The top games of E3 2013

The annual Electronics Entertainment Expo, which wrapped up here Thursday,is all about next-generationgaming. More than 45,000 game industry professionals got their first look at Microsoft'sXbox One, which will retail for $500 starting in November, and Sony's PlayStation 4, which will sell for $400 this fall. But for players, the real focus at the show was on the next generation of games, especially the slew of exclusives lined up for eachdevice. What's at stake is a piece ofthe global video-game market, which Newzoo videogame analyst Peter Warman expects to reach $70.4 billion this year and grow to $86.1 billion by 2016. Warman forecasts that the number of gamers worldwidewill reach 1.2 billion this year. The latest crop of games features an upgrade in graphic fidelity that brings athletes like Miami Heat star LeBron James to life in 2K Sports "NBA 2K14" in photorealistic detail. Watching an "EA Sports UFC" match on Xbox One or PS4 is like seeing a live mixed martial arts pay-per-view, thanks to new technology. Even the undead look better, as the zombies in Capcom's Xbox One exclusive "Dead Rising 3," an open world horror game, would scare the "walkers" of AMC's "The Walking Dead." The new consoles feature the processing power to create larger, more immersive open worlds for gamers to explore, as evidenced in Ubisoft's onlineopen world role-playing game "Tom Clancy's The Division." The latest game inthe Tom Clancy universe, which has sold more than 76million games worldwide, is set in New York after a lethal virus has unleashed chaos. But among a host of fresh-looking titles, there were several that stood out at E32013. "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" (Ubisoft, October 29, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC,PlayStation 4, Xbox One): Ubisoft is betting that gamers will love living a pirate's life this fall with thisopen world virtual Caribbean. Set in the turbulent 18th-century WestIndies, the game lets players step into the boots of Edward Kenway and set sail for adventure across a huge map with more than 50 islands and locations to explore. Gamers will interact with famous pirates like Blackbeard and Charles Vane as they contend with warring British and Spanish ships and armies and other privateers. Seamless gameplay allows the player to traverse the rooftops of a bustling Havana and then jump into the ocean to climb aboard the ship Jackdaw and escape. This bestsellingfranchise continues to innovate with new gameplay and a constantly changing window into history -- one that's fun to play through again and again. "Destiny" (Activision/Bungie,2014; Xbox One, PlayStation4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3): Bungie knows a thing or twoabout shooters, having built"Halo" into a global franchise for Microsoft. Now,the developer has partnered with "Call of Duty"publisher Activision to add multiplayer and a persistent world to the alien-fighting action.