GamesBeat weekly roundup: Final Fantasy XV is a hit, and Pokémon Go could be getting a monster update
Hello, and welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This week, Final Fantasy XV knocks our socks off (and we show you how to get around, level up, and make money faster, too!), Hearthstone’s Mean Streets of Gadetzan launches (and we opened a ton of cards from the expansion), and The Game Awards showed off a bunch of trailers — and got muted on YouTube, too.
We also looked at how BioWare Austin continues to spin a Star Wars yarn that’s independent of the new canon, the birth of a new gaming platform on Facebook Messenger, and how Super Mario Go may not be the instant hit that Pokémon has been in mobile.
Opinions and pieces of flair
The DeanBeat: The gaming world is flat, but you can tilt it in your direction
PlayStation VR headsets in Japan live in cute little prisons
Watch us get a little silly as we open 59 Mean Streets of Gadgetzan card packs in Hearthstone
No Man’s Sky is better — but the Foundation update might be too late
Does Final Fantasy XV make a good first impression? GamesBeat Decides
Final Fantasy XV tips for faster travel, easy leveling, and making money
Minority Report science advisor builds the most awesome conference room
PlayStation leads console brands’ ongoing stranglehold on fall TV
How Star Wars: The Old Republic keeps rolling in a universe outside of the movies
Above: Monster in Dauntless
Image Credit: Phoenix Labs
News
Star Wars: The Old Republic launches Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion
Dauntless is a free-to-play take on Monster Hunter from ex-BioWare and Riot devs
Star Wars holochess-inspired AR game Hologrid: Monster Battle hits closed beta
Blizzard fixes Hearthstone: Mean Streets of Gadgetzan pack bug and will compensate players
Wargaming tanks up its mobile arm with Boomlagoon acquisition
Oculus Touch: 53 launch window games for the new motion controllers
Square Enix: Final Fantasy XV is the fastest-selling game ever for the series
Hearthstone’s Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion is now live in the Americas
Annapurna Pictures forms studio to bring storytelling of films like Her to video games
Osterhout Design Group raises $58 million for augmented reality smartglasses
Pokémon Sun and Moon are Nintendo’s fastest-selling games ever in the Americas
Halo gets esports reality show from ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ creators
Games of Glory is a competitive top-down team shooter coming to PlayStation 4
PS Plus games December 2016: Invisible, Inc., VVVVVV, and more
Ark: Survival Evolved will launch on PlayStation 4 on December 6
Red Dead Redemption coming to PS4 and PC thanks to PS Now streaming
Pokémon Sun and Moon are November’s top-selling games at online U.S. retailers
Ark Park takes Ark: Survival Evolved and turns it into a VR dino school
Lego’s Minecraft-like Worlds will leave Early Access and launch on consoles and Steam in February
Universal will bring Nintendo attractions to its theme parks in Hollywood, Osaka, and Orlando
PlayStation 4 beats Xbox One for the top-selling electronics product on Cyber Monday in the U.S.
Tilting Point launches $12 million user-acquisition fund for mobile-game devs
Xbox beat PlayStation as the top-selling console online on Black Friday in the U.S.
Eleague’s season two Counter-Strike playoffs start November 30
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will appear at Thursday’s Game Awards
Konami stokes PES 2017’s esports ambitions with a free-to-play version
Hearthstone’s Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion launches December 1
Joint venture aims to take live esports events to bigger stages
Pokémon Go could get a huge December update with 100 new creatures
Above: Optimus Prime fights … well, considering it’s a Bayformer, I’m not sure who Prime’s fighting.
Image Credit: Kabam
Mobile and social
Transformers: Forged to Fight coming to iOS and Android in spring 2017
Minecraft developer Mojang looks back on 5 years of the Pocket Edition as it prepares version 1.0
Pokémon Go leads list of Google Play’s top trending games of 2016
PlayFab raises $3.1 million for back-end service for game developers
Iam8bit announces game-related art showcase for the Game Developers Conference
Super Evil Megacorp starts team-franchise program to energize Vainglory’s esports scene
Skillz introduces brand-sponsored tournaments for its mobile esports games
Marvel: Contest of Champions reached No. 1 on the iPhone top-grossing chart for the first time
Angry Birds maker Rovio spins off Hatch, a subscription video game streaming service for mobile
Game Insight invests over $5 million on Facebook Messenger Instant Games
Big Viking Games unveils $10 million fund for Facebook’s new HTML5 Messenger Instant Games
Facebook brings ‘instant’ HTML5 games like Pac-Man to your News Feed and Messenger
Above: Super Mario Run is still coming from DeNA’s Tokyo studio.
Image Credit: Nintendo
Previews, reviews, and interviews
Logitech’s G933 Artemis Spectrum Snow is one of the best all-around gaming headsets
Why Nintendo’s Super Mario Run may not have the same instant success as Pokémon Go
Final Fantasy XV is a beautiful, big adventure about the bond of brothers
Razer Ornata Chroma keyboard’s faux-click makes for an amazing typing experience
Razer ManO’War 7.1 gaming headset is for gamers who want to step up their audio quality