GamesBeat weekly roundup: PlayStation 4’s big holiday, and CES news

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we look ahead to 2017’s game release dates, Mega Man goes to mobile, and XCOM 2 is getting new content thanks to an upcoming mod.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: Great gadgets, moments, and trends at CES 2017
• How French studio DotEmu specializes in resurrecting lost classics like Windjammers
• 2017 game release-date calendar
• What are the best-looking video game consoles of all time? GamesBeat Decides
• Ganondorf’s weakness to fishing poles and other Zelda trivia
• AMD debuts Radeon FreeSync 2 for gaming displays with stunning image quality
• GamesBeat’s games of the year — staff lists and our overall picks

Above: The Joy-Con controller for the Nintendo Switch.

Image Credit: Nintendo

News

• Professional Esports Association cancels Counter-Strike league after team drama
• Focus Home Interactive enlists Asobo Studio for its mysterious Plague
• Pro athletes will compete in EA Sports games during Super Bowl week
• XCOM 2 is getting a sequel to the series’ popular Long War mod
• Nintendo will talk Switch games on January 13
• Paragon’s newest hero fights with the light and darkness
• Smite Tactics enters its closed beta test on PC
• Pico Technology reveals untethered virtual reality headset
• AMD unwraps its Vega graphics architecture with promise of rich, lavish virtual worlds
• Lumus unveils AR displays for smartglasses with wide field of view
• Ambarella unveils 4K and 8K imaging chips for cars, drones, VR, and sports cameras
• Nvidia announces GeForce Now cloud gaming for PCs
• Nvidia connects the GeForce Experience game capture to Facebook Live
• Intel demos untethered Project Alloy virtual reality multiplayer experience
• Sony sells 6.2 million PlayStation 4s during holiday season
• Intel holds its CES press event inside virtual reality
• Heroes of the Storm trolls its players with its latest hero, Warcraft’s Zul’jin
• Violent hack-‘n’-slash game Let It Die passes 1 million downloads
• ‘Brooklyn 99’ star Terry Crews wants to voice an Overwatch character
• Little Bug seeks funding on Fig to bring a cute platformer to life
• Mass Effect: Andromeda gets March 21 launch date for PS4, Xbox One, and PC
• Beautiful indie game Firewatch passes 1 million copies sold
• Linden Lab debuts marketplace for Sansar VR world
• Merge VR shows off Holo Cube holographic toy
• Peloton launches immersive fitness bike for commercial gyms
• Vuze, an $800 VR camera for consumers, is shipping in March 2017 with support for 3D audio
• Leading Heroes of the Storm esports squad resigns with Team Dignitas
• Overwatch’s new Oasis map is now out
• PlayStation Plus free games for January are now live: Day of the Tentacle and 5 more
• Windows 10 adoption passes 50% on Steam

Above: Mega Man 2 is now on mobile.

Image Credit: Wallpaper Vortex

Mobile and social

• Mega Man’s 6 NES games are now out on iOS and Android
• Smite’s new game takes the MOBA to the digital card game arena
• Samsung confirms it sold 5 million Gear VR mobile headsets
• Changhong’s H2 smartphone lets you scan objects for molecular authenticity
• 4 mobile gaming predictions for 2017 — like esports on national TV
• Wonder is an enigmatic mobile hardware company with a VR twist and a focus on gamers

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• AMD’s leaders believe that hardware is hot again
• Insta360 Pro is an 8K 360-degree virtual reality camera
• Nvidia CEO says graphics chips and deep learning are driving huge innovations
• HyperX reveals Cloud Revolver S headset with plug-and-play Dolby Surround Sound
• 3dRudder Wireless lets you control VR games — with your feet