The 
numerous Game of the Year honors that Sony’s post-apocalyptic adventure The Last of Us took home in 2013 (including one from us) weren’t just because of the game’s tense gameplay. The story – and the phenomenal acting by the cast of voice actors – was just as good.
So if you missed last night’s one-time live performance of selected parts of the game by that same cast, you owe it to yourself to take the time to watch it now.
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.
The 
video game industry has held its annual trade show in its backyard of Los Angeles for 17 of the past 19 years. But the president of the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the annual event, says E3 may pull up stakes.
“E3 is a world class show that deserves a world class venue,” said Michael Gallagher at a media dinner Sunday night. “The Los Angeles Convention Center is no longer a top-tier property.”
Just 
seven years ago, Nintendo was the undisputed king of the video game world. The Wii was impossible to find, as people who had never considered themselves gamers couldn’t get enough of the company’s products. Today, despite the introduction of a high-definition system that blends console and tablet gaming, the company is looking more and more like the industry’s pauper.
Sales of the Wii U are stagnant. A slow trickle of releases hasn’t helped matters. At the same time, Sony has managed to recapture its golden touch from the PlayStation 2 days, when it could do no wrong in gamers’ eyes—and Microsoft is posting healthy Xbox One sales, despite some public relations missteps.
Zynga, 
to many investors, is a cautionary tale.
In the months preceding its 2011 IPO, some analysts estimated the company to have a market cap of $15 billion to $20 billion. At the last minute, that was dropped to $7 billion. And the company’s shares quickly took a dive after trading commenced. Today, the company’s market cap sits at less than $3 billion.
Chris Morris: Journalist 