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Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! We’re still playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and we’re sharing tips that can help you on your Hyrule adventures. We also found out that Overwatch’s Symmetra is autistic, making the shooter’s cast even more diverse.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Orwell is keeping an eye on us
- Watch us realize you can mount this Zelda: Breath of the Wild miniboss
- Fighting Zelda: Breath of the Wild minibosses in a thunderstorm is stylish and dramatic
- How long will it take to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War?
- How Final Fantasy XV’s worn-out developers found new energy after a ‘family day’
- Nvidia’s Jetson platform can power drones with good artificial intelligence
- Is Breath of the Wild the best or the worst Zelda? GamesBeat Decides
- The 76ers to explain blending of traditional sports and esports at GamesBeat Summit
- How Angry Birds maker Rovio found its wings in 2016
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild tips: How to kill Guardians, Korok Seeds, weapon durability, and more
- Unity’s quest to make the lives of game developers easier
- How esports can grow bigger than the NFL
- The highlights and memorable moments of GDC 2017
- Ted Price and Mike Gallagher to speak on leadership at GamesBeat Summit
News
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting a ton of new multiplayer modes for its Switch debut
- Tera is bringing its action-based MMO gameplay to consoles
- Nintendo Switch eShop Japanese purchases carry over to the U.S. store
- February 2016 NPD: PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console last month
- Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan confirms Symmetra is autistic
- Amazon bets big on gaming with high-profile hires
- World of Warcraft’s next Arena season will feature more teams and open signups
- Sorcerer King: Rivals 2.1 update will feature a new campaign from Cracked.com’s Chris Bucholz
- Why No Man’s Sky’s creators are funding other game studios
- Amazon Game Studios hires Command & Conquer veteran Louis Castle
- Activision Blizzard is the only game company on Fortune’s list of 100 best places to work in America
- Grand Theft Auto Online next update adds more crazy races
- Naughty Dog co-president retires to pursue personal projects
- Elder Scrolls: Legends leaves open beta and launches on PC
- Hearthstone senior producer confirms new Elise Starseeker card in Journey to Un’goro expansion
- Hearthstone is giving players a card pack for voting on their Global Games representatives
- Overwatch’s newest digital comic shows that not everyone hates Bastion
- Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap brings a sidescrolling classic to PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on April 18
- Destiny: Age of Triumph is the online shooter’s last hurrah before Destiny 2
- PlayStation 4 system update tomorrow adds external HHD support, Boost Mode, and more
- YoYo Games heats up the game engine wars with GameMaker Studio 2
- Unity Without Borders sponsors game developers affected by Trump’s travel ban
- The number of VR companies grew 40% in 2016
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is getting four classic maps as paid DLC
- Nintendo wins Canadian copyright case against the sale of piracy-enabling flashcarts
- Farming Simulator 2018 blooms on Vita and 3DS in June
- Linden Lab teases the VR world of Sansar
- Razer announces zVault virtual currency platform for gamers
- Playsource to foster collaboration between indie game developers and fans
- Crytek sells Black Sea studio in Bulgaria to Sega and The Creative Assembly
- Nintendo sells 313,700 Switch consoles in Japan over launch weekend
- Switch, Zelda smash two-day sales records for Nintendo
- Talisman: Digital Edition will launch on PlayStation 4 and Vita on March 7
- Nexon courts Western game developers with creativity pitch
- Cliff Bleszinski’s Lawbreakers gets its first closed beta on March 16
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III gets an April 27 release date
- Improbable enables small developers to create giant online worlds
Mobile and social
- Littlstar has carved out a role as the app for VR entertainment
- Gree International Entertainment lays off developers in its San Francisco office
- Heart study says Pokémon Go makes you twice as likely to walk 10,000 daily steps
- China bans new mobile games from South Korea
- Netmarble’s Kabam will update Marvel Contest of Champions to mollify angry fans
- China’s Youzu Interactive opens office in India as smartphone market expands
- How Space Ape Games more than tripled its mobile game revenue in two years
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Sony takes PSVR fans into sci-fi survival horror with The Persistence
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War ups the Nemesis system to make you a general of an orc army
- Shadow of War’s art director on just how big the new Middle-earth game will be
- Dhruva’s Rajesh Rao is still bullish on India’s game market — after two decades
- The Darwin Project is Scavengers Studio’s snowy take on The Hunger Games
- Xbox One update hands-on: Microsoft finally speeds up the interface
- Superhot gets even cooler after update to one of VR’s most stylish games
- Super Bomberman R is forgettable even in Switch’s light launch lineup
- Logitech designed its latest gaming keyboard with esports players
- Blaster Master Zero is your natural choice after Zelda on Switch
- The first 26 minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild