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’s Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu’s exclusive four-part series on the DualShock 4 controller explores how Sony designed and redesigned the controller. This in-depth look at the DualShock 4 reveals how Sony started designing the controller from the beginning of the new console’s development — from how the crazy ideas to how the new trigger buttons work. Seriously, it’s worth reading to understand how the controller people are already playing with at in-store display kiosks took shape.
In other news, Apple announced its new iPad Air and we look at what that means for gaming, the Xbox 360 approaches $80 million lifetime sales, and the hard drive space crunch continues with the 40GB of space needed to install Call of Duty: Ghosts on PC.
News:
- The DeanBeat: Will your mobile game strategy take you more global or more local?
- Microsoft thinks Xbox One is worth $500 for its extra features — even if you don’t want them
- Zynga expects to be profitable for full fiscal year, so to speak
- Zynga announces a hiring, not a departure: DeNA West’s Clive Downie is its new chief operating officer
- Time to clear out the hard drive: Call of Duty: Ghosts require 40GB of storage space on PC
- Super Mario Galaxy HD? Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says it’s ‘possible’
- The ‘people’s console’ hits mainstream: Ouya Android devices come to Target, with demo kiosks coming soon
- Street Fighter publisher working on new fighting game
- Play the original Gone Home prototype made with Amnesia’s horror-game engine
- RIP, Wii — Nintendo ceases production of its first motion-control console
- Slender: The Arrival spookin’ up Steam in time for Halloween
- How Elder Scrolls Online’s character creation improves on Skyrim
Announcements and reveals:
- Pokémon X and Y save bug fixed; patch available to download now
- BioShock Infinite’s Burial at Sea downloadable content finally gets a release date
- Pigskin pick ‘em without gambling: Kizzang launches Pick the Board cash prize contest
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 finally rises to eat Android’s brains
- Don your ball gags or zipper masks: Saints Row IV: Enter The Dominatrix expansion available now
- Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi Wii U bundle includes ‘two’ games, launches Nov. 1
- Ridge Racer! Sony boss Kaz Hirai giving keynote address at CES 2014
- Sims 4′s virtual world will ship in fall 2014
- Titanfall dropping in March; Respawn reveals the $250 Collector’s Edition
Mobile news:
- Doom creator John Romero will help guide the development of mobile-gaming tool Corona SDK
- MediaSpike reaches 20M monthly users with product placement in social-mobile games
- Fiksu upgrades FreeMyApps to reward users for actions, not just downloads (exclusive)
- Party in your pants pocket: Mobile gaming’s PlayHaven now covers 800 million unique gamers
- Big Fish adds the ability to play Android games through its PC and Mac apps
- Clash of Clans, Puzzle & Dragons working together again to further dominate global gaming
- Kids code games: 80M user messaging app Kik jams in NYC
GamesBeat 2013:
- GamesBeat panel spotlight: Making the next billion-dollar game in Asia
- GamesBeat panel spotlight: Social casino games move to the main stage
- GamesBeat session spotlight: The future of game technologies
- GamesBeat panel spotlight: The next billion-dollar game-investment opportunity
- Meet the 7 finalists for the GamesBeat 2013 Who’s Got Game Innovation Showdown
PlayStation 4:
- The PlayStation 4 controller: A close look at the touchpad, light bar, design, and everything else (part 4, exclusive)
- The PlayStation 4 controller: What’s new with the buttons and triggers (part 3, exclusive)
- The PlayStation 4 controller: What’s new with the analog sticks and D-pad (part 2, exclusive)
- The PlayStation 4 controller: The weird stuff that could’ve been (part 1, exclusive)
Ruh-roh:
- Zynga losses aren’t bad, but the decline in social gamers continues
- DeNA abruptly replaces its top U.S. executive Clive Downie
Video hoedown:
- Crisis of Infinite Marios: Super Mario 3D World looks wonderful in its latest trailer
- Check out this 5-foot-tall version of a Combat Creature robot (video)
- Battlefield 4′s story trailer reveals in-squad fighting, apple tossing, and dog punching
- Call of Duty: Ghosts looks a lot like ‘Gravity’ at the end of its launch trailer
- An appeal to emotion: Sony’s PlayStation 4 ads go for the heart
Above: The iPad Air comes in white (with silver) or black (with space gray).
Tech:
- Microsoft may have some ideas about where you can stick Xbox One’s Kinect
- iPad Air: What Apple’s latest tablet means for mobile gaming
- This Xbox One racing wheel costs as much as a PlayStation 4
Earnings:
Acquisitions incorporated:
Previews:
Above: Power-ups also apply to your doppelgängers.
Interviews:
- Super Mario 3D World devs discuss Mario’s future, going HD, and the different ways to say ‘meow!’ (interview)
- Why Killzone: Shadow Fall will feel like Berlin during the Cold War (interview)
- The CEA’s Jim Barry: The old man and his gadgets (interview)
Pieces of flair:
- The GamesBeat community on their favorite current-gen games
- ‘Stay Awhile and Listen’: How Diablo became the game that fascinated millions and helped make Blizzard famous
- What’s next for Ouya: CEO embraces cloud gaming, is open to third-party consoles
- A visual tour of Riot Games, one of the ‘best places to work’ (photo gallery)
- Skylanders Swap Force: The cheapest way to get all the toys you need for the main campaign
- Rune Factory 4 has a secret: It’s all your favorite games rolled into one
- 10 endings that shocked everyone this gaming generation
- Read+Watch+Listen: Bonus material for Grand Theft Auto V fans
- Remembering the current-gen games you already forgot