At E3, a look at the long run of video games

Every year, tens of thousands of gaming fans flock to Los Angeles to play the coolest titles at E3, the world’s largest video game event. Hardware-makers, developers and publishers fill the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center with row upon row of outrageous booths, where gamers line up for a glimpse of the next hit.

You can be sure that an industry as big as gaming — worth about $65 billion last year — has an appropriately extravagant show.

This week, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo had massive, lengthy keynote presentations in which they showed off new hardware, flagship titles, partnerships and the occasional celebrity, such as Usher or Joe Namath.

Nintendo previewed a more finalized version of its next-generation console, the Wii U, which it first announced at last year’s event. The device is part console, part tablet-controller thing. The controllers do double duty and can not only be used to play games traditionally, but can act as a window into deeper elements of gameplay.

Additionally, Nintendo heavily promoted its forthcoming online network, Miiverse, which will let players directly connect with other gamers when they’re stuck somewhere or want to get a multiplayer session going.

I didn’t see anything particularly exciting, though many doubted Nintendo’s runaway hit — the original Wii — when it was first shown off. If anything, the company has demonstrated its ability to think ahead of the curve for years. Whether it’s still as light on its toes remains to be seen.

The games shown for the Wii U weren’t exactly barnstormers, and the integration between the tablet gamepad and the console raises questions that have yet to be answered. Still, you can’t help applauding Nintendo’s head-down, single-minded mentality. As the game market grows up, the company seems steadfastly centered on family-friendly fare and on innovation in interaction, rather than graphics.

Microsoft did a little innovating (and tweaking) of its own this year. The company all but killed its Zune music service by introducing Xbox Music. The service will find its way onto Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices in addition to the game console and will retain many Zune features.

The company made the move in part to drive home the point that the Xbox brand is not just about gaming but is the entertainment hub across Microsoft products. That was further evidenced by the new SmartGlass service that the company demoed. SmartGlass allows you to play and interact with video content on tablets, phones and your Xbox, and will even provide contextual content on one screen while playing your video content on another. As an example, Microsoft showed an episode of “Game of Thrones” that had a companion map that followed the action on a tablet.

When my team tested the service later, it was clear that all the kinks hadn’t been worked out. But it’s obvious that Microsoft is making home entertainment a priority. In fact, some gamers complained to me on Twitter that the company’s gaming side left a lot to be desired this year.

But luckily, Sony has picked up the slack in that area. Though all of the console-makers had great content to show off, Sony wowed me the most with some of its exclusive game titles. Standouts include the intriguing Quantic Dreams title “Beyond: Two Souls,” which eschews standard gaming for a more cinematic experience (it even stars Ellen Page), and Naughty Dog’s incredible “The Last of Us,” a post-apocalyptic thriller in which the computer-controlled enemies not only react realistically to differing situations, but will even pick up items and weapons you need to defend yourself and use them against you.

French publisher Ubisoft showed off what might be the most striking title of the show, a futuristic open-world game called “Watch Dogs” that had some wondering if it is destined for a future console.

Future consoles were discussed a lot this year in the halls of the show. Microsoft’s and Sony’s systems are showing their age, and the expectation in the industry is that next year will be a big coming-out party for whatever follows the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

Finally, one thing I found surprising and more than a little disappointing was the increase in graphic violence in games, as well as developers’ apparent inability to think of anything more than a gun to place in the hands of lead characters. There were a handful of games that explored a space outside the run-and-attack mechanics of many titles, but few tried to tell adult stories without gunshots and stabbings.

It made me think that we’re still in the early days of truly great gamemaking and storytelling — which ultimately should give you some hope. E3 2012 might not have boasted many surprises — but hey, there’s always next year.

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UPDATE 4-Nintendo hooks desires on holiday-ready "Wii U"

Manufacturers Co Ltd will launch a system with a devoted "Super Mario" activity name for once in 16 decades as the having difficulties Japoneses organization desires its new Wii U will ranking the great opinions that assisted to make its forerunner the greatest activity playing hit.

Nintendo desires the Wii will entice family members as well as conventional gamers, international chief executive Satoru Iwata said in an appointment in Japoneses on the side lines of the E3 enjoyment expo in Los Angeles.

Nintendo, which was broken off its perch at the epitome of activity playing industry components by Ms Corp's Console nowadays, officially revealed a white system on Thursday, saying it will assistance two "GamePad" remotes designed to look and operate like pills.

The Wii U, which will carry movie content from Blockbuster online Inc , Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc's YouTube and Hulu, will hit shops in here we are at the vacations. The Japoneses activity playing organization, however, left many in the viewers at its display on Thursday seeking more information, especially on the cost, given that Manufacturers is playing catch-up with Ms and Panasonic Corp's intensely reduced components.

"The system has to win assistance from within the family. So we have to show the benefits of the Wii U system from different perspectives in order to reach the mother, the dad and the children," Iwata said.

The new system may face a task in attractive to primary gamers who like to perform shooting movie games as well as those that dish in their areas and move exclusive organizations.

"I am still not assured about whether they can maintain the viewers who purchased the Wii, as well as serious gamers," said Wayne Brightman, U.S. writer for the business book, Games Industry Worldwide.

The first system from Manufacturers in six decades will come with a social-gaming system known as "Miiverse". But it will need a wide collection of software headings, such as the celebrity of its constant, "Super Mario", to have any wish of related the Wii's success.

Nintendo is currently fending off younger competitors like informal designers and applications for mobile phones like Apple Inc's iPad, which are creating inroads into the $78 thousand movie game industry.

Shigeru Miyamoto, The well known movie activity playing developer and manufacturer, said creating further movie games is important "in this era when customers are said to be moving to brighter movie games."

To secure its position, Manufacturers is coming out with a new "Super Mario" activity presenting its name plumbing technician spanning different experience circumstances. It headed Tuesday's display of a set of movie games suitable for the Wii U, such as "Nintendo Land".

"Every time a new Manufacturers house system is declared, we start listening to acquainted opinions from long-term fans: 'Sounds great, but you've got to have a Mario activity,'" Manufacturers of The united states chief executive, Reggie Fils-Aime, told a loaded cinema at the overall activity playing meeting.

HOPING FOR A REVOLUTION

Analysts said Manufacturers, which records its roots returning more than a millennium to the roads of Kyoto, horribly needs a hit.

In 2011, it released the 3DS portable system to frustrating revenue in part because it originally was missing new editions of its top movie games.

The unique Wii totally changed the industry in 2006 by presenting motion-controlled activity playing and sold more copies than competitors like the Ms Console and Panasonic PlayStation 3. But revenue have been reducing, leading to the organization's first yearly managing loss and a major stock fall.

Nintendo stocks dropped 2.9 % to 9,000 yen early on Thursday in Seattle as opposed to 0.5 % gain on the standard Nikkei. The organization's stocks have lost nearly 15 % since Jan this season.

While buyer response has so far been warm on the Wii U, the movie game industry is adopting the first system to hit the industry in decades. Ubisoft said this week it is creating eight movie games for the Wii U's launch.

Executives at Ubisoft said the organization was attracted by the chance to have gamers use two displays in one activity.

"The Wii U is really exciting in terms of irregular action, with one gamer doing something and one other gamer doing something simultaneously," Xavier Poix, facilities manager of Ubisoft Italy, said in an appointment.

But after seeing The display on Thursday, M2 Research specialist Billy Pidgeon said Manufacturers will need to give your very best to describe why a second screen is necessary.

"It is kind of a challenging sell. You're asking people to perform movie games in different ways," he said.

Nintendo is predicting revenue of 10.5 thousand Wii U and Wii controllers next season.

The before Manufacturers released a new "Super Mario" name when a house system was presented was in 1996, with the Manufacturers 64.

The new Wii U product operator will also have a earphone port, a camera in the front enabling for movie talk, and a micro-ordinateur and action activity playing abilities and lead to control buttons on the returning of the product for shooting movie games.

But Manufacturers targeted less on the components on Thursday and more on the movie games it will bring to the Wii U. The organization did not give a launch date for the newest Mario activity, but professionals revealed off different levels presenting its trademark fixtures: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and gumbas.

The organization also revealed off movie games made by other companies built for the Wii U, such as Warner Brother's "Batman Arkham City: Armored Version."

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Sony forces up PlayStation Plus

Finally, Sony makes a move that may finally unseat Microsoft's dominance of the online home gaming experience.

This week PlayStation Plus members can download 12 games free, including major titles such as Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Saints Row 2. The company expects to start bringing more free games to the table each month, suggested Sony PlayStation President Jack Tretton who announced the addition today at E3.

Launched in June 2012 (and announced at E3 2010), the PlayStation Plus premium subscription service currently offers users discounted games, full game trials, access to betas and demos, and other services for the PlayStation 3. It never truly caught on with consumers the way Microsoft's Xbox Live online service did, but Plus still added much needed value to the PS3 online experience.

Will bolstering the games available through the PlayStation Plus subscription service be enough to entice gamers to open their wallets? We'll see.

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Rayman Tales Functions 5 Gamer Co-Op On WiiU

Ubisoft's Media Meeting at E3 2012 shown what a skilled facilities they are, especially when they are forcing the restrictions of technological innovation by being the first to demonstrate a stay trial of the WiiU this season. Rayman Tales was the item that found our eye with 5 gamer co-op that will be using the exclusive WiiU Gamepad operator.

Charming as always Rayman Tales definitely requires what Rayman Roots did right with the songs, art, and appeal. It will be very awesome to see how well the product operator combines with the overall activity, as we saw from the stay trial the individual having the WiiU Gamepad functioned as an guide personality that could shift systems for the gamers doing the real activities. Another stage had the Gamepad gamer reaching particular areas on teh display eventually with the songs, that designed quite the concert and included another exciting element to the co-op. It is a wondering use of the only next creation system that we have seen, and the armless wonder is a good way to display more inclusions in co-op perform.

Color us thrilled beacuse Rayman is one of the best 4 gamer chair co-op games that will gaurantee fun, happiness, and regards. Tales will add one more to the mix for even more absurd shenanigans in the wonderful community of Rayman. Almost no time period has been given to Rayman Tales, but we will most likely listen to more when details about the WiiU comes out of The Media Meeting the next day.

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Blizzard Says Diablo 3 Compromised Records Are Incredibly Small

The latest news on the Diablo III fallout sees Blizzard issuing a much longer, more in-depth statement regarding accounts being "hacked" or infiltrated, as well as how secure gamers are while playing Diablo III online.

CVG picked up on the latest post from a Blizzard community manager on the official Battle.net forums, where the post states that...

"...the number of Diablo III players who've contacted customer service to report a potential compromise of their personal account has been extremely small,"... "In all of the individual Diablo III-related compromise cases we've investigated, none have occurred after a physical Battle.net Authenticator or Battle.net Mobile Authenticator app was attached to the player's account, and we have yet to find any situation where a Diablo III player's account was accessed outside of "traditional" compromise methods (i.e. someone logging using an account's login email and password)."

Some gamers have claimed that even though they had an authenticator activated, their account was still hacked. Blizzard says that's not the case, as stated above.

There have been huge debates over the way Diablo III players have been hacked, with some self-proclaimed hacking enthusiasts saying that gaming websites are getting it wrong and that what's really happening is that there is a measure of session spoofing going on, which is basically a hacker using a very complex measure of tools and methods to take over another gamer's session ID, and thus, gain access to their account. This is also known as a "man in the middle attack".

Plenty of other gamers have come out to shoot down the idea of session spoofing, saying it's just "scare tactics" and "rumor mongering" to spread misinformation about the severity of the accounts being infiltrated. Both are claims based on speculation, and until actual evidence surfaces it's Blizzard's word against the hack victims.

What's more is that this has turned into a raging debate over always-on DRM. Across the interwebs there are discussions going on right now about whether people would even have to deal with this if there was at least an offline mode with the restriction of keeping offline characters, well offline. However, we all know that the always-on DRM for single-player is to enforce everyone to have access to the Real-Money Auction House, Blizzard's pride and joy for Diablo III, which has been delayed again.

Even more than that, this furthers the debate of how much anti-consumer abuse gamers are willing to take before they finally say "enough is enough". I know there are some people already saying that you should be saying "enough is enough".

Removing the consumer option to own the product like traditional game media is something many top publishers within the industry would probably love to standardize.

The idea of consumers paying retail prices to lease a service for single-player titles is a mouth-watering concept for most big publishers. Right now it's looking like that's a future that might become a real possibility, especially with how many people are willing to brush off the hassle of always-on DRM as well as the "extremely small" amount of hacked accounts that inevitably follow, just so that they can play their favorite game.

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Activision: Settlement of the lawsuit over 'executive leave from EA

The settlement announced Wednesday in Los Angeles does not end the war between Activision and dozens of former "Call of Duty" developers who claim they have been cheated out of millions in bonuses for the game.

Activision had sought $400 million from Electronic Arts, claiming the company met secretly with Jason West and Vincent Zampella while they were still under contract to work on "Modern Warfare" projects.

No details on the settlement were revealed, with the companies releasing only a joint statement that they "have agreed to put this matter behind them."

Activision fired West and Zampella in January 2010 after the release of "Modern Warfare 2," and they formed a new company, Respawn Entertainment LLC, which is developing games for Electronic Arts. The pair sued Activision in March 2010 seeking more than $36 million in bonuses, but the Santa Monica, Calif., gaming company said the pair were fired for insubordination and handed over company secrets to Electronic Arts.

West and Zampella were high-ranking executives at the Infinity Ward studio that produced several successful "Call of Duty" games.

Activision has sought access to details about Respawn's work for Electronic Arts on a new game that has not been revealed. Activision claimed the pair had discussed creating a science-fiction shooter intended to challenge the "Halo" franchise, but instead of delivering that game gave it to Redwood City-based Electronic Arts.

The settlement does not affect the upcoming trial over claims by West, Zampella and 40 other developers over the "Modern Warfare 2" bonuses. Activision has indicated the potential damages could exceed $1 billion.

Robert M. Schwartz, an attorney for West and Zampella, said Activision's claims against Electronic Arts only comprised about 10 percent of the issues to be raised at trial.

Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle on Wednesday refused a request by Activision to delay the trial on the developers' claims, which is scheduled to begin May 29.

Attorney Beth Wilkinson, who was hired to lead Activision's case earlier this month, had requested a monthlong delay to prepare for the trial, which will feature dozens of witnesses and thousands of pieces of evidence.

Wilkinson told the court Tuesday that Activision has paid $42 million in bonuses to "Modern Warfare 2" developers suing the company but that did not constitute a settlement.

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GeForce Grid, Cloud Games Without Lag obviously has announced NVIDIA

GPU manufacture NVIDIA today announced GeForce Grid, a cloud gaming platform capable of “streaming next-generation games to virtually any device, without the lag that hampers current offerings.” The tech leverages NVIDIA’s Kepler-based family of graphics processors to deliver low latency gaming over the cloud. A single Grid instance can simultaneously encode up to eight game streams, allowing providers to scale efficiently with less overhead in regards to power and costs.

What’s under the hood? A Grid GPU boasts 3,072 CUDA cores — the same as NVIDIA’s flagship GTX690 card. It also includes 8GB of VRAM, with memory and shader performance clocking in at 320 GB/sec and 4.7 TFLOPS, respectively. The wattage rating comes in at a respectable 250W — reasonable when you consider how much power the card is packing.

Impressively, with the Grid tech, NVIDIA says server power-consumption per game stream has been reduced to about one-half that of previous implementations. Under ideal conditions, the Grid platform reduces server latency to as little as 10 milliseconds. According to NVIDIA, “gamers will feel like they are playing on a gaming supercomputer located in the same room. Lightning-fast play is now possible, even when the gaming supercomputer is miles away.”

OnLive competitor Gaikai will be one of the first providers to deploy the new tech. Additionally, several industry figures and developers have praised NVIDIA’s latest effort.

“Cloud has the potential to deliver an even more powerful experience in the future by enabling ultra-high-end GPUs like the GeForce GTX 680 to stream ultra-high-quality graphics such as those made possible by UE4 to a huge range of devices, well beyond console capabilities. The result will be that more people can enjoy EPIC’s games on more devices at higher quality,” said Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney.

“It is exciting to watch how cloud gaming is becoming mature and gives better and better user experience — and NVIDIA’s GeForce GRID technology is example of it. We are looking forward to see how cloud computing using this technology will change the future of gaming and the overall gaming experience and how it will affect consoles and PCs,” said CD Projekt RED lead programmer Bartlomiej Wronski.

Many have questioned the viability of cloud-driven gaming platforms in the past, but it goes without saying that NVIDIA’s Grid tech looks to be a game-changer. Going forward, it’ll be exciting to see how the platform evolves.

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Diablo III: the 'Best' for the Worst Anger

The rigamarole is always the same: Big game is released, problems ensue. But for Diablo III, the launch was bigger—twelve years in the making. And the problems? They seem bigger, too. And when that happens, people get angry.

As previously detailed, Diablo III's "always-online" feature was problematic to say the least, and players have been dealing with errors like Error 37 and Error 3003. The whole thing hasn't exactly been smooth.

And the reaction to all this has...not been good. People paid good money for an experience, and the experience hasn't been good for many players. They have every right to complain. No wonder the game is getting clobbered on review site Metacritic, where the user reviews are especially brutal. On Amazon, there are biting reviews as well, but less of the endless vitriol. The general tone, however, is one of anger and frustration.

Some of the reviews seem knee-jerk and not directed at the actual gameplay—the result of frustrated people trying to get online, but unable to. Others seem to truly not like the game, which, of course, is fine. And, yes, some of them are merely trolls (but funny trolls!).

But let's not look at the normal venting. Let's look at some of the "best" haterade spewed at Diablo III.

• You know when they sold the rights to The Neverending Story 1 & 2 to some random production company and they came out with a steaming pile called The Neverending Story 3 that went straight to VHS? Well that pretty much describes Diablo 3.
• This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june. This is for that what i must wait fuc*ing 7th june.
• Diablo 3 is so boring you would have more fun at a bingo hall. Also the connection problems at launch are awful and show how incompetent Blizzard is. The graphics in game are also not close to what a Diablo game should look like.
• Decade of experience running online games to have the game fail to launch ON SINGLE PLAYER due to their network. They took everything that was Diablo and flushed it down the toilet, from gameplay to graphics.
• I have paid for a game and can not even start a single player!? What exactly is on that disc?! It is a sick joke... Give my money and wasted time back!
• They've had 10 years to make this game and when the game went live only 600 players were online... Hours later only 1000 players were able to get on! Its been like this the whole entire launch!
• If your a true Diablo series fan you'll know its a gothic themed game and it'll break your heart to find out that the act 1 boss is damn fairy queen that looks like the disney villain maleficent
• Diablo 3 is out. It took 11 years to make. The graphics look 10 years old and its only 6 hours long. But don't worry kids you can buy hats with moms credit card!
• You want 150 words minimum to accept my review? Ok. FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL. DO NOT BUY !!! SERIOUSLY. Vote with your wallet, dont give these **** money.
• One of the worst play time to cost ratios. I could have a whole day at a paintball stadium for the money I shelled for this game, which, due to an unstable internet connection, I can't even play smoothly, even though I'm only interested in single player. Good job, Blizzard.
• If you want a watered down, pay2win piece of junk, Diablo 3 is just the ultimate game in this regards. Don't expect to find a game reminiscent of the jewels such as Diablo 1+2 (actually made by different people). Only saving grace is... no wait I can't think of one.
• This game is a massive pile of **** It shouldn't be named like that. WoW is nice like a prostate cancer, and this "Diablo"3 is like a bunch of bloody hemorrhoids in your mouth.
• stupid game,GO TO HELL!. oh wait, it's already in hell. All about it is disappointing. I've been a Diablo fan for a long time but then you give me this.. What the hell Blizzard? This all errors things and your stupid DRM giving me a headache. Why no in steam? money whoring company
• Blizzard apparently had no idea how many people would REALLY want to play this game AFTER WAITING FOR 12 YEARS! The North Koreans had better launches last month than this. Way to go Blizzard.
• It is a very good game, VERY GOOD!!!! It even comes with a challenge, beat the login server, error 37 is the prime evil, if you beat it, all will obey your orders. Now seriously, if you don't mind spending 3 hours to get in, you should totally buy, if not, don't waste your money.
• the worst first person shooter I've ever played cant even log in, and i even stood in line for at least two hours to pay for this dont waste your money BLIZZARD IS FINISHED
• Can blizzard just crawl into a hole and sit there until they starve to death. after they do that they can come back as undead and try to make the game work
• Never played it. And now thanks to all of your reviews i will never buy it and play it. Thanks for saving my money. I don't usually follow what people say but the majority is overwhelming.

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Shortcut glitch finally patched of Nintendo Mario Kart 7

Nintendo confirmed today that it is releasing a mandatory update for 3DS owners that will prevent players from using the game-crippling shortcuts that players have been exploiting in online matches of the game Mario Kart 7. Three shortcuts have been identified and Nintendo modified the software in such a way that anyone trying to use them will not be able to.

It became a huge issue when the game was released. There are areas within the race tracks that allow players to essentially skip more than half ot the course. The shortcuts were so extreme – and unintentional – that anyone using them has been considered a cheater. It was a big headache for Nintendo because the way the system originally worked, there was no way to patch individual 3DS games over the Internet.

However, a firmware update for the device went live earlier this year that modified the 3DS’s inner workings and made such a feat possible. This issue caused many to draw comparisons between Nintendo and Sony/Microsoft yet again, noting that Nintendo is far behind when it comes to things like online connectivity in the gaming environment.

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