Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, Pokémon Go got more creatures (although not as many as some fans hoped for), Overwatch gets a festive update, and we learn more about Super Nintendo World in Universal.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: The road ahead in VR and AR will have two steps forward, one step back
- Super Mario Run’s internet-connection requirement is dumb
- Want more Nintendo nostalgia? Try this Hyperkin mechanical keyboard
- Are babies enough to get people back into Pokémon Go? GamesBeat Decides
- Final Fantasy I to XV: Ranking the series from worst to best
- Why The Last Guardian’s AI is a good example for chatbot developers
Above: A hot item.
Image Credit: Nintendo
News
- GameStop: Nintendo 64 is the hottest system in the retro-gaming scene
- NES Classic Edition sold 196,000 systems in November in the United States alone
- November 2016 NPD: Pokémon has its biggest debut in franchise history
- Planet Coaster’s winter update adds new rides, shops, and more
- NES Classic Edition is back in stock in ‘limited quantities’ at GameStop
- Twitch now permits streamers to broadcast non-gaming vlog-style content
- Lego Worlds will be $2 less than Minecraft when it launches February 21
- Seismic Games acquires Grue Games as it expands into AR and VR gaming
- PC RPG hit Victor Vran moves to the PS4 and Xbox One in 2017
- Nintendo Switch specs: less powerful than PlayStation 4
- Torment: Tides of Numenera launches its Planescape-like role-playing world on February 28
- Valkyria Revolution revives a beloved alternate World War II series in the West
- Skyrim and Fallout 4 director Todd Howard inducted into gaming’s Hall of Fame
- Wevr Transport launches premium subscription for virtual reality apps
- Nintendo Switch and NES Classic were Googled more than PlayStation VR, PS4 Pro, or Xbox One in 2016
- Top 10 most Googled video games of 2016: Overwatch, Battlefield, and Slither.io
- AMD introduces Ryzen brand for highly anticipated Zen-based desktop processors
- Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland brings a snowball fight to Blizzard’s blockbuster
- Destiny’s The Dawning holiday event is now live
- The BioShock series is now backward compatible on Xbox One
- Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe steps aside as company shuffles structure for mobile and PC VR groups
- VR game studio Survios nabs MGM as investor in fundings totaling $50 million
- Forza Horizon 3’s Blizzard Mountain expansion slaps snow tires on year’s best racing game
- Boom.tv raises $3.5 million for esports 3D livestreaming platform
- Nyko does what Nintendo won’t: make a longer NES Classic controller cord
- Rokoko unveils SmartSuit Pro to capture your movements for virtual worlds
- Hand-drawn adventure game The Little Acre out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC
- Greenlight Insights merges with M2 Advisory Group to do more VR, game, and tech analysis
- Venture Reality Fund releases AR industry landscape
- Crytek employees worry about the fate of their company as payroll goes unpaid
- Twitch finally adds a smarter tool to take on bigots, racists, and trolls in chat
- Warframe’s biggest update of the year comes to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
- AMD takes on Nvidia with new Radeon Instinct chips for machine learning
- Pixvana delivers Spin Studio VR video creation and delivery platform
- Gunslinger Studios raises $1.4 million for one-minute multiplayer games
- Play Pac-Man on the MacBook Pro Touch Bar with this app
- Super Nintendo World will open at Universal Studios Japan by 2020
Above: I don’t care if you’re a baby! Go fight for my honor!
Image Credit: The Pokemon Company
Mobile and social
- Super Mario Run is the top-grossing iOS app in 5 countries on launch day
- Galatron brings retro-arcade-style space shooting to Facebook Messenger instant games
- Super Mario Run is out now for iOS devices
- Subatomic’s Fieldrunners Attack! hits the iPhone after a four-year wait
- Pretty Little Liars gets its own Episode in Pocket Gems’ hit storytelling app
- Big Viking will turn Valiant Entertainment’s comic properties into HTML5 mobile games
- Giroptic’s attachment turns your iPhone into a 360-degree VR camera
- Clash Royale event brings together the best North American players for The Crown Duel
- Pokémon Go’s ‘baby’ update disappoints some fans
- Pokémon Go gets ‘select’ monsters from the Gen 2 games Gold and Silver
- Gfycat launches mobile GIF creator for Android
- Scotland’s Outplay Entertainment acquires mobile game developer Eight Pixels Square
Previews, reviews, and interviews
- Epic’s Tim Sweeney: Be patient. The Metaverse will come. And it will be open.
- 8Bitdo’s wireless NES Classic controller solves the cable problem without losing the nostalgia
- Super Mario Run captures Nintendo’s magical game design for mobile — even if it’s too short
- Sound BlasterX Katana speaker system pumps big sound through a small package
- Creative goes beyond gaming audio with its new Sound BlasterX keyboard and mouse
- Astro’s A50 is the smartest wireless gaming headset you can buy
- Star Wars: Force Arena hands-on — a remix of Clash Royale, Dota, and a galaxy far, far away
- Troll and I is a co-op adventure that pairs two unlikely friends in a grand tale
- Watch how the snowballs fly in Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland Arcade mode
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