FACE THE GOD OF WAR!!!!!!! ALSO, I APOLOGIZE AHEAD OF TIME FOR MY SHOUTING!!!!  IT’S JUST A SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISM TO DEAL WITH MY INSECURITIES AND GUILT FOR MURDERING MY FAMILY!!!!!

Comments:

More Profiles:

• Peach
• Chell
• Samus Aran
• Master Chief
• Aerith
• Mega Man
• Luigi
• Kerrigan
• Nathan Drake

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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!

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You voted, and now we have a list of the 10 greatest prequels in gaming history. This epic list features titles from different genres, systems, and generations. They offered insight on the histories and backstories of their respective series.

GamesBeat defines a prequel as any game that takes place earlier in the series’ chronology than titles released before it in a series. God of War: Chains of Olympus takes place before the first God of War but hit stores almost three years later, so it counts as a prequel. But God of War 2 doesn’t count, because it’s a sequel to the original God of War and was released before God of War 3.

Now then, let’s get to the list.

Percentage of the vote: 3
Release date: 2010
Place in the series’ timeline: Ghost of Sparta takes place after the original God of War and before God of War II.

Staff Writer Mike Minotti: The upcoming PlayStation 3 action game God of War: Ascension won’t be the first prequel in the series. Heck, it won’t even be the second. That honor falls to God of War: Ghost of Sparta, the second PSP entry in the deity-killing franchise.

Now the god of war after killing Ares, Kratos is searching for his lost brother, Deimos. This gives the pale Spartan ample opportunity to once again brutally kill an impressive cast of mythical creatures, but the plot offers insight into a Kratos driven not by rage but by personal motivations.

Most important, the sad tale in Ghost of Sparta helps us understand the source of Kratos’s anger and justifies his actions (you know, basically killing every god ever) in God of War II and God of War III. Sure, the PSP couldn’t compete with the epic scope and high-definition graphics of the PlayStation 3′s God of War III, but Ghost of Sparta feature the better story.

Neat prequel fact: The plot of Ghost of Sparta was originally set up with a secret video that players could unlock in the original God of War (released in 2005, more than five years earlier), which showed Kratos and Deimos as children being trained for the Spartan army. Deimos is left to die for being too weak, and his spirit in Hades wants revenge against his brother.

Percentage of the vote: 3
Release date: 2007
Place in the series’ timeline: Crisis Core chronicles the seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, the groundbreaking role-playing game for the original PlayStation.

Staff Writer Rob LeFebvre: This action role-playing game on the PSP had many fans excited about the prospect of more Final Fantasy VII content, and it showed many of us the potential of the PSP handheld system. The game’s story takes the player from the war with the Wutai to the events at Nibelheim and right up to the time just before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, one of the most popular installments of the venerable Japanese RPG series.

Originally, director Hajime Tabata and character designer Tetsuya Nomura planned on porting the mobile phone game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, but they decided to start from scratch, utilizing the new PSP handheld’s capabilities. They also wanted to enrich the stories of the beloved characters from VII, including fan favorites Aerith, Cloud, and the evil Sephiroth, who ended up showing a much more human side.

Fans responded with their money. Crisis Core sold 350,000 copies in Japan on its release date, eventually becoming the third best-selling game for the PSP in that region, according to Square Enix. It also became the sixth best-selling PSP game in the States when released here in March 2008. Critics gave the game positive reviews, showing that you can please both groups on occasion.

Neat prequel fact: Final Fantasy VII spawned a large number of other titles, including Crisis Core, Before Crisis (the aforementioned mobile phone game), the feature length Advent Children, and an original video animation titled Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core is the fourth entry in this metaseries of media created around the Final Fantasy VII story, titled Compilation of Final Fantasy.

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The sensory smorgasbord of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) heaved itself upon the video game industry for three straight days, and GamesBeat’s intrepid crew enthusiastically hit showfloors, conference halls, and meeting rooms to offer our readers piles of previews, interviews, and news.

What follows below is our collected coverage during the show. You’ll find everything here sorted into categories for easy navigability.

Awards

Who needs stickers? We analyzed, judged, and sorted our top picks for the show’s offerings directly for you. Take a look — the results might surprise you.

GamesBeat’s E3 2012 Game of the Show…plus staff picks – by Dan “Shoe” Hsu

The GamesBeat E3 non-award awards: The least prestigious awards in the industry – by GamesBeat staff

The coolest technologies we saw at E3 2012 – by Dean Takahashi

The best family games of E3 – by GamesBeat staff

The top 8 trends of E3, from bows to brutality – by Mike Minotti

The top 15 swag shirts of E3 2012 – by Rus McLaughlin

Previews

You’ve found the beating heart of E3′s overwhelming magic. Whether from observatory impressions or direct, hands-on experiences, GamesBeat discussed and dissected a sizable stable of upcoming games and hardware.

Hands-on

Hitman Absolution lets you perform hits in giant crowds – by Dean Takahashi

Metro Last Light fights shooter fatigue with deeper single player – by Dean Takahashi

Crysis 3 brings the jungle, gun hacking, and silent stealth kills to Manhattan – by Dean Takahashi

EA reveals Dead Space 3, coming with drop-in cooperative play – by Dean Takahashi

Sleeping Dogs turns Hong Kong crime movies into a video game – by Dean Takahashi

From the creator of Portal, Quantum Conundrum caters to physics-based puzzle gamers – by Dean Takahashi

Capcom remakes hack-slash-shoot-grapple formula with upcoming DmC: Devil May Cry – by Dean Takahashi

Capcom shows three playable characters for Resident Evil 6 – by Dean Takahashi

Finding similarities between Arma III and Carrier Command: Gaea Mission – by Omri Petitte

Neverwinter’s user-generated content could elevate it above the competition – by Stefanie Fogel

DmC: Devil May Cry is full of swagger…and F-bombs – by Eduardo Moutinho

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed leaves Mario Kart in its dust…and wake…and vapor trail – by Mike Minotti

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an anime you can actually play – by Eduardo Moutinho

Sony Online Entertainment’s PlanetSide 2 – by Rob LeFebvre

Slice, dice, and julienne enemies in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – by Eduardo Moutinho

Medal of Honor: Warfighter deploys fire teams to the front lines – by Eduardo Moutinho

Hell Yeah! is like Metroid with a chainsaw jetpack-riding demon bunny – by Mike Minotti

Dead or Alive 5 wants to deliver a power blow to the competition – by Eduardo Moutinho

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s simplicity is just what consoles need – by Omri Petitte

Hands-off

Just what kind of game is Star Wars 1313? – by Dean Takahashi

Warner Bros. confirms LEGO: Lord of the Rings video game – by Dean Takahashi

EA’s cute The Act romance game exploits iPad’s touchscreen for unique gameplay – by Dean Takahashi

Turn the snow crimson with redcoat blood in Assassin’s Creed III – by Dean Takahashi

Far Cry 3 demo leads you deeper into drug-induced insanity – by Dean Takahashi

Quantic Dream’s Beyond: Two Souls is one of the best games of E3 – by Dean Takahashi

The 5 different games you’ll be playing in Dishonored – by Sebastian Haley

Final Fantasy XIV brings new gameplay and western sensibilities to venerable franchise – by Rob LeFebvre

Windows 8 works hard to meet the needs of all gamers – by Rob LeFebvre

A trio of Mario games strengthen Nintendo’s 3DS lineup – by Mike Minotti

OnLive’s MultiView spectating entices multiplayer and co-op gamers – by Omri Petitte

Player choice matters in The Walking Dead: Episode 2 – by Stefanie Fogel

The Last of Us is even smarter than you think – by Rus McLaughlin

Star Wars 1313 is a game of firsts for the sci-fi franchise – by Eduardo Moutinho

The adventure-game renaissance continues with The Cave – by Eduardo Moutinho

Heroes and villains join forces in Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion – by Mike Minotti

007 Legends proves personality makes or breaks a game – by Omri Petitte

Breaking down what’s exactly new in God of War: Ascension – by Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Turning technology against your friends in Watch Dogs – by Omri Petitte

Interviews

Chasing after the wayward developer or evasive executive amid a sea of journalists and industry luminaries didn’t slake our interview appetite, and we nabbed a slew of thoughtful talks with members across various gaming companies. Take a look.

Why Ubisoft is pouring a lot of resources into Wii U games – by Dean Takahashi

Harvest Moon creator wants to spread happiness with his new game – by Jacob Lopez

How Shenmue’s lead programmer rescued a bad game – by Jacob Lopez

The Last Story developer talks Operation Rainfall, reason for cover system, and Wii U – by Jacob Lopez

With 1.3B tanks obliterated and 30M players, Wargaming.net plans to conquer the online gaming world – by Dean Takahashi

Even Scribblenauts’ creator is surprised by the things people make in his new game – by Jacob Lopez

The Witcher developer CD Projekt RED wants to set new standards with Cyberpunk – by Stefanie Fogel

Japan’s Gree moves mobile gaming into the spotlight at E3 – by Dean Takahashi

THQ’s Brian Farrell talks about looking for a bottom and staging a comeback – by Dean Takahashi

Crytek says CryEngine 3 already does awesome graphics as good as Unreal Engine 4 – by Dean Takahashi

Our opinions

During the craze-filled days of E3, our minds typically busied themselves with ensuring our legs avoided snapping off our torsos and running away with yelping noises. But sometimes, a cohesive thought miraculously coalesced within our overloaded brainpans. Our hands shakily reached for the keyboard, keys started tapping, and well…these are the results.

The DeanBeat: What to expect at E3 – by Dean Takahashi

4 ways developers will use SmartGlass to enhance Xbox 360 experiences – by Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Nintendo’s Wii U: Safe on first, weak on third-party – by Rus McLaughlin

Why Nintendo will have a tough time adding a second GamePad tablet controller to the Wii U – by Dean Takahashi

Tomb Raider is not torture porn – by Rus McLaughlin

Would it be a mistake for E3 to move out of LA? – by Dean Takahashi

Bored, impressed, and giddy: Our final thoughts on E3 2012 – by Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Move over, consoles – mobile is the future – by Rob LeFebvre

Microsoft’s E3 2012: Analysis of 16,000+ comments shows Halo 4, South Park impressed, rest did not – by Andrew Hiscock

Sony’s E3 2012: Analysis shows “shotgun blast” won big, Wonderbook lost – by Andrew Hiscock

Nintendo’s E3 2012: Reactions show hardcore gamers lost faith in Wii U – by Andrew Hiscock

Memes

All it takes is one memorable quote, one Freudian slip, or some facepalm-worthy banter to prompt the Internet community’s creative and unrestrained hand at animated gifs, a worshipful use of Impact font, and hastily jangled Photoshop edits. Here’s what we’ve found.

The best memes of E3 – by Jeff Grubb

Remember these crazy memes from past E3s? – by Jeff Grubb

The wildest memes from the Microsoft E3 press conference – by Jeff Grubb

Silly memes inspired by Sony’s E3 press event – by Jeff Grubb

Aisha Tyler: Ubisoft’s meme machine – by Rus McLaughlin

The oddest Nintendo E3 gifs and Photoshops from the Internet – by Jeff Grubb

Galleries

We snapped plenty of pictures while attending parties, pressers, and meandering the showfloor. Direct your eyeballs upon these galleries, and enjoy the view!

The big gallery of E3′s huge banners – by Mike Minotti

E3 2012 will get your hands up – by Evan Killham

Our editor-in-chief’s E3 adventure – by Evan Killham

The many costumes of E3 2012 – by Jacob Lopez

Retro games have a place at E3, too – by Jasmine Rea

Videos

Dubstep. A beleaguered Lara Croft. Ham-handed hosts. No, this isn’t the latest entry in Alex Trebek’s dream diary — it’s some of our E3 video and trailer content below. Enjoy!

Tomb Raider trailer shows how Lara Croft feels sorry for shooting you – by Dean Takahashi

Konami pre-E3 2012 event: More Castlevania and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – by Jasmine Rea

Ubisoft shows strong commitment to the Wii U – by Mike Minotti

6 awkward moments from the E3 press briefings – by Evan Killham

Why we wub wub wub E3 2012: The dubstep of E3 – by Jacob Lopez

Press conferences

Surprises and snooze-fests alike emanated from E3′s five major press briefings held by Microsoft, Electronic Arts (EA), Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Check out all the announcements and debuts here.

Microsoft (video)

Halo 4 trailer video shows Forerunners, new tech – by Rob LeFebvre

New Splinter Cell: Blacklist borrows from Uncharted – by Jeff Grubb

Gears of War: Judgment sets Sera on fire (again) – by Rus McLaughlin

Microsoft previews Xbox Music at E3 press conference – by Rob LeFebvre

Forza Horizon brings street racing to the franchise – by Jasmine Rea

Microsoft introduces Xbox SmartGlass to integrate smartphones and tablets with Xbox 360 – by Dean Takahashi

Nike+ Kinect Training brings in-depth fitness measuring to Xbox 360 – by Jeff Grubb

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer coming to Xbox 360 this fall – by Jacob Lopez

Usher hits the stage to announce Dance Central 3 – by Rob LeFebvre

Xbox Live is getting Nickelodeon, Machinima, and tons of live sports – by Tom Cheredar

Kinect voice commands hit EA Sports flagship titles – by Eduardo Moutinho

South Park creators introduce their game and playfully mock Microsoft – by Jeff Grubb

New Xbox 360 games coming from Signal Studios, Twisted Pixel, and…Gore Verbinski? – by Stefanie Fogel

Microsoft E3 2012 press conference recap…in limerick form – by Andrew Hiscock

Electronic Arts (video)

SimCity Social: If this free-to-play game is too good, will you pay $60 for the full PC version? – by Dean Takahashi

EA reveals Battlefield 3 Premium and fields “15 million players worldwide” – by Omri Petitte

Star Wars: The Old Republic gets new planet, new species, and free trial – by Jacob Lopez

EA nabs UFC from THQ – by Jeff Grubb

Medal of Honor: Warfighter’s beautiful carnage – by Rus McLaughlin

EA shows off Need for Speed: Most Wanted at E3 – by Rob LeFebvre

Ubisoft (video)

Rayman Legends rhythmically runs to the Wii U – by Eduardo Moutinho

You are the network in Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs – by Rus McLaughlin

Here’s where that Watch Dogs cube-head QR code goes – by Jeff Grubb

Sony (video)

Experimental developer Quantic Dream reveals the haunted life of Jody Holmes in Beyond – by Jasmine Rea

Nathan Drake and the Big Daddy Bouncer join PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale – by Mike Minotti

J.K. Rowling is writing PlayStation’s Wonderbook – by Rus McLaughlin

Sony announces Assassin’s Creed III Vita and PS3 bundles with exclusive content – by Jeff Grubb

Sony brings down the house with The Last of Us demo – by Dean Takahashi

Sony E3 2012 press conference recap…in limerick form – by Andrew Hiscock

Nintendo (video)

Social networking comes to Wii U, Miiverse will interface with PCs and phones – by Jasmine Rea

First look at action-strategy game Pikmin 3 – by Jeff Grubb

Nintendo confirms 23 games at E3, video streaming, and more for Wii U – by Mike Minotti

Wii Fit U will make you sweatier, livelier, and happier – by Rob LeFebvre

Brag to the Miiverse and take on new modes in New Super Mario Bros. U – by Eduardo Moutinho

Zombify your face with ZombiU for the Wii U – by Mike Minotti

Nintendo bets big on “asymmetric” tablet-based gameplay – one player against several – by Dean Takahashi

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition utilizes Wii U’s GamePad screen – by Omri Petitte

Nintendo details 3DS Mario titles, Luigi’s Mansion, and third-party games – by Jeff Grubb

Nintendo Land brings asymmetrical multiplayer to Wii U – by Jasmine Rea

Nintendo’s E3 2012 press conference recap…in limerick form – by Andrew Hiscock

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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!

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Over the course of four hours across three Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conferences, hardcore gamers submitted over 16,000 real-time impressions — a valuable set of data for anyone curious as to how fans felt about the most important announcements during the gaming industry’s biggest event of the year. Now that E3 is over, we can take the time to really dig into what they liked and didn’t like, learning some interesting lessons in the process.

For this study, we counted the positive and negative comments in the hugely popular NeoGAF gaming forums, charting the reactions minute-by-minute in the graph below. The basic rule of thumb: the more positive responses, the higher the reaction score and vice versa. In short, Sony received the most positive responses, well ahead of Microsoft and Nintendo…but the publisher didn’t exactly impress everyone.

Click for a full-size version. For a more detailed explanation of how we analyzed this data, please see the explanation at the end of this article.

What NeoGAF liked about the Sony press conference

NeoGAF reacted strongly to the following games: Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, Assassin’s Creed III, and The Last of Us (for more on these or any products mentioned here, click the tags below). While they responded positively at first to Beyond: Two Souls, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Far Cry 3, and God of War: Ascension, opinion soured soon after their first mentions.

The community also reacted positively to Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, and Kaz Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corporation. Both have become heroes to the video game community. David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls), also received good feedback, if not as strong as the two Sony personalities.

The most positive reaction of the show came at the end of the The Last of Us demonstration. The presentation concluded with the game’s protagonist killing his enemy with a brutal shotgun blast to the face, at which point the community exploded with shock and amazement. In fact, this single moment would prove to be the most popular across all three press conferences. One could say that The Last of Us “won” E3 — an expression gamers are very fond of using.

What they didn’t like

As noted, NeoGAF responded poorly to long demonstrations, and goodwill for games quickly evaporated as they continued. The group gave mixed responses when Sony discussed PlayStation Plus and PlayStation 1 games coming to the handheld Vita.

The most negative reaction of Sony’s press conference occurred during the Book of Spells demonstration. The community complained throughout this Wonderbook presentation, and comments hit a low point during the eighth minute of the Book of Spells segment. They cited a variety of factors for their displeasure: that the game is for kids, it was motion controlled, it was augmented reality, it was boring, and the demo was too long. In fact, the segment was so unpopular that members posted 943 negative comments during the 11 minutes Sony featured Book of Spells, compared to 103 positive comments. It didn’t help that the live demo had technical hiccups, and the game didn’t work for a brief moment.

For more on how NeoGAF reacted to the E3 press conferences, check out the Microsoft and Nintendo studies.

How the scoring works

NeoGAF hosts a single message board thread for each press conference, where dozens of members comment throughout each show. I graded each comment as positive or negative, giving them scores of 1 or -1 respectively. Then I totaled the sum of these reactions for each discrete minute and plotted in the above chart. A high score means that the NeoGAF community liked what they saw; a score close to zero represents mixed reactions; and a low score means that they were not enjoying the show at that moment.

Some notes on how I scored each response:

• I made no distinction between really positive or somewhat positive comments — likewise for negative comments. Each was given either a score of 1 or -1.
• While I made every effort to understand the various memes and inside jokes that make up a large part of the responses, if I could not understand a response, I would not score it.
• In the event that a comment employed obvious sarcasm, I scored it to reflect the original intent of the commentator. If the sarcasm was not clear, I relied on the literal meaning of the comment. Fortunately, the very expressive NeoGAF community rarely employed subtle sarcasm.
• When comments included positive and negative observations, I accounted for the more immediate reaction to preserve a more real-time response. An example: “I liked the game that was shown at the beginning of the show, but this game now is bad” would have a negative score.
• Many comments weren’t scored as they offered no opinion. These included clarifications, questions, discussions between members unrelated to the press conference, and inquiries into whether one game or another would be shown at a later time.

GamesBeat 2012 is VentureBeat’s fourth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. This year we’re calling on speakers from the hottest mobile, social, PC, and console companies to debate new ways to stay on pace with changing consumer tastes and platforms. Join 500+ execs, investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, and press as we explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. The event takes place July 10-11 in San Francisco, and you can get your early-bird tickets here.

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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!

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The game industry may never stop making overly elaborate special editions for its products, but in recent years, developers and publishers have offered alternatives to “cat helmets” and night-vision goggles by giving away full versions of older games with the purchase of newer ones.

We recently reported about Capcom’s plans to include the complete Resident Evil library (via digital download codes) with new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 copies of its upcoming survival-horror game Resident Evil 6 this fall, but Capcom is not alone. Other companies have been releasing similar package deals for a while now, including:

• Publisher Electronic Arts included a free download code for the original American Magee’s Alice with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 copies of last year’s follow-up, Alice: Madness Returns. The company also offered complimentary copies of its online shooter Battlefield 1943 with the limited edition of 2010′s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. EA promised PlayStation 3 owners who purchased last fall’s Battlefield 3, the latest installment in the series, would also receive a copy of 1943 but went back and forth on the deal before finally making good on it. The PlayStation 3 limited edition of EA’s 2010 installment in its first-person shooter series Medal of Honor included a download token for Frontline, the fourth game in the series (released in 2002).

• Japanese limited editions of developer Mercury Steam’s contribution to the Castlevania series, Lords of Shadow, contained a free download code for either the PlayStation classic Symphony of the Night (with the PlayStation 3 version) or the multiplayer-based Xbox Live Arcade game Harmony of Despair (with the Xbox 360 version). North American customers who bought Lords of Shadow at Best Buy received a download code for Symphony of the Night for both the Xbox and PS3 versions of the game.

• U.S. residents who bought publisher THQ’s post-apocalyptic action game Darksiders received a free-ish copy (by mail) of 2009′s destruction-based action game Red Faction: Guerilla. Last fall, THQ also offered PlayStation 3 owners a free download of its insane open-world action-adventure game Saints Row 2 with the purchase of Saints Row: The Third.

• The collectors’ edition of the recently released Diablo III included, among other things, a creepy replica demon skull and a USB stick containing Diablo II and its expansion pack, Lord of Destruction.

• Japanese fans of the Square Enix/Disney collaboration Kingdom Hearts can pick up the 10th Anniversary Box, which includes the new Nintendo 3DS release Dream Drop Distance along with physical copies of previous installments 358/2 Days and Re:coded for the DS.

This trend is continuing with upcoming releases, like the aforementioned Resident Evil 6. Developer Irrational Games is throwing in a free copy of BioShock with PlayStation 3 versions of BioShock Infinite when it comes out in February 2013. The God of War: Ascension Omega Edition (pictured above) will contain physical copies of every game in the series on Blu-ray. Here’s hoping more publishers and developers keep it going; gamers only have so much shelf space for tiny helmets.

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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!

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New story, new moves, new enemies, new levels…despite all that, God of War: Ascension still seemed “same-y” to me. The latest chapter — prequel, actually — in the mythological-themed action series didn’t pass the initial “this is a brand-new game” look test when Sony gave us a demo of the single-player campaign last week. No one would blame a casual observer for confusing Ascension with one of its predecessors. Skyscraping monsters, chain-blade-whipping combat, and limb-tearing brutality…yeah, we’ve seen that before.

But Luis Sanchez wouldn’t agree with that assessment. Sony Santa Monica’s senior game designer spent some time with GamesBeat and broke down in detail just exactly what’s new with this God of War, due out March 2013 for the PlayStation 3.

Warning: Hardcore details ahead!

The softer side of Kratos

Canon-wise, Ascension “takes place before all the other God of Wars but after Kratos has killed his family,” Sanchez told us. That means our series star hasn’t yet bricked-in his soul to become the cold-hearted bastard we’re used to seeing him as.

In one scene during our demo, local villagers were running away from a pack of monsters who were lobbing spears at them. Two of them impaled their targets, but Kratos casually pushed the third civilian away at the last second, saving his life.

Casually. It’s not that Kratos is bleeding-heart softie in Ascension, but such a seemingly trivial act actually said a lot about his character development. Remember, this is the guy who will eventually have no qualms about throwing an innocent woman into a death trap just to solve a puzzle in one of his later games.  ”Kratos saving someone is something we’ve never seen in any God of War,” said Sanchez. “We get to see a bit of his humanity, before he becomes just a rage machine.”

The Lifecycle ability

Kratos picked up some new Lego-game-like magic called the Lifecycle ability. “He can repair things that are broken or take things that are pristine and break them,” said Sanchez. “In addition to that, I can stop the process halfway and freeze the debris at that point in time. I can use this as a navigation tool…a path, but we can use this for puzzles as well.”

You won’t be able to use Lifecycle in the environment whenever you want — it only works in designated spots as determined by the level design. But it’s effective in combat as well. “You can blast these guys with Lifecycle, and they get slowed down,” said Sanchez. “It’s a good entryway into a combo.”

Button-less minigames

God of War didn’t invent the quick-time event, but it does rely heavily on the mechanic. Throughout the series, we see timing-based button prompts to advance highly choreographed (and quite exciting) combat scenes.

They haven’t gone away in Ascension, but the developers are mixing it up a bit. In one scene, a giant bipedal elephant monster grabs our antihero and puts on the squeeze in what looks to be another close-up quick-time sequence. Instead of waiting for the game to tell you what to do, however, you’d just take matters into your own thumbs. “You’ll see that there are no button prompts here,” said Sanchez. “I can do my two attacks — my light and my heavy — but I can also dodge out of the way. So the elephant is going to try to grab me [with his other hand], and then I can dodge left or right with no button prompts. This allows us to get really close-up with the action and keep it cinematic but give the player control of what’s happening. It’s very fluid.”

The elements

Various elements — at the very least fire, which is the only one Sony is ready to talk about right now — will factor into gameplay in Ascension. “If I’m infused with fire,” said Sanchez, “then my blades do an attack on the enemies where they become fire bombs and can explode and do area-of-effect damage to other enemies.”

Your foes can be naturally imbued with the elements as well: “Our Brute enemy, if you notice the inside of his helmet, is glowing with fire. He’s actually elemental-based, and we’ll have different variations of him using different elements. So one enemy might have different fight tactics compared to the same guy using a different element.”

How your own elemental magic will interact with the ones your opponents are wielding remains to be seen.  ”We’re trying to figure out the combat between the element that Kratos has versus the element that the enemy has,” said Sanchez. “But you’ll have different elemental attacks, and you’ll have to approach different enemies’ elements in different ways.”

More natural movement

“We created a new navigation system from the ground up for this game,” Sanchez explained.
“It’s more free-form and allows us to do interesting navigation paths, where before, [Kratos' climbing] was very rigid. It was 90-degree movement and feels outdated now. We thought we’d update that whole system.”

Environmental weapons

While Kratos has had access to secondary weapons before, they’ve always been a part of his set inventory. In Ascension, he can pick up killing tools from low-level enemies and use them. So far, we’ve seen a sword, spear, and club, but the player can “exhaust” them for super attacks as well. “I can discard the sword, and it gives a powerful attack which can stun large enemies,” said Sanchez. “With the spear, I can discard it [as well to] rain spears down. All environmental weapons have a special discard, so while you get rid of it, you get a special attack out of it.”

Other combat options

Kratos can now continue a weapon combo with his bare hands or kicks, showing a little versatility in his combat skills.

“The other cool thing we added was a tether,” said Sanchez. “I can stick one [chain] blade into an enemy and drag him around. Then with my other blade, I can attack other enemies. Then I can swing him around and use him as a weapon. So it works for different play styles. You can use it for crowd control, or you can use it as an offensive move. We’re trying to weaponize enemies.”

More Rage

“We overhauled the Rage system,” said Sanchez about Kratos in souped-up overdrive mode.”Any positive action that the player does — whether it’d be hits, blocking, or parries — will fill up your meter. And once it gets full, you automatically go into Rage mode. And once you’re in Rage mode, if you continue doing positive actions, you’ll maintain that Rage mode. This is different from previous games where you had to activate it. There are some players who save that special, and they ever use it. It’s a shame because that’s a very powerful attack to use, so that’s why we chose to go this route and reward you for kicking ass.”

Now, Sanchez admitted this could lead to situations where Rage kicks in just a player offs the final enemy in a scene, wasting the special effects. “That could happen, but every fight scenario [we've designed], you’ll be able to use Rage.”

Whew. We certainly wouldn’t want Kratos to get all worked up with no one to tear up into bloody bits.

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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!

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With publishers showing so many games in such close proximity, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is a great place to discover the directions that developers are taking the entire industry for the next year and beyond. Below are eight trends that GamesBeat’s writers noticed during the annual trade show.

1. The year of the bow.

I don’t know when bow and arrows became so cool. Maybe we should blame Hawkeye from The Avengers? Or maybe that girl from the Hunger Games? Whatever the reason, many of gaming’s protagonists have traded their rifles for wood. GamesBeat writer Jeff Grubb actually detailed this phenomenon quite a bit, listing Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3, and Assassin’s Creed III as examples of string-tugging action.

Now, some of these characters use bows because of limited resources (Tomb Raider) or because of the technology of their day (Assassin’s Creed III), but why on earth is the guy from Crysis 3, who probably has access to the most advanced weapons technology on the planet, using such a primitive device?

2. Fourth installments of franchises, aka fourquels.

This industry has always loved its sequels, but when you reach the fourth installment of a series (in many cases within the same console generation), you begin to want for a bit more originality. Microsoft is the most guilty party here, showing off an upcoming library of software that includes Halo 4, Gears of War: Judgement, and Fable: The Journey.

Not that Sony is completely off the hook, thanks to God of War: Ascension, the fourth console release of the series. Sure, all of these titles are likely to be enjoyable on some level, but franchise fatigue is definitely setting in.

3. Shocking brutality.

Video games have been violent for a very, very long time. It seems like ages ago when we all gasped while Kano tore a guy’s heart out of his chest in the original Mortal Kombat. Still, the violence was usually treated with a sort of action movie level of seriousness…meaning it wasn’t taken very seriously at all.

Well, now all of the killing, cutting, ripping, bludgeoning, and bleeding seems much more real. The trend seems to start with the new Tomb Raider, which sees protagonist Lara Croft screaming in almost constant pain as she is impaled and beaten. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is also a clear example of more visceral violence, especially thanks to a notable scene from Sony’s press briefing where the player shot a guy in the face with a shotgun while he begged for his life. Despite a lifetime spent watching polygons and pixels explode into bits of organs and limbs, for the first time ever gaming violence is making me wince.

4. Everything looks like Uncharted.

I’m guessing that we’re beginning to see a lot of the games that were put into production after 2009′s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves proved to be a big hit. There were multiple titles on the show floor that featured climbing and mouthy characters that could easily be describe as, “It’s like Uncharted, but….”

I mean, there was Star Wars: 1313, which was like Uncharted but with a sci-fi setting, and Tomb Raider is like Uncharted without any of the lighthearted comedy. Even Splinter Cell: Blacklist seems to take the series in a more climbing-focused direction. I guess imitation is flattery, right?

5. Stealthy franchises are less stealthy.

Remember when Metal Gear was a stealth-based franchise? Sort of hard to believe that series could inspire a hack-and-slashing affair where you cut a guy into a dozen pieces with a sword, but that’s exactly what we have with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. What about Assassin’s Creed III? The new protagonist, Connor, seems to prefer to charge directly at his foes rather than stunning his adversaries with surprise like his ancestors, Altair and Ezio, did.

Even Agent 47 has gotten bold enough to kill his targets in the middle of giant crowds in Hitman: Absolution. Of course, these could all just be vertical slices that are focusing on more action-oriented aspects of these titles, but you still couldn’t escape the feeling that stealth was out of style at E3.

6. Second screens.

Dual screen gaming was made popular with Nintendo’s DS hand held device back in 2004, but now we’re seeing that concept taken to the consoles. We already knew about Nintendo’s Wii U, the new system that heavily features the use of a tablet controller, but Microsoft showed off SmartGlass technology, with allows preexisting smart phones and tablets to act as a second screen for Xbox 360 experiences.

We saw a lot of examples of this technology being used for unique gameplay possibilities, notably in Wii U platformers New Super Mario Bros. U and Rayman Legends, where the second screen can be used to assist the main player. Microsoft, meanwhile, showed off the ability to instantly transfer a movie from the television to a smart phone mid-scene. It’ll be interesting to see how consumers take to this innovative (and potentially expensive) technology.

7. Revenge!

A lot of characters seem to be motivated by revenge this year. Just look at the tagline for Dishonored, the new steampunk, action-adventure title from publisher Bethesda: “Revenge solves everything.” You can also look at the trailer for the four player co-op mode in Far Cry 3, where four random people unite in their quest for (what else?) revenge.

Don’t forget about Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. There’ so much revenge that they have to make up new words for it!

8. Amazing facial animation.

Last year’s L.A. Noire impressed many with its exceptional  facial animation, and it seems like the trend for more realistic looking characters will continue. The PlayStation 3′s Beyond: Two Souls, the new title from Heavy Rain’s David Cage, leads the pack with some absolutely stunning faces that are able to emote and act as well as any real person.

Even franchises which aren’t normally renowned for this kind of technology have stepped up their game, notably seen in trailers for Far Cry 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Man, I remember when the character’s mouths didn’t even move.

GamesBeat 2012 is VentureBeat’s fourth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. This year we’re calling on speakers from the hottest mobile, social, PC, and console companies to debate new ways to stay on pace with changing consumer tastes and platforms. Join 500+ execs, investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, and press as we explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. The event takes place July 10-11 in San Francisco, and you can get your early-bird tickets here.

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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!

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The GamesBeat team has returned from the Electronic Entertainment Expo with minimal casualties. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to change our motto from “leave no man behind” to “leave no more than three men behind in West Hollywood at 3 a.m. and don’t ever talk about this.”

We saw some messed up stuff at the Los Angeles trade show, man. We were horrified to find dudes in 20-year-old Sonic t-shirts, a cubic ton of crossbows, and “We Are Young” by that one band playing on repeat in every booth. It was a lot to deal with. Instead of running to safety, like any well-adjusted human would, we handed out awards to celebrate all of the weird.

Enjoy GamesBeat’s E3 2012 non-award awards:

The Most Charming Booth Babe award: “Jane” from Ubisoft

Oh, Jane. You broke my heart. This hard-working lady laughed at my jokes. She ignored my body odor. Her eyes sparkled every morning when I was waiting for her in the ZombiU booth. Although, I’ve been told that I can’t read facial expressions, so that sparkling could have been her silently screaming for help. No way to know for sure.

I wasn’t the only one to fall under her spell. Jane apparently ensnared one fellow so desperately that he took to posting a Craigslist advertisement to find her. I’ll let this love-sick man explain our affections for Jane: “Maybe it’s your dark, flowing hair, your ready smile, your toned, tan little body, your playful laugh, your personable demeanor, or something that simply can’t be quantified…I don’t know!” Me neither, buddy. -Jeff Grubb

The Biggest Group of Sheep award: Everyone who gathered in a giant crowd to watch a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 trailer

Activision adorned the front of its gigantic booth with a very, very wide screen. In the middle of this display was a counter, and when it reached zero, all traffic in that area of the show floor would stop and almost a hundred people would stand around to watch a trailer for Black Ops 2. A trailer! They’re at E3! They can play unreleased games, but instead they’re going to watch a trailer! Just go on YouTube when you get home or something! -Mike Minotti

Press conference most likely to get you fired: Ubisoft

If you’re not one of the super-special journalists invited to the major E3 press conferences, chances are you’re watching remotely. This year, each company seemed determined to out do one another with adult themes, and Ubisoft definitely wins. When the infamous Far Cry 3 trailer (you know, the one with the shirtless woman) popped up on-screen I was actually at my other job. Yeah, Ubisoft nearly got me fired. – Jasmine Rea

The Most Overused Motivation Award: Revenge

Game creators used the word “revenge” in the taglines and trailers for a lot of titles this year, including Dishonored (“Revenge solves everything”) and the four player co-op mode for Far Cry 3 (featuring four characters who are looking for…yup, revenge). And then we have Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I’m not sure exactly what “revengeance” is, but I’m assuming it’s a lot like revenge (which is the cheapest and easiest form of character motivation a writer can possible employ). -Mike Minotti

Coolest Not-Cool Line: “My body was ready” by Reggie Fils-Aime (Nintendo briefing)

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime took an opportunity during this year’s press event to take ownership of his meme-spawning line from E3 2007. During the Wii U maker’s press briefing, Fils-Aime reminded us all that he had uttered that sentence, seemingly in an attempt to reconcile himself with the .gif makers who have been laughing at him for five years. It was an endearing moment of self-deprecation…that the subsequent awkward Wii Fit U video immediately ruined. -Evan Killham

The Brown Nose trophy for the Biggest Flatterer: Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion’s Peter Ong

Peter Ong, director of Epic Mickey: Power of Illusions for the 3DS, was quick to praise my amazing platforming skills during my demo of his 2D side-scroller. Now, I am pretty awesome at video games, so I can’t blame him for being stunned at my incredible ability to bounce off of enemy heads. Still, I guess it is possible he was just buttering me up so I would be kind to his game. Naw, I’m probably just that awesome. -Mike Minotti

The Carpet That Most Felt Like It Was Making Love to Our Feet: Gree

Folks, E3 hurts. You spend three days standing when you’re not walking and walking when you’re not running. Mid-way through day two, your feet experience the kind of sensation that makes you consider amputation as a viable option. But when I happened to cross over the Gree booth on the show floor, it felt like walking on clouds made of whipped cream. I’ve walked barefoot on grassy hills that didn’t feel as wonderful as that amazingly plush, cushy, off-white masterpiece. Seriously. I’ve got hardwood floors in my house. I love having hardwood floors in my house. And I still want whoever put down that flooring to come into my home and carpet everything, including the walls and ceilings. -Rus McLaughlin

The Cutest Piece of E3 Swag: The Neverwinter Dragon Hat
T-shirts. Baseball caps. iPhone cases. PR reps love to hand out promotional swag during E3, but Neverwinter publisher Perfect World Entertainment cranked the “d’awwwww” up to 11 this year with its knit, tasseled dragon hat. I’ve received a lot of compliments on it at work, including, “What the hell is that thing on your head?” and “I need to see you in my office.”  -Stefanie Fogel

The Greatest Threat to the Uncanny Valley award: Beyond: Two Souls (PS3)

It’s hard to believe, but real-time facial animations are starting to make games like Mass Effect and L.A. Noire look outdated. The creepy uncanny valley is starting to go away, soon to be replaced by another creepy phenomenon: that game characters are starting to look an awful lot like real people. -Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Most (Literally) Show-Stopping Moment: Wonderbook presentation (PlayStation 3)

I’ve heard from people who were there that Wonderbook will provide hours of entertainment and learning for people far younger than I can remember being. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that impression after Sony’s eight-and-a-half-minute-long demonstration of the augmented-reality platform brought the entire show to a screeching halt. Eight and a half minutes is a long time, especially at a trade show at which Microsoft presented a product that makes watching a movie just one thing you’re doing. -Evan Killham

Stealth? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Stealth award: Assassin’s Creed III

In the Assassin’s Creed III trailer, the newest assassin character Connor, is such an acrobatic combat master that he charges a whole British troop formation in pursuit of a target. Connor charges past the line of bayonets and muskets, hurtling past red coats until he finds the leader to dispatch. In a real playable scene, Connor blows up a gunpowder barrel and then takes out a few soldiers in a frontal assault on the way to a fine assassination as he leaps from a fort structure onto the back of his target. Who needs stealth when you can take out a whole army with one assassin? -Dean Takahashi

Best — or Grossest? — Quote: “Girl wood” by Aisha Tyler

During Ubisoft’s press conference, emcee/actress/comedian Aisha Tyler gave us this gem after seeing some exciting demos: “Let’s play a game entitled ‘How many times Aisha gets girl-wood during this presentation.’ We’re up to two.” There’s plenty more where that came from. -Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Year of the Bow Award for the Most Bows: Ubisoft.

In a year where every game seemed to bring a bow/crossbow to the party, Ubi really pulled out all the stops to take this one home. Assassin’s Creed 3. Far Cry 3. Splinter Cell: Blacklist. ZombiU. For all we know, Just Dance 4 has a move called “The Archer.” Well played, Ubisoft. Well played. -Rus McLaughlin

Longest Applause: The debut of Watch Dogs (multiplatform)

In the 16 years I’ve been attending E3, I’ve never seen a new, non-sequel game get this level of reception after it debuted at a press conference. Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs genuinely wowed the audience with its absolutely stunning modern world with a slight cyberpunk flair, brutal and stylish combat, and hack-everything gameplay. I can’t wait to see more. -Dan “Shoe” Hsu

The You Couldn’t Have Made One of These a Kirby Game or Something? award: Nintendo

Between New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Nintendo isn’t suffering from a dearth of Mario-universe titles. Now, we’re all huge Mario fans, but isn’t this a bit of overkill? Maybe the guys back in Kyoto could tap into the vast library of characters and mix it up a bit with Kirby or the Ice Climbers or something. -Jeff Grubb

The New “Space Marine”: Climbing and stringed weapons

In the recent past, a lot of games were hopping on the space-marine, zombies, or first-person-shooter bandwagons. This year, it’s all about new climbing and scaling moves (Splinter Cell: Blacklist, God of War: Ascension) and bows or crossbows (Tomb Raider, Blacklist). And that’s just a tiny sampling! -Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Best Emotional Rollercoaster: Watch Dogs reveal (multiplatform)

I’m beginning to think that the horrifyingly awkward Ubisoft briefing was all an elaborate plan to keep us confused and off-guard to maximize the impact of the Watch Dogs announcement at the end. There we were, all ready to leave (or turn off the livestream) and wash our hands of this whole ordeal, but Ubisoft had one more thing to show. “Fine,” we thought. “Let’s get this over with.”

And that is when Watch Dogs melted our goddamned faces off.

It didn’t happen immediately; that wouldn’t be enough of a mindjack. What we got first was a reaaaaaallly loooooooooong video about digital footprints and other lines that the Wachowski brothers cut out of The Matrix for being too pretentious. That’s when the awesome gameplay footage started, and we were like, “HOLYSHITTHISISAMAZING,” and we stayed that way until the hero drove off, and the camera pulled back to reveal a second character who had what appeared to be an online handle floating over his head. I don’t remember what happened after that because I was trying to figure out how that gameplay we’d just seen would work in online multiplayer, and what that would mean for everything, that I blacked out for about 10 minutes before waking up in a puddle of Mountain Dew. I hope. -Evan Killham

We’ll Just Go Ahead and Assume It’s the Richest Company: Gree

With a massive E3 booth (complete with a bar right in the middle), a ritzy after-show party with popular mash-up artist Girl Talk as the main attraction, and, of course, a huge hiring spree over the past few months in Silicon Valley, mobile publisher Gree seems to have plenty of moolah to toss around. We’re willing to bet that conversations in its check-writing department typically end with, “Go ahead and add a couple of zeros to the end of that figure.” -Dan “Shoe” Hsu

The Mr. Caffeine Memorial Cup for Special Achievements in Terrible Public Speaking: Toby (Ubisoft)

This cup is given in memory of Mr. Caffeine who spoke so ineloquently at the Ubisoft press briefing in 2011.

Ubisoft had a wonderful E3 press briefing this year, but that was in spite of a man named Toby Turner (or Tobuscus on Youtube). Comedian Aisha Tyler handled the hosting duties for the French publisher’s E3 event, while Toby stood backstage with a camera and made bad joke after bad joke. His banter with Tyler, which was apparently supposed to be playful, seemed to genuinely annoy the host. No one has seen Toby since, and witnesses claim Tyler sprinted away covered in blood. Don’t worry, Aisha, we’re on your side in this. -Jeff Grubb

Get more E3 coverage from our hub page.

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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!

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You probably wear t-shirts with pictures of cherished comic book and movie characters, so why not flaunt your devotion to video games on your Facebook profile’s Timeline?

We’re releasing seven days’ worth of artwork, each with a different theme, that you can use to decorate your Facebook profile:

• Sunday: The Modern Era
• Monday: Modern-Retro
  
• Tuesday: The Indies
  
• Wednesday: The 8/16-bit Era
  
• Thursday: Social and Mobile
  
• Friday: Arcade
  
• Saturday: Future Games
  

Today’s batch of covers features 10 upcoming, highly anticipated games. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures, then right-click (or ctrl-click for Macs) them and hit “save image as” to save to your computer.

God of War: Ascension

Guild Wars 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Far Cry 3

Darksiders II

Halo 4

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Borderlands 2

Resident Evil 6

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

We hope you’ve enjoyed our series of Timeline covers. Got a game or theme you’d like to see featured in the future? Comment below or on our Facebook post, or reply to us through our Twitter update.

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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!

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

This week, Diablo III launched and promptly caused a stir with persistent server issues, Activision and Electronic Arts settled over the Infinity Ward lawsuit, and former N-Control sales specialist Paul Christoforo revealed details in his lawsuit over the Avenger controller debacle.

You’ll also find reviews for Max Payne 3 and Game of Thrones, as well as a preview for Zombie Swipeout. GamesBeat’s guide to Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is also available.

Other GamesBeat stories included:

The DeanBeat: Can Microsoft’s Kinect gain cred from hardcore gamers?

With Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Sony hopes to bring a classic character to the PS3

Slicing zombies and chasing coins in Zombie Swipeout (preview)

Epic unveils Unreal Engine 4 for eye-popping next-generation game graphics

Aeria Games’ Ignite service connects free-to-play gamers in over 30 countries

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 stages coming to HD remake

Activision and EA settle Infinity Ward lawsuit

Ratings board wants parents to think twice before buying that video game

God of War Ascension multiplayer features over-the-top show-off killings

New DC Universe Online expansion on the way, Mark Hamill returning as the Joker

Max Payne 3 suffers multiplayer issues, Rockstar responds

Minecraft digs upwards and becomes most-played Xbox Live Arcade title

The Last of Us demo shows brutal, dramatic survivalist combat

Call of Duty co-founder reveals his new, free-to-play shooter

Gamers rip Diablo III a new hellhole on Metacritic

Max Payne 3 is a glimpse into the future of video games (review)

World exclusive Diablo III review!!!!

Game of Thrones brings the pain…and not in a good way (review)

How a lucky fan became an Uncharted character

Former N-control sales specialist Christoforo claims company threw him under the bus

Witcher dev CD Projekt Red hiring for “new and different” role-playing game

New Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 info

Minecraft (Xbox 360 Edition): Tips, tricks, and achievement guide

(Updated with new pictures) Student reveals the origins of his real-life Portal turret

VentureBeat:

Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda on broadening Kinect games to hardcore fans (interview)

The EA-Activision legal feud takes unexpected twists

6 reasons E3 might suck this year

Mobile startup Fun Machine believes games can do social good

CrowdStar expands into China and South Korea with mobile game partners

Conversion rates up, spending habits down among social gamers

Starting with a graphic novel, The Inventor will chronicle the life of Nikola Tesla (exclusive)

AMD contends its split-personality PC brains are better than Intel’s

Zynga acquires Wild Needle casual game maker for an estimated $3.8M

Nvidia teams with Intellectual Ventures to acquire patents

Walmart.com strikes again: more mind-boggling game descriptions

Former Xbox 360 exec’s $1B pain and advice to entrepreneurs

If Walmart.com’s horrible copy writers were to describe 2012′s biggest games…

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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!

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In the multiplayer version, you play an unknown hero, sponsored by one of the major Greek gods — Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and Hades. To achieve godhood, you have to fight, and fight, and fight. As Kratos, you have your familiar spiked chain which you can cast at enemies to drag them down. Evisceration is the typical way to take out your enemies in style. Your goal is to kill so many players you become a champion of the gods.

“The heart and soul of God of War Ascension is visceral combat,” said Todd Pappy, game director at Sony’s Santa Monica studio. “It’s powerful, brutal, flashy, cinematic, and visceral.”

You have to be aware of your environment. Sometimes spikes or flames will come up out of the ground. Whenever you slay another player, your character does a little victory dance.

Ascension’s multiplayer mode will let two teams of four players compete and then tackle a gigantic boss — like the cyclops Polythemus in chains above — to achieve final victory. You’re rewarded for killing your opponents in style. You have to continuously whack your enemies to bring them down. But sometimes you can earn a magical “god weapon,” like the spear of Olympus, that brings them down much more easily.

First, your team tries to dominate the other team. Then you have to cooperate. The coolest thing in the demo is how the player lassoed Polythemus at the end and pulled his head down. Then the player with the spear goes in for the attack on the cyclops’ eye, finishing the round with a lot of flare.

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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!

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

This week in news: Polytron admits to bugs found in Fez, Kickstarter is on track to triple their earnings this year, and THQ reports its revenue is slightly higher than expected.

You will also find reviews of Trials: Evolution and Skullgirls.

Other GamesBeat stories included:

The DeanBeat: GamesBeat 2012 to focus on crossover strategies

Diablo III open beta weekend begins today

Awesome art: Disney princesses reimagined in Final Fantasy X-2′s dresspheres (gallery)

Blade Games World brings 3D game creation to everyone with Jumala

BBC to publish games with 6waves as the Brits invade Facebook

Prey 2: Not canceled, just delayed

Update: Sony confirms God of War: Ascension (with video)

Tim Schafer shares 5 tips to Kickstarter success

Temple Run sprints past 10 million downloads for Android

Zynga adds new social features to Draw Something, raises streak cap to 999

Sci-fi author sues Ubisoft over alleged Assassin’s Creed copyright infringement

Trials Evolution hits the throttle and never lets up (review)

XEOPlay’s beautiful iOS game Tilt World strives to make a real-world impact

Rock Band Blitz developer discusses dropping the plastic instruments

Beating Ocarina of Time in under 25 minutes and other crazy speed runs

Zynga’s got $1.8 billion in cash and is aggressively looking for the next OMGPOP

Electronic Arts announces Crysis 3 for Spring 2013 along with preorder packs

Skullgirls revisits the Golden Age of fighting games and animation (review)

How Fez’s first-day sales compare to Braid, Limbo, and other XBLA hits

Polytron acknowledges “pretty serious” bugs in Fez

Stories that also appeared on VentureBeat:

Author David Kushner tells the inside tale on Grand Theft Auto and the video game violence wars (interview)

Bicycle card game owner to launch Zeniz mobile social casino games platform (exclusive)

Can minors buy Facebook Credits? Parents demand refund in class action suit

Kickstarter funding explodes, on pace to triple this year to around $300M

With Xbox 360 sales slowing down, Windows Phone desperately needs to succeed

World Golf Tour, now simply WGT, launches Major League Baseball game on Facebook (exclusive)

Bluega takes web-based HTML5 touchscreen interface across platforms

THQ reports revenue to be significantly higher than expected

Aeria Games gets strategic investment from Sony division

Behind the scenes of how Bethesda marketed giant fantasy hit Skyrim

Finally shipping: The $35 Raspberry Pi computer that can play Quake 3 Arena

Social mobile game maker Zattikka goes public on London Stock Exchange

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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!

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[Update: Sony has confirmed the game in a blog post.]

Kratos is coming back. Sony confirmed that it is producing the next game in the God of War series, subtitled Ascension. Sony had intended to surprise us all on Thursday, but a hiccup in that plan popped up on Wednesday as Amazon accidentally leaked a listing for the game prematurely, according to a report on Neoseeker.

The retailer has since pulled the page, but a teaser trailer (see below) is still up for your viewing pleasure and suggests that Kratos’ new adventure will be a prequel. That’s probably the right decision; I’m pretty sure that by the end of the third game, he was completely out of things to murder.

Sony now says you should watch its Facebook fan page for the game on April 30 at 8 am Pacific time for a live streaming event. Todd Papy, game director, said that he will answer questions on Twitter on @PlayStation and that questions should be sent via tweet by 3 pm Pacific time on Friday.

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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!

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