Civilization: 
Beyond Earth isn’t the only entry in the time-sucking franchise coming out this year.
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution 2 is on its way to iOS devices on July 2 and Android devices soon thereafter. The sequel to the 2009 hit game is more than just a double shot of Civ for fans, though. It could also be seen as a worrisome sign to console makers.
Hang 
onto your wallet. Valve’s coming after your money again.
The annual Steam Summer sale, a blowout event designed to trigger the impulse nodes of your gamer brain, is on. And, as always, the deals are tempting.
E3’s 
not only where gamers get an advance look at what’s to come, it’s also where savvy entrepreneurs can freely scoop up items worth hundreds of dollars.
As happens every year, a cottage industry has formed on eBay around some of the more collectible (and not-so collectible) E3 shwag, with excited gamers paying ridiculous amonts of money for show-related tchotchkes.
As 
World Cup fever grips the nation, interest in EA’s FIFA soccer games is on the rise as well — and that’s bringing out the scam artists.
A popular Instagram account offering new and exclusive characters for FIFA 14 and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil turned out to be a fake, designed to steal users’ Xbox Live and/or Origin game service log-in details.
The 
world’s largest video game collection has found a new home.
Michael Thomasson’s epic collection, which includes over 11,000 unique games, was sold for a whopping $750,250 at auction this week. While the name of the winning bidder (who goes by the online handle “peeps_10091970”) is unknown, he or she is now the proud owner of a Guinness certificate proving the collection is the world’s largest, a lifetime subscription to Retro magazine, and enough video games to last several lifetimes.
A 
hacker and a kart racer have delivered some unabashedly good news to console makers and game publishers.
Sales of both video game hardware and software were up — way up — in May, delivering the first solid month the industry has seen for some time.
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.
While 
it’s still anyone’s guess as to when the Oculus Rift or Sony’s Project Morpheus will be commercially available, this year’s E3 made one thing clear: there’s nothing virtual about the fun these devices deliver.
VR may not have been front and center at this year’s show, but it certainly created a lot of buzz. Sony saw huge crowds queing up for Morpheus. The line stretching around the Oculus booth was several hours long.
I tried out a lot of VR games at the show. Here’s what stood out.
In 
theory, the idea sounds fine. Get a personable, well-liked young star to promote the Xbox One, and, even though you’ve unbundled Kinect from the system, feature it prominently in ads to keep awareness high.
In practice, though, Microsoft’s latest Xbox One commercial is driving current Xbox One owners crazy as it tries to sell the system to people who don’t have one yet.
By 
most accounts, Assassin’s Creed: Unity has been a big hit at E3. The game’s wonderful, brutal trailer at Microsoft’s press conference Monday got raucous applause and the inclusion of four-person co-operative play is a welcome change.
But the company’s decision to not include any female assassins among the game’s playable characters is rubbing some gamers the wrong way.
Chris Morris: Journalist 