Polytron
Designer Phil Fish canceled the sequel to hit indie game Fez.
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, Polytron founder Phil Fish cancels Fez II after a massive fight on Twitter, Nintendo sells 5 million copies of Animal Crossing: New Leaf world wide, and GamesBeat writer Mike Minotti compares DOTA 2, League of Legends, and Heroes of Newerth.
You’ll also find reviews for Dragon’s Crown, Pikmin 3, and the Nvidia Shield as well as previews for Total War: Rome II, Skylanders Swapforce, and Batman: Arkham Origins.
News:
The DeanBeat: Casual Connect reveals a scary and hopeful gaming business
Microsoft’s ‘red rings of death’ to be ‘very unlikely’ with the Xbox One
Xbox One is always running matchmaking in the background
Microsoft increases Xbox One’s GPU clock speed as it finalizes console hardware
Our next slate of GamesBeat 2013 speakers
Former EA CEO Riccitiello on the big chance to create lasting value in gaming (full transcript)
Blizzard CEO: Titan ‘unlikely’ a ‘subscription-based MMORPG’
Ouya gets its first MMORPG: Gameloft’s Order & Chaos Online
Major League Gaming introduces Pro Points player-ranking system
Electronic Arts teams up with Tokyo’s G-cluster to provide games over the cloud (exclusive)
Capcom’s next-gen dungeon-crawler Deep Down is online-only
TowerFall developer promises single-player campaign for ‘massive’ PC release
RealNetworks’ Rob Glaser rolls the dice on sweepstakes contest in social casino game
Activision plans to debut Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer Aug. 14
Game publisher tells developers why they don’t need publishers
Irrational Games is taking players back to Rapture in BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea expansion
Our next slate of GamesBeat 2013 speakers
Nintendo offering 3 rare Shiny Pokémon at U.S. GameStop stores
Cowen report shows Call of Duty: Ghosts leads preorder sales heading into fall
Phil Fish cancels Fez II and announces his industry exit
Capcom
Capcom’s latest Breath of Fire for mobile devices and web browsers.
Mobile news:
Mobile giant DeNA opens a new chapter in tablet games with The Drowning
Capcom announces Breath of Fire 6 exclusively for mobile devices and browsers
Street Fighter X All Capcom is the publisher’s latest mobile game
South Korea’s Kakao has become the ‘new El Dorado’ of mobile games
App Annie releases mobile apps to deliver analytics on the go
Sprint will adopt PlayPhone’s mobile-social games portal
Take-Two: XCOM proves a premium price can work on iOS
PlayHaven’s latest tool helps studios push marketing notifications to your phone
Zynga’s hold slips as Facebook launches mobile games publishing initiative
Arkadium reports strong growth for its Windows 8 mobile and PC games
All this funding:
SnowFury Studios reveals gigantic MMORPG for mobile; asking for $500K on Kickstarter
Finland’s Grand Cru raises $11M in financing as it shows off its first game: Supernauts
Mobile gaming startup Kiwi raises $9M from Sequoia
Canadian gaming incubator offers $150K ‘loan’ program to help studios launch
Microsoft:
Xbox One is always running matchmaking in the background
Microsoft’s ‘red rings of death’ to be very unlikely with the Xbox One
Microsoft bumps Xbox One’s GPU clock speed from 800 MHz to 853 MHz
Earn loot by reporting trolls in Xbox Live’s new community programs
Acquisitions incorporated:
Asia and tech titans keep game acquisitions alive in 2013
RealNetworks buys Slingo for $15.6M as it doubles down on social casino games
Westward bound: Asia’s Nexon takes a stake in game maker Rumble Entertainment
Earnings:
Activision beats earnings expectations despite bleeding World of Warcraft subscribers
Nintendo sells 5 million copies of Animal Crossing: New Leaf worldwide
Nintendo swings back to net profit, but it sold only 160K Wii U consoles in past quarter
Take-Two raises full-year guidance after strong quarter
Google trumpets early success of Play game services on Android
Tech:
Check out this Game Boy emulator running on a Google Chromecast
Trailer hoedown:
Japanese Pokémon X and Y reveals new tree-like character in action
Bad news:
Court rules against EA in NCAA-athlete lawsuit
Reviews:
Dragon’s Crown’s action outpunches its controversial art (review)
Joyful exploration and intense fights make Pikmin 3 the best Wii U game yet (review)
Nvidia Shield is a game geek’s dream device (hands-on review)
Previews:
Total War: Rome II has mind-boggling, epic combat (hands-on preview)
Playing good vs. playing evil in Batman: Arkham Origins’ asymmetrical multiplayer
Skylanders: Swap Force has lots of variety … and repetition (hands-on preview)
Interviews:
How Oculus VR faced tragedy amid virtual reality’s great moment (interview part two)
How Oculus VR resuscitated virtual reality for games (interview part 1)
EA’s top geek Scott Cronce steers us through gaming’s future technology (interview)
Sportvision wants to let you virtually hit a real Major League pitch (interview)
Pieces of flair:
How to register your digital copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening after linking your Club Nintendo account (eShop)
The disasters and deal killers that can happen when selling your game company
11 fresh Grand Theft Auto V screenshots reveal planes, boats, and automobiles
Comparing MOBAs: Dota 2 vs. League of Legends vs. Heroes of Newerth
Filed under: Games