Few 
stars have burned as brightly — and burned out as quickly — as Sega’s Dreamcast console.
Adored by players from the moment it was announced in 1998, the system was truly ahead of its time. Even today, on the 15th anniversary of its debut, the Dreamcast has a fan base more loyal than many modern systems.
Nintendo, 
earlier this year, said it was hoping games like Mario Kart 8 would spur people to buy the Wii U – and help it return to profitability.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be happening.
The 
Wii U has its first certifiable smash.
Mario Kart 8 has sold more than 2 million copies since its release in late May, making it the system’s biggest selling title by a landslide, according to Nintendo.
Mario 
Kart 8 is proving to be quite the power-up for Nintendo’s Wii U.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Yahoo Games that the kart racer has resulted in a significant bump in hardware sales since it hit store shelves in May, and the company has high hopes for that trend to continue.
E3 
is a hydra. There’s so much going on at any given moment that it’s hard to keep up with everything being shown, talked about and hinted at.
While the show is closed to the public, Nintendo once again offered fans the chance to play demos of “Super Smash Bros.” at over 100 Best Buy locations around the U.S. And while that may gave fans a taste, it hardly filled their appetites.
While it’s impossible to fully showcase E3’s eccentricities, here are a few snapshots of the industry’s annual party/trade show to give you a taste.
The 
E3 after a console hardware launch is always an awkward one for investors.
The excitement that surrounds new game systems often has a sweeping effect on share prices of companies in the video game space—but it’s hard to get as worked up about game announcements the following year.
The 
worst part about E3 is the waiting.
After ingesting a flood of information for hundreds of titles and watching their excitement levels rise to critical peaks, players now must sit back and be patient. Some of the games won’t be out for months. Others could take years.
Figuring out which will top sales charts is always a dangerous exercise. Publishers show carefully controlled demos of small segments of their games, specifically designed to pique interest. It might be fun in a five-to-10-minute microburst, but truly terrible after an hour of gameplay.
As we do each year, we’ve compiled a list of the games most likely to perform well when they hit stores. That doesn’t mean they’ll be critical smashes, but they’re likely to connect with today’s gaming audience.
Here’s what turned our head at this year’s E3.
Microsoft 
has long painted the Xbox One as a system that’s about more than just video games, saying home entertainment is equally important.
To underline that, a year ago it announced a live-action “Halo”-themed series produced by Steven Spielberg—and has since revealed a fairly extensive lineup.
But the division has undergone changes, and now original video content is being de-emphasized.
Independent 
games don’t rule the sales charts. Their fan base is dwarfed by that of even a mid-level game put out by a major publisher. And the money they make is just a drop in the bucket in an industry whose global revenues last year totaled $93 billion.
But lately, those indie developers have been the belle of the video game ball.
“Grand 
Theft Auto V,” which last September set entertainment industry sales records, is speeding toward the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software broke the news late Monday night at Sony’s pre-E3 press conference. Although the announcement had been expected, that didn’t dampen the response from fans.
Chris Morris: Journalist 