Hello, and welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup. This time, we talked to the ToeJam & Earl creator on the sequel he just put up on Kickstarter, Final Fantasy XIV gets some new content and more subscribers, and a Gold Marioo Amiibo sells out in minutes.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: The promise and the peril of virtual reality
- Why Nvidia thinks it can do cloud gaming better than anyone else
- 4 quick steps to optimize the ‘ROI’ from game industry events
- PlayStation 4 owners name better resolution as the top reason for purchasing Sony’s console
- From exec to indie: One family’s wild ride ends today with debut of dream game
- Read+Watch+Listen: Bonus material for Dying Light fans
Above: Everybody do the Cactaur!
Image Credit: Square Enix
News
- Ambitious Crowfall online role-playing game already passes Kickstarter goal
- Gaming backend technology company PlayFab raises $7.4M in latest funding round
- China’s Tencent invests in Orcs Must Die developer Robot Entertainment
- Ubisoft’s planning for 10 or 20 more years of Assassin’s Creed
- Net neutrality and games: Entertainment Software Association backs FCC ruling
- NHL streams a hockey game in 360-degree virtual reality
- A barrel of Donkey Kong Country games hit Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn hits 4 million registered players worldwide
- PopCap cofounder John Vechey forms new virtual reality startup Pluto VR
- Walmart-exclusive Gold Mario Amiibo sell out in minutes — but you can buy one on eBay for $200
- Fable Legends will be free-to-play
- Narvalous launches Chrono Wars and raises $2.3M in funding
- Umbra unveils cloud-based game development tools
- Digital console games made $263M in January — and most of that was from PlayStation
- Minecraft sells 500K copies in Japan on PlayStation platforms — including 200K on Vita
- Google built a machine that’s better at games than you are
- A problem for Nintendo — 3DS software sales aren’t growing as the DS shrinks
- Shark Punch raises $1.2M to fix game discovery with its Playfield community platform
- Survey says e-sports fans attend live events for the community and atmosphere
- Dragon Quest Heroes is coming to North America and Europe
- Forza Horizon 2 is about to get ‘Fast & Furious’ thanks to a free standalone expansion
- Unreal 4 gets native HTML5 exporting and support for giant worlds
- Steam just got a dozen kids games thanks to Disney
- Game artwork studio Massive Black gets a new president
- Street Fighter V is getting an online beta for PlayStation 4 and PC
- ESL’s Dota 2 tournaments will pay out $1M starting in June
- Grand Theft Auto V gets another delay on PC
- ‘Hunger Games’ movie studio Lionsgate invests in Telltale Games
- Start your Chocobos: Final Fantasy XIV’s Gold Saucer patch is live
- NetEase — the company that runs Blizzard games in China — is coming to the U.S.
- ArtCraft Entertainment launches Kickstarter campaign for Crowfall fantasy online game
- Valve will show ‘a previously unannounced Steam VR’ system at GDC next week
- Nyko Data Bank: a cheap and easy PlayStation 4 hard drive upgrade
- Goat Simulator studio explains the benefits and dangers of not planning
- Research firm Newzoo opens San Francisco office to get closer to center of U.S. gaming
- Elemental’s smart connected toy CogniToys taps IBM’s Watson supercomputer for its brains
- Sony won’t commit to releasing Driveclub: PS Plus Edition
- Kanye West is making a video game set in heaven
Mobile and social
- Google Play is making more money than Apple’s App Store — in Germany
- Scutify’s iOS game turns you into a hedge fund manager
- NPD begins tracking mobile data on in-app and full-game purchases
- How to install Hearthstone on Android phones after the update
- Neil Young’s N3twork pivots from video social network to mobile games
- CrowdStar is all-in on mobile gaming for women with Covet Fashion
- Square Enix and DeNA announce mobile RPG Final Fantasy: Record Keeper
- Lingui makes it easier to translate mobile apps into multiple languages
- App downloads jump again as January sets a new record
- Viber brings mobile games to its chat and messaging app globally
- Oculus unveils Mobile VR Jam with $1M in prizes
- Nextpeer launches cross-platform social layer for mobile games
- Death is forever in Nexon’s mobile roguelike dungeon-crawler Legacy Quest (exclusive)
- Call of Champions promises a complete mobile MOBA match in 5 minutes
- Gaming smartphones, tablets reach 1B for first time ever
- Facebook’s Parse could ‘gobble up’ a bigger role in VR and next-gen app development
- Fuse Powered launches ‘player-centric’ mobile monetization engine
- LocoMotive Labs raises $4M for its playful educational apps, plans expansion into Asia
- Gree’s Andrew Sheppard is placing his bets to take original mobile games higher
- Marvel’s next mobile game is a four-player co-op brawler
Above: Wilbur!
Image Credit: Jason Wilson/GamesBeat
Previews and interviews
- In Supernova, Bandai Namco enters the MOBA market — but with RTS sensibilities in tow
- Darkest Dungeon designers really aren’t sadists: ‘We’re realists’
- X-COM creator hopes his kinder, gentler strategy game will woo new players
- Blood Brothers 2 explores how to make a sequel to a game people refuse to stop playing
- ToeJam & Earl’s creator turns to Kickstarter to make the sequel he’s always wanted (interview)
- Sid Meier’s Starships lets you take a spin around the galaxy (hands-on preview)
Reviews
- Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is a surprise underdog in the fighting-game ring
- Aaru’s Awakening will awe you — and then destroy you
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