GamesBeat weekly roundup: FIFA adds women, Batman hands-on, and announcing GamesBeat 2015

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we previewed anticipated games like Batman: Arkham Knight and Mad Max, reviewed recent releases like Splatoon, and revealed information about our next event, GamesBeat 2015.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: The flap about FIFA’s new female soccer players shows progress and setbacks

• Don’t see the ‘3’ in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s logo? There’s a good reason for that

• How to make Magicka 2’s local co-op work on the PlayStation 4

• Watch us play Splatoon and discuss its review

• Our virtual and augmented future: a deep look at the next generation of interactivity

• Introducing GamesBeat 2015: Playing the Game of Thrones

• Screentendo can turn almost anything on your computer into a Mario level

• This Witcher 3 bug demonstrates the perils of visiting a brothel — we call it fantasy syphilis

• Here’s how to use your PlayStation 3 fighting stick on the PlayStation 4

• Free-to-play Heroes of the Storm won’t leave you stressing about spending money

• USC students’ games are ready for graduation

• These Witcher III gifs celebrate bad luck, glitches, and extreme sports

Above: Who needs fancy graphics when you can have cards?

Image Credit: Obisidian Entertianment

News

• Next Nintendo Direct is coming just a couple of weeks before E3

• Here are the crazy times that Amiibo fans can get Lucina, Robin, and more on Amazon tomorrow

• Pillars of Eternity returns to Kickstarter to fund a card game

• GameStop stock up 5% after its Q1 earnings beat expectations

• Nvidia launches its Shield set-top box for Android TV — with optional 500GB hard drive

• Google’s Chromecast turns your TV into a game board, race track, or dance floor — without a console

• EA exec Peter Moore blasts fans who spread hate on women soccer players in FIFA 16

• Xbox One controller getting a headphone port in June

• South Korean gaming giant NCSoft expands into key Western PC and mobile markets

• A female first: EA adds women’s national teams to FIFA 16 soccer game

• Sony clarifies Vita ‘legacy platform’ statement: ‘Our portable business will be continued’

• Twitch won’t let users stream AO-rated games

• PlayStation Vita is a ‘legacy platform,’ according to Sony (update)

• Oculus chief: You’ll be able to get the Rift, with a PC, for under $1,500

• PlayStation boss: ‘Our first-party lineup is a little sparse this year’

• Borderlands 2 and Pre-Sequel triple legendary item drop rate permanently

• Loot Interactive prepares for its post-PlayStation Home future: going indie, with 3 games debuting at E3

• Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is the next PlayStation Plus freebie … in Japan

• Fantasy esports site Vulcun increases its 2015 prize pool to $10M

• Former Battlefield devs go indie, bring peace to space with a hybrid platformer

• Facebook’s Oculus buys computer vision startup to help the Rift understand the world

• Former BioShock and Dead Space developers Kickstart a hide-and-seek survival-horror game: Perception

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s next DLC pack Supremacy hits Xbox Live on June 2

• Until Dawn gives the PlayStation 4 a frightening release in August

• Evolve gets a new, free, and faster-paced Arena Mode

• Resident Evil 0 remaster heading to consoles and PC next year

• Street Fighter V playable at CEO tournament in Orlando

• Kinect educational game five times as effective as its mobile version

Mobile and social

• Movie-game house Reliance Games promotes COO Amit Khanduja as its new CEO

• Sierra brings Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions to mobile

• Clone mobile game Clash of Kings hits No. 2 on Google Play in Russia

• Game of Thrones: Ascent’s Fire & Blood expansion comes to Android

• Tiggly helps preschoolers build words by mashing letter toys with iPad games

• Might and Magic creator founds new studio and raises $4.5M in funding

• Zynga launches FarmVille: Harvest Swap to reap match-3 profits

• Scopely teams up with Ireland’s Digit Game Studios to grab bigger slice of $30B mobile game market

• Keas gamifies personal health with new online hub

• Why Liam Neeson was a wise investment for Clash of Clans developer Supercell

• Succeeding in China — where 91% of the 34K mobile games released since October have failed

• Remedy veteran starts new Finnish game startup

Above: Shotguns are great as the last resort at close range in Mad Max.

Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Previews and interviews

• Batman: Arkham Knight makes Gotham feel more like a city and less like a playground

• Why EA added women’s soccer teams to the upcoming FIFA 16

• Why we had to wait four years for Batman: Arkham Knight

• Pixar’s Inside Out brings cooperative puzzle-platforming to Disney Infinity

• How Not a Hero put you on the mayoral campaign of a … time-traveling alien bunny

• The road to Mad Max game was long and twisted for Avalanche Studios

• Star Wars: Twilight of the Republic — ‘Begun, The Clones Wars have’ in Disney Infinity 3.0

• Mad Max video game reveals a desert full of danger (hands-on preview)

Reviews and impressions

• Game of Thrones: Episode 4 — Sons of Winter is better than the HBO show

• Magicka 2 fizzles with repetitive and frustrating gameplay

• Getting our hands dirty with the Nvidia Shield Android TV set-top box

• Splatoon’s single-player surprisingly one-ups its inventive multiplayer

• Life Is Strange Episode 3 drags its feet on its way to a great ending