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.
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You’ll also find a review for Metro Last light and previews for Scribblenauts Unmasked and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.
News
- The DeanBeat: Maxthon offers an alternative browser that won’t crash while running multiple games
- DICE L.A. is ’100% focused on Battlefield 4′
- Crytek’s Warface invades Japan under Nexon’s management
- Twisted Metal creator collaborating on new vehicular combat game Autoduel
- EA kills its controversial Online Pass program
- Microsoft phasing out Points system — Xbox market getting real-currency payments
- PlayStation 4 getting Gaijin Entertainment’s military MMO War Thunder
- Trion Worlds’ Rift MMO goes free-to-play in June
- Pokémon X and Y trailer reveals improved visuals and battle animation
- Ace Attorney 5 is coming to the U.S. — but only as a digital download
- Puzzle & Dragons is making $3.75M a day
Google I/O
- 10 Android apps that already use Google Play game services
- ‘Leveling up’ on Google Play Services means enhancing quality and utilizing social networks
- Google Play game services can shut down a pirated Android game
- Why Google Play game services works on iOS
- Google Play game services is a Xbox Live-like mobile network — and offers cross-platform gaming
- Google to launch ‘Google Play Games’ platform services for game developers
Nintendo Direct
- Nintendo brings E3 to the people … well, people who go to Best Buy
- Nintendo dates Platinum Games’ The Wonderful 101
- Nintendo releasing retail version of New Super Luigi U in August
- Mario & Sonic head to Sochi for the Olympics
- New Sonic game is exclusive to Nintendo hardware
- Nintendo of America started localizing Animal Crossing: New Leaf in 2010
Earnings and funding
- April 2013 NPD: Injustice tops software chart as console industry continues to shrink
- Hidden Path finds an angel to finance the final development of Defense Grid 2 (exclusive)
- Ubisoft sales up; plans 5 major games this year including something new
- ‘Video Games: The Movie’ is a feature-length documentary looking for $60K on Kickstarter
- With $1B on the line, Take-Two planning ‘innovative’ marketing for Grand Theft Auto V
- BioShock Infinite sells 3.7 million copies since March launch
- BioShock Infinite and more push Take-Two revenues up 48 percent in fiscal 2013
- Eternal Darkness successor crowdfunding campaign now on Kickstarter
- Cloud-gaming company Ubitus raises $15M to expand its streaming technology
- Japan’s Square Enix loses $134M for fiscal year
New content
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- Call of Duty’s Uprising maps storm PlayStation 3 and PC
- Electronic Arts adding amusement parks to SimCity in $10 expansion
Tech
- Razer launching Atrox fighting-game arcade stick this month
- Plantronics blesses e-sports, becomes official sponsor of League of Legends tournament
- Nvidia prices Shield handheld gaming device at $349
Mobile news
- Frostbite Go: EA wants console-grade graphics on your mobile devices
- Tapjoy teams with Kakao Games to provide in-game advertising
- Spair launches testing for its mobile cloud-gaming service
Interviews
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- The many paths of survival in The Last of Us (video interview)
- Warframe is the online co-op space ninja game you’ve been waiting for (interview)
- Why The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will be worth the wait (interview)
- Game Horizon’s Will Wright Q&A on the future of games (part two)
- Game Horizon’s Q&A with Will Wright on the future of games
Previews
- Sony reveals more tense moments in The Last of Us (preview)
- The dark, silly, and bizarre influences behind PS3′s Puppeteer (exclusive)
- Scribblenauts Unmasked contains the entire DC Universe (preview)
- The Bureau: XCOM Declassified tactical shooter game will play a lot like Mass Effect (hands-on preview)
Reviews
Strange happenings
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- Ubisoft suspends development on 1666 game it acquired from THQ
- Gran Turismo 6 officially headed to PlayStation 3 (not PS4) this year
Pieces of flair