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, GamesBeat 2013 tackles some of the game industry’s biggest topics, including the Oculus Rift, Ouya, and casino games; the FAA lifts restrictions on when passengers can use electronic devices on flights; and Sony released a list of frequently asked questions about the PlayStation 4 that outlines what the system will and won’t do (like how it won’t stream content from PCs, something the older PS3 does).
You’ll also find the GamesBeat team’s list of the scariest moments in games and a review of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
GamesBeat 2013:
- The DeanBeat: GamesBeat event reveals the game industry’s boom in all of its dimensions
- World of Tanks is Will Wright’s gaming addiction, not really the ‘enemy of women’
- Free-to-play on PlayStation 4 and Wii U? Not so fast, says Kabam
- Want to bring your mobile game to Asia? Here’s 5 tips for moving East
- Major League Gaming claims it will be bigger than the NHL in two years
- Facebook will not lower its revenue-sharing fees despite competition from mobile
- Video games are one of the fastest-growing mediums, and we have some numbers to prove it
- It’s ‘inevitable’ major publishers will come to Ouya, says CEO Julie Uhrman
- Can Windows 8 be as important as iOS and Android by 2014? This mobile entrepreneur thinks so
- Former EA chief John Riccitiello: Grand Theft Auto V is ‘twice as large as the Super Bowl’
- Fact: You can make money playing video games
- Social casino game makers are tired of talking about ‘regulation’
- The president’s ‘gaming guy’ tells us that educational games fascinate Obama
- HTML5: From Facebook disaster to a potential rival mobile-gaming platform for iOS and Android
- Trip Hawkins: Women have taken over tech purchasing, and video games are next
- Oculus VR CEO Iribe: Even with virtual reality, content sells hardware
- GamesBeat speaker spotlight: How Machine Zone’s Gabe Leydon made a huge mobile game bet
- GamesBeat 2013 spotlight: Meet our all-star moderators
- GamesBeat panel spotlight: HTML5 and the future of mobile gaming
- GamesBeat panel spotlight: The rise of big indie game studios
- Brick ‘n’ mortar survival: GameStop president Tony Bartel shows how retail fits into a digital future
News:
- FAA OKs Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita, and more for takeoff and landing
- How Game of War developer Machine Zone tackled its slang-translation problem
- Ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello convinced game industry is expanding, not shrinking
- That’s one big pile of gamers: Steam now has 65 million registered accounts
- Blockade unveils details on the Heavenly Sword film
- How China’s Perfect World plans to be a player in mobile games — and the West
- People gamed the ‘Free the Games’ Kickstarter fund. Here’s how Ouya fixed it
Announcements, reveals, and DLC:
- Xbox One launch game Ryse getting four add-on packs; season pass will cost $20
- Doom co-creator gets promoted to cohead of Diner Dash studio PlayFirst
- PlayStation 4 launch lineup: Knack, Battlefield 4, and more
- Dead Island developer’s Hellraid coming in 2014
- Unleash the spandex: Saints Row IV gets superhero outfit add-on pack
Mobile news:
- Stride & Prejudice is exactly what you think it is — a Jane Austen endless runner
- Google Play now drives 25% more downloads than iOS app store, has 50% the revenue
- Facebook updates its Unity tool to improve cross-platform game development
- ICS Mobile launches AppXchange platform for mobile app discovery
- Kixeye goes mobile with Backyard Monsters: Unleashed for iOS
- Adorable plush toy and apps are a winning combination at Who’s Got Game competition
- NativeX launches new ad tech so developers can make more money off their games
Ruh-roh:
Tech:
- Call of Duty: Ghosts executive producer confirms game is 720p on Xbox One; 1080p on PlayStation 4
- Sony’s PlayStation 4 can’t stream movies from a home PC
- PlayStation 4 installs every game to its hard drive (even disc-based titles)
- The more you know: PlayStation 4 doesn’t support external hard drives
- Oculus Rift virtual reality headset coming to mobile — but just Android, not iOS [corrected]
Earnings:
- Electronic Arts profit up in Q2; raises full-year guidance
- Grand Theft Auto V moves 29M copies — publisher Take-Two Interactive crushes revenue estimates
- Zynga’s share price up 10% after a ‘less terrible than expected’ third quarter
All this funding:
- Livestreaming community on Twitch has raised $8 million for charity; plans to raise more this weekend
- Rumble Entertainment closes $17.5M funding for hardcore free-to-play games
Interview:
Pieces of flair: