Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we talk about our favorite Star Wars games, Super Mario Run makes a lot of money, and we listen to the beautiful voice of Waluigi sing a Christmas carol.
Enjoy, and have a happy holiday!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: My favorite games of 2016
- Steam Store is down as the winter sale goes live
- 10 great and cheap Steam Winter Sale games
- Worldwide game industry hits $91 billion in revenues in 2016, with mobile the clear leader
- Why Nintendo should ignore Super Mario Run’s poor reviews
- Is Nintendo’s Switch too underpowered to compete? GamesBeat Decides
- Watch Dogs 2 excoriates Silicon Valley’s tech companies and warns about election fraud
- Gaming’s best Christmas carol comes from … Waluigi?
News
- Atlus forms new Studio Zero and tasks Persona director on a fantasy role-playing game
- Retro Sinclair ZX Spectrum handheld console to ship in February after series of delays
- After nearly 3 years of struggle, Kixeye launches its spectacular War Commander: Rogue Assault
- Jaunt lets you watch VR movies on the PlayStation VR
- Warcraft troll Zul’jin joins the Heroes of the Storm roster
- Minecraft’s holiday update is live for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles
- Talent agency startup aims to represent esports pros and Twitch and YouTube stars
- NES Classics are back in stock at GameStop stores
- League of Legends, Call of Duty, and Pokémon Go rule November digital game charts
- Game developer Brianna Wu plans to run for Congress in 2018
- Star Wars: The Old Republic celebrates its 5th anniversary
- Overwatch reveals cover-star Tracer as its first queer character
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Sabotage DLC arrives first on PlayStation 4 on January 31
- The Asheron’s Call MMO universe from the ’90s will finally go offline in January
- At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement
- Crytek shuts down 5 game studios after a weak 2016
- Telltale’s The Walking Dead launches its third season with a two-part premier
- Game academy names scholarship winners for WomenIn program
- China’s Yeahmobi raises $100 million to expand mobile ad network
- Xbox One Elite Controller gets new, exclusive accessories from Scuf Gaming
- More NES Classics are coming to Best Buy just in time for Christmas
- Dishonored 2’s free update gives you a reason to play it again
- Minecraft’s Ender Dragon finally comes to Windows 10 and Pocket Editions
- Where’s Palmer Luckey? Oculus will reveal his new role soon
- Nintendo Switch patent shows off a VR-style headset
- Sweden’s Stillfront Group buys Dubai-based Babil Games for up to $17 million
Mobile and social
- PokéScout has mapped every Pokémon Go gym in the world
- Passengers movie gets its official mobile mystery game
- Pokémon Go launches on Apple Watch — and now I want an Apple Watch
- RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic combines the series’ first landmark games for iOS and Android
- Glu acquires QuizUp studio Plain Vanilla for $1.2 million
- Nintendo: Super Mario Run had 40 million downloads in 4 days
- Gardenscapes by Russia’s Playrix is Facebook’s game of the year
- Worldwide game industry hits $91 billion in revenues in 2016, with mobile the clear leader
- Netmarble acquires Kabam’s top studio in Vancouver, will launch Transformers in Q2
- More NES Classics are coming to Best Buy just in time for Christmas
- ODG partners with China Mobile’s Migu to take augmented reality to Chinese consumers