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