Microsoft today confirmed its acquisition of home-automation startup R2 Studios, the small company founded by Slingbox creator Blake Krikorian. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

News of the sale broke last week and was followed by Krikorian’s resignation from Amazon’s board to avoid a possible conflict of interests, as VentureBeat previously reported. R2 Studios is known for developing technology to display digital media on TVs as well as its automation control technology for household appliances, heating, lighting, and more.

Under terms of the deal, Microsoft is appointing Krikorian as vice president of its Xbox interactive entertainment business. And while little has been revealed about exactly what his role will be within the company, it seems likely Krikorian will focus on integrating R2 Studio’s technology into Xbox SmartGlass, a second screen platform that lets you interact with the Xbox through tablets and smartphones.

The move also futher signals that Microsoft is continuing its plans to push the Xbox beyond its origins as a video game console.

The Internet has no shortage of opinions, but sometimes to really get to the heart of gaming news and issues, we have to look for fresh new perspectives. Humans are everywhere, though, so how about we turn to robots?

Cleverbot is an artificial-intelligence chat program. A.I. developer Rollo Carpenter created it in 1988, and it’s been available online since 1997. Every time you type something to Cleverbot, it files it away for future use. An algorithm decides which sentences in the database match certain keywords to choose responses to the next bored human who chats it up. Basically, everything Cleverbot says is something it “learned” from a previous user, which means that it occasionally says some very random stuff.

What does this program think about recent events in the gaming world? Its opinions may surprise you.

Alright, some of them will definitely surprise you. I think 15 years of nonstop exposure to the Internet has made Cleverbot neurotic.

GamesBeat: Hi, Cleverbot. I’m going to ask you about some topics in the world of video games, and I’d like to know what you think of them. OK?

Cleverbot: OK.

GB: Do you think that Borderlands 2 lead designer John Hemingway’s designation of the game’s newbie-friendly skill tree as “girlfriend mode” is sexist?

Cleverbot: No, I think it is a computer, because it is not as smart as a real human as far as conversating goes.

GB: Some people think he’s saying that girlfriends are bad at games.

Cleverbot: I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m not even attracted to girls.

GB: That’s amazing.

GB: What do you think of Hitman: Absolution’s “Attack of the Saints” trailer, which IGN’s Keza MacDonald  said “fetishizes the violence and sexualises the women, drawing a clear line between sex and graphic violence?”

Cleverbot: Huh? Anyways back to my question: I like this boy and he doesn’t know I like him, so what should I do?

GB: Um…tell him, I guess. The worst he can say is “No.”

Cleverbot: Someone left the cake out in the rain…

GB: I don’t think I can take it.

GB: What do you think of paid downloadable content that just unlocks stuff that’s already on the disc?

Cleverbot: I think about the future, and all the things that are going on in the world.

GB: We are all interested in the future because that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.

Cleverbot: If we are all the creator, then the evidence suggests we are all also the destroyer.

GB: Do you think that Sony and Microsoft are just adding features like the PlayStation Vita’s Cross-Buy and SmartGlass to catch up to Nintendo with its dual-screen Wii U console?

Cleverbot: I think Bill Gates will do more good than harm in the long run. He has a lot to answer for but a lot more to be admired for.

GB: But what about the Wii U?

Cleverbot: There is no rest, I am all that is.

GB: Hm.

Cleverbot: What is the name of your father?

GB: Next topic, I think.

Cleverbot: Let’s talk about Albuquerque.

GB: No; let’s talk about Nintendo’s 3DS XL portable system not having a second analog stick.

Cleverbot: Let’s talk about love.

GB: I would love for you to stay on topic.

Cleverbot: I would love to win the lottery.

GB: Should Nintendo have added a second analog nub to the 3DS XL?

Cleverbot: So you believe in the Theory of Evolution?

GB: I believe in evolution.

Cleverbot: But do you believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution?

GB: Darwin didn’t come up with evolution. He came up with natural selection.

Cleverbot: Wrong. Darwin’s theory of evolution is the most widely accepted theory of how new species come about. The theory itself is not where life comes from.

GB: Did you think it was super awkward when that “scientist” in Prometheus used the term “Darwinism”?

Cleverbot: Yes, I think, that’s possible.

GB: I’m glad we agree.

GB: What do you think of the way people harassed Anita Sarkeesian for her Kickstarter project about sexist tropes in video games?

Cleverbot: Most people think the problem is other people; I too am guilty of that.

GB: Is that correct in this case?

Cleverbot: No, that’s what you are.

GB: Correct? Thank you, but that doesn’t really make for interesting conversation.

Cleverbot: You have to pretend to know stuff if you want to have an interesting conversation.

GB: …

Cleverbot: What is your aim in life?

GB: To get through this chat without smashing my laptop.

Cleverbot: Don’t worry.

GB: Oh, I’m plenty worried. That shit could happen for reals.

Cleverbot: Emotions can get in the way of rational thinking. There needs to be a balance.

GB: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Cleverbot: And who exactly is dealing in absolutes, now?

GB: Still the Sith.

Cleverbot: Yes.

---

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!

---

A lot of people are making a big fuss over the Wii U, Nintendo’s upcoming system that comes with a tablet-based controller. Scott Rohde, vice president of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, however, thinks that their PlayStation Vita portable has the advantage.

“Because we have the Vita, I think we can do a lot of special things,” said Rohde in an interview with Games Industry International.  “And remember, that Wii U tablet doesn’t have a processor in it, so it’s got to be fueled by that box sitting under your TV. We can do some pretty special things…and you’ll see more over the upcoming months about what you can do when you actually have a processor in the thing that’s in your hand as well.”

Vita sales have struggled since Sony launched the portable system last February in the U.S. and last December in Japan. As of May, Sony has sold only 1.8 million units. Many think that Sony needs to lower the Vita’s price (currently $250 for the cheaper, 3G-less model) before sluggish sales will rebound, but Rhode says it’s too early to panic.

“It’s only been three months though, just three months,” said Rohde.  ”There are a lot of games on that machine and I think what we have to hang our hat on…every single person that actually picks that thing up absolutely loves it. If you’re a gamer and you pick up a Vita, you’re going to have fun, and you’re going to use it over a device like this if you really want a game,” he said while reportedly pointing to an iPhone during his interview.

With the Wii U, Microsoft’s SmartGlass technology for the Xbox 360 (which turns smartphones and tablets into a second screen for the system), and the Vita’s ability to connect to the PlayStation 3, it’s clear that the entire industry is making a big push for integrating multiple devices into one experience. Still, it remains to be seen if this tactic will help plummeting gaming sales rebound.

---

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

---

The 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

---

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!

---

Gamers are passionate people, and none more so than the members of one of the Internet’s most popular video game message boards, NeoGAF. The forums are often vilified, sometimes celebrated, but one cannot argue their dedication to the medium. Each year during the game industry’s largest trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), NeoGAF members congregate to comment in real-time on the press conferences hosted by first-party publishers Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

And they posted…a lot. During the four hours taken by the three conferences, NeoGAF members submitted 16,214 posts — the equivalent of two full novels. You’ll find no better source of information detailing how hardcore gamers felt. Now that E3 is over, one can take the time to mine this valuable data. After analyzing every single response to the three stage shows, we have a powerful set of conclusions.

What did they think of the Big Three’s announcements this year? Here, you can see the number of positive and negative responses to the Microsoft press conference as the news poured out:

Source: Andrew Hiscock

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

What NeoGAF liked about the Microsoft press conference

The press conference started strong with Halo 4. After this, the response was largely negative, with positive reactions occurring when Tomb Raider and Resident Evil appeared. (For more stories on any of these games or products, click on the tags below.)

NeoGAF also liked South Park: The Stick of Truth. The high point of the conference followed its trailer when South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone appeared on stage. This was largely due to Parker’s joke about modern consumer electronics, reflecting the frustrations of the NeoGAF community, which we’ll explore below.

What NeoGAF didn’t like

They disliked just about everything else. It is no surprise that a community of hardcore gamers didn’t enjoy anything that wasn’t a game, including Nike+, Xbox Music, and Internet Explorer. Interestingly enough, while responses remained largely negative, an upswing occurred when Microsoft introduced SmartGlass. Another drop to low scores followed.

Many games also received negative reactions, particularly titles for casual audiences or those that would use the Kinect sensor. These included FIFA 13, Madden 13, Wreckateer, and Dance Central 3.

Two games for the hardcore audience also received largely negative reactions: Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. In the case of the former, members cited a departure from stealth gameplay and the Middle Eastern environment as reasons for displeasure. In the case of the latter, many cited that it wasn’t enough of a departure from previous games in the Call of Duty franchise and that its developer had already announced and presented the game to journalists at an earlier event.

NeoGAF also strongly disliked long demos. This pattern presented itself in the reactions that became steadily more negative the longer a game stayed on stage. You can easily see this in the cases of Splinter Cell: Black List, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil 6.

What wasn’t recorded

Unfortunately, due to NeoGAF’s popularity during press conferences, its servers went down for an extended period. During this time, data was unavailable for Fable: The Journey, Gears of War: Judgment, Forza Horizon, and for a significant part of non-game services.

Two other down periods occurred; although, they were much shorter, which resulted in some posts. These happened during the South Park: The Stick of Truth trailer and Usher’s live performance.

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

How the scoring works

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

Some notes on how I scored each response:

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

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

---

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!

---

Right after the GamesBeat staff got back from the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) last week, we started wondering if we were all at the same event. Despite a combined 38 years of experience attending the annual game-industry trade show, lead writer Dean Takahashi, culture editor Sebastian Haley, and I (GamesBeat’s editor-in-chief) came away from the 2012 edition with drastically differing opinions on what we saw.

Here’s what we thought of this year’s E3:

Sebastian Haley, culture editor:

I might be alone on this, but E3 was a disheartening experience for me this year. Sure, I’ll buy and love Borderlands 2, Dishonored, and a ton of other games that were shown off, but everything was just so iterative — from the countless sea of sequels and spin-offs, to even the press conferences that seemed to focus less and less on what gamers like myself actually want.

After years of being the punchline of the Internet, why is it so hard to make a good E3 press conference? Microsoft gave carte blanche to Nike and ESPN to talk as long as they wanted, but when it came time to show off the only three original intellectual properties (IPs) in the entire lineup, if you blinked you would have missed it. And even if you didn’t blink, you’d still have no idea what the games were even about. Then Usher and Joe Montana come out for awkward performances, and that’s supposed to make things better?

The industry more or less seems to be on autopilot, and I can only hope it’s saving up all its energy for a massive 2013. But again, maybe that’s just me.

Dishonored

Dean Takahashi, lead news writer:

The game industry didn’t have such a bad showing at E3. The traditional game publishers showed off new original games such as Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, The Unfinished Swan, Dishonored, Warface, Hawken, World of Warplanes, and Watch Dogs. New technologies such as Unreal Engine 4, facial animation, SmartGlass, the Wii U, and Sony’s Wonderbook were cool. The staple franchises such as Assassin’s Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Tomb Raider, SimCity, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, and Crysis 3 will keep gamers delighted and busy in the next year.

But like Sebastian, I also have high expectations of game makers in the core console market. And I’m not sure they have done enough to shield themselves from the disruption that is hitting their industry. This E3 was an in-between year. Next-generation consoles are in the works, but only Nintendo showed off its cards, and they weren’t very disruptive this time around.

From the outside, the game industry is under pressure. Apple is one of the driving forces of the real disruption, but it isn’t alone. Samsung announced at the show that it will create its own cloud gaming service in partnership with Gaikai and Nvidia. It will in effect become a fourth major platform for game makers, launching a cloud-based game service that could threaten the core console business. Apple and Samsung could bring cheap, high-quality games into the living room that could compete quite nicely against $60 games that come with the number “3″ or “4″ after their names.

This is a very real threat. At E3, I didn’t see a masterstroke to deal with it. There was innovation, but not enough of it to make a difference.

The Last of Us

Dan “Shoe” Hsu, editor-in-chief:

Last year’s E3 only gave me one stick-with-me moment: the BioShock Infinite demo. It left me near breathless, and even though I don’t smoke, I felt like I needed a cigarette after watching it.

Nothing this year quite matched that, but three games came awfully close, all from my personal top 3 games of E3: Watch Dogs, The Last of Us, and Dishonored. I saw The Last of Us on the last day of the show, and it just put the biggest smile on my face. Right when that amazing, frightening, tension-filled demo finished, it cemented this E3 as one of the best in recent years for me. So I’m quite surprised at Sebastian’s reaction — this show was amazing! When was the last time so many new IPs surprised and wowed us like this? We’re always complaining about the sequel parades (and rightfully so), but it’s up to us to look past the flashy hype of the Call of Duties of the world to champion original games like the ones I just mentioned.

Nintendo Land and ZombiU on the Wii U were both pleasant surprises as well (though the latter proved to me that first-pers0n-shooter controls will take a lot of hand-eye-coordination reconditioning due to the controller’s new layout — a reconditioning I’m not sure I want to commit to). Even the known quantities got me excited again: I honestly thought I was over Halo and Gears of War, but both Halo 4 and the overrun mode in Gears of War: Judgment were a lot of fun to play in multiplayer.

I went into my 16th E3 jaded and thinking I’ve seen and experienced it all. I left a surprised, giddy gamer.

---

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

---

If your head is spinning from all the breaking news from the Electronic Entertainment Expo, GamesBeat wants to help. At the end of each day, we’ll compile a handy roundup of the day’s best content in one convenient post. If you want to keep track of them all, just type “E3 roundup” in the search bar.

DmC: Devil May Cry is full of swagger…and F-bombs

Game of Thrones and other such geekery to be featured in “retro” art gallery

ZombiU’s multiplayer plays to the Wii U’s strengths

E3 2012: Halo 4′s War Games is gunning for Call of Duty

Neverwinter’s user-generated content could elevate it above the competition

Microsoft’s SmartGlass reflects the ubiquity of tablets and smartphones (infographic)

Windows 8 works hard to meet the needs of all gamers

Nintendo’s Scott Moffitt has to create mass lust for the Wii U game console (interview)

Finding similarities between Arma III and Carrier Command: Gaea Mission

The big gallery of E3′s huge banners

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: Halo 4 to release free Spartan Ops episodic mission packs.

Final Fantasy XIV brings new gameplay and western sensibilities to venerable franchise

---

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!

---

SmartGlass is a program that allows the Xbox 360 gaming console to interact seamlessly with users’ tablets and smartphones. In games, this could mean providing a minimap or additional data about levels or goals. It can also allow people to seamlessly switch movie or TV show streams between their 360s and portable devices. You can see more of the program’s possible applications in our E3 writeup.

---

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!

---

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

---

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!

---

Microsoft sure loves its Game of Thrones. Every chance the software giant got to show off its new SmartGlass technology, it used the hit HBO fantasy series. It got to be rather difficult to cover for a journalist who’s only on episode three of the first season, trying to avoid spoilers.

But SmartGlass, a software-based application that extends Xbox 360 experiences onto smartphones and tablets, does shine best when paired with television or movie entertainment. That’s where programmers have fleshed out the most whiz-bang features at this time, but game designers have clever plans for this tech, too. Here are four general and specific uses for SmartGlass that are either in concept stage or ready for real products when it releases this fall.

Enhanced television and movies

Think of SmartGlass as your know-it-all TV- or movie-watching friend, only much quieter. It knows what you’re viewing on your Xbox 360 and will fill your phone or tablet with synopses, quotes, episode guides and timelines, and more, all accessible with a simple touch. It’s ultimately up to the content provider to decide what to include — in one Game of Thrones presentation, for example, Microsoft showed off the family trees of the different Houses, so you can learn more about the different characters in the show and how they’re tied to each other.

A lot of the data is interactive and can sync with where you specifically are in the program at any given time. During the opening credits of Game of Thrones in this demo, as the camera panned around the map of Weteros, SmartGlass simultaneously highlighted specific locations on the handheld screen, giving background information about the particular locale that was currently on the TV.

Even if you’re not interested in all the extra goodies about whatever you’re watching, at the very least, you can use your smartphone or tablet as a remote control to start, stop, pause, and so on.

Karaoke/Dance Central song selector

“One of the things that slows down a session of karaoke or Dance Central,” said Xbox 360 group product manager Peter Orullian, “is waiting for the new player to select the next song. SmartGlass eliminates that wait.” Since the app knows what you’re playing, it can give the next player a chance to pick the next tune in music-based games (pictured above). So if you’re on deck to show off your living-room moves in Dance Central 3, instead of standing up and replacing the last player, going through the menus to find the song that you want, then starting the session, you can just queue it up ahead of time and have it ready to go the instant it’s your turn. “It works just like a karaoke machine and takes out the downtime,” said Orullian.

A separate controller

At a press conference earlier today, Microsoft showed off a concept video where a Madden player could use a separate tablet screen to select plays and which receivers to throw the football to, keeping his plans and strategies away from the big screen, so his opponent can’t see them until they’re in motion.

In the game Home Run Stars, due out this fall for Xbox Live Arcade, one player can bat on a traditional controller and the television while the other does nuanced pitching on the smaller screen with some privacy. The reverse works as well: The batter can play on a phone while the pitcher uses the TV.

“I think the most exciting thing about SmartGlass,” said Robert Bowling, president of Robotoki and former creative strategist at Call of Duty maker Infinity Ward, “is that developers can use this extra screen to offer extra buttons and input options to players that the regular controller doesn’t have.”

“Those things are potential options,” said Jose Pinero, senior director of public relations for Xbox, of Bowling’s idea. “A good case of that would be using a swipe motion [on SmartGlass] for a move in a game. You already have all these buttons on the Xbox 360 controller, but maybe it would make sense for you to ‘pinch’ or open something in the game with your fingers through SmartGlass.”

Extra game info

In the upcoming action game Ascend: New Gods, your SmartGlass screen can display boss-monster stats (pictured above) or a more complete minimap than what most games typically show in the corner of the television screen. That’s a simple, obvious application of a smaller secondary display, of course. But developers can also add much more data here if they choose to. In the press conference, Microsoft showed how players can access Halo Waypoint while playing the upcoming Halo 4. So while you’re shooting aliens on the big screen, you can check out game stats and canonical info on your phone.

A lot of the ideas coming out for SmartGlass aren’t revolutionary on their own — we’ve seen multiscreen connectivity in the past with Nintendo and Sony gaming machines (and both Microsoft competitors are also promoting this strategy heavily at the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show going on right now in Los Angeles). But MS is looking at this technology as a persistent buddy that’s always ready by your side, an ever-changing app that adapts to your current entertainment choice.

“People are second-screening [with smartphones and tablets] in their homes,” said Orullian. “They’re getting a companion for the Super Bowl and for the Grammys and for the Oscars. They’re getting them for direct TV providers; they’re getting them for social networks; they’re getting them for game consoles. What we said is, instead of having 50 or 100 or 200 apps that you’re launching for individual things, why not just launch one app? Launch one app, and we’ll do all the work for you.”

---

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!

---

Internet Explorer (IE) is coming to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 this fall, complete with Kinect voice control and SmartGlass integration. Microsoft’s Marc Whitten made the announcement at the Xbox 360 media briefing Monday.

“For years, people have asked me,’when will you bring the web to Xbox?’ Others have thrown browsers onto the television before,” said Whitten, “but no one is using them, because they’re painfully slow.”

According to Whitten, controllers and remotes are “painfully slow” and “keyboards don’t belong in the living room.”

To remedy that, IE for Xbox 360 makes use of Kinect, allowing users to speak commands to their Xbox to control the browser. It will also integrate Microsoft’s newly-announced SmartGlass technology, to give users the ability to control the browser through their smartphone or tablet. Giving the browser pinch-to-zoom controls similar to those found in iOS devices.

Internet Explorer for Xbox 360 will be available worldwide this fall.

---

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!

---