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Hello, and welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! We hope our American readers enjoyed their Thanksgiving! While you get over your turkey hangover, you can read our thoughts on Overwatch’s new 1-on-1 mode or check out a postmortem on the open world Mafia III.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Opinions and pieces of flair
- The DeanBeat: What they don’t tell you about making games
- Jason’s Gloriously Geeky Gift Guide for the Old Geeks in your life
- The holiday gift guide to the best gaming gear
- The holiday gift guide to the best gaming headsets
- Gift guide: Holiday gifts for gamers that aren’t video games
- PlayStation 4 Pro: How to install a SATA III SSD
- The accelerating inspiration cycle of science fiction, video games, and real-world technology
- GameStop forecasts bigger-than-expected drop in same-store holiday sales
- Is the Nintendo Switch going to cost less than $250? GamesBeat Decides
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is 25 years old
- Overwatch’s 1-on-1 Arcade mode makes Blizzard’s team shooter feel like Street Fighter

News
- Overwatch takes center stage at yet another major esports tournament
- Analyst: New Call of Duty experiencing ‘softer-than-expected sell-through’
- Oculus Rift can play Xbox One games starting next month
- Overwatch’s Symmetra is getting a second ultimate to make her more viable
- December 2016 Xbox Live Games With Gold: Burnout Paradise, Sleeping Dogs, and more
- Telltale’s third season of The Walking Dead debuts on December 20
- Minecraft’s holiday update adds gliding to the console versions
- Gaming veteran Chris Taylor leaves Wargaming to start independent studio (update)
- Watch Dogs 2 sales lagging, Ubisoft acknowledges
- Halo studio chief leaves 343 Industries for indie game development
- NBA 2K shoots for VR on November 22
Mobile and social
- Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes adds X-wings, TIE Fighters, and more with update
- Pokémon Go players can finally catch Ditto
- Playrix has become Europe’s quiet giant in mobile gaming
- Kendall & Kylie launches iMessage stickers and hundreds of ways to make money
- Microsoft brings Solitaire Collection to Android and iOS
- Trivia Crack creator debuts Melody Monsters musical match-3 puzzler
- Google to promote Pixel phones and Daydream VR through a series of livestreamed music festivals
- NetEase usurps Tencent as the top-grossing mobile publisher in the world
- Unity partners with Xiaomi to give game makers better access to China’s mobile market
- Pokémon Go thanks players with this week’s double XP event
- Amazon Appstore announces esports tournament for casual mobile gamers

Previews, reviews, and interviews