This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

Earlier today, Square-Enix tweeted August 27th as the release date for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on the PS3 and PC. Although current owners of the original FF XIV on PC can download the new version for free (and thus should disregard the next few sentences), new potential players on PC can take advantage of lower-than-usual list prices as well as a 20% off preorder deal on GMG.

The digital Standard Edition for preorder comes to $24 after coupon, while the Collector’s Edition costs $20 more. All preorders includes pre-launch access to the game servers, a Mog cap to wear around Eorzea, and a Cait Sith Doll Minion who joins your party as a pet.

Although the digital Collector’s Edition preorder omits the numerous physical bonus items associated with the DVD version, you’ll still receive the Helm of Light, a Baby Behemoth Minion, a Coeurl Mount, and even Behemoth Barding armor for your Chocobo as in-game bonuses.

Announced just two days ago, Metro: Last Light – Season Pass for PC download also has the 20% discount after coupon at Green Man Gaming. The Pass includes four DLC packs: Faction Pack, Tower Pack, Developer Pack, and Chronicles Pack. Assuming the packs will cost $5 each as they release, the final price of the Pass represents a 40% discount off what you’d otherwise pay. Accordingly, fans of the Metro franchise certain to buy the additional DLC would be wise to grab these in the Pass.

Hot deals & recent releases

Aug. 27: Final Fantasy XIV: Realm Reborn (PC Dowload) — $24 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. If you already own the original FF XIV on PC, don’t pay twice – it’s free for you to download. Otherwise, be thankful for the lower $30 list price, 20% off coupon, and preorder bonuses.

Tuesday’s release: Metro: Last Light – Season Pass (PC Download) — $12 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Save 40% off what you’d pay if you were to buy the packs individually as they’re released.

Tuesday’s release: Resident Evil: Revelations (PC Download) — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. This “slighty buggy [but] fun” transition from a successful 3DS title to the bigger screen has a 75/100 Metacritic rating so far.

Yesterday’s release: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PC Download) — $11.99 at GameFly after coupon. Pay respect to the Old West with a bounty hunting title getting solid reviews thus far. Next best is $15 at Amazon.

Wii U Console 8GB Basic Set — $239.99 at Target. Plus $6.55 shipping. Cheapest we’ve seen for the basic Wii U console, with other retailers still selling for the usual $300.

Freebie PC games at Amazon

16 Bit Arena (PC Download) — FREE. If you miss vintage graphics in turn-by-turn battles, your nostalgia won’t cost you a thing. List price is $10.
 

Stronghold Kingdoms + Stronghold Crusader HD (PC Download) — FREE. While Stronghold Kingdoms has been free for a while now, Stronghold Crusader HD is usually $10.

PC download deals

Guild Wars 2 Digital Edition (PC Download) — $39.99 at Green Man Gaming. Since its release last year, GW2 has had its up and downs, but the core community is still relatively strong.
 

Sleeping Dogs (PC Download) — $6.25 at GamersGate. A cheap safe bet for fans of open world action adventure. Next best is $30 at Amazon.
 

Space Battle Weekend Sale: Games and DLCs (PC Download) — up to 75% off at GamersGate. Includes a whopping 63 space-related games and content to download, including Sins of a Solar Empire, Endless Space, and classics like Master of Orion.
 

PC Physical DVD Preorders

June 4: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition (PC) — $49.99 at NewEgg. Don’t let MSRP be your ‘arrow to the knee’ – save $10 after coupon instead and get the base game, 3 DLCs, and other new features.
 

Last Monday’s release: Battlefield 4 (PC DVD) — $49.99 at NewEgg after coupon. Recently announced to include the provocatively named ‘China Rising’ for free on release date.
 

Nov. 5: Call of Duty: Ghosts (PC DVD) — $49.99 at NewEgg after coupon. First real deal we’ve seen on the PC physical since the release date announcement.
 

360 and PS3 deals

Bioshock Infinite (PS3, Xbox 360) — $39.99 at GameStop. This ties the lowest price we’ve seen. If you haven’t played yet, these solid prices are giving you even less of an excuse.

Buy 2 Pre-Owned Video Games, Get a 3rd FREE — at Best Buy. You’ve got over 5,000 pre-owned games available, and savings will appear in cart after you’ve added your choices.
 

GameFly Used Games Sale (Xbox 360, PS3) — If you don’t mind pre-owned video games, there are several solid discounts this week, including:

• Assassin’s Creed 3 (PS3) — $19.99 (cheapest new $30)
• Lollipop Chainsaw (360, PS3) — $14.99 (cheapest new $22)
• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360) — $14.99 (cheapest new $55)

Hardware

Memorial Day deal on HP Envy dv7t-7300 Quad Edition — $749.99 at HP after coupon. Quick Specs: Quad Core i7-3630QM, 8GB RAM, GeForce GT 650M 2GB, Blu-ray drive, and 9 cell Lithium Ion Battery. List is $1,000. For the same processor, HDD, RAM, video card, 1080p resolution, but with a smaller screen, the HP Envy dv6t-7300 Quad Edition laptop is $849.99 after coupon (no Blu-ray in this 15.6-inch). Both are fully gaming capable in terms of config and setup.

Alienware M18x r2 1080p Gaming Laptop — $1,575 at eBay. Quick Specs: Core i7-3610QM, 500GB + 32GB SSD, 16GB RAM, and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M. List is $2,349.

Alienware M17x r4 Gaming Laptop — $1,612 at Dell Home after coupon. Quick Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 8GB RAM, and 2GB GeForce GTX 660M. List is $1,749.

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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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Square Enix said today it lost $134 million on revenues of $1.455 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31. When the Japanese video game maker announced that it expect the loss last month, its longtime chief executive Yoichi Wada resigned from the top job.

The company’s problem is that sales of traditional console and PC games are dropping, but digital sales aren’t rising fast enough to offset those losses. And the games that Square Enix was counting on to be hits — from Tomb Raider to Sleeping Dogs — haven’t sold as many copies as the company expected. In that respect, the Japanese company is in the same situation as many other publishers — facing disruption from mobile and social games. And Square Enix and others are having a tough time adapting to the transition to digital distribution.

Square Enix said its loss for the fiscal year compared to a profit of $59 million and sales of $1.255 billion a year earlier. In a statement, the company blamed the decline in operating income due to the “underperformance of major titles for consumer game consoles in North America and Europe.”

But the company touted its efforts in social, browser, and mobile games. During the year, it launched Sengoku Ixa, a browser game, Final Fantasy Brigade on the Mobage mobile social network, and Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur. Meanwhile, Dragon Quest X, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, has been showing “steady performance” in Japan (it’s not in the U.S. yet). The company said that smartphone and tablet gaming is spreading rapidly, while the console game markets in North America and Europe are “increasingly competitive and oligopolistic.” As a result, the company is amid a reorganization aimed at establishing a new base of revenues.

The company said, “The group anticipates major transformation in the structure of the digital entertainment industry.” That means digital entertainment will be network-connnected and consumers will access a diverse range of content on multi-function devices.

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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.

Even though it was only announced yesterday, the November 5 release of Call of Duty: Ghosts is already available for preorder at numerous retailers. At the time of writing, three retailers are offering bonuses with the game. The most enticing deal on the PC download comes from GameFly in the form of a $7 digital download credit that’s yours as soon as Ghosts releases.

If you’re more of a console gamer (or just don’t want to wait half a year for a $7 credit), Best Buy’s got an alternative deal that applies to the PC physical and console editions. You’ll be out around a hundred bucks because they make you purchase an additional game, but you get instant gratification in the form of a $15 gift card that doesn’t just apply to downloads. If you’re already tempted to buy an additional title and are resigned to the fact you’ll probably buy something else from Best Buy soon – because let’s face it, those marked up HDMI cables have a draw on you – this deal isn’t half bad.

Call of Duty: Ghosts preorder comparison

Just over a month after its critically acclaimed release, BioShock Infinite finally gets a discount on the console versions that beats the best current PC download deal. Best Buy is offering $15 off Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, bringing them to $44.99. This makes the lowest price we’ve seen for the console game by $3, and it saves you $12 off the current next best deal out there.

If you want to live dangerously on both sides of the law, Green Man Gaming’s offering a dual pack of downloads that’ll let you commit or solve crimes, depending on which angel on your shoulder has your ear at the time. They’ve bundled both Max Payne 3 and LA Noire for $16.

This combo price ties the lowest summed price we’ve seen the games sell for separately, but you’ll also get the Max Payne 3 Rockstar Pass DLC. The lowest we’ve seen the Rockstar Pass go for in the past is $7, so effectively you’re getting the full games at lowest ever prices plus a free DLC. Both games received stellar reviews, so if you haven’t played one or the other, this is a great time to buy.

Hot deals & recent releases

Nov. 5: Call of Duty: Ghosts + $7 Digital Credit (PC Download) — $59.99 at GameFly. Currently the only preorder bonus deal available for the PC download version.
 

Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3) — $44.99 at Best Buy. First time the console versions have a solid sale that makes them cheaper than the PC download version. Who’s the gaming master race now?
 

Max Payne 3 and LA Noire Pack (PC Download) — $16 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. A great bundle with two excellent, well-reviewed games plus their additional content.
 

Dragon Age Complete Pack (PC Download) — $9.99 at GamersGate. Includes the Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition and Dragon Age 2. Separately $40.
 

PC download pack & bundle deals

Batman Arkham Complete Collection (PC Download) — $27 at GamersGate. Includes Batman Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition, plus two LEGO Batman games.
 

Codemasters Racing Pack (PC Download) — $21.75 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Pack includes DiRT 3, Dirt Showdown, FUEL, and GRID – a decent set of racing games whose titles make grammarians involuntarily cringe. Separately these would normally cost $80.

Sonic the Hedgehog Bundle (PC Download) — $21.56 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. This bundle includes a whopping ten Sonic game downloads.

Omerta: City of Gangsters and Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants Bundle (PC Download) — $19.99 at GameFly. A weird combo for sure, but the odd pairing doesn’t diminish the bargain.
 

Tomb Raider Collection (PC Download) — $12 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. If you want to grab everything before the most recent Tomb Raider title, this is easily the cheapest way. Nine titles.
 

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Collection Bundle (PC Download) — $8.99 at GamersGate. This is the base game plus two DLC packs. Normally $30.
 

Tropico 4 Collectors Bundle (PC Download) — $8 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. You’ll get a great city-building sim game plus 7 DLC packs for less than two DLC packs normally cost.
 

Patrician: Complete Pack (PC Download) — $7 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. The pack contains Patrician IV Gold Edition and Patrician III. If historical trading sim games are your thing, grab this pack.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Complete (PC Download) — $5.99 at GamersGate. Excellent PC RPG for an even better price. This bundle comes with all 3 released expansions.
 

Dungeons & Dragons Anthology: The Master Collection (PC Download) — $5.99 at GamersGate. If you love the D&D RPG system, you’ll want to check out this collection, which includes classics like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment.
 

Kane and Lynch Pack (PC Download) — $5.60 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Contains Dead Men and Dog Days. If you’ve never played this third person shooter, it’s certainly worth considering for under $6.

Gothic Complete Collection (PC Download) — $5 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Includes all three parts of the saga. Next best is $25 at GamersGate.
 

Just Cause Pack (PC Download) — $5 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Contains Just Cause and Just Cause 2. If you bought each game separately, they’d add up to $19.
 

360, PS3, and PS Vita deals

May 14: Metro: Last Light Limited Edition (Xbox 360, PS3) — $49.99 at NewEgg. Comes with “Ranger Mode” – an exclusive weapon and 100 military-grade bullets. List is $60.
 

June 14: The Last of Us (PS3) — $49.99 at NewEgg. Still a hot, eagerly anticipated title, and Newegg is clearly capitalizing on the hype.
 

June 25: Muramasa: Rebirth (PS Vita) — $29.99 at NewEgg. Hand-drawn graphics, ninjas, and evil spirits. You really can’t ask for more from this Wii port.
 

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3) — $39.99 at NewEgg after coupon. A new style of action-oriented gameplay for the Metal Gear series. Next best is $46 at JR.com.
 

Gears of War: Judgment (Xbox 360) — $34.99 at NewEgg. Yep. You can rip off gods’ heads with your bare hands, but you can’t open locked treasure chests.
 

Sleeping Dogs (PS3, Xbox 360) — $19.99 at Groupon. Good price for the console versions of this open-world game which hardly ever goes on sale.
 

Hardware

Alienware M17x r4 1080p Gaming Laptop — $1,874 at Dell Home after coupon. Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 2GB Radeon HD 7970M, and 8GB RAM. List is $2,149. Deal expires today.
 

Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop — $1,719 at Dell Home after coupon. Specs: Quad Core i7-3820 Overclocked 4.1GHz, DUAL GeForce GTX 660, and 16GB RAM. List is $1,924. Deal expires today.
 

Alienware X51 Gaming Desktop — $689 at Dell Home after coupon. Specs: Core i5-3330, 8GB RAM, and GeForce GT 640. List is $799. Deal expires today.
 

Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 1080p Gaming Laptop — $879 at Lenovo after coupon. Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 12GB RAM, GeForce GT 750M 2GB, and 1TB HDD + 16GB SSD.
 

Lenovo IdeaPad Y400 Gaming Laptop — $749 at Lenovo after coupon. Specs: Core i7-3630QM, GeForce GT 750M 2GB, and 8GB RAM. List is $1,249.
 

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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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Achievements on Xbox 360 and Trophies on PlayStation 3 — whatever you want to call them — they have changed the way that we play games … for better or worse.

I will admit; I am a Trophy hunter. I’m always trying to get as many Trophies as possible. While Achievements and Trophies are a cool and exciting addition to games, they also have the potential to be harmful to the way we play.

Before Achievements and Trophies, we played because we simply enjoyed gaming. We didn’t need to get a Trophy or Achievement to feel satisfied; finding shortcuts in racing games or even simply reaching the end was enough to make us happy.

Today, simply completing the story mode is just not enough. We must collect every treasure, find every Playboy magazine, and unlock every lock-box. Why do we do this? It is because we really love the games we are playing or because we want to show off to our friends?

Social networking, in general, has affected the ways we act and the things we do, and I believe it has affected the way we game as well. The 360 and PS3 both allow you to share your Achievements or Trophies with your Facebook friends. Playfire is a social network created specifically for gaming. Your friends will always see what you’re playing and how many Achievements or Trophies you have earned. And, of course, these things can be shared on Facebook. Does this drive us to play games — even really bad ones — just to boost our Gamerscore or PlayStation Network level?

I have heard of people purchasing poor quality games just because they want to have a lot of Trophies. One game that is known to have one of the easiest Platinum Trophies — the highest such reward on a PS3 game — is Megamind: Ultimate Showdown. Apparently, the Trophy can be earned in less than three hours. (If the only Platinum you have is for a game like this, that doesn’t count!)

Admit it — as soon as you get that Achievement or Trophy that you’ve been working on for weeks or even months, you post a status about it or even directly share it to your Facebook wall — excuse me, “timeline.” One can only wonder if we are, maybe subconsciously, playing games solely to impress others.

I will admit that when I was trying to decide whether to buy Sleeping Dogs on PC or PS3, I ultimately chose PS3 because I wanted to get the Trophies and try for the Platinum. I know Steam has Achievements, but maybe, just maybe, I wanted others to see my trophies in their news feeds.

By getting Achievements or Trophies in games, we get a false sense of accomplishment. Maybe those of us who aren’t really happy with our lives are the same people who are Achievement and Trophy hunters. Getting a Platinum Trophy or 1000 Gamerscore is the gaming equivalent of getting an A-plus on a test or getting a raise at a job.

While I do believe that Achievements and Trophies have changed the way we game in a bad way, I also believe that they have had a positive effect.

If you look at it from a monetary point-of-view, when you get every single A chievement or Trophy, you are getting your full money’s worth. People who don’t have much money for games usually try to experience their games to 100 percent completion because they feel that is the only way to really make it worth the 60 bucks that they paid.

Remember the reason you started gaming in the first place. It wasn’t for the Trophies or the Achievements. It was for the sheer joy of gaming. You should play because you truly love doing it. So sit back, relax, and just enjoy the unique and wonderful world of gaming.

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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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Advanced Micro Devices is squarely targeting hardcore gamers with its AMD Never Settle Reloaded bundle, which gives a bunch of free games with a graphics card purchase.

AMD makes the Radeon series of graphics chips, which are housed in add-on cards for persona computers. For gamers who buy the graphics cards, AMD has a special offer. The whole point is to try to get an edge over rivals Nvidia and Intel and work AMD’s brands into the minds of hardcore gamers, who spend tons of money on both gaming hardware and games.

If you buy two AMD Radeon HD 7900 series cards (for use in a single gamer PC), you can get six games for free: Crysis 3, BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs.

For the purchase of a single AMD Radeon HD 7900 series card, you can get Crysis 3 and BioShock Infinite for free. If you buy an AMD Radeon HD 7800 series card, you can get BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider for free, said Devon Nekechuk, product manager at AMD, in a briefing call. If you prefer, you can get DmC and BioShock Infinite with an AMD Radeon HD 7800 series card.

Tomb Raider debuts on March 5, while BioShock Infinite is out on March 26. DmC: Devil May Cry is already out. And Crysis 3 debuts Feb. 19. For these games, AMD will give you a code once you register with them. You can use that code to download the games on Steam or your preferred platform once they become available.

Last fall, AMD launched its AMD Never Settle Bundle with four games: Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, Sleeping Dogs and Medal of Honor: Warfighter. That amounted to $170 in free games with a graphics card purchase. And in the spring of 2012, AMD gave three games away with a card purchase.

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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 don’t have to be based on movies or sports teams to feature real humans. As 3D rendering technology advances, more and more developers turn to flesh-and-bone actors, and models to give life to their protagonists and antagonists.

In the case of Far Cry 3′s Vaas Montenegro (top image), Ubisoft hired Canadian actor Michael Mando to portray, voice, and provide motion capture for the sadistic madman as well as star in promotional material. Vaas’s appearance (combined with Mando’s performance) give the title an extra layer of realism.

I made a list of 20 celebrity sightings in modern video games with side-to-side images of their in-game models next to their real faces. Hover the cursor over the image below to launch the gallery.

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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’s my shelf.

When I got my first job out of college and realized that I could afford to buy any game I wanted to play, I filled up all the empty space on my shelf with titles and even a PlayStation Vita. However, that newfound fortune came with a catch: spending time at work instead of with a controller. This resulted in a backlog of fantastic games that goes as far back as August. I’ve been making steady progress, but the video game industry discovered it could sell me games every month of the year and not just during the holidays. Because of this, my backlog has continued to grow at a near-unmanageable rate despite my efforts to stop it. Even from here, I can tell that March’s buffet of gaming goodness is going to be a bloodbath at retail and for my shelves.

Most casual players are probably pickier with their selection and don’t buy nearly everything that costs less than $10 during a Steam sale. Those players usually don’t run into this issue. I’m not those players. To make matters worse, I’m one of those people that has to finish every game I start. This means I’ve wasted countless hours playing bad games just because I didn’t have the foresight to avoid pressing the Start button, which takes time away from the good games in my backlog.

I want to play Sleeping Dogs. I want to play Persona 4: Golden. Before my brain will let me, though, I need to finish Resident Evil 6 — a game with a ridiculous logo that I think is kinda bad. I’ve started watching Netflix on my laptop while playing just so I can mindlessly shoot my way through. It’s actively boring, but I can’t fight the system. My backlog is my burden to bear.

I have a problem, but I’m looking for a solution. I’m going to try going back to my old ways of waiting for reviews and making tough decisions about what games I want to play. Just because I can buy any game that I want to does not mean that I should. With time more precious than it’s ever been before, maybe I can’t really afford every game I want to play after all.

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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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Yesterday, I ran down some of the funny ways that developers use Xbox 360 Achievements and PlayStation 3 Trophies to tell players that they suck. Today, I’m getting a little more positive — if a bit morbid — with a bunch of virtual doodads that center around all the funny ways we can kill imaginary things.

Darkest of Days — “Horse Puncher”
Value: 100G
“Punch a horse in the face, killing it.”

Mongo from the film Blazing Saddles in the picture above isn’t the only person who refuses to take guff from any equine punks. Developer 8Monkey Labs’ time-traveling shooter Darkest of Days will add a hefty 100 points to your Gamerscore for sending a horse to blazes using only your mitts. We’re not sure what’s more confusing: that you can punch a horse in Darkest of Days, that you can punch a horse to death in Darkest of Days, or that punching a horse to death in Darkest of Days awards an Achievement comparable in size to the one you’d normally get for beating a game.

I’m just confused all over on this one.

The War of the Worlds — “3.711 m/s² != 9.780 m/s²”
Value: 10G
“Destroy a Drone using a pushable object.”

This Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive 2D platformer is mostly about avoiding and eluding attackers from the Red Planet, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t score a few points for Team Terra along the way. The Achievement’s title refers to the accelerations due to gravity on Mars and Earth respectively, the upshot being that one of our pushable objects sitting at the same height as a Martian one possesses just over two and a half times more potential energy. So between this and that whole “incredibly vulnerable to Earth bacteria” oversight, those aliens didn’t know what the hell they were doing.

Sleeping Dogs — “A Slap in the Face”
Value: 10G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill someone with a fish.”

Have you ever noticed how much fictional criminals like aquariums? You can usually tell how much weight a bad guy pulls by the number of fish he keeps in whatever club or restaurant he uses as a base. It makes sense, I suppose; aquariums are really relaxing, and even upper-level criminal masterminds need to unwind at the end of the day. Developer United Front’s open-world action game Sleeping Dogs turns this right around by allowing players to straight-up murder guys with these gentle stress-balls of the sea.

Just Cause 2 — “Follow Me!”
Value: 15G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill 5 enemies by dragging them behind a vehicle with the grappling hook.”

“Follow Me!” didn’t make this list because I think dragging people behind trucks is inherently funny. I’m just throwing that out there for liability purposes and so you don’t think I’m crazy. But it still makes me chuckle because of the earnestness of its title, which suggests a guy valiantly charging up a fortified hill or making his horse rear up before setting off on the path to adventure. Only, you know, dragging a corpse behind him.

Fairytale Fights — “Good for Your Eyes!”
Value: 15G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill a bunny with a carrot.”

I’m a huge fan of Entertaining Comics-style poetic justice, which is why this reward first appealed to me. “Yeah, screw you, bunny,” I thought. “At last, the carrot shall have its revenge.” Then I did a little more research and learned that the bunnies in question aren’t even enemies; they’re just random cuteness populating the Fairytale Fights world. You unlock the Achievement or Trophy by attacking an adorable creature who never meant you any harm, and which probably spends its last few seconds of its virtual life thinking, “Oh, look! Someone nice person is bringing me a carrot!”

I just made myself sad, but it’s still kind of funny.

The Incredible Hulk — “Let’s Do Lunch!”
Value: 10G
“Crush 10 enemies by throwing either a taco, an ice cream cone or a doughnut.”

“Let’s Do Lunch!” combines the enthusiasm of “Follow Me!” with the food-centric carnage of “Good for Your Eyes!” It’s basically the Achievement equivalent of a Reese’s Fast Break candy bar. It also makes me imagine the Hulk handing out business cards, which I imagine are the size of magazines and on which he has hastily scribbled his misspelled contact information with a giant Crayon. Plus, the idea of killing a bunch of guys with a comically large donut is, in itself, pretty funny … unless you’re one of those guys, obviously.

Splatterhouse — “Morbid Dismemberment”
Value: 5G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill an enemy with your own dismembered arm.”

Rick, the hero of developer Namco Bandai’s remake of 1988′s famously profane beat-’em-up Splatterhouse, is one of the most optimistic video game characters in recent years. You or I might lose an arm in a fight with a demon and think, “Oh, no! My Sandwich Hand! Also, why am I fighting this demon?” Rick, however, looks at his still-twitching limb lying on the floor and realizes that the demon has only provided him with a handy weapon (literally and otherwise). He has the luxury of knowing that his arm will grow back eventually, unlike ours, and he’s also a frightened college student wearing a sentient mask that grants powers in exchange for blood. It’s pretty much the ideal setup for keeping on the sunny side of that whole demon situation.

Borderlands — “My Brother Is an Italian Plumber”
Value: 15G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill an enemy by stomping on its head”

The Borderlands series is not afraid to cram as many references in as possible; it probably has as many nods to movies, TV shows, and other games as it does types of shotguns. So it isn’t really surprising that the first installment would contain an overt Mario reference. What really pushes this reward over the top, however, is that watching someone try to complete it is probably the funniest thing about it. Those head stomps don’t do much damage, after all.

Warriors: Legends of Troy — “Now That’s Just Mean…”
Value: 5G/Bronze Trophy
“Kill 10 fleeing enemies by throwing picked-up weapons.”

Sometimes, Achievements and Trophies encourage you to act like guys from action movies of the ’80s and ’90s; this is among their most important cultural contributions. Take another of Legends of Troy’s rewards, “There’s No Escape,” which unlocks after the first time you kill a fleeing enemy by throwing a picked-up weapon. It resonates in the same way as that scene from Predator in which Dutch throws a machete at a guy, pins him to a wall, and then takes a moment to say “Stick around” before he scampers away to spread his particular brand of joy elsewhere.

“Now That’s Just Mean…,” like a lot of Achievements and Trophies, asks you to do the same badass thing a bunch of times, thus evoking the Law of Diminishing Returns. The act of picking up things and throwing them at guys who are running away goes from awesome to boring, but then it crosses over into absurd when you realize that by all rights, the enemies should have stopped trying to run away after the fourth or fifth time they saw you do that.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II — “Poor Bob”
Value: 10G/Bronze
“Force Grip a Stormtrooper, impale him, zap him with Lightning, then throw him into an object.”

Well-planned Achievements and Trophies can get you to try things in games that you normally wouldn’t and teach you how to interact with the virtual world in new and interesting ways. Fable II, for example, has you kill a rabbit to demonstrate how the civilian-sparing “safety” feature works. “Poor Bob,” in addition to just being a funny thing to do, also incorporates all the game’s major offensive Force powers to show you how they fit together. It demonstrates two key concepts in the game: first, that you can build your own combos, and second, that if you so choose, you can just keep jacking up the same guy for as long as you want.

Warhawk — “That Was Some Bug”
Value: Gold Trophy
“Kill an enemy who is flying a jetpack by hitting him with any vehicle or aircraft.”

The jetpack is one of those things that people want even though they know that it would probably just get them killed, possibly hilariously. But video games provide a safe outlet for our ‘pack lust, which is why they’ve shown up in such disparate franchises as Halo, Red Faction, and Tribes, the marketing slogan of which should have been “This game is about jetpacks.”

The tactical value of strapping a few pounds of fuel to your back and lighting it is clear in games: You can get to where you’re going faster, more directly, and safer than if you were to take your chances on the ground with all the people trying to shoot you. But “That Was Some Bug” injects a sad bit of reality into happy jetpack time and then tops it all off with a name that mocks your silly little aspirations of flight.

I’m not actually sure if this is funny anymore. I really just want a jetpack.

Secret Service — “The Exact Opposite of Your Job”
Value: 0G
“Shot the man you were hired to protect.”

Secret Service is back with another Achievement that will not affect your Gamerscore in the least. I think the developers made the right call on this one, though; it would be tacky to award players points for shooting the President. But good on them for acknowledging that some players might just be that bad at games.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker — “You’re Pretty Good”
Value: 20G/Bronze Trophy
“Shot enemy right in the middle of the rear end.”

I’m not entirely sure that this Trophy belongs on the list, since I don’t have any doctors around to ask if a gunshot wound to “the middle of the rear end” is necessarily fatal. But I’m going to go ahead and assume that if it isn’t, the victim would wish it had been.

If you can’t get enough metagaming humor, be sure to check out the other articles in this series:

• Part One: Failures
• Part Three: That’s so meta
• Part Four: I see what you did there
• Part Five: And the rest

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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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So, it’s possible that maybe a few of my tips might have led to the alleged escape of 69 convicts from multiple state and federal prisons. Some “unnamed person,” who is most certainly not I, apparently gave these ne’er-do-wells a proven method to escape prison, which they used to great effect during completely unrelated prison riots started across the country.

I, of course, know nothing about this and am completely innocent. After all, is there a citizen who could possibly be more upstanding than I am? No, there couldn’t. And to prove that, I am going to provide you fine police officers out there with some advice for recapturing those criminals. Isn’t that nice of me?

Without further ado, I bring you the gaming school of policing.

Lesson 1: Catching those fugitive monkeys after the apes escape

The first step in restoring order should no doubt be recapturing those criminals (the ones you let escape, you over glorified mall cop). And who better to show you how to do your job than Spike? What’s that, you say? He’s only 12-years-old? Let me ask you something: How many fugitive monkeys have you caught? None? That’s funny — the 12-year-old has caught over 200. Perhaps you should listen.

Now, the first thing you’ll need is a weapon, but if you were competent with a pistol, no one would have escaped in the first place. No, you’ll need something else — something a Neanderthal like yourself could use, like a club. And the finesse of a butterfly net would be a perfect complement to its brute force. It’ll be easy. Just club them and stuff them in your oversized net. You’ll have a van full of unconscious (and possibly dead) criminals in no time! And I wouldn’t worry too much about any lawsuits. Police brutality is just a myth, anyway.

Lesson 2: Cracking down with a vengeance

Strength in numbers is not a myth, however. Catching all of those gangsters isn’t going to be easy if all you’re using is a stick and a butterfly net stolen from a little girl. Hopefully, you’ll be ready to move up to a weapon that is a little less … pathetic. Our advanced technology thankfully affords officers of the law new possibilities like superpowers!

Yes, you too can now recapture those villainous … erm … villains with your new cybernetically enhanced suit, which gives you the strength of 50 men, the skill of 100 assassins, and the speed of some guy from Jamaica or something. All enemies of the state will be within your grasp! All you need to do is drop by the Agency and apply for our super-agent program. You’ll be fitted for a suit and will be mopping the floor with those lawbreakers in no time.  No, literally. I mean you’ll actually have to mop the floor after the last batch of test subje — willing participants in this program experienced a few small, insignificant side effects. Homicidal rampages, excessive use of force, megalomania, obsessive compulsive behavior, hallucinations of “orbs” floating around the city … but nothing serious.

I’m sure those kinks have been worked out by now.

Lesson 3: Don’t let sleeping dogs lie

By now, you’re probably thinking, “Everything is under control. The city is safe, and my job is done.” Well, no. Good job wiping out crime and all, but you only cleaned the surface. The dirty underside is still there, festering like a 40-day-old chicken salad sandwich that I may or may not have left in your fridge. They’ll rise up when you least expect it and bring chaos to the streets.

That would be bad … for you. I get paid regardless.

But since I’m not too keen on murders and thieves rampaging through the streets, I’ll give you some advice. Everyone is going to run away from you with that armor on, and that can’t happen. You’re going to need to go undercover. Get a new name and occupation — maybe even a new face. John Notacop, professional enforcer and bodyguard. Yeah, no one will suspect that.

You’ll be able to rise through the criminal world nearly unopposed, eliminating and arresting all who would question your motives. Nearly all of the remaining gang lords will be within your grasp, and they’ll only be a dramatic confrontation away. A few tense moments, a couple of gunshots, and a few good blows to the head, and they’ll be yours. The only thing left to do is deliver their mutilated corp — I mean, lifeless bod — err, completely unharmed persons to the authorities.

Lesson 4: Reducing grand theft auto rates

It may be a bit early to say, but I believe that your city is now the perfect metropolis, full of well-to-do citizens and upstanding working class urbanites. The streets are no doubt paved with gold, and a rainbow is permanently etched into the skyline. The denizens of your utopian society are all kind and thoughtful, and many of them are even great intellectuals and scholars. Yes, there’s a new “happiest place on earth.”

What’s that? Do you mean to tell me that none of that is true? The taxpayers found out about the millions of dollars spent on supersuits? You’re encountering police brutality lawsuits? And you murdered a gang lord? Gang lords? You should be ashamed of yourself! But you’ll have to feel sorry about it later.

Right now, criminals are infecting your fair city, corrupting everything they touch with bloodlust and greed. They’ve amassed an arsenal of concealable weapons: rocket launchers hidden in their pants (not a sex joke), death-dealing helicopters that out materialize out of thin air, vibrating sex toys … and I wish that one was a joke.

But here you are, probably rotting in one of the recently vacated prisons, contemplating your rise and fall — a pity party of one. This is no time for reflection. It’s time for (more) action! After reading this excellently written article (whose author, for legal reasons, can’t be named) and breaking out of prison, the most important task at hand becomes assembling a police force. I’m sure you’re fairly used to being an army of one by now, but unfortunately, that just won’t work anymore. The criminals have become smarter, and they’re not going down without a fight.

You’ll need a handpicked task force — nothing but the best. I recommend overweight, trigger-happy lunatics bent on killing every last lawbreaker. They should also like donuts because it’s funny. Then, if they experience any problems with bringing those outlaws to justice, you can make fun of their weight. Consequently, they’ll become enraged and take it out on those fugitives, thereby ridding the city of evil.

You get to make fun of someone, and they stop being useless. Everybody wins.

Lesson 5: Using unnecessary force on the Third Street Saints

This is clearly your fault, but I suppose not everyone can carry out plans as competently as I can. No, you’ve utterly and completely failed to restore order and spent millions of the taxpayers’ dollars so that you could recapture criminals who escaped because of your incompetence. It didn’t have to come to this, but the city can’t be allowed to remain in this state. The siege must be ended and the war won. It’s time to bring out the real muscle.

Unfortunately, few gangs and mercenary groups want to cooperate with “the fuzz,” so we’ll just have to settle for the technologically advanced, wholly psychotic military group intent on wiping all gangs from the face of the earth. Yes, I know it’s hardly an equal substitute, but they’ll make do for now. And after declaring martial law, they should have no trouble cleaning up your mess. Of course, you may find a few dissenters who claim that your new team is using “unnecessary force” and are “batsh*t crazy murders,” but those people have a tendency of disappearing unexpectedly … in mysterious circumstances … with no witnesses.

Moving on, a few things might change once the army moves in to your neighborhood, such as the sky permanently darkening because of the enormous flying carrier blocking the sun and Big Brother forever watching you (by the way, don’t look over your shoulder). It may take time to adjust, but stand tall, officer! You’ve completed the gaming school of policing and can stand up to any threat. Unless it happens to include mimes. Then you’re screwed. Mimes will **** you up.

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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 2012 has shown us one thing, it’s that video game development is truly in the “crossover era.” GamesBeat’s 2012 Game of the Year, The Walking Dead, was first available as a downloadable title, not a retail release. Other downloadables, such as indie-developed darlings Journey and Faster Than Light, garnered plenty of votes as well. And in our staff’s and contributor’s top games of the year lists, we even see mobile releases — like Fieldrunners 2.

Gaming has changed, and it’s nice to see that it’s more than just big-budget console and PC titles that have earned Game of the Year attention. Here are the top games as chosen by GamesBeat staffers and contributors. Let us know what you think about our picks in the comments — especially if you feel we’ve left something off our lists!

Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games

Little green men — yesteryear’s poster boys for mysterious invaders from outer space — are about as menacing as Oompa Loompas armed with toy guns. XCOM’s little gray men, however, are scary as hell. It’s not the ashen skin, bulbous eyes, or creepy-crawly walk. It’s what these Sectoids represent: a greater threat that we are simply not equipped to handle.

In the strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, we mere humans bring dull knives to plasma gunfights. And just when we start to catch up in weapon technology, the bug-eyed bastards bring bigger guns and meaner friends. These jerks even cheat with mysterious mind-control powers. Meanwhile, we’re barely keeping the checkbook balanced between research, manufacturing, facility construction, aircraft, and an ever-decreasing budget due to world nations pulling out of the program if you can’t keep them safe (and you can never keep them all safe).

It all adds up to an incredibly exciting and stressful experience. Each decision — whether it’s which tree to hide your assault trooper behind or which whiny country gets your last airspace-monitoring satellite — feels monumental and permanent. Humanity’s existence is at stake, and we just want to make it to the next month, when a few more pennies come rolling in and a few more traumatized soldiers get out of sick bay.

It’s a desperate fight. And boy will we celebrate when those little gray men are dead.

Shoe’s other picks for best games of 2012: Fieldrunners 2, Dishonored, Journey, Fez

Lead writer Dean Takahasi

The Unfinished Swan
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Giant Sparrow

The Unfinished Swan is one of the most creative titles yet for the PlayStation Network. It’s an interactive fairy tale where you lob blobs of black paint at a white screen. As you do so, you uncover part of a 3D space hidden within the white scene. Uncovering each scene is a mind-bending task, as you have to navigate perplexing puzzles. You explore the unknown, and as you do so, you uncover a new segment in a fairy tale about a boy who loses his mother. It is a touching story that will remind of you of the zany Alice in Wonderland. Ian Dallas, the game creator, feels that a child who is abandoned is like an unfinished work of art. But just when you think that the game has become predictable, it changes. In some ways, the story seems unfinished. But the title is a wonderful first effort for Giant Sparrow, a new studio bankrolled by Sony.

Dean’s other picks for the best games of 2012: Halo 4, Far Cry 3, Journey, Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Culture editor Sebastian Haley

Hotline Miami
Platform: PC
Publisher: Developer Digital
Developer: Dennaton Games

Indie sensation Hotline Miami is best described as the film Drive, but in a retro, pixelated and somehow even more violent form, with subtle hints of Rockstar’s Manhunt sprinkled on top. The short-but-sickeningly sweet levels allow you to carefully orchestrate your symphony of murder and mayhem, filling the floors with maimed corpses and spraying the walls with crimson, all while its surreal, Miami Vice-inspired soundtrack beats in the back of your mind. Basically, if you own a Wii or like looking at livestreams of kittens, this is not your kind of game.

Sebastian’s other picks for best games of 2012: Trials Evolution, Far Cry 3, The Darkness II, Final Fantasy XIII-2

Staff writer Jeff Grubb

Mark of the Ninja
Platform: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), PC
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Klei Entertainment

For these Game of the Year summaries, we’re supposed to look above and beyond the individual parts of a game. We’re supposed to write about why it is important, but in the case of Mark of the Ninja, it’s those parts that make it so special. Developer Klei’s 2D stealth action game for Xbox Live Arcade and PC is a master class in well-executed gameplay mechanics. Whether it’s a soundwave that ripples off your ninja’s feet to indicate how much noise he’s making or a vision cone that indicates where an enemy is looking, Mark of the Ninja is constantly communicating with the player. It then provides the player with a great controlling character to poke and prod the world with.

It’s not rare that a game makes you feel like a badass, but with Klei’s game it’s not about how powerful you are — it’s about how in tune with the environment your character is. You have so much visual and aural information that every moment is an opportunity for experimentation. You can spend 10 minutes laying out a detailed plan that involves deadly traps, or you can play the entire game without a sword.

In video games, we don’t usually get a lot of new ideas, we just get different takes on old ideas. Stealth is an old idea at this point, but Mark of the Ninja distinguishes itself by executing the concept better than any other game before it.

Jeff’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Trials Evolution, FTL: Faster Than Light

Copy editor Jason Wilson

FTL: Faster Than Light
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Publisher: Subset Games
Developer: Subset Games

I’m low on fuel. My crew raced around my starship like a colony of ants, hastily putting out fires as doors opened to the cold vacuum of space. The Rebels are closing in on me. Do I take a chance and see if I can gain more fuel in the next nebular cloud, or do I make a mad dash for the next sector and hope to find friendly forces instead of angry adversaries? These are just some of the choices the player faces in FTL: Faster Than Light, the indie roguelike that’s swept upon a number of Game of the Year lists in 2012 (including ours!). What makes FTL so compelling to players is that a take on Civilization’s “one more turn” addictive nature — but instead of furthering your game, you’re driven to see if your next attempt takes you closer to escaping the pursuing Rebel forces. And it’s this that makes FTL one of the most interesting, fascinating, and, yes, best games of 2012.

Jason’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Crusader Kings II, Torchlight II, Dragon’s Dogma

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

Far Cry 3
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Something visceral. Something primal. Most shooters don’t have these. They settle you into a safe, comfortable role. Veteran soldier. Seasoned cop. Career criminal. A hero … or an antihero. But Far Cry 3 makes you run blind through the jungle while murderous pirates hunt you like a piece of prey. You’re just a terrified kid. Never held a gun before. Never seen anyone die before. Now you’re covered in your own brother’s blood and getting high off the giddy thrill of mere survival. Then you’re turned lose to roam two amazingly rich, open-world islands where you can really start enjoying yourself, slowly and cautiously picking your tormentors apart. Before you know it, the elation you get from destroying a criminal empire hardens into a different kind of drug: revenge.

That’s when Far Cry 3 surpasses the standard shooter fare. An aimless twentysomething becomes a killer of killers, as feared as the insane warlords he wants dead. Between coolly tense stealth play and straight-up gunfights, you become the predator, stalking intruders in your jungle and murdering them at will. It all culminates in a moment where you must decide just how much you enjoy that particular power fantasy. Enough to abandon your humanity? Maybe.

Far Cry 3 goes there. Solid gameplay — minus a weak-tea multiplayer — and incredibly detailed environments lift it far enough, but its secret weapon lies in how it takes you into that dark, primal place. And then it dares you to ignore your basic animal instincts.

Rus’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Fez, Halo 4, Journey

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

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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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Game networking service Raptr released its annual Raptr Report detailing the most played games of 2012, and it carries a few surprises about how gamers spent their time in the last 12 months. The data is based on Raptr’s gameplay tracking feature and a user base in the 15 million range. Games on the Wii U and PlayStation 3 didn’t factor into these numbers due to data-capture restrictions.

The overall most played new intellectual property? That goes to Dishonored. Developer Arkane Studios’ stealthy, steampunk actioner narrowly edged out Sleeping Dogs’ kung-fu treachery by a slender 6 percent. But split the numbers out to total playtime per player, and massively multiplayer games still led the charge. Korean heroic fantasy The Exiled Realm of Arborea (aka TERA) commanded a strong 14 percent lead over its nearest competitor, Dragon’s Dogma, with the average player logging 40 hours in the first month alone.

Meanwhile, Xbox Live Arcade’s biggest hit turned out to be a PC game. Minecraft drew 350 percent more playtime than the second-place finisher, Trials: Evolution. According to Raptr, XBLA games tend to max out at roughly 10 hours of use in the first month. Minecraft players averaged just over 20 hours.

Raptr also notes that 27 percent of Minecraft players have tried to ride a flying pig.

The most played game of 2012, however, won’t come as any shock. It’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II with a comfortable 11-point margin, followed by Borderlands 2, Halo 4, and Minecraft.

But it turns out gamers are far more devoted to something other than Black Ops II.

Breaking the data into individual playtimes handily negates Black Ops II’s vast sales advantage. More people bought the latest Call of Duty, but on a person-by-person basis, gamers spent far more time trolling through Borderlands 2′s Wasteland. A lot more.

The average player spent 49 hours in the Wasteland … nearly 50 more than the average Black Ops II player in their respective opening months.

Possibly, the 11 percent of players who completed every side quest added to those numbers. Raptr also reports that players spent an average 80 hours to reach the level 50 cap. Borderlands 2 also topped the list of nonannualized game sequels with double the overall time that was spent on Diablo III. In that same category, Guild Wars 2 took honors for the most individual playtime.

On the MMO front, switching to a free-to-play model worked out well for a pair of high-profile titles. Star Wars: The Old Republic saw a 136 percent increase in overall playtime in just two weeks while Star Trek Online bumped its population a whopping 266 percent in playtime per day.

And the numbers clearly solve the age-old argument between those hardcore followings. Star Wars beats out Star Trek’s playtime numbers by 168 percent. The top three The Old Republic players have shown serious devotion, each logging over 250 hours in the game.

But for Raptr’s coveted No Bathroom Break award, which honors the longest average play sessions, a few new fighters entered the ring. Mass Effect 3 just barely missed toppling Borderlands 2, with XCOM: Enemy Unknown following not far behind. Halo 4, Black Ops II, and Dragon’s Dogma rounded out the list.

Raptr’s methodology  uses a proprietary formula based on key statistics that include total hours, average session length, and average playtime per person. To create equal footing for comparison, all games are compared based on the same time frames, typically defined as the first month after release.

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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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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) hopes to jumpstart sales of its graphics chips and PC video cards by bundling top-selling video games with them.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is launching the Never Settle bundle that includes an AMD Radeon 7900 graphics card and multiple games for hardcore players. For those who buy the card, AMD will offer four major titles either free or at a discount. AMD needs the boost, as it recently reported a quarterly loss and said it would lay off 1,700 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce.

“This is the single most important game bundle of the year for Radeon graphics,” said Robert Hallock, AMD product marketing manager, in a press briefing. “This is the biggest graphics card bundle we have ever offered, and this is probably the biggest graphics card bundle that has ever been offered in the graphics industry.”

The bundle comes with an AMD Catalyst driver and free PC copies of Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs. In addition, customers will be able to get a 20 percent discount on Medal of Honor: Warfighter. All of the titles are major releases for the fall.

The bundle has several options. If you buy an AMD Radeon HD 7800 series graphics card or a Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition card, you can get Far Cry 3 for free and Medal of Honor Warfighter for 20 percent off. If you buy two AMD Radeon HD 7850 series graphics cards ($399), two Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition cards ($239), or two Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition cards ($499), then you can get Far Cry 3 and Hitman: Absolution for free as well as the 20 percent discounter on Warfighter. The value of the games in the bundles ranges from $60 to $170.

The new Catalyst 12.11 driver software provides a 15 percent performance gain in titles such as Battlefield 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Sleeping Dogs, and Dirt: Showdown. The bundle will be available in October after the launch of Windows 8.

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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, Telltale revealed that the majority of The Walking Dead players try to do the right thing, legendary game artist Paul Steed passed away, and GameStop beat Wall Street’s low second quarter expectations.

You’ll also find reviews of Persona 4 Arena, Sleeping Dogs,  and Darksiders II, as well as previews for Forge and Black Ops II.

News

• The DeanBeat: What’s next for Zynga as its ‘happily ever after’ fairy tale ends?
• Confirmed: OnLive’s assets sold to another company
• Portal 2 puzzle editor pops in co-op support
• Sega’s new publishing initiative helps indie developers and supernatural lumberjacks
• The Nintendo Download for August 16: You don’t even need to leave the house to buy New Super Mario Bros. 2 this week
• Betable hooks a deal with Big Fish for real-money gambling in casino games
• GameStop: ‘We have to be pragmatic’ about the launch of Nintendo’s Wii U
• Penny Arcade’s Kickstarter hits one-third of its goals
• The makers of Scott Pilgrim and Wizorb join forces for Mercenary Kings, a modern Metal Slug
• EA boosts its digital gambit with free-to-play Command & Conquer with high-end graphics
• Telltale Games: The majority of The Walking Dead players try to do the right thing
• Asus and Wikipad join Playstation Mobile, widening the reach of Sony games to more devices
• NASA scientists drive Mars rover Curiosity as if playing a 3D game
• Legendary and controversial video game artist Paul Steed passes away
• 14-year-old programmer creates iPhone game to help predict the 2012 election
• Wikipad: The company (and tablet) that is bringing console gaming to Android part 2 (exclusive)
• Alleged Xbox 720 dev kit sold for $20K on eBay (UPDATED)

Game guides

• Sleeping Dogs game guide: unlocks, collectibles, and easy money

MMO news

• World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria intro brings the focus back to orcs vs. humans…and pandas
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes joins the ever-growing legion of free-to-play MMOs

Financial news

• EA’s stock price rises 5 percent on buyout rumor
• Gree grows North American mobile game revenue by 38% in Q2
• GameStop beats Wall Street’s low expectations for second-quarter earnings
• NaturalMotion’s iOS racing game generates $12M in revenue in first month

Gaming gear

• Nvidia unleashes new weapon of choice for PC gamers
• Maingear launches gaming PCs that won’t break the bank
• Plantronics dives into professional gaming with a headset for cyber athletes
• Sony introduces Cross Buy, offers free Vita cross-play titles for PS3 purchases

Interviews

• ShootMania isn’t out yet and it already has 20,000 different levels (interview)
• China’s Perfect World quietly becomes a North American powerhouse in online games (interview)
• Assassin’s Creed III lead designer talks maxing out hardware, making waves, and feudal Japan (interview)
• The Walking Dead developer discusses the advantages and challenges of a multiplatform zombie apocalypse (interview)

Reviews

• Persona 4 Arena proves that role-playing games and arcade fighters can mix (review)
• In Darksiders II, Death overstays his welcome, but he can still wield a scythe with style (review)
• Papo & Yo creates a toybox of a city with a fractured foundation (review)
• The gloriously flawed Sleeping Dogs is an interactive Hong Kong action flick (review)
• Hybrid is a fast-paced but thoughtful shooter that suffers from some technical hiccups (review)
• Dust: An Elysian Tail is beautiful but drowns in repetition (review)
• Sounds Shapes lets you create and share your own musical worlds (review)

Previews

• District 187: Sin Streets enlists you to fight in a constantly evolving gang war (preview)
• Black Ops II multiplayer is all about change (hands-on preview)
• Forge ditches the level grind in favor of skill-based fantasy combat (hands-on preview)

Sleeping Dogs is the latest in a long line of open-world crime games, and it’s the spiritual successor to the True Crime franchise. It’s not particularly difficult or original, but if you want to overpower protagonist Wei Shin early on, our GamesBeat guide will show you how.

First, progress the story just enough to unlock Tiffany, Amanda, and the carjacking jobs in your phone. It only takes a couple of story missions to get to this point. Now you can go on a couple of quick dates to unlock key collectibles on your minimap. This means that whenever you’re doing something and you get within proximity to a health shrine or jade statue, you’ll be alerted to its presence.

Health Shrines appear on your minimap
Amanda will first appear outside your apartment. After giving her a ride to the martial arts dojo, you’ll be able to call her for a proper date. Complete the date with Amanda (where you take photos of her) and unclaimed Health Shrines will appear on your minimap whenever you are near one.

For every five health shrines you collect, you’ll boost your max hit points by 10 percent, making you much less prone to getting knocked the %6# out.

Jade Statues appear on your minimap
You need to collect 12 Jade Statues and turn them in at the dojo, with each one earning you a new martial arts technique. After your first visit to Club Bam Bam, you’ll be able to call Tiffany for a night of drunken karaoke. Complete the date and the nearby statues will now appear on your minimap.

Note: Unfortunately, you can’t collect all of the Jade Statues until the main story is almost complete. You can grab some at any time, but roughly half of them are only reachable during specific story missions.

Cameras appear on your minimap
After the “Listening In” mission, you’ll be able to call Not-Ping for a date. Complete the date and surveillance cameras will appear on your minimap.

Lockboxes appear on your minimap
This is perhaps one of the best minimap unlocks, but sadly you won’t meet Ilyana until the latter half of the game. The Russian bartender will challenge you to a rooftop race. Simply beat her to complete the date and unlock the boxes on your minimap.

If you’ve been holding out on doing all the side missions up to this point, now would be the best time, unless you just plan to beat the game and do all the side stuff later.

Best way to make money
The finer clothes, and especially all the different vehicles, will get pretty expensive (a few million dollars) if you’re trying to collect them all. Missions throughout the game don’t really give substantial payouts, and even finishing the final mission only rewards you with $350,000 — not even enough to buy the best car available.

Instead, you can do side jobs very early on in which you must locate specific vehicles, jack them, and return them to a Triad garage. These vehicles are worth a ton of cash, and the game is extremely lenient on the damage they can take before their value diminishes. In fact, half of the time fender benders and other collisions don’t even register at all.

Do all of these missions and you’ll be sitting with approximately $5 million and change. But don’t spend it all just yet!

55 percent off vehicle purchases
The game has over 70 vehicles, and you’ll need to pay for almost all of them. While some are cheaper than a nice suit, plenty of luxury sports cars and exotics will run you several hundreds of thousands of dollars each. To make your vehicle shopping sprees much less painful, you can cut the cost of all cars in half.

To do this, you’ll need lots of Face, the game’s quasi-reputation system. You gain Face by doing favors and odd jobs like races, and you’ll need to do quite a lot to max out your Face rank. At levels 8 and 9, you can start buying expensive designer clothing that will give you up to 15 percent off on vehicle purchases.

At level 10, all vehicles will permanently cost 40 percent less. Combine the two and buying world-class exotics will be almost as cheap as shopping at Walmart.

Unlock final street races
When you meet Vivienne and Sandra, after completing their mission you’ll be able to call Sandra for a date. Take her out on the town and drive fast to rev her engines, and once the date is successful, the final set of street races will be unlocked on the map.

Easy Safe Driver Achievement
Most of the Achievements in Sleeping Dogs are straightforward: do everything and collect everything. But the Safe Driver Achievement (cruise for two minutes straight without damaging your car.) may pose a little difficulty, especially if you only ever drive the Ferraris and Lamborghini knock-offs.

To make it incredibly easy, just find a minivan. Even with the pedal to the floor, the minivan goes slower than Wei Shen can run, but this still activates the timer. Last for at least two minutes without hitting anything and you’re golden. Find a nice open highway to make it even easier.

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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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Square Enix’s Sleeping Dogs is a Friday-night escape, something you enjoy while digging into a bag of burned microwave popcorn. It’s simple, predictable fun — just like the best Hong Kong police movies.

After all, you’ve played Sleeping Dogs before in one form or another, and you’ve probably experienced its story, too. The United Front Games-developed title is a solid, mission-to-mission, open-world action experience. You’ll hurt a lot of thugs, drive a lot of cars recklessly, and work for a lot of shady characters — all while kicking and capping through a you’ll-see-everything-coming-by-a-mile storyline.

And that’s the point.

This is the Chow Yun-fat of games — rough, cliché, yet quintessentially badass like the Hong Kong actor.

WHAT YOU’LL LIKE

Live out your undercover-cop-posed-as-burgeoning-Triad fantasy
In Sleeping Dogs, you are Wei Shen, an undercover supercop with a tragic past. You start the game by breaking into a low-level Triad gang, hoping to gain a foothold within Hong Kong’s seedy, organized-crime-ruled underworld.

Wei is practically unstoppable. He’s got the gun skills, gut punches, and gear-busting driving sense to stand toe-to-toe with any tattoo-riddled gangster — along with the smooth lines to woo any attractive female acquaintance. So, yeah, he’s perfect for the part.

Open-world crime that pays
Many releases have attempted to cash in on Rockstar Games’ tried-and-true Grand Theft Auto formula, and many of them have failed. For the most part, Sleeping Dogs gets the sandbox structure right.

The game’s version of Hong Kong is densely populated, topographically rich, and filled with interesting nooks and crannies just waiting to be crashed into. Obnoxious street vendors yell at you to buy fish balls, fish dumplings, and other fish-flavored fare. Driven-over parking meters reward you with their spoils. And lazy workers play impromptu dice games in an alley instead of focusing on their jobs.

If you’re worried about this feeling like a second-rate GTA, you don’t need to. Hong Kong is your oyster, ready for your blood-stained blade to shuck.

A melting pot of personality and personalities
Hong Kong is a great setting for an open-world action game. In fact, the tightly packed, claustrophobic nature of the city reminds me of the living, breathing backdrops from Sega’s Shenmue and Yakuza games. Sleeping Dogs’ Eastern-flavored surroundings are teeming with character, such as the pink, neon glow of the night-laced streets and the charming, Cantonese-English hybrid dialect that the characters speak.

Free run away from the cops
You won’t just be driving away from the police with your tricked-out ride; you’ll also be running away from them the old-fashioned way. Wei effortlessly darts and dashes through Hong Kong like a parkour prince. All you need to do is tap a button to hop over obstacles or to grab a ledge at the end of a wall.

The game also throws you into intense chase sequences, similar to the on-foot perpetrator pursuits in L.A. Noire, where you have to run down an enemy. These moments help shuffle the tempo, even though they do get a bit monotonous.

Fisticuffs of fury meet hard-boiled shooting
One of Sleeping Dogs’ strongest features is its robust combat system. Surprisingly, most of the game’s fighting is done with bare hands and swift feet. Taking a cue from Batman: Arkham Asylum, attacks consist of one-button combos complemented by timed counters and grappling. You’ll take on gangs of mobsters, and, as the kung-fu-fighting Wei, you’ll dispatch them in short order — just like a cook filling requests for dim sum in an adjacent restaurant’s kitchen.

Gunplay is clearly inspired by third-person, cover-based shooters. You can glide from barrier to barrier, protecting yourself from oncoming fire while returning plenty of rounds yourself.

A significant part of these skirmishes actually take place while driving, which adds some appreciated variety to the projectile-based proceedings. I couldn’t help but feel a rush of satisfaction when I launched cars and motorbikes into the air after blowing out their tires with my bullets. And the adrenaline flowed even harder as I leapt wildly from vehicle to vehicle, like in the PlayStation Portable’s Pursuit Force series, turning my road rage into an air raid.

WHAT YOU WON’T LIKE

A dark history that comes back to haunt you
As a game, Sleeping Dogs has a few things in common with its street-savvy hero. Both are layered and interesting, yet both are confronted with remnants from a murky past.

Sleeping Dogs went through a few name changes and narrative rewrites over its lengthy, multistudio-and-publisher development cycle. Even the initially female protagonist had to go through gender-reassignment surgery, leading to the final game’s maniacal man-about-town Wei.

Because of this checkered backstory, the final playable product feels unpolished in spots. Scripting errors sometimes occur on random missions, causing enemies to nonsensically plant themselves in place when they should be running. The title’s graphics engine is far from cutting edge. Character models have a plastic action-figure look while many of the polygonal bodies acting as street-and-building filler are constantly repeated. Even some of the storefronts are nothing but flat images that poorly simulate actual dimension. Grand Theft Auto IV, which came out four years ago, looks better. And that’s a problem.

But to United Front’s credit, just getting this release out the door — in its appealing state — is an achievement.

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The video game industry has always had strong ties to the world of movies, something highlighted by the growing trend of using live-action trailers to help market games.

While such trailers are not new to the industry, the budgets attached to them are growing ever greater, to the point where some wouldn’t look out of place on a Hollywood showreel.

Michael Boniface, the European managing director of APB Reloaded developer Reloaded Productions, spoke to GamesBeat about the trend toward live-action. “The problem with gameplay footage is that it can be more difficult to convey concepts that live-action can do more easily,” said Boniface, “plus there’s still more interest and pickup from live-action. Like it or not.”

Veteran actor James Cosmo (Highlander, Game of Thrones) stars in the trailer for the game Darksiders II, and he sees the two industries growing ever closer. “The video gaming business is now bigger than the film industry. Big movies and big games are merging and becoming something really fascinating,” Mason said. He feels that, thanks to the anarchic nature of YouTube and the Internet, young filmmakers are able to get their work seen more easily and have the chance to blur the worlds of movies and games in a creative way.

Whatever your take on them, these big-budget efforts look set to stay, so it’s just as well that some publishers are doing them right, as you can see from these 10 cinematic gems.

Metro: Last Light

The trailer for upcoming shooter Metro: Last Light (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) focuses on the emotional and human impact of the world as we know it coming to an end. Filmed in freezing temperatures in Ukraine, with Mark Patton (Prometheus) as the director of photography, it looks every bit as epic as seasoned commercials director Jim Weedon intended.

The brief given to creative agency Ichi was to fire the collective imagination of first-person shooter fans and reintroduce Metro as a must-play title. The exact words from the THQ marketing team were, “Give us something BIG!”

With 4 million YouTube views during its first four days of release, this film ably demonstrates the impact that live-action trailers can have on the market.

Sleeping Dogs

Square Enix stepped in to buy the half-finished True Crime: Hong Kong when Activision decided to scrap it. Reborn as open-world crime game Sleeping Dogs (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), the marketing team enlisted Goldtooth Creative to help create some buzz with this explosive trailer.

Director Paul Furmiger talks in glowing terms about the creative possibilities offered by such live-action game trailers: “When we started creating trailers for gaming companies we were surprised by how much creative license they gave us. It was a bit like the Wild West. Even for this project, the game’s marketing team should really be commended on taking a chance and allowing us to create a live-action trailer for a video game.”

Darksiders II

James Cosmo stars as the manic priest in THQ’s trailer for the action-adventure game Darksiders II (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U), along with acting as a narrator in the game. He described the production process as “almost as if we were shooting an great big epic movie, but we only shot for two days. The production quality was on a par with anything you’d see on a big feature movie.”

“Trailers are really exciting things,” Cosmo said, “because you only have a certain amount of time to put over an awful lot of information and an awful lot of feeling, so it’s got to have terrific impact.”

Hawken

Gameplay footage of Hawken, an upcoming free-to-play mech shooter from Adhesive Games,  has already impressed with its atmospheric visuals and explosive energy. This live-action trailer — the first in a series of shorts directed by Gears of War art director Jerry O’Flaherty — takes things up another notch, adding a human element to the drama.

O’Flaherty is looking to put names and faces to the mech pilots in Hawken: “Through these characters I wanted to begin to speak to the fiction behind the game, to introduce people to a mythology that is just as interesting and intriguing as [my] first view of Hawken.”

APB Reloaded

When you relaunch a game that was previously a complete disaster, you’d better do it with a bang. GamersFirst certainly accomplished that with this live-action trailer for the free-to-play massively multiplayer online game APB Reloaded. Using YouTube stars Tobuscus, Katers17, SeaNanners, and SMPfilms as featured extras in the production is also an inventive way of helping spread word about the game.

Boniface told GamesBeat: “The live action with SFX was designed to show the game’s incredible customization in a way which was accessible to a more mainstream viewer, without relying on a bewildering array of different character models.”

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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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We know how you feel. E3 is in full swing, and you can’t hear yourself think over the non-stop din of news breaking. Who’s going to clean up all of that news, anyway? What if someone cuts himself on a news shard and sues? Don’t worry; it’s taken care of. We’re posting all of GamesBeat’s coverage for each day of E3 in convenient (and lengthy) roundups, and you can keep track of them all by searching for “E3 roundup” in that search bar up there.

Today, Nintendo held the last of E3′s five major press conferences. We got a lot more information about the Wii U hardware and its software lineup, and then the GamesBeat crew descended upon the show floor to get some hands-on time with the biggest games of the show. We also threw in some silly memes, just for fun.

6 awkward moments from the E3 press conferences (videos)

Why Nintendo will have a tough time adding a second gamepad tablet controller to the Wii U

E3 2012: The 5 different games you’ll be playing in Dishonored (preview)

The oddest Nintendo E3 gifs and Photoshops from the Internet

E3 2012: Nintendo’s Wii U: Safe on first, weak on third-party

Dark Souls Prepare to Die edition coming to Steam and with additional content

Capcom shows three playable characters for Resident Evil 6 (hands-on preview)

Ni No Kuni gets an official launch date and new enemy reveal

Capcom remakes hack-slash-shoot-grapple formula with upcoming DmC: Devil May Cry (hands-on preview)

Dragon Ball Z Kinect lets you fight like Saiyan in the privacy of your living room

Tekken Tag 2 wants you to be a better fighting game player

The Wii U game from the Bayonetta developer that Nintendo didn’t show during its E3 event

Aisha Tyler: Ubisoft’s meme machine

Nintendo Land brings asymmetrical multiplayer to Wii U

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

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition utilizes Wii U’s GamePad screen

Nintendo bets big on “asymmetric” tablet-based gameplay — one player against several

Zombify your face with ZombiU for the Wii U

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

Wii Fit U will make you sweatier, livelier, and happier

Nintendo confirms 23 games at E3, video streaming, and more for Wii U

First look at action-strategy game Pikmin 3 (gallery)

Social networking comes to Wii U, Miiverse will interface with PCs and phones

From the creator of Portal, Quantum Conundrum caters to physics-based puzzle gamers (hands-on preview)

Sleeping Dogs turns Hong Kong crime movies into a video game (hands-on preview)

Nyko’s Free Fighter arcade fight stick is southpaw-friendly (gallery)

4 ways developers will use SmartGlass to enhance Xbox 360 experiences

Silly memes inspired by Sony’s E3 press event

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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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Sleeping Dogs was left for dead. Activision Blizzard decided to cancel the game, formerly known as True Crime: Hong Kong, because it was reining in its focus. But Square Enix and developer United Front Games have revived the project and plan to publish it on Aug. 14.

Mike Fischer, chief executive of Square Enix in the U.S., said in an interview with GamesBeat that Activision was “crazy” to drop the title because it lives up to the vision of creating a cinematic video game that is a lot like the hyper-violent John Woo movies with nonstop action.

I got a taste of the game in a hands-on preview event recently in Los Angeles. Square Enix is showing more of the game this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.

The game combines the open world of a realistically depicted Hong Kong with the cinematic action story about Wei Shen, an undercover cop who has to pretend he’s a criminal in order to take down a Hong Kong triad (crime family) from the inside. It’s like a Chinese version of Grand Theft Auto, where you can shoot anything that moves if you like.

In the story, Shen has to question his own sense of ethics and self as he has to engage in crimes in order to win the respect of the Son On Yee triad’s leadership. He gets sucked all the way in,

Activision announced the game as True Crime: Hong Kong in 2009. But because of delays and cost overruns, the company canceled it in 2011. Six months later, Square Enix picked up the publishing rights and renamed it Sleeping Dogs.

In the level I played, I had to drive to the local Fight Club and learn how to take down enemies with martial artistry. You play in third-person mode, looking over the shoulder of Shen as you perform flying kicks. At first, I took on one guy, punching and kicking him until he went down. Then I had to take on two guys, then three, then four and so on.

Then I hopped in a car and went driving the wrong way down a street, crashing into multiple bystanders and hitting cars. The police showed up and ran me down. My car lost its hood and had its tires shot out. Finally, I had to get out and fight the cops on foot. The shooting game works pretty well, but you can’t just stand out in the open and hope to survive.

The variety of game play is an attraction. You can ride a motorcycle and then jump onto another moving vehicle. Then you can smash the window, toss out the driver, and get behind the wheel. You can fulfill the missions or just explore. You can go into karaoke clubs, gambling dens and bet on cockfights. You can brawl all you want, but if your health sinks low enough, you’re dead.

You can also get Wei Shen to date women in the game, though I didn’t have time for this. Wei Shen can buy clothing in stores, and if the duds are good, he gets more respect, or “Face XP,” points that help him rise up in the gang. Sleeping Dogs allows the player to earn different kinds of experience points: Triad XP, Face XP, and Police XP. That enables you to unlock new privileges.

“This game is just fantastic,” Fischer said. “The scale and scope of the game really encompasses all of everything you’d want to do in Hong Kong. The acting, the story, the characters are very deep. There’s clearly a lot of inspiration from [the movies] The Departed and Infernal Affairs. You play an undercover cop who starts to feel mixed loyalties. But the open world feels like Batman: Arkham City, the combat feels as good as a fighting game, the driving is as good as a Need for Speed, and the story is every bit as rich as compelling as a Mass Effect. All in one game.”

The game has no multiplayer, though it does feature online leaderboards. The game will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, and the Windows PC. Check out the game’s trailer below.

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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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Mike Fischer is the president and chief executive of the U.S. division of Square Enix. The Japanese parent company is the publisher of hit video games such as the Final Fantasy series, but it isn’t satisfied with just a strong position in Japan and Europe. The company is “westernizing” its content much the same way that Japan’s Sega tried to do. But Square Enix, which bought Eidos and has a number of North American game developers, is having an easier time crossing borders and is cherry picking the titles that make the most sense. The Japanese company is still making money (while others are losing money), and Fischer says he can choose the best of the content from Japan and Europe and then republish it in North America. But Fischer is also aware that the video game market is changing, and big publishers have to change with it. Among the big titles coming is Sleeping Dogs, which Square Enix picked up after Activision canceled it (under the previous name True Crime: Hong Kong). Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation.

GamesBeat: You have a big line-up coming. How do you view these games in terms of westernizing your content?

Mike Fischer: I think this is a great time to be answering this question. It would have been a lot harder a year ago. We had MindJack and Lord of Arcana (pictured right) to brag about. I think you’re seeing a couple of different trends and a couple of different strategies all coming to fruition at the same time. One of them is obviously the blending of East and West. So you’ve got Kingdom Hearts here for the 3DS right up against Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs (two major upcoming titles).

I’m really lucky to be in charge of the U.S. market and getting the benefit of these big investments made by Square Enix Europe, which used to be Eidos of course, and Square Enix Japan. I’m supplement that by adding games that we’re sourcing and producing here in the U.S. The great thing for me is, because I have the benefit of these massive triple-A blockbusters, I don’t have to try to replicate that. So I can go out and sort of seek lower-risk, smaller-scale intellectual property investments that obviously I hope will eventually, over time, grow into big franchises of their own. You take a look at something like Quantum Conundrum (pictured below). We’re small enough so that we can really give a title like that the attention and love that it deserves. But we’re big enough that we can put the resources behind it so it gets an enormous amount of attention. That’s the kind of added value that I’m looking to bring to the company.

GamesBeat: The range is from a small iPhone game all the way up to a console title. That’s the amount of freedom that you have?

Fischer: That it is. I don’t go in and say, “I want an iPhone game,” or “I want an Android game,” or “I want a downloadable game.” I’m simply looking for great IP investments. And finding the right platform to fit them. And the great thing for me is there are just fewer business model limitations than we’ve ever had in the past.

GamesBeat: What’s the state of progress into those games and those business initiatives?

Fischer: So far so good. Ultimately the consumer’s going to judge, right? The two examples that you see here today are Motley Blocks and Quantum Conundrum. And they’re very different. Quantum Conundrum is a downloadable game, it’s from Kim Swift, the creator of Portal, it’s a very whimsical puzzle platformer game. Motley Blocks is a very abstract. I don’t want to give it a blank-meets-blank type of explanation. B, you know, it’s a very unique, fun, quick to play phone game, but it also incorporates some user-generated content opportunities that put it in a class of its own. We’re not looking for one model of success. Our point is that these new platforms allow us to reach audiences that, up until now, have either been very difficult to reach or very uneconomical to reach. We’re always going to need the scale of these big blockbusters like Hitman and Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs and Kingdom Hearts, to really give us the scale that we need to make all of these games successful.

GamesBeat: EA has this approach where they seem to want a certain percentage of revenue to come from digital, in a certain time frame. They’re in a big rush. They think all of the industry is going in that direction. Do you guys have that same sense of urgency, that maybe the revenue mix is going to change drastically for the whole industry?

Fischer: To EA’s credit, I think they’ve invested. I can only speculate on their actual motivations. But I think it’s a great way to create a call to action internally for teams. I’m a content guy, not a platform guy. I’m simply seeing these platforms as opportunities to bring content to market that wasn’t possible before, and to monetize audiences that were out of our reach in the past.

I’m not trying to set an arbitrary goal. I think the retail market is still dominant. Hitman, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Kingdom Hearts are all massive retail hits. I don’t think it’s an “or” solution anymore, it’s an “and” solution. I think we could have a big online hit tomorrow and shift a massive proportion of our games online. And then we could have a massive retail hit the quarter after that and the bar swings the other way. That’s kind of like asking yourself, you know, is Warner Bros. or Fox primarily a theatrical company or primarily a home video company? What percentage of their revenue is the right mix? I think they just want a hit movie. I just want a hit game.

GamesBeat: How about on the other trend of titles moving from east to west, or west to east?

Fischer: It’s fascinating for me to look at the difference in approaches that creators take for their games. I think the western developers tend to be built around the paradigm of the independent studio contracted with a big publisher, payments made on a milestone schedule, based upon a massive game development document. You ask a western developer, ‘why is this game going to be great?’ Boom, here’s a 400-page document.

I’m exaggerating for effect. I remember a conversation many years ago where someone asked one of the Japanese developers I was working with, “Why do you think this game is going to be great?” And he said… “Ore no game dakaran da yo!” Because it’s my game! Because I made it! There was a sort of auteur model. ‘I’m going to shut the doors and come out when it’s great.’ I think the ideal scenario is somewhere in between there. Getting it just right is like balancing on a ball. I think it’s like the platforms, I don’t think there’s any one model that’s right for every developer. But what I’m seeing that’s really nice is, some of the best practices from each team getting shared with the others, and some of the creative dialogue that can happen as you have folks that are more exposed to different ways of making games.

GamesBeat: Sleeping Dogs (formerly Activision’s True Crime: Hong Kong) has an interesting history there. How did you redirect that games and put it on its current path?

Fischer: The game was, in a sense, discovered. I’m making air quotes: ‘discovered’ by the folks in Wimbledon. The minute they showed it to us, we really felt like we had found a diamond in the rough. Obviously the game was originally True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision. I can’t speak to why they let that go. I’m not going to speculate on their behalf. All I know is, they’ve gotta be crazy. Because this game is just fantastic. The scale and scope of the game really encompasses all of everything you’d want to do in Hong Kong. The acting, the story, the characters are very deep.

There’s clearly a lot of inspiration from [the movies] The Departed and Infernal Affairs. You play an undercover cop who starts to feel mixed loyalties. But the open world feels like Arkham City, the combat feels as good as a fighting game, the driving is as good as a Need for Speed, and the story is every bit as rich as compelling as a Mass Effect. All in one game. In a sense it reminds me a little bit of Dead Island, which Square Enix America did the sales and distribution for. Nobody had heard of that game coming into E3, and in the U.S. alone it sold over 2 million units. It’s great to have a sleeper.

GamesBeat: Because of the great trailer for Dead Island?

Fischer: The game had to deliver at the end of the day. It offered, I think, role-playing-game-style upgrades, online co-op play, the zombie setting. It’s not a digital masterpiece, but it’s what everybody wanted. It’s great to bring out a Tomb Raider or a Final Fantasy, but the challenge there is, everybody expects it to be so great, right? Just meeting expectations is a challenge. Surpassing them requires masterful work.

The thrill that I love in bringing out a game like Sleeping Dogs is when nobody sees it coming. And then, boom, it’s the surprise of the holiday. The game’s coming out early in the year, so it has time to find its audience. We’re in a world where everything’s about social media, word of mouth. And yet you still see marketing presentations that are built around how big your TV campaign is. And again, it’s not an either/or. You have to have both components.

But we live in a world where word of mouth about a great game like Sleeping Dogs, combined with what I expect will be very good reviews and a strong marketing campaign, coming out early in the year, we’ve got the elements for a success. There’s something wrong when someone can tell you 12 months out what all the great games are going to be the next holiday. That means there’s no surprise, there’s no innovation. So it’s nice to come in here with big franchises like Hitman and Tomb Raider that everyone’s known about, Kingdom Hearts, everyone’s expecting. But also to bring in new stuff like Sleeping Dogs and Quantum that bring a little bit of innovation and hopefully will show our industry that consumers are still hungry for something new.

GamesBeat: I imagine Hitman: Absolution has a lot of buzz already. Something like that may not need that kind of help; it’s already got the ball rolling.

Fischer: You know, we’re a publicly traded company, so no matter how big people’s expectations are, it’s my job to beat it. So all that means is… [laughter] the numbers that I have to deliver are just that much higher. I wish there was a game in my lineup that I could just kick my feet up and let itself. There’s no game that big, and probably never will be.

GamesBeat: Has it seen a smoother development than, say, Sleeping Dogs?

Fischer: Hitman has been in development a long, long time. Some of that’s been smooth; some of that hasn’t been. But the fortunate thing is, we gave this game the time and the resources that it needed to be great. You saw the Glacier engine mentioned at the beginning of the trailer. The crowd dynamics that you saw — where the guy’s just having to literally push his way through people — show all of them reacting individually. That’s not just like walking down a busy street. That’s like being in a really crowded concert type of environment. That type of technology takes time to get right, and we took our time to get it right. The same thing applies to Tomb Raider, right? We just announced the game’s going to be coming out in 2013. We could ship that game now, it’s so good. So imagine how awesome it’s going to be when it hits the market.

GamesBeat: Is there an explanation for that, too? As far as why it needed to go out further?

Fischer: I can look you in the eye and tell you, honest to goodness, we want this to be the best game of the generation. And the time that we’re giving it is going to allow that to happen. Look, you’re going to see the game at E3. Tell me if you think I’m blowing smoke your way. It’s really that good.

GamesBeat: Yeah, I think as long as it doesn’t go to three E3s, right…? [big laughs]

Fischer: I think there is kind of a three-E3 rule. No game has ever been to three E3s and turned out to be a hit. You’ve got a good point there.

GamesBeat: We waited nine years for Diablo III…

Fischer: Yeah, but was it at E3?

GamesBeat: I don’t think so. Not until the last couple years. So yeah, it’s a diverse lineup; it’s a big slate. You guys are one of the only Japanese companies to make some money last year.

Fischer: It’s a hit-driven business. If there was a formula to success, all the companies would be equally successful. I think one of the things that’s helping us out is we do have a broad base of development now. We’re making games in Japan, in North America, and in Europe. That’s helping us develop a consistent line-up that’s not only cross-border,but it’s also going from casual to hardcore. And hopefully now we’ve smoothed out our release cycles so you’re not going to see as many peaks and valleys as maybe you have in the past.

GamesBeat: I assume most of your developers are in Japan, some are in Europe, and the smallest number is in North America?

Fischer: Well, it depends, because again, North America covers the Eidos Montreal studio, which is actually pretty significant. Of course we’re making Sleeping Dogs in Vancouver, but that’s an independent studio, United Front Games. We have the headquarters staff in Wimbledon, we have the IO studio in Copenhagen. I think there are certainly more individual developers in Japan than any other region. The net, east versus west, I can’t say.

All these studios are really sharing resources. Which I think is unique to a company like ours. You see a lot of western companies sharing resources, but we’re actually doing it in Japan now as well. The Hitman trailer you saw, the end at night, that was actually co-produced by our Visual Works studio, that’s famous for doing all the computer-generated imagery work in Final Fantasy. It’s not just about where it’s made. It’s how it’s made.

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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