Check out all of our E3 2013 coverage here.

Last year, the gaming community declared that 2012′s Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show (E3) ushered in “the year of the bow.” We just finished up this year’s event, and while it was far less full of twings and/or twangs (unless Alice in Chains frontman Jerry Cantrell’s guitar performance at the Ubisoft presentation counts, which it might), one thing kept coming back through all of the press briefings, floor demos, and previews.

Seriously, did you notice all of the open-world games?

Sure, we saw the ones we expected, like Assassin’s Creed IV, Watch Dogs, Infamous: Second Son, and Saints Row IV. But we knew about these free-roaming titles going into the show, so we had no surprises there. As the week went on, however, we saw both new franchises and new installments of established series going the open-world route. Games like these:

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

(PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

The lead-up to the reveal of Konami’s latest in its stealth-action franchise has been almost as complicated as the series’ plot.  We’ve had an investigation-launching fake-out trailer at the Spike Video Game Awards in December, some confusion as to exactly how many games we were talking about, and a switch in voice actors. By the time we actually got to see the game in action at the start of the Microsoft press briefing on Monday, it was actually a little anticlimactic.

Well, it looks pretty good, actually. I can’t pretend it doesn’t. And what was the first thing that the gameplay video proclaimed once it got its expository dialogue out of the way?

Konami is right to throw that exclamation point in there; this is a big deal. The Metal Gear series is far from being the most linear around, but it has followed a pretty strict “go here, do this” structure in which players follow a prescribed sequences of events with lengthy cutscenes between them. It’ll be interesting to see how much freedom this translates to once the game actually comes out.

Whatever it means, however, I’m pretty sure the plus-sized cinematics are staying. Let’s just take one series-changer at a time here.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

(PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

Developer CD Projekt RED’s Witcher series of role-playing games has always been fairly open, but the designers apparently thought they could do more. “You can get to every place you see on the screen,” one of the developers said during a live demonstration of the upcoming game at E3. “This is a massive improvement in comparison to Witcher 2, which had some artificial barriers.”

CD Projekt wasted no opportunity to talk up the size of The Witcher 3′s world, claiming that it is 35 times larger than the previous game in the series and 20 percent larger than the open world in the developer Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which is the current standard for the “go ahead and get lost in the woods/hills/mountains for a few hours” gaming experience.

CD Projekt aims to improve on that experience, however — or, at least, bring some more to it. “Skyrim, which I think we all love, is a rather short game in terms of the main storyline,” gameplay producer Marek Ziemak said. “If you just want to focus on that element and you’re not that interested in exploring the world, it’s not that big. But that’s the core of The Witcher 3: the main story. It’s 40, 50 hours, plus the open world.”

Dying Light

(PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

If you’ve read Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, you might remember this scene: Hero Robert Neville, convinced that he has enough time to make it to the safety of his fortified home before the legion of vampires that used to be the human race rose up from their lairs to murder him, realizes with horror that his watch has stopped.

That’s the feeling that developer Techland seems to be going for in Dying Light, a game that substitutes zombies for Matheson’s vampires and throws in some free-running. The game switches between two stages: exploration and preparation during the day and stealth and hasty retreats from high-powered superzombies at night.

Dying Light is about scavenging through the world to locate resources, supplies, and materials to build weapons before the sun goes down. Unlike CD Projekt, Techland is keeping quiet about the size and scope of its world, but we’re sure to hear more soon.

Driving games

E3 saw several new driving games, including the latest releases from Microsoft’s Forza series and Sony’s Gran Turismo, but the two that belong here are Need for Speed: Rivals and The Crew.

Open-world vehicle games are not without precedent. Developer Criterion’s Burnout Paradise was one of the first major releases to cut players loose in a virtual city to complete challenges in any order they pleased. Surely enough, Criterion’s first foray into the Need for Speed franchise, Most Wanted, was also an open-world racer. Rivals, developed “in association with” Criterion, looks like it will combine single- and multiplayer modes in interesting ways, with players driving around on their own one moment and then jumping into a high-speed chase against an online opponent the next. It comes out this November for current-gen systems with next-gen versions to follow.

The Crew, which publisher Ubisoft revealed at its press briefing, is shaping up to be an even more ambitious title for PC and next-gen systems that involves joining up with your friends to create a Fast-and-the-Furious-style … well, crew. Developer Ivory Tower’s creative director Julian Gerighty described the in-game world as “as big as has ever been created.” But nobody tell CD Projekt RED he said that.

Once you’ve gotten your crew together, your ragtag group of misfits can take on other teams in a variety of driving challenges like races and takedowns. You can roll to each other’s aid in locations including New York, Miami, Las Vegas, and the Black Hills. It also includes a single-player mode, but Ubisoft’s focus at the event was on four people taking on a fifth in a free-form pursuit across a large city map.

Pages: 1 2

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, Sony unveils it’s latest home console the PlayStation 4, Ziff Davis Media shuts down 1Up, UGO, and GameSpy, and Electronic Arts and Activision both lay off workers.

You’ll also find reviews for Crysis 3, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Serious Sam Double D XXL.

PlayStation 4

• The DeanBeat: Sorting through the significance of Sony’s PlayStation 4 revelation
• The biggest PlayStation 4 disappointments
• Grading the PlayStation 4 rumors
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is officially a next-gen title for PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 4: Sony impresses analysts — but others are not convinced the next Xbox won’t overshadow it
• Sony ‘not ready to talk about’ The Last Guardian — waiting for the ‘right time’
• Sony’s Shu Yoshida talks PlayStation 4: PS3/PSN compatibility, microtransactions, and more
• PlayStation 4: Reactions from around the Internet
• Used games will work on the PlayStation 4, says Sony
• Everything you need to know about the PlayStation 4 (so far)
• GamesBeat’s complete coverage of Sony’s PlayStation 4 announcement
• Here’s what a chip expert says about the PlayStation 4′s potential
• Ubisoft announces Watch Dogs for the PlayStation 4
• Blizzard announces Diablo III for PlayStation 4 (and PS3)
• Indie darling Jonathan Blow’s The Witness is headed to the PlayStation 4
• Sucker Punch reveals Infamous: Second Son as a PlayStation 4 exclusive
• Sony’s Evolution Studios reveals social racing Drive Club for PlayStation 4
• PlayStation Cloud streaming tech the ‘fastest gaming network in the world’ — and promises PS4 games on Vita
• Sony unveils Killzone: Shadow Fall for the PlayStation 4
• Knack is the first game confirmed for the PlayStation 4 (and it looks like a Pixar movie)
• Sony finally reveals the PlayStation 4 for holiday 2013 — but not the console or price
• A play-by-play of Sony’s big PlayStation 4 reveal

News

• Nevada governor signs online gambling bill into law
• More layoffs: Electronic Arts cuts jobs in L.A. and Montreal
• After buying IGN, Ziff Davis is shutting down UGO, 1UP, and GameSpy
• This week in the Nintendo Download: Monster Hunter, F-Zero, and Etrian Odyssey
• That PlayStation Vita price cut isn’t coming to North America
• King.com localizing 2 of its hugely popular free-to-play games for Japan and Korea
• Thanks for the #PlayStationMemories: The industry tweets Sony’s legacy
• Hey, devs, PaeDae’s Bartr turns advertising into a free service
• 2K Sports is the new publisher of WWE wrestling games — Yuke’s returns to develop
• New Torment game from developer InXile gets a subtitle and official webpage
• Total U.S. game market grew 39 percent in January if you count all segments
• What we can learn from past PlayStation reveals
• PlayStation Meeting: Six disappointing scenarios that aren’t PlayStation 4
• House GOP majority leader Eric Cantor calls publicly funded research into video games a ‘waste’
• Cmune raises funding for first-person shooters on mobile and Facebook
• Ubisoft releasing Rayman Legend’s online challenge mode on Wii U eShop for free this April
• Activision cuts around 30 jobs — expect fewer licensed games for 2013
• Poker Smash developer asking for $7.5K on Kickstarter to release PC version
• Agawi reveals new True Cloud gaming architecture
• Ubisoft welcomes third-party games on its Uplay digital distribution portal
• Fresh Gears of War: Judgment video details the game’s multiplayer modes
• Hotline Miami headed to PlayStation 3 and Vita this spring
• Irrational teases the powerful abilities of BioShock Infinite’s Elizabeth
• Tilera unveils 72-core processor chip for data networks and infrastructure
• Ascension developers might not need all 10 days of this gutsy Kickstarter
• Half the Sky Facebook game to create awareness about sex slave trafficking
• Farewell, rhythm genre: Rock Band downloadable content comes to an end in April
• Sony whacks the price of the PlayStation Vita in Japan
• Destiny revealed: The creators of Halo unveil their newest game
• Analyst: Wii U a ‘mistake’ for Nintendo — what the company needs to do to recover

Mobile News

• 2012 a very good year for casual game developer Wooga: It’s finally profitable
• Dedicated handheld consoles took a beating from iOS and Android during Q4 2012
• User acquisition may not be sexy, but it’s critical in mobile games (part 2)
• Shufflepix creator goes from zero to published iOS game in nine months
• Nvidia announces Tegra 4i with integrated LTE, enabling awesome smartphones
• User acquisition may not be sexy, but it’s critical in mobile games (part 1)

Reviews

• Crysis 3 is a thrilling hunt through the ravaged streets of New York (review)
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance unsheathes an action-packed, yet imperfect, experience (review)
• Serious Sam Double D XXL is an old-school concept full of newfangled ideas (review)

Pieces of Flair

• Aliens, Prometheus, and even Spaceballs: Spot the references in Colonial Marines
• If Luigi had a dating site profile
• This 13-year-old boy runs his own mobile game startup
• 20 Dead Space 3 details you may have missed (gallery)

---

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!

---

Sony revealed many of the details about its next-gen PlayStation 4 console at an event in New York City today. We saw the new controller, some cloud functionality, and a bunch of other features. But what about the games, man? Well, I’ve got you covered there.

We went to Sony and the third-party publishers and asserted our dominance until they forked over their highest-def trailers for all the new PlayStation 4 games. Let’s check ‘em out:

Destiny

Watch Dogs

Killzone: Shadow Fall

Infamous: Second Son

Knack

The Witness

Drive Club

Deep Down

---

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!

---

It’s official: The PlayStation 4 is coming out this fall.

Sony announced its latest gaming hardware at an event in New York tonight, but if you weren’t around to see it, we have you covered. The GamesBeat staff has spent the past couple days writing up the big reveal, and we’re collecting all of our stories here. And we’re still working, so be sure to check back for the latest news about Sony’s big night.

Speculation, part one

Ever since that frustratingly vague video came out last month, the gaming world has wondered what Sony was planning to show at tonight’s event. We were all pretty sure from the start that it was the PlayStation 4, but beyond that, we only had rumors and wishful thinking to point us anywhere. But those things aren’t really news, so we passed the time getting nostalgic and trying to see what the past could teach us.

Here’s what we expect from Sony’s Wednesday event

Rumor: PlayStation 4 will launch in November and comes with a PlayStation Eye camera

PlayStation Meeting: Six disappointing scenarios that aren’t PlayStation 4

What we can learn from past PlayStation reveals

Thanks for the #PlayStationMemories: The industry tweets Sony’s legacy

The system

Finally, it was time to see which of those speculations, if any, were correct. Over a two-hour press briefing, Sony made its announcement, had some developers come out, and showed off some games — all without ever actually telling us what the console is going to look like.

Everything you need to know about the PlayStation 4 (so far)

A play-by-play of Sony’s big PlayStation 4 reveal

Sony finally reveals the PlayStation 4 for holiday 2013 — but not the console or price

PlayStation Cloud streaming tech the ‘fastest gaming network in the world’ — and promises PS4 games on Vita

Used games will work on the PlayStation 4, says Sony

Good news: Move controllers work on PlayStation 4. Bad news: DualShock 3 doesn’t

The games

Here’s a look at what you’ll be playing when the PS4 launches late in 2013.

PlayStation 4 video trailer roundup

Knack is the first game confirmed for the PlayStation 4 (and it looks like a Pixar movie)

Sony unveils Killzone: Shadow Fall for the PlayStation 4

Sony’s Evolution Studios reveals social racing Drive Club for PlayStation 4

Sucker Punch reveals Infamous: Second Son as a PlayStation 4 exclusive

Indie darling Jonathan Blow’s The Witness is headed to the PlayStation 4

Blizzard announces Diablo III for PlayStation 4 (and PS3)

Ubisoft announces Watch Dogs for the PlayStation 4

Sony closes PS4 event with a trailer for Bungie’s Destiny

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is officially a next-gen title for PlayStation 4

Speculation, part two

Now that we know that the PS4 is coming, where do we go from here? It’s time for another round of analysis and speculation, but now we have way more confirmed information to work from. Here’s what people are talking about now that the briefing is over.

Here’s what a chip expert says about the PlayStation 4′s potential

PlayStation 4: Reactions from around the Internet

Sony’s Shu Yoshida talks PlayStation 4: PS3/PSN compatibility, microtransactions, and more

PlayStation 4: Sony impresses analysts — others not convinced the next Xbox won’t overshadow it

Grading the PlayStation 4 rumors

The biggest PlayStation 4 disappointments

The DeanBeat: Sorting through the significance of Sony’s PlayStation 4 revelation

Killzone: Shadow Fall demo reveals that Jimmy Fallon isn’t good at first-person shooters

---

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!

---

Follow our PlayStation 4 coverage

At Sony’s PlayStation 4 unveiling in New York, Sucker Punch Production’s Nate Fox took the stage to bring everyone down for a moment with some information on how likely it is that you’re being monitored by the government. That, and to announce Infamous: Second Son.

Fox described a world in which the powerful members of society oppress the average citizens and what would happen if those average citizens suddenly developed superpowers. It sounds like an idea inspired by the recent populist movements like Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party.

While little information is available now, Sony did present a trailer that showed a city under a lockdown and a militarized police force chasing someone into an alley. After the soldiers cornered him, the figure fired off some red flashes of light and destroyed the armored personnel carrier that was chasing him.

At this point, it’s unclear if Second Son is a reboot of the Infamous series, a proper sequel, or simply a sidestory. We’ll have more information as it becomes available.

---

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!

---