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 revealed more specifics about the Xbox One’s used game and sharing policies — triggering predictable Internet outrage in the process; Andrew Scott Reisse, the cofounder of the Oculus Rift, was killed at a crosswalk during a high-speed police chase; and Konami revealed that actor Kiefer Sutherland (24) is the new voice (and motion-capped) face of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
You’ll also find reviews for Remember Me, The Last of Us, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Kingdom Rush: Frontiers, and Dust 514, as well as previews for Murdered: Soul Suspect, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Disney Fantasia, and Halo: Spartan Assault.
E3 looms:
- The DeanBeat: Our E3 expectations for next-gen consoles, consumer rights, and new games
- GamesBeat Community: Tell us your E3 predictions and wishes
- Twitch schedule confirms game from Respawn at E3
News:
- U.S. consumers spent $3.5B on games in the first quarter, flat from a year ago
- How this purple panda is inspiring games for girls — and angel investors, too
- Hayter’s gonna hate: ’24′ actor Kiefer Sutherland is the new voice of Snake in Metal Gear Solid V
- Respawn will calculate Titanfall’s physics in Microsoft’s cloud
- Journey composer Austin Wintory releases Leisure Suit Larry soundtrack
- Precursor Games cancels controversial Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding campaign
- After 4 years in development, online game Marvel Heroes debuts
- Zynga may be closing Omgpop game studio that it bought for $180M
- Zynga’s stock dives 12 percent after layoffs
- Analyst predicts: Xbox One priced at $400; PlayStation 4 at $350
- Former Prey 2 writer: What happened to that game was ‘petty’ and ‘political’
Mobile news:
- Cool kids only: Amazon opens dedicated indie-game portal
- Let’s play: Mobile startup Kamcord adds voice-over recording for games
- American McGee will launch Hell Invaders card battler on DeNA’s Mobage network
- Mobile growth will fuel global game market that hits $86.1B by 2016
- Tango’s plan for world dominance after 120M users: Bringing its messaging platform into mobile games
- Plarium aims to reproduce Facebook success with Total Domination: Reborn on iOS
- Green Throttle will pay a 10 percent commission to indie devs who sell its controllers
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a free-to-play ‘live service’ — due July 18 for iOS (only)
Microsoft vs. Sony:
- What Microsoft will and won’t let you do with games on Xbox One
- Microsoft confirms Xbox One will require a network connection once a day
- Microsoft tries to defuse privacy issues with new policies for Xbox One
- Microsoft: We won’t charge a used-game fee, but third parties can
Tech:
- Finally, finally, finally. BlueStacks brings Apple iPhone, iPad games to your TV
- Haswell gaming laptops and desktops compared from HP, Dell, & Lenovo
- PlayHaven’s data tracking goes real time with ‘big data’ acquisition
- SoftKinetic to provide gesture-tracking 3D camera to Intel
- Wikipad’s 7-inch gaming tablet to debut June 11 in U.S. and U.K.
- Dell’s Haswell line-up includes a 27-inch all-in-one computer
- Intel hopes Haswell will produce a PC revival
- Oculus VR posts a memorial for a brilliant game programmer
- Oculus VR co-founder killed in crosswalk during high-speed police chase
Trailer hoedown:
- Sir Patrick Stewart narrates the Gothic action of the latest Castlevania trailer
- The real ‘Citizen Kane’ of video games: Saints Row IV (trailer)
All this funding:
- With $12M in funding, N3twork aims to build a web experience based on your interests, not your friends
- Signia Venture Partners forming $100M fund for mobile, gaming, ed-tech startups
- Intel Capital creates $100M fund to invest in perceptual computing
- Playtox raises $3M in funding to further develop browser-based mobile MMOs
- Double Fine’s Massive Chalice runneth over as it surpasses its crowdfunding goal
- AppLift raises $13M for mobile-game marketing and monetization
Reviews:
- Kingdom Rush: Frontiers is full of secrets, geeky references, and deep, addicting strategy (review)
- In The Last of Us, you have to earn the right to survive (review)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a delightful refuge from greedy gameplay mechanics (review)
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is entertaining but not incredible (review)
- Remember Me steals multiple identities to find its own (review)
- Dust 514: Interstellar drama trumps the cumbersome combat (review)
Previews:
- Disney unveils its Lone Ranger version of Infinity toy-video game hybrid (preview)
- Sega’s Total War: Rome II promises to be a real-time strategy blockbuster (preview)
- Square Enix’s Murdered: Soul Suspect could be one of E3′s best original games (preview)
- Madden NFL 25′s Owner Mode makes you a football mogul (preview)
- In South Park: The Stick of Truth, farting is magic (preview)
- Halo: Spartan Assault — mobile, microtransactions, meh (preview)
- Harmonix shifts music gaming again with Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved (hands-on preview)
Interviews:
- How The Creative Assembly mashes up turn-based strategy and real-time combat in Total War: Rome II (video interview)
- Disney Infinity looks like a Skylanders clone, but its roots go deep at Disney’s Avalanche (interview)
- Murdered: Soul Suspect aims high with cinematic story and investigative gameplay (video interview)
- Why Microsoft made its top-down Windows tablet game, Halo: Spartan Assault (video interview)
- Harmonix’s Alex Rigopulos on reinventing music games with Disney’s Fantasia (exclusive interview)
- DICE L.A. chief aims to develop triple-A games with Frostbite 3 engine (interview)
Pieces of flair:
- Here’s what you need to build your own holodeck
- How $96,000 can buy you a top 10 ranking in the U.S. app store
- 2013 Into the Pixel collection showcases gaming industry artistry (gallery)
- Not just digital books: How action and innovation are reviving text adventures
- Why the creator of the most realistic gaming gun ever isn’t backing down