Call of Duty: Black Ops II beat out Halo 4 for the top spot for U.S. retail game unit sales during the critical month of November, according to market researcher NPD.

But both blockbuster games were not able to lift overall game sales high enough to beat sales for November 2011. Sales for total video game hardware, software, and accessories sold at retail were $2.55 billion in November, down 11 percent from $2.87 billion a year ago.

The list does not include some of the fastest-growing parts of the game business, which includes used-game sales, mobile games, social games, and online titles such as free-to-play games. But the U.S. retail sales list is still useful in pointing out trends in gamer tastes, and it also keeps score on which companies are performing the best.

Game hardware sales were $838.9 million, down 13 percent from $962.2 million a year ago. Game software sales were $1.43 billion, down 11 percent from $1.60 billion a year ago. Game accessory sales were $280.9 million, down 8 percent from $305.3 million a year ago. If you count PC games, total software sales were $1.46 billion, down 11 percent from $1.65 billion a year ago.

It’s no surprise that Black Ops II beat out Halo 4, as Black Ops II is on more platforms.

The top 10 games of the month were:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, Wii U, PC)** 1 Activision Blizzard
• Halo 4 (360)** 2 Microsoft
• Assassin’s Creed III (360, PS3, Wii U, PC)** 3 Ubisoft
• Just Dance 4 (Wii, 360, Wii U, PS3) 4 Ubisoft
• Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, Wii U) 5 Electronic Arts
• Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U)** 6 Activision Blizzard
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012 (PS3, 360, PSV, PC) 7 Electronic Arts
• NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Wii U, PC)** 8 Take 2 Interactive
• WWE 13 (360, PS3, Wii) 9 THQ
• FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, Wii U, PSP) 10 Electronic Arts

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc., but not those bundled with hardware)

Here’s the analysis from Liam Callahan, analyst at NPD:

Overall

“These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50 percent of the total consumer spend on games.  When you consider our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in November such as used and rentals at $207 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps and the consumer spend on social network games at $410 million, we would estimate the total consumer spend in November to be over $3.1 billion.  Our final assessment of the consumer spend in these areas outside of new physical retail sales will be reported in February in our Q4 Games Market Dynamics:  U.S. report.”

“It’s important to compare this month’s results to November 2005, which was the last time the industry began to transition between console generations with the launch of a new platform. Comparing this month’s results to November 2005, retail video games sales are nearly twice as big as they were then (+97%). This really demonstrates the long-term health of retail sales even as many platforms are quite late in their lifecycles.”

“Despite an overall retail video game decline of 11 percent, November had the smallest year-over-year decrease we have seen for dollar and unit sales so far this year.  This is a sign of momentum going into the December holiday period.”

Software

“At 14 percent, video game software unit declines are tied with August 2012 for the smallest year-over-year declines so far this year.”

“Overall entertainment software units decreased by 15 percent, however, when comparing the performance of the top 5 titles from this year to last, we see a rise in unit sales of 5 percent (games outside of the top 5 sold less, leading to overall declines).”

“While there was a 21 percent decline in the number of titles that launched this November versus November 2011, these new titles are holding their own and generating the same number of dollars per title on average.  Unfortunately, declines this month stemmed from softer sales from catalog titles, which launched outside of this month, with dollar sales down 11 percent, collectively.”

“Half of the software dollars sold in November 2012 were for the Xbox 360, which gained 8 share points in overall software sales from last November.”

Hardware

“November 2012 was the lowest hardware decline for dollar sales we have seen in year-over-year trends so far this year.”

“The much anticipated launch of the new Wii U console brought in more dollars than the Wii launch in November 2006, up 21 percent from that launch month.  With an average price 35 percent higher for the Wii U at launch compared to the Wii, this is an example of how consumers are willing to come out and spend when they see the value of the product.”

“Comparing Wii sales from November 2011 to Wii sales combined with Wii U sales in November 2012, dollar sales increased by 76 percent.”

“Xbox 360 led overall hardware platform sales for the sixteenth consecutive month.”

“Through bundling compelling third party content with the PS Vita hardware, November 2012 was the second highest month of sales on a unit basis for the PS Vita since launch.”

“The Nintendo DS was the only platform to increase in hardware unit sales versus November 2011.”

Accessories

“Skylanders accessories continue to perform well, building off the original game with the Skylanders Giants.  Skylanders unit sales of both original and the new Giants were up over 250 percent compared to last November.”

---

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!

---

Nintendo wants the Wii U launch on Nov. 18 to be the video game event of the holiday season. Scott Moffitt, the company’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, is the man in charge of making that happen.

The Japanese giant has a lot at stake when it comes to the Wii U, which some have criticized as a not-quite-next-generation console that is about as powerful as Sony’s six-year-old PlayStation 3. Nintendo began advertising the system in earnest last week to convince gamers otherwise. We spoke with Moffitt about Nintendo’s approach, the ad campaign, and its timing.

Here’s a transcript of our interview.

GamesBeat: Tell us about what’s in motion right now. What’s happening as you lead up to the launch?

Scott Moffitt: We’re in the final countdown stage. We’re watching the imports every day, when the boats come in, to make sure we’re getting the product we’re anticipating. We started our marketing in earnest a few days ago. We’ve been building interactive kiosks in stores. We’ve got about 5,000 of those, so people can experience the system for themselves. That’s important for a complex product like this. We went live with advertising last week in social media and really in earnest over the weekend with some cinema. There’s a lot going on.

GamesBeat: The ad campaign seemed like it came late. What’s the thinking behind the timing of the ads?

Moffitt: The timing is almost to the day the same as we used for Wii. We weren’t trying to copy that plan exactly, but it just happened that way. We put a media plan together. We wanted to build awareness quickly, so it’s multi-touchpoint. There will be messages coming at people from every direction. We thought that Wreck-It Ralph was a good place to have some cinema. That’s where our advertising premiered over the weekend.

It’s not like a hardcore game where you need to release your advertising five weeks ahead of a game launch. For us, it’s fine to be closer to the launch. I think that makes more sense. The other factor, candidly, is that with an election campaign this year. There was less media available prior to when we bought, and it was much more expensive.

GamesBeat: Being virtually sold out added complexity to everything, right? If you convince more people to buy something this week, they’re not going to get it. They can’t even order it, right?

Moffitt: Right. Frustration can build up. That wasn’t really part of the plan either, though. We buy through an up-front process like a lot of big advertisers, so we committed to these media buys long before we knew that we were going to have a sold-out situation to pre-sales. We hoped we would be sold out, that pre-sales would be brisk. But we didn’t have the luxury of waiting to see that to know what our major plans would be.

GamesBeat: Have you guys made any projections on sales? I remember some analysts saying 4.5 million sales would be likely for the holidays.

Moffitt: What we’ve said is we’re capable of shipping 5.5 million units between Nov. 18 and March 31, the end of our fiscal year. That’s a global number. We’ve not broken it out by time period, so how much of that is week one, how much is holiday, we can’t say. Similarly, we’ve not disclosed how much of that will be in each region. The U.S. will clearly have the longest selling period, because we’re the first market to launch.

GamesBeat: If I tried to place an order, supposing some retailer had pre-sales still open, how long would it take at this point before I might get one? Is it well into the new year?

Moffitt: No, not at all. We’ve been through these processes before. We want product to be available on day one in stores throughout the country. If you line up or get there early, you should be able to get product on day one. GameStop has not sold all of their day one allocation. They’ve sold what they were making available for pre-sales. Those are two different numbers. Now, a lot of what we gave them, they’ve sold to pre-sales, but, like every retailer will, they’ve held some back so they have product on day one for consumers that come in the door.

We have said that we’ll have more Wii U units on store shelves in week one than we did for Wii in 2006. We’ll also have replenishment much more frequently during the holiday than we did for Wii. Having said that, though, we’re guessing there could be shortages. It won’t be there every day. Shipments coming in each week could sell very quickly.

Pages: 1 2 3

Not all game publishers have welcomed the Nintendo Wii U with open arms. But French game publisher Ubisoft has gone bananas over it, making more games for the new console than anyone else. That’s what Ubisoft usually does when someone introduces a promising new game platform. Ubisoft’s core strategy is to develop original intellectual property to launch at the debut of a new video game platform. It then follows up those hits with sequels that reap bigger and bigger revenues.

Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft, says his company is taking the same approach with the Wii U because it bring “second screen” gaming to life. Here’s an edited transcript of our interview with Key, who never met a new console he didn’t like.

GamesBeat: Here we are again. Another console launch.

Tony Key: I have this conversation every time a new platform ships, but our goal is to be the number one third-party publisher on Wii U. We have six titles launching on day one, another one two weeks after, and then another one in calendar Q1. So we have eight titles in what Nintendo’s calling their launch window.

GamesBeat: Can you run through the games as well?

Key: We have exclusive titles for the Wii U shipping on day one: ZombiU, Rabbids Land, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013, and our newly-announced partnership with ESPN called ESPN Sports Connection. Then, in Q1, our other exclusive is Rayman Legends. We also have, on day one, Assassin’s Creed III and Just Dance 4. On December 4, we have Marvel’s Avengers: Battle for Earth. Those three games are also on other platforms. You can see by the amount of exclusive titles that we’re very excited about the machine. When we were part of the Wii launch back in 2006, we only had two exclusive titles, which were Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Those turned out to be the number two and number three best-selling Wii games of that launch, behind Zelda. We’re expecting to be heavily represented at the top of the Wii U software sales chart.

GamesBeat: What’s attractive about it, given that there’s been a lot of discussion about the potential of the machine among gamers? Some say it’s a great machine, some say it’s a bad machine. What would you point about it that tells us it’s going to do well?

Key: When the Wii came, it ushered in an era of motion gaming. It really opened things up for the industry. It was a very innovative machine, and it was hard for people to understand what value it brought until they got their hands on it. The same thing is happening with the Wii U. This type of innovation and Nintendo’s vision are going to be difficult to explain through videos and trailers, as you saw with that TV ad from the U.K. today, talking about the Wii U and the benefits of the tablet controller.

We think that this machine is ushering in a year of second-screen gaming. How the market will react to that and what kind of innovation that will bring obviously remains to be seen. Our position is, we believe in it. We’ve got all these titles we’ve been working on. We’ve had a lot of experience working on and playing games with the second-screen experience. We think it’s an innovation that’s going to have a big impact on the industry.

GamesBeat: If you look at a title like ZombiU, how do you take advantage of that second screen?

Key: I was about to say it gives you another set of issues. You’re one of the last people on earth, so you have issues, right? I meant to say it gives you another interface to utilize, to make the gameplay experience different. In ZombiU, the controller is your backpack. You’re carrying things around with this controller, but you don’t pause the game to get something out of your backpack, a new gun or a new tool. When you’re rummaging around in that thing, up on the television there could be somebody sneaking up behind you. It adds a new level of intensity to the product that wasn’t possible before.

There’s other features with ZombiU, without getting too tactical, that utilize the second screen. Finding a zoom lens and things like that. There are lots of clever ways to use it, but the thing we want to focus on is that it changes game design. It adds all kinds of possibilities. ZombiU utilizes a few of those. A game like Rayman utilizes a few of those as well. There’s a multiplayer mode, an asymmetrical multiplayer game occurring with that second screen. These are things that are hard to represent in video. We’re looking forward to that moment where a critical mass of consumers gets their hands on the hardware. That’s when people see how cool it is. I don’t see how people can be too critical of something that they haven’t had a chance to use yet.

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, Zynga lays off 5 percent of its employees even though the company’s stock price rose, game developers think the iPad mini is promising, and German studio Bigpoint lets 120 people go.

You’ll also find a review for Just Dance 4 and an in-depth interview the developers behind one of the season’s most intriguing indie games, The Unfinished Swan.

News:

• The DeanBeat: The iPad mini brings out the imagination of game developers
• HTML5 developer Softgames looking to expand after first round of funding
• Tim Schafer to host Rock Band charity night
• 80M people play arcade bubble shooter games on Facebook
• Nintendo’s weekly download report features giant presidential robots, Professor Layton, and New Super Mario Bros. 2 DLC
• Assassin’s Creed III is the most preordered Ubisoft game ever
• Dishonored developer announces three add-on packs
• 2K Games enlists Lineage developer to design Civilization Online
• Utherverse nabs a patent on scalable virtual worlds that can host unlimited users
• Wing Commander creator’s Kickstarter reaches goal in less than a week
• Gree acquires developer Pokelabo for $173 million
• THQ releases newest Darksiders II downloadable content on October 30
• Resident Evil 6 to get improved in-game camera in mid-December patch
• Halo 4 to get 3 multiplayer map packs through April
• DICE Summit shakes up its format for game creator talks and renames industry awards
• Game ratings board creates a no-cost service for putting content labels on digital games
• Borderlands Legends is an isometric strategy game due October 31
• Final Fantasy publisher signs deal to use Gears of War developer’s latest graphics technology
• Aiming to head off Apple, Microsoft shows off Xbox SmartGlass mobile app and Xbox dashboard update
• AMD launches new set of 8-core processors for gamers
• Here’s the first Wii U commercial from Nintendo
• Fight Club, Daredevil studio to help produce Assassin’s Creed film
• GameStop to get exclusive The Walking Dead: Collector’s Edition from Telltale Games
• Shigeru Miyamoto is Nintendo’s other original intellectual property

Earnings:

• Analysts pore through Zynga’s numbers as the stock price rises
• Zynga stock surges as it slightly beats analysts’ reduced targets for third quarter
• Facebook’s Zuckerberg unhappy with Zynga’s 20% decline in payments

Mobile News:

• Founders leave DeNA’s Ngmoco mobile gaming division
• Majesco expands into mobile games with Legends of Loot
• Mobile is now 20 percent of Zynga’s business

Layoffs:

• German games maker Bigpoint lets go 120 employees
• Zynga CEO’s letter to employees: We’ve laid off 5 percent of our workforce
• Zynga lays off almost entire Austin studio

Interviews:

• The story behind the emotional center of The Unfinished Swan (in-depth interview)
• The explanation behind the ending of the Unfinished Swan (interview part 2)
• Playboy’s Miss October talks about gamer stereotypes and breaking into the game business
• Here’s how you become an app store millionaire (interview)

Tablet wars:

• Game developers say iPad mini will be good for gaming
• This week could determine the fate of the digital economy

Reviews:

• Just Dance 4 revels in absurdity even as it loses some of its mojo (review)

Pieces of flair:

• Exclusive images from The Art of Assassin’s Creed III
• GamesBeat’s massive Street Fighter tournament: The semifinals

---

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

---

The horsey dance is now better with Kinect … possibly.

Developer Harmonix announced that it’s bringing several popular songs to its Dance Central 3 game for Xbox 360. The international phenomenon “Gangnam Style” from Korean rapper Psy is the biggest get for the dancing game. Konami previously announced it locked down the Korean pop song for Just Dance 4. Now, fans of both games can scream at butts and shimmy like Psy.

Harmonix also announced that singer Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” will also debut in Dance Central 3. Other artists set to release songs on the motion-control game include Justin Bieber, One Direction, and LMFAO. All of these hits are downloadable content. Harmonix has not provided a release date for any of the tracks.

Harmonix promises that, as with all the songs it imports into Dance Central 3, it’ll work hard to bring the authentic dance moves and choreography.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pound this song out of my head with a hammer. Heeeeey, sexy lady….

---

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

---

I was desperate. For the life of me, I couldn’t find an umbrella long enough to use for the choreography in (what else?) Rhianna’s 2007 hit, “Umbrella.” So I just settled for my brother’s kendo stick that was lying around the house … and somehow I managed to avoid smashing our glass table and the TV en route to my five-star performance.

To anyone who actually practices kendo, I am so sorry.

For French publisher Ubisoft, its multiplatform Just Dance series is huge: As of January this year, the franchise (which includes major titles like Just Dance 3 and a variety of spin-offs) has sold more than 25 million units worldwide. And Just Dance 4 isn’t the company’s only dancing game for 2012, with Just Dance Greatest Hits’ release this past summer, yesterday’s debut of Just Dance: Disney Party, and The Hip Hop Dance Experience that’s set to hit store shelves on Nov. 13.

So if you’re looking for a reason to shake your rump in your living room this fall, you definitely have no shortage of choices. But can Just Dance 4 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii keep up Ubisoft’s historic momentum?

What you’ll like

Time to get sweaty
While the meat of the game is the appropriately named Just Dance mode, where you flip through a list of songs to dance to, I found little incentive to play by myself. Instead, I spent a lot of time in Just Sweat, a dedicated fitness mode that turns dancing routines into proper workout programs. Each of these exercise regimens (divided into timed sessions of either 10, 25, or 45 minutes) come in different flavors, such as “Electro Body Combat” or “Aerobics in Space,” complete with warm-ups and cool-downs.

And thanks to the helpful onscreen calorie counter, I ended up adding Just Sweat into my regular physical training. It isn’t perfect as it doesn’t give you any feedback or tips on how you’re doing, but it’s better than running on a treadmill for 20 minutes.

Dance like nobody’s watching
Just Dance 4 is at its best when the dancing inevitably turns into mayhem. I realized this while playing the line dance version of Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” with three other people: We constantly bumped and kicked each other in my small living room, and it didn’t take long before we gave up and started making our own moves to finish the song. Chances are that you and your friends will look nothing like the professional performers in the game, but that’s okay. That’s part of the charm.

The sillier song choices, such as “Time Warp” from the cult classic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are the real highlights of Just Dance 4′s 44 new tracks. They often have the most outlandish choreography in the game, and your friends and family are more likely to have heard of them than the latest dubstep tune by Skrillex.

And if you are stumbling from song to song like I was, a persistent leveling system called “Mojo” at least makes you feel like you’re progressing through the game by earning stars that help you level up. Each step forward can bring you either new battles, mash-ups, alternative dance moves, or harder difficulties. Even after spending a good chunk of time with Just Dance 4, I was still unlocking new bits of content to try.

What you won’t like

Lack of visual feedback
One of the tag lines for Just Dance 4 is “anyone can dance.” While this works perfectly for parties or playing with kids, it also means that the game is not concerned with teaching you the correct moves. Sure, you’ll see a small representation of your body via the Kinect, and you can try to correct yourself by closely watching it. But if you manage to score really low in certain parts of a song, it’s almost impossible to tell what you did wrong.

Sometimes you might raise your arm too high, or maybe your legs were moving in the wrong direction. Just Dance 4 doesn’t tell you. It can feel overwhelming — even on an easy song — to watch the professional dancers deftly groove from one complex move to the next. And since the pictograms on the side of the screen only show basic movements, a lot of nuance and detail is lost.

Annoying “press” interface
As opposed to the usual Kinect selection process of hovering your hand on something for a small period of time, Just Dance 4 uses an interface where you have to bring back your hand and vigorously poke toward the Kinect as if to touch the menu with your finger tip. But before you can do that, you’ll have to aim carefully or else risk triggering a song or menu option you had no intention of “pressing.” Only then should you thrust your hand forward and hope for the best.

If Ubisoft was trying to simulate what it feels like to play a game of darts after having one too many beers, Just Dance 4 is a rousing success.

Mistaken identity
The choreography can get a little crazy, and at times the Kinect just can’t keep up. Whether you’re playing with three other people in a coordinated line dance, rolling under your partners as they jump over you, or rotating around them during a battle, the Kinect can forget which dancer you’re assigned to. Suddenly, you might find yourself following the wrong moves. This happened a few times when I was playing with a friend: We switched “sides” to dancers neither of us chose at the outset of the song.

It sometimes helped if we went back to our respective sides of the TV, but for the most part, we had to wait until the end of the current song for it to fix itself.

Conclusion

Just Dance 4 gives you the illusion of dancing with its flashy backgrounds, brightly dressed dancers, and high-scoring gold stars. But it does this by sacrificing accuracy and feedback: You probably won’t become a better dancer after playing this game. If you can accept these limitations (or just want a decent fitness routine to do at home), you’ll find a lot to like here.

Score: 78/100

Just Dance 4 is out now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. Ubisoft provided GamesBeat with an Xbox 360 copy of the game for the purpose of this review.

---

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!

---

Just cause the Wii U is only weeks away doesn’t mean Nintendo is totally abandoning the Wii. The Japanese hardware company is working with the publishers of two of the Wii’s biggest games for a pair of bundles due out Nov. 4.

One bundle includes a white Wii and Just Dance 4 for $129.99. The other console package comes with a blue Wii, Skylanders Giants, two Skylanders figurines, and an exclusive Giant Skylander figurine for $149.99.

“These bundles give consumers a way to enjoy some of the hottest new games for this generation’s most popular console at an attractive price,” said Nintendo of America vice president of licensing Steve Singer. “Together with our third-party publishing partners, we’re delivering maximum value for families who want to get the most for their home entertainment dollar.”

Last week, Nintendo revealed its own first-party bundle that includes a black Wii and both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort for $129.99.

The brand-new Wii U console, which we explain in detail here, debuts on Nov. 18 for $299.99. Nintendo is hoping to make a few more bucks on the Wii by targeting families that are very unlikely to purchase the Wii U. The Just Dance and Skylanders franchises are still two of the biggest franchises for on the Wii.

---

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!

---

And the victor in the video game battle for “Gangnam Style” is Ubisoft.

The French video game publisher announced today that it’s dancing game Just Dance 4 will offer the Korean rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” song as downloadable content. That means players looking to horsey dance will have to choose this game over rival Dance Central.

“We’re dedicated to bringing Just Dance fans access to the music and musicians they love,” said Ubisoft associate director of marketing Carrie Feigel. “Our fans were really vocal about wanting ‘Gangnam Style’ in Just Dance 4 and we listened. This marks the first of many hot upcoming DLC tracks for Just Dance 4.”

Ubisoft will release the song as DLC on all motion-control platforms sometime in November.

“’Gangnam Style’ and Just Dance 4, I can’t wait to see all the YouTube videos,” rapper Psy said.

“Gangnam Style” is one of the first Korean pop songs to find worldwide success. YouTube users have watched the official music video nearly 500 million times. It’s so popular that it’s become a meme, spawning many spoofs (including our favorite, Klingon Style.)

---

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!

---

If you’ve heard the Wii U name before but don’t quite know what it’s all about, you’re in the right place. Video game publisher Nintendo has a new home console on the way, and we’re going to run down everything you need to know about it.

As the Wii U name implicates, the new hardware is the followup to Nintendo’s popular home console, the Wii. But this name may cause some confusion, so let’s clear a few things up right away:

• This is an entirely separate device from the Wii.
• The Wii U is not an add-on for the current Wii.
• The Wii U’s GamePad tablet controller does not work with the original Wii.
• The Wii U will play original Wii games.
• The Wii Remotes for the original Wii will work on the Wii U only if they are using MotionPlus (either built-in or as an attachment).

That should clear up some common misconceptions. If you’re still a bit shaky on exactly what the Wii U is, that’s OK. We’re going to do our best to explain. Here’s the basic answers to the frequently asked questions:

• Release date: Nov. 18
• Price: $299.99 for the Basic set, $349.99 for the Deluxe
• Pack-in game: Only with the Deluxe set. The Basic set comes without a game.
• Backward compatibility: Wii U can play Wii games
• Game cost: Most retail games are $59.99.
• 23 launch games: Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, ZombiU, and more (full list here)
• Wii-to-Wii U WiiWare and Virtual Console game transfer: Yes

The system

The Wii U is entirely separate from the Wii. That has its pros and cons.

This means that your Wii, if you have one, is now obsolete. You can’t just go out and buy the Wii U’s interesting GamePad controller and have all of the functionality of the new system without buying a Wii U. If you want those Wii U games, you’ll have to spend at least $299.99 for the Basic system and then the cost of some games. The good news it that all of your old Wii games will still work on this new hardware. Also, a lot of new Wii U software is compatible with the Wii Remote as long as it’s using the MotionPlus dongle (or has MotionPlus built-in).

The plus side of a new system means the visuals are a significant leap over the Wii. The Wii U is Nintendo’s first fully high-definition console. It is capable of producing visuals at least on par with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. If you want a Mario game that takes full advantage of your 1080p HD television, the Wii U is the only way to make that possible.

The GamePad controller is the next big upgrade you’ll find in the Wii U. Nintendo’s advertising campaign is focusing on this new handheld device with a screen that connects wirelessly to a console. It’s easy to look at that and think “Why didn’t Nintendo just release that for the Wii?” Well, the Wii simply doesn’t have the juice to power what Nintendo plans to do with the GamePad.

We’ll break down the controller in detail in the next section, but the simple explanation is this: The Wii U can display one player’s in-game view on the GamePad and multiple other views on the television. That sort of video output requires a level of graphics processing that the Wii cannot reproduce.

If you have any WiiWare or Virtual Console games on your original Wii, those are transferable to the Wii U. The process requires both systems to connect to the Internet, so Nintendo can verify the content, and then you take an SD card from the Wii, pop it in your Wii U, and that’s it. It’s a similar process to moving downloadable 3DS games to a 3DS XL.

The Wii U console comes in two varieties: a white basic system with 8GBs of capacity for $299.99 or a black deluxe version with 32GBs of storage and a game for $349.99.

Here’s a list of each version with the included bits and pieces:

Wii U 8GB Basic: $299.99

• White Wii U console
• White Wii U GamePad controller
• 8GBs of storage
• Sensor bar
• AC adapters
• HDMI cable

Wii U 32GB Deluxe: $349.99

• Black Wii U console
• Black Wii U GamePad controller
• 32GBs of storage
• Nintendo Land (game)
• GamePad stand
• GamePad charging cradle
• Console stand

The controller

This is it. If motion controls were the big draw for the Wii, then Nintendo expects this controller with a touchscreen in the middle to reproduce that success. We’ll explain all the things the GamePad can do for games, but let’s run down the specifications first:

• Color: White or black
• Buttons: Six face, four shoulder, power, TV, Start (+), Select (-), Home, D-pad
• Analog sticks: Two clickable sticks (R3 and L3 buttons)
• Front-facing camera
• Microphone
• Display: 6.2-inch resistive LCD touchscreen, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Audio: Two stereo speakers
• Near-field communication
• Motion sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscopic sensor, magnetic sensor
• Stylus included
• Rechargeable battery
• Force-feedback rumble
• Headphone jack
• Infrared transceiver (for operation as universal TV remote)

If you’re confused by that list, don’t worry. We’ll explain how Nintendo and other developers plan to use all that junk.

Basically, the GamePad operates as both a controller for the game on your TV screen and as a tablet for observing and maintaining supplemental information in said game. For example, in an adventure titles, gamers can now tap on the screen to select between different weapons and tools.

But this a simple explanation of its capabilities. Nintendo built in some advanced sensing equipment that allows the tablet screen to directly interact with the television display.

In Nintendo Land, the game that comes with the Deluxe console set, a particular minigame allows players to hold their GamePad vertically and throw ninja stars by swiping on the screen. Those ninja stars then appear on the television exactly where the player aimed them.

Other games will allow players to hold the controller’s touchscreen up in front of the television to get an augmented perspective of the TV screen. Let’s say smoke fills your field of view on the set — hold up your GamePad and use it as infrared goggles to see your enemies.

Another oft-touted feature is the Wii U’s capability to play full console games directly on the GamePad LCD. If you are in a household where multiple people are vying for the television, you can quickly migrate a game like Call of Duty: Black Ops II from the television to the controller with a simultaneous press of the + and – buttons.

Since the Wii U will support the GamePad and the Wii’s old Wii MotionPlus controllers (along with new controllers like the Wii U Pro Controller), developers are designing their early Wii U games around an idea called “asymmetrical multiplayer.”

Asymmetrical multiplayer is when two or more users are playing one game and one of those players has more in-game abilities than the others. For example, Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends will have one person on the GamePad controlling a special touchscreen character who can interact with the environment that the other players are running around in.

You can see in the video above (starting around the three-minute mark) that the GamePad player was changing the world and allowing the other players to get more points as they traversed the platforms.

Nintendo wants this type of gameplay at the center of the Wii U experience, and it’s the GamePad controller that makes it possible.

This device also has a microphone and front-facing camera for video chatting and in-game communication.

It has a lot of features, but the GamePad will also work fine as a controller for standard games. It may look some chimeric monster built from leftover Kindle Fire and Xbox 360 controller parts, but our hands-on time with the device suggest it will be perfectly capable and comfortable for games like Assassin’s Creed II.

The controller as a TV remote

The GamePad has an infrared transceiver, so it can work as a universal television remote. That TV button on the bottom right will bring up television controls so that players can quickly turn down the TV’s audio if it’s too loud. The TV functions of the GamePad will expand beyond that, though. Even when the Wii U console is off, the GamePad can still control the TV.

Thanks to a service called Nintendo TVii, you may actually want to use this device as your primary remote.

Nintendo TVii allows your Wii U GamePad to hook into your Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Instant Video accounts. TVii can also interact with your Tivo or other personal digital-video recorders. If you’re looking for something in particular, searching for it on the GamePad will tell you if the show, movie, or sporting event is on one of your services or even it’s playing on television currently. If it is, the GamePad will tune your TV to that channel with the touch of a button. TVii also includes a suite of interactivity features for quickly sharing moments to social-networking sites like Twitter.

The games

Like any home console, the Wii U will have a lot of games. We’re not going to list them all here, but at the bottom of this section we’ve included a YouTube video that runs through many of the system’s biggest releases.

Instead, let’s talk about the types of games that you’ll be able to get on the Wii U, since that’ll be quite a bit different than the Wii.

On the Wii, developers couldn’t bring over the games they made for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Most developers had to rework their games for the Wii’s less powerful hardware and motion controlls. That will no longer necessarily be the case on the Wii U.

The Wii U now has the power and the controller necessary to play ports of games like Assassin’s Creed III and Darksiders II. On top of this, it’ll also support any developer who wants to build something new that takes advantage of the tablet controller.

Of course, you’ll also be able to get and play motion games like Just Dance 4 since this console still supports the Wii MotionPlus controller.

Theoretically, the Wii U should be the best of all worlds. It could have the best multiplatform games (Call of Duty: Black Ops II), fun motion-control games (Just Dance 4), and new kinds of GamePad games (Nintendo Land.)

How to buy a Wii U

OK, well, that’s going to be difficult, but not impossible.

Right now, the system is sold out on retailer GameStop‘s website. Some independent vendors on Amazon are selling the console for as much as $1,000. Between now and its launch on Nov. 18, the hardware may become available on different websites, but it’ll likely sellout as fast as it appears.

Our suggestion, and it’s only that, is to use Walmart’s layaway service to preorder the system. Walmart will allow you to reserve your Wii U for launch day if you put down 10 percent in their layaway department between now and then. You’ll probably still have to wait in line on Nov. 18, but you’ll have a better chance to get one than someone who didn’t reserve it.

Call your local Walmart first, though, because some only have one of the Wii U models (my local Walmart told me they only have the $349.99 version.)

Other retailers, like Toys R Us, Target, and Best Buy are all out of preorders as well. You might be able to get in line on the night of Nov. 17 for a chance to pick one at midnight at those locations and others (Fry’s, Kmart, Meijer’s), but by the afternoon on Nov. 18, customers will have picked over most stores.

So … should you get one?

We can’t really answer that for you. We’ll have a review of the system up around the time of its release, but everyone’s different. If the idea of Nintendo Land’s asymmetrical gameplay sounds appealing to you, it could be worth it. If you desperately want HD Nintendo games, you’ll likely get your money’s worth.

Oddly, despite the fact that we’re less than a month away from release, we still don’t know everything about this device. It’s online service remains something of a mystery. It will have some kind of service that’ll allow you to leave comments in your games that other players can read once they reach that point, but we don’t know much else.

If you’re on the fence, hold off. It’s going to be difficult to buy one anyhow. You might as well wait for the reviews.

---

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!

---

This morning, Nintendo finally announced the price and launch date for its upcoming Wii U video game console as well as its new TVii feature that lets you use it as a Netflix/Hulu/Tivo/whatever box. Of course, you can also play video games on the Wii U, and we have the complete list of the system’s launch window games, as well as screenshots of many of them.

The Wii U console is in stores Nov. 18, with the basic version costing $300 and the deluxe $350; for specifics on each package, see our story from this morning.

Now, the system’s “launch window” extends from when the Wii U comes out all the way until March of next year. That means a few of these might not actually be available in 2012, but Nintendo still includes them in the “launch window.” It makes sense if you try not to think about it too much.

Either way, check out the list and gallery below to see all of the games you’ll be playing on your hot new Wii U … at some point within the next six or seven months.

• Funky Barn
• NBA 2K13
• 007 Legends
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Transformers Prime
• Wipeout 3
• Skylanders Giants
• Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2013
• Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
• Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
• Ben 10: Omniverse
• Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
• Mass Effect 3
• Madden NFL 13
• FIFA Soccer 13
• Trine 2: Director’s Cut
• Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• Zumba Fitness Core
• Jett Tailfin
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition
• Tank! Tank! Tank!
• Nintendo Land
• New Super Mario Bros. U
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
• Sing Party
• Lego City: Undercover
• Wii Fit U
• Game & Wario
• Pikmin 3
• The Wonderful 101
• Aliens: Colonial Marines
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
• Nano Assault Neo
• Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
• Darksiders II
• Wheel of Fortune
• Jeopardy!
• Toki Tori 2
• Assassin’s Creed III
• Just Dance 4
• Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
• Rabbids Land
• ESPN Sports Connection
• Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
• ZombiU
• Rayman Legends
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Game Party Champions
• Batman: Arkham City — Armored Edition

The gallery is below, but if you prefer your pictures to move and have sound, take a look at these Wii U launch trailers.

---

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!

---

Normally when I see a crowd of people at a convention, I turn the other way. Part of the reason is the need to fight the urge to die in a mass group, and the other part is pretending like I’m too cool. But when you see a giant pink blob bouncing around in a mosh pit of little kids and a lone furry to Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling,” it’s impossible not to raise your iPad and capture the moment.

The video below is actually from last week’s San Diego Comic-Con, but I only just now found it while going through my photos of superheroes and scantily-clad cosplayers. I had almost convinced myself that it was all just a dream….

While Kirby doesn’t quite rival this Android mascot’s dancing skills, I can easily say that he helped make Nintendo’s “party” best of the show. Tucked away in Nintendo’s Gaming Lounge off-site at the Marriott hotel, there weren’t any obnoxious DJs playing music too loudly to talk over or special celebrity guests who have no idea what the company hosting the party even does. It was just people having fun, and that’s become a surprisingly scarce occurrence at game industry events.

---

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!

---

NeoGAF, one of the Internet’s most popular video game message boards, received over 16,000 posts during the three major Electronic Entertainment Expo press conferences. Now that E3 is over, we can take a look back at how these hardcore gamers reacted and draw interesting conclusions on what they thought of the industry’s biggest trade show of the year.

We’ve already seen how NeoGAF reacted to Microsoft and Sony’s press conferences, but what did the gaming community think of Nintendo’s? The below chart scores the members’ reactions, as posted in real-time:

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 Nintendo press conference

Only three games registered as positive. The forum members received Pikmin 3 very warmly, and they gave it the highest reaction score of the press conference, while New Super Mario Bros. U and Scribblenauts Unlimited received largely positive comments for a very brief amount of time.

Otherwise, NeoGAF absolutely loved Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s legendary game designer, and Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO of Nintendo of America.

The only other item that received a positive score was the announcement that the Wii U will support two GamePad tablet controllers at the same time.

What they didn’t like

NeoGAF reacted poorly to just about everything else. Posters lambasted established franchises such as Paper Mario and New Super Mario Bros. They dismissed revitalized and new intellectual properties such as Luigi’s Mansion and ZombiU, respectively. They outright destroyed any talk of motion-controlled games such as Wii Fit Plus and casual titles like Sing and Just Dance 4.

In fact, after Reggie Fils-Aime acknowledged the popular meme “my body is ready” in the 34th minute (which everyone thought was good fun), Nintendo did not generate a positive score for the rest of its morning press conference.

The worst individual minute occurred during the trailer for Sing, reaching a score of -117, which is extraordinary. To put this in perspective, I performed this same study in 2009, and the infamous Wii Vitality Sensor introduction scored only a -80. Sing’s lowest point was the worst E3 2012 press conference moment, beating out even Sony’s Wonderbook (though that scored lower overall due to it being a much longer demo).

Perhaps more interestingly, while the scores for the other conferences went up and down and back up throughout, Nintendo started very strong and then steadily went down from there. One could argue that this was just a result of what they showed and when they showed it. The 6,000+ posts of the NeoGAF thread on Nintendo made it clear that, as the press conference progressed, gamers were becoming increasingly disillusioned by the Wii U. By the end, the majority had lost faith.

This may have major ramifications for Nintendo. The Japanese company lost a big opportunity to court hardcore gamers during this press conference with a console many hoped would engage that very audience. With predicted new console launches next year, Microsoft and Sony could learn valuable lessons from Nintendo’s conference if they want to get core gamers excited.

That could be a big “if.” Video game consoles are much more versatile entertainment devices, engaging a much wider audience. Perhaps, as many members of NeoGAF fear, E3 is not for the hardcore gamer anymore.

Next year’s E3 press conferences should prove very interesting. With the possibility of new game systems, will Microsoft and Sony seek to please hardcore gamers? Or will they continue their momentum in search of more casual audiences?

The most valuable lesson they can learn here: Don’t try to appeal to gamers — as Nintendo repeatedly claimed to do throughout its 70 minutes on stage — and not deliver. As we’ve discovered, hardcore gamers are very hard to impress.

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

---

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

---

The team of heroes that make up the GamesBeat squad have disassembled after conquering another Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. If you’re looking for full coverage, head to our E3 hub. For now, we’ve returned to our families who have asked us for our thoughts about the show.

Here is the list of GamesBeat’s ten favorite family games of E3 2012:

Nintendo Land
Wii U – Nintendo
Holiday 2012

When the Wii launched in North America, Nintendo included Wii Sports with the system and marched in a golden era of family gaming. The big publisher is hoping that Nintendo Land will have a similar effect. The minigame collection will feature Zelda and Animal Crossing themed events that showcase the functionality of the Wii U GamePad.

In Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, for example, four players control ghost hunters while the person holding the GamePad controls a specter. The hunters try to weaken the ghost with their flashlights, while the ghost tries to weaken the players by sneaking up behind them. The rest of Nintendo Land follows this same pattern of asynchronous multiplayer where the player with the GamePad takes on an entirely different role in relation to the others with standard Wii remotes.

Game & Wario
Wii U – Nintendo
Holiday 2012

Not content with a single minigame collection, Nintendo is also working on Game & Wario. The yellow Mario villain is bringing his warped sense of style to the Wii U with a horde of small games that take advantage of the GamePad. Events like “Arrow” will have players firing a bow from the touchscreen at enemies on the television.  In “Shutter,” gamers will use the GamePad to take pictures of on-screen criminals before a timer runs out.

If you like your minigames with a bit more quirk, then your family may prefer this over Nintendo Land.

Dance Central 3
Xbox 360 – Harmonix
Quarter 3 2012

Everybody dances. Sure, maybe your dad shouldn’t (Pops, we don’t want to see you do the alligator again!), but everybody loves getting down. Which explains why so many people love controlling their music games by busting a move. Dance Central, the Xbox 360 Kinect’s marquee game, returns for a third attempt. This time, developer Harmonix is including a story mode which will have dancers traveling in a time machine to fix historical dance steps. Does that sound crazy? Well, free your mind and your butt will follow!

Just Dance 4
Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Wii – Ubisoft
October 9, 2012

Want to shake your money-maker but don’t own a Kinect? Well, Just Dance 4 is available on Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The sound track will feature over 40 hits. Confirmed songs include Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” The B-52′s “Rock Lobster,” and Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West.”

New Super Mario Bros. U
Wii U – Nintendo
Holiday 2012

A new Nintendo system used to guarantee a new Mario game. While that is no longer a certainty, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Wii U is launching with a followup to one of the Wii’s best-selling games. Four players control Mario, Luigi, two toads, or their own Mii with the Wiimotes while a fifth player aids by creating blocks and stunning enemies using the GamePad’s touchscreen. Although, reports from our team on the E3 floor suggest that they had more fun when they were using the GamePad powers to impede and annoy the other players.

Rayman Legends
Wii U – Nintendo
Holiday 2012

Many fans and critics consider Rayman Origins to be one of the best games of 2011. This Wii U sequel will bring a lot of the same platforming elements into an equally colorful world. Legends ups the family friendliness by including a fifth playable character controlled with the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen. While up to four other players can run and jump around the side-scrolling environments, the GamePad player can tap on the screen to activate objects and mop up collectibles.

Scribblenauts Unlimited
Wii U – 5th Cell
Holiday 2012

The main character from the previous Scribblenauts has a new world to explore. This time, instead of a bunch of self-contained levels, the magic-notebook wielding Maxwell will have a much more open world to explore. For the unaware, Scribblenauts allows players to summon a seemingly endless variety of creatures and objects simply by typing in the word. Unlimited allows players to combine multiple objects into one hybrid. Just be careful. I’m pretty sure that combinations such as “winged bears” and “walking snakes” are harbingers of the apocalypse.

LEGO City: Undercover
Wii U/3DS – TT Games
Holiday 2012

Lego has locked itself together with TT Games and publisher Nintendo to make a Grand Theft Auto clone based on the building-block company’s most popular play set, the city police station. Players will take the role of undercover cop Chase McCain who will be busting criminals all across Lego City. McCain can swap out his own parts to become other characters and gain new powers.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Wii/Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 – Junction Point Studios
November 18, 2012

Disney’s world-famous Mickey Mouse returns for a second adventure on the Wii. This time, the classic character is expanding his digital presence to Microsoft and Sony’s consoles. The first game suffered from a poor camera and a complete lack of voice acting. Lead developer Warren Spector claims that they’ve fixed the camera and that the game will be fully voiced.

Since the end of the events in the first game, Mickey has teamed up with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit (who was a villain in the first game) to help save Wasteland, which is Oswald’s home. If Spector’s tam at Junction Point has truly fixed the camera, then this could be one of the best family games of the year.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
3DS – Dreamrift
November 18, 2012

Disney will release a portable adventure starring the round-eared rodent for the 3DS on the same day as the console counterpart. The title will be a tribute to the Sega Gensis game Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, which many fans believe is the mascot’s greatest video game. Power of Illusion will be a side-scrolling platformer that takes place after the events of the first Epic Mickey. The “illusions” of other Disney character will make an appearance including Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

Please vote for your favorite in our poll and explain your view in the comments.

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.

---

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

---

The press events at the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show are always a mixed bag. For each mind-blowing announcement, we get several less impressive reveals. The presentations themselves are similarly all over the place; between celebrity hosts, “celebrity” hosts, and company executives who aren’t always the best at off-the-cuff banter, viewers might occasionally find the proceedings too painful to watch.

Here are the most cringe-inducing moments from this year’s E3 press briefings. I considered including the live demonstration for the Kinect castle-destruction game Wreckateer, but that’s not really fair because public Kinecting is always awkward regardless of which game the person is playing.

Microsoft “Ushers in” Dance Central 3

OK, imagine this: You’re planning to announce the latest entry in a mega-popular dancing game from the developers of Rock Band. You have a few options for how to do so, including showing gameplay footage, doing a live demo, or just sending someone out to talk about what’s new this time around. “Pshaw,” says Microsoft. “What if we pre-record Usher talking about his songs being in the game and then have him do a four-minute performance that has nothing much to do with anything?”

That’s not to say that Usher didn’t dance the hell out of that dance, but this moment was so jarring and non-game-related that I couldn’t help but shudder and look away until it stopped.

Ubisoft cuts straight to the cringing

Developer and publisher Ubisoft was not content to make its viewers wait over an hour for someone to break out into song; it opened with that. The Ubisoft presser began with a sorta-demonstration of Just Dance 4, its own pan-platform motion-control dance title. It started out demo-y enough, with a crew of dancers showing off some of the songs from the game. It was kind of awkward, sure, but watching people dance in public usually is. Discomfort was still within tolerable levels, however.

…and that’s when Flo Rida emerged with a Bedazzled microphone to perform “Good Feeling.” Sure, it’s in the game and therefore kind of relevant, but we were all still recovering from that Usher thing.

Don’t accuse Ubisoft of not caring; it gives every kind of f*ck

Unfortunately, we’re not done with Ubisoft yet. Once the presentation proper began we got right on to the games, starting with developer Ubisoft Montreal’s upcoming open-world adventure Far Cry 3.

(This video is not safe for work, which is more warning than Ubisoft gave those of us watching from work.)

“Hello,” said the Far Cry 3 demo. “Here is some point-of-view footage of a topless woman gyrating.” Once it got past that, the trailer proceeded to drop more F-bombs than Quentin Tarantino. Not just spoken, either: They were also on television screens and even hidden in the studio credits, as one poster on NeoGaf discovered (that link is also NSFW).

Sony gets its nose stuck in a (Wonder)book

Every E3 has one presentation that goes on for far too long. This year, it was the one for Wonderbook, Sony’s augmented-reality suite for the PlayStation Move. It’s a cool enough idea, especially with the backing from Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling, but the live demonstration failed to capture the audience’s imagination. That might be because it was a live demonstration, and sometimes machines refuse to co-operate when they know a lot of people are watching.

(Skip to 1:00:34 for Wonderbook.)

It’s not just that the Wonderbook demo was kind of dry and hollow, but motion controls, more so than regular ones, have a higher burden placed upon them to work perfectly all the time. Every motion-control demonstration is one hiccup away from being just some poor person flailing uselessly on a stage.

Nintendo’s Scott Moffitt really wants to know…

Some of the most awkward moments in E3 pressers come from studio heads and company executives’ barely canned banter. I don’t really fault them for this; they’re not entertainers, and they don’t always know how to read a crowd or improvise jokes.

Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, took to the stage at Nintendo’s press event to showcase some of the upcoming titles for the 3DS handheld system. Before yielding the floor to Moffitt, NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime told him that they’d “carved out a few moments” for him. Moffitt, apparently seeing an opportunity to win points with the crowd, swung and missed.

(Skip to 37:49 for this incident.)

“A couple of minutes?” Moffitt asked plaintively. “Where’s the love?”

I’m guessing he was expecting a better response than the one he got, which is too bad because it was a pretty fair question. This example is not awkward because Moffitt said or did anything wrong; it’s awkward because his faith in that line makes his expression of disappointment and the need to get back on script more obvious and painful to watch. When I cringe at this, I assure you that it is the most sympathetic cringe possible.

Toby “Tobuscus” Turner tries really hard

I’m going to return to Ubisoft to close because that briefing had the highest concentration of uncomfortable pauses since that unfortunate Activision briefing back at E3 2007. Most of these came from the co-host, Toby “Tobuscus” Turner, who is best known for his humor videos on YouTube.

Unfortunately for Turner, YouTube prowess does not always translate to being the co-host of a multimillion-dollar live event, and pretty much every word out of his mouth made me wince. Host Aisha Tyler only added to the awkwardness by making it pretty clear that she was just as annoyed as we were — unless, of course, the event coordinators had merely devised the least effective hosting dynamic in history.

I’ll spare you the video on this one, but here are some examples of Turner’s spontaneous comedic stylings.

After the ZombiU reveal trailer, which includes a decapitation via bayonet: “He just cut off a head with a gun sword!”

Coming out on stage: “I dropped my mic!”

???: “I came out of the womb with an Xbox controller [. . .] It was strange because it hadn’t been invented. I must have invented it while I was in there.”

---

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!

---