If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best games stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.
This week, Konami cancels a patch for the Xbox 360 version of the Silent Hill HD collection (but totally updates it on PlayStation 3), Zynga’s chief operating officer steps down, and Amazon launches its own online studio and Facebook game.
You’ll also find a review for New Super Mario Bros. 2 and previews for Marvel: War of Heroes, FIFA 13, and PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale.
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News
- TheDeanBeat: Kickstarter isn’t indie gamemaker Double Fine’s only funding route
- Blizzard’s authenticators breached in hack
- Calm down: Sony assures us that The Last Guardian is still in development
- Infinity Blade developers hire former Kingdoms of Amalur creators for new studio
- Ouya surpasses its funding goal on Kickstarter by $7.6M
- Konami cancels patch for Xbox 360 edition of Silent Hill HD Collection
- Game developers hate Windows 8, Microsoft responds
- Nancy Drew gamemaker turns to Kickstarter for mobile versions
- Facebook launches real-money gambling game in U.K.
- Wargaming acquires BigWorld middleware firm for $45M (exclusive)
- Amazon launches its own online game studio and first Facebook game
- The golden age returns? Seamus Blackley’s Innovative Leisure mobile game startup raises seed round (exclusive)
Second quarter earnings reports and NPD numbers
- Overall video game sales dive 20 percent in July, 3DS and NCAA Football 13 take top spots
- Nvidia earnings on the rise thanks to the Tegra 3 mobile processor
- Japan’s big console gamemaker, Square Enix, slips into a loss
- THQ losses beat expectations in fiscal first-quarter 2013
Interviews
- Guild Wars 2: Console ports, subscription models, and making sure it works on launch day (interview)
- Now just how many tanks can you fit in a battle map? Find out in the Armored Kill expansion for Battlefield 3 (interview)
- DoubleDown Interactive succeeds by not sucking at social casino games (interview)
- Game designer crosses over from making Halo games to Zynga’s social games — he’s never going back (interview)
Mobile News
- The Walking Dead shambles over to Facebook in new social game
- Activision’s The Blast Furnace resurrects Pitfall! for mobile devices
- Introducing The Blast Furnace, Activision’s first mobile-only development studio
Previews
- PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will kick your ass in ways you could never imagine (preview)
- EA shows off smart Wii U GamePad tricks for FIFA 13 and Mass Effect 3 (preview)
- Mass Effect 3: Leviathan boldly goes where no Shepard has gone before (preview)
- Marvel: War of Heroes distills superhero combat into card-based digestible chunks (preview)
Reviews
Oh, Zynga….
- Meet Gems With Friends, Zynga’s newest (and familiar-looking) iOS game
- Zynga COO John Schappert steps down
- Zynga sees FarmVille and CityVille user spikes [UPDATE: Maybe not]
- Will Zynga’s ChefVille revive the company’s fortunes?
Pieces of flair
- Decorate your iPhone the retro way with these gaming-themed wallpapers
- The first 5 games you should get for your Nexus 7
- Check out the Ghostbusters, Sonic, and Minecraft references hidden away in these Team Fortress 2 maps (gallery)
- Annoy your friends and impress no one: Cheats for casual games
