Michael O'Donnell/VentureBeat
A Virtuix 360-degree treadmill plus an Oculus Rift headset makes for a terrifyingly immersive video game experience at GamesBeat 2013.
We’re getting close to Christmas, but our busy week of news proves that the gaming industry isn’t taking a holiday just yet. We had massive coverage of all the new announcements and trailers from the VGX video-game award show, we reported on YouTube’s new crackdown on game-related videos, and much more.
You can check out our whole week of coverage below.
News
The DeanBeat: With Valve’s Steam Machines and Oculus VR’s funding, gaming innovation is getting interesting
ARM acquires maker of game graphics and lighting technology Geomerics
Oculus VR raises $75M from web browser inventor Marc Andreessen’s VC firm to launch virtual reality goggles
Portalarium launches crowdfunded fantasy game Shroud of the Avatar
The Walking Dead: Season Two is about to start — here’s a trailer that proves it
GTA Online introduces Deathmatch and Race Creators update
Trendy Entertainment reveals a browser game that runs in 3D using Unreal without plugins
ChronoBlade developer nWay raises $5 million in Series A funding round
YouTube ignores content-creator concerns in statement regarding mass copyright flagging
Updated: Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe retires from Replay Games (exclusive)
Prime World strategy-game developer Nival raises $6M in latest funding round
The war begins in spring: Bethesda reveals launch date for The Elder Scrolls Online
YouTube suddenly begins flagging hundreds of game-related videos for copyright violations
Riot turns League of Legends data over to the community with new API
Nintendo releases 3DS update that adds the Miiverse social network
Twitch community raises $90,000 for Typhoon Haiyan victims
Human Rights Campaign names Electronic Arts one of the ‘Best Places to Work 2014′
Fez developer: Thank you for stealing (and buying) Fez
Today’s Battlefield 4 PC patch kills game-breaking bugs and other problems; no word on upcoming console fixes
You can’t escape the NSA — even on World of Warcraft and Xbox Live
Next gen
For next gen, PlayStation 4 blockbuster game sales win in November, but Xbox 360 prevails overall
November 2013 NPD: Xbox One, PS4 push game industry to $2.74B month
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 help increase digital gaming market by 25%
Peggle 2 doesn’t have local multiplayer — but it’s coming
PlayStation 4 helps Twitch add more than 100,000 new broadcasters
The GamesBeat staff — and you — pick which games should sit this new console generation out
PopCap
The Ultra Fever in Peggle 2 is more exciting than ever.
Reviews
Angry Birds Go! is a decent-enough kart racer with some annoying drivers (review)
Doki-Doki Universe makes space exploration boring and slightly awkward (review)
Xbox One’s Peggle 2 is still the gaming equivalent of popping bubble wrap (review)
Previews
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is breaking from the modern Ninja Gaiden formula (preview)
Interviews
After 20 years, Doom co-creator John Romero looks back on the impact of a seminal (and Satanic) game (interview)
The director of Ubisoft’s The Division reveals what next-generation development is like (interview)
Will Cut the Rope 2 be another mobile blockbuster? Zeptolab’s Misha Lyalin hopes so (interview)
Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas heads to mobile devices.
Mobile and social
Star Fantasy Leagues moves beyond daily to season-long fantasy sports games
Kabam launches Blastron mobile game as a browser-based Facebook game
Puzzle & Dragons spending limit for minors not coming to territories outside of Japan
Japan now spends more on apps than USA — and Google Play revenue has caught up to iOS
Google Play holds its first annual Players’ Choice Awards for best apps and games
Pixelberry’s High School Story educates teens about cyberbullying with a special episode
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas arrives on iPhone, iPad
N3twork launches a new mobile social network based on your interests, not your friends
Kiip powers rewards in ZeptoLab’s Cut the Rope mobile games
Disney takes its Club Penguin virtual world to the iPad
Blue Goji launches its cardio exercise Goji Play games that will keep you on a treadmill
Glu Mobile’s Deer Hunter 2014: 40M downloads, 9.8B animals killed
Google launches new tools for Android game developers
Monetization meets analytics as PlayHaven merges with Kontagent
iOS board game Small World 2 expands to Android and Steam with cross-platform play
Cool 3D graphics come to mobile as DeNA publishes Crytek’s The Collectables
Xyo opens its ad program for its contextual mobile app search engine
Will Rovio recapture its glory as Angry Birds Go! debuts on a global stage?
TinyCo cuts deal with Twentieth Century Fox to take Family Guy into mobile games
PaeDae gets a pay day as it collects $11.6M to expand beyond mobile game rewards
HitFox Group grows six-fold in 2013 and starts three new mobile ad and big data startups
Mobile publisher Storm8 kicks off third-party business by bringing Tower of Saviors to the West
Whoa! Infinity Blade III developer promotes new Keanu Reeves film with in-game challenge
New iOS game Circus Life reveals what really goes on inside the big top (exclusive)
Russian developer Playtox launches HTML5 mobile game World of Shadows in U.S.
SRI think tank and university turn software verification into gameplay
Facebook names its top games of 2013
Hello Games/VGX
No Man’s Sky from Hello Games.
VGX coverage
Watch every trailer from Spike’s VGX award show right here
Xbox One and PS4 allow devs to fulfill ‘original vision’ with Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
Updated: Respawn’s new Ogre class Titan can rip others to shreds in Titanfall
CD Projekt Red reveals more from its beautiful The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Techland shows day-and-night zombie killing (with a sledgehammer) in Dying Light
Check out the amazing, prodecurally generated space-exploration game No Man’s Sky (video)
Telltale confirms it will make episodic series based on Game of Thrones
New look at Tom Clancy’s The Division from Ubisoft
Tim Schafer shows off Broken Age with voice-overs by Jack Black and Elijah Wood
Halo creator Bungie debuts new Destiny trailer
Here’s another South Park: The Stick of Truth trailer
VGX names Grand Theft Auto V as Game of the Year
Remedy unveils iOS naval-battle game Agents of Steel
Alan Wake developer reveals more about its Xbox One title Quantum Break
Nintendo of America president shows off ‘Cranky Kong’ in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Telltale Games partners with Gearbox for new Borderlands game
Pieces of flair
MLG has a more engaged audience than the NCAA March Madness tournament (infographic)
GamesBeat Community: We want your best/worst picks for 2013