GamesBeat weekly roundup: PlayStation 4’s big holiday, and CES news

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we look ahead to 2017’s game release dates, Mega Man goes to mobile, and XCOM 2 is getting new content thanks to an upcoming mod.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: Great gadgets, moments, and trends at CES 2017

• How French studio DotEmu specializes in resurrecting lost classics like Windjammers

• 2017 game release-date calendar

• What are the best-looking video game consoles of all time? GamesBeat Decides

• Ganondorf’s weakness to fishing poles and other Zelda trivia

• AMD debuts Radeon FreeSync 2 for gaming displays with stunning image quality

• GamesBeat’s games of the year — staff lists and our overall picks

Above: The Joy-Con controller for the Nintendo Switch.

Image Credit: Nintendo

News

• Professional Esports Association cancels Counter-Strike league after team drama

• Focus Home Interactive enlists Asobo Studio for its mysterious Plague

• Pro athletes will compete in EA Sports games during Super Bowl week

• XCOM 2 is getting a sequel to the series’ popular Long War mod

• Nintendo will talk Switch games on January 13

• Paragon’s newest hero fights with the light and darkness

• Smite Tactics enters its closed beta test on PC

• Pico Technology reveals untethered virtual reality headset

• AMD unwraps its Vega graphics architecture with promise of rich, lavish virtual worlds

• Lumus unveils AR displays for smartglasses with wide field of view

• Ambarella unveils 4K and 8K imaging chips for cars, drones, VR, and sports cameras

• Nvidia announces GeForce Now cloud gaming for PCs

• Nvidia connects the GeForce Experience game capture to Facebook Live

• Intel demos untethered Project Alloy virtual reality multiplayer experience

• Sony sells 6.2 million PlayStation 4s during holiday season

• Intel holds its CES press event inside virtual reality

• Heroes of the Storm trolls its players with its latest hero, Warcraft’s Zul’jin

• Violent hack-‘n’-slash game Let It Die passes 1 million downloads

• ‘Brooklyn 99’ star Terry Crews wants to voice an Overwatch character

• Little Bug seeks funding on Fig to bring a cute platformer to life

• Mass Effect: Andromeda gets March 21 launch date for PS4, Xbox One, and PC

• Beautiful indie game Firewatch passes 1 million copies sold

• Linden Lab debuts marketplace for Sansar VR world

• Merge VR shows off Holo Cube holographic toy

• Peloton launches immersive fitness bike for commercial gyms

• Vuze, an $800 VR camera for consumers, is shipping in March 2017 with support for 3D audio

• Leading Heroes of the Storm esports squad resigns with Team Dignitas

• Overwatch’s new Oasis map is now out

• PlayStation Plus free games for January are now live: Day of the Tentacle and 5 more

• Windows 10 adoption passes 50% on Steam

Above: Mega Man 2 is now on mobile.

Image Credit: Wallpaper Vortex

Mobile and social

• Mega Man’s 6 NES games are now out on iOS and Android

• Smite’s new game takes the MOBA to the digital card game arena

• Samsung confirms it sold 5 million Gear VR mobile headsets

• Changhong’s H2 smartphone lets you scan objects for molecular authenticity

• 4 mobile gaming predictions for 2017 — like esports on national TV

• Wonder is an enigmatic mobile hardware company with a VR twist and a focus on gamers

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• AMD’s leaders believe that hardware is hot again

• Insta360 Pro is an 8K 360-degree virtual reality camera

• Nvidia CEO says graphics chips and deep learning are driving huge innovations

• HyperX reveals Cloud Revolver S headset with plug-and-play Dolby Surround Sound

• 3dRudder Wireless lets you control VR games — with your feet