Join independent journalists and industry decision-makers at GamesBeat NEXT, returning to San Francisco November 2–3. The event brings together 500 executives, founders, investors and tech leaders shaping the $200 billion interactive economy for candid discussions on gaming, entertainment, technology and AI, plus executive networking and opportunities to build partnerships and close major deals.
If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.
This week, Microsoft announces that the Xbox One is now a self-publishing platform, Sony adds Twitch.tv to its streaming services and does not require a PlayStation Plus subscription to use it, and Nintendo returns to profitability but only sold 160,000 Wii U systems last quarter.
You’ll also find reviews for Disney Infinity, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, the Nvidia Shield, and Dive Kick as well as previews for Fighter Within, The Crew, and Pokémon X and Y.
News:
- The DeanBeat: At Europe’s E3, Microsoft gets a second chance, and Sony gets to tease Microsoft again
- What Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did for Xbox — and what his retirement means for its future
- Rare will use Kinect ‘where it makes sense’ for potential Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie sequels
- Here’s 8 more Grand Theft Auto V screens, because waiting is hard
- A year after its HTML5 games disaster, Goko reboots with a new mobile strategy
- Titanfall does not support cross-platform play between Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC
- League of Legends Championship Series isn’t profitable — Riot doesn’t care
- This is what a multiplayer battle in Total War: Rome II looks like
- Words With Friends is now fluent in 7 additional languages
- Valve turns to Payelp Global to handle transactions in Eastern Europe
- Microsoft Studios head defends making changes to Xbox One
- Bethesda wants to address Gold/Plus requirement for Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One, PlayStation 4
- You can still guarantee a launch-day PlayStation 4 or Xbox One from Walmart
- EA’s ex-CEO John Riccitiello to speak at GamesBeat 2013
- The Sims 4 brings more detailed Create-a-Sim tool and rocket-ride innuendos
- Strip Sports Betting gamifies watching sports … and stripping
- Sony releases 12GB PlayStation 3 model in U.S. for $200
Announcements and reveals:
- Medieval multiplayer game Chilvary getting Deadliest Warrior expansion
- Sonic: Lost World’s Wii U surprise — Nights Into Dreams levels
- Nintendo confirms Metroid: Other M stage for next Super Smash Bros.
- Blizzard expanding Diablo III with Reaper of Souls
- The Elder Scrolls Online will have a $15 monthly subscription fee
- XCOM: Enemy Within to debut this fall as new expansion from Firaxis
- Ubisoft shows off World Dance online game play for Just Dance 2014
- CCP Games expands Eve Online’s universe again with virtual reality space sim Eve: Valkyrie
- Xbox One will have 23 games when it launches — here’s the full list
- Microsoft to make Xbox One into an indie self-publishing platform
- Ubisoft orders developer Blue Byte to storm the Web with Panzer General Online
Mobile news:
- This iPad game actually builds your kids’ brains — and tells you how they’re developing
- Among mobile gamers, males are the whales, and women don’t pay to play
- Kamcord crosses 1 billion mobile gameplay video recordings
- BlueStacks signs up mobile devs for its GamePop Android home console
- Hi-Rez teams up with China’s Tencent to publish battle game Smite
- Konami unveils Star Wars card battle game for mobile devices
- Sprint will adopt PlayPhone’s mobile-social games portal
- Zynga’s hold slips as Facebook launches mobile games publishing initiative
Earnings:
- The wait for new PlayStation 4s and Xbox Ones isn’t killing GameStop as it beats earnings estimates
- Nintendo swings back to net profit, but it sold only 160K Wii U consoles in past quarter
Sony at GamesCom:
- Watch PlayStation 4 chief Andrew House talk smack about Xbox One
- Ubisoft announces Watch Dogs film
- Here is your confirmed PlayStation 4 launch lineup (so far)
- Minecraft is a PlayStation 4 launch game
- Sony adds Twitch to PlayStation 4 sharing and streaming options
- Sony reveals Rogue Legacy, Wasteland Kings, and more indie games coming to PlayStation hardware
- LittleBigPlanet Hub coming ‘later this year’
- Sony cuts $50 off price of PlayStation Vita handheld
- Sony announces release date for Gran Turismo 6
EA at GamesCom:
- Plants vs Zombies 2 reaches 16M downloads in five days
- Battlefield 4 Premium members get early access to content and priority server queues
- Peggle 2 is an Xbox One launch game
Ruh-roh:
- Ouya takes flak for vomit ad that it pulled down
- Hacker snatches North American League of Legends player credit card numbers and more
- Big Fish Games lays off staff, shuts Vancouver office, and closes cloud business
Tech:
- Rare producer claims new Kinect can notice nearly imperceptible muscle movements
- Dream Arcades’ Kegerator Pro 60 has 140 arcades games playable on a 60-inch screen, with a beer keg
- How Silicon Studio is making PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games even more beautiful
Trailer hoedown:
- Gamescom: Electronic Arts trailer roundup — Titanfall, Dragon Age 3, and more
- Here’s the latest Titanfall gameplay trailer from EA’s Gamescom presentation
Reviews:
- Nvidia Shield is a game geek’s dream device (hands-on review)
- Divekick’s two-button fighting and in-jokes limit its appeal (review)
- The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is the series’ hyperactive but charming younger sibling (review)
- Disney Infinity is a $100M game full of ambition but is frustrating in execution
Previews:
- Here’s what’s new in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
- Fighter Within attempts to correct the mistakes of past motion fighters (preview)
- Ubisoft shows off next installment of Might & Magic role-playing game (hands-on preview)
- Will Ubisoft’s The Crew become the next big racing game franchise? (hands-on preview)
- Pokémon X and Y makes me excited for Pokémon games again (preview)
Interviews:
- False rumors, ugly cities, and sharks: How meticulous research shaped Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
- Can you stay alive for 30 seconds in Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer? (interview)
- Mark Rubin on why Call of Duty finally recognized female players (interview)
- How Zen Studios became a successful indie game studio and cranked out KickBeat (interview)
Pieces of flair: