GamesBeat weekly roundup: Making the PlayStation 4 controller, Apple’s new iPad Air, and GamesBeat 2013

This week, GamesBeat’s Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu’s exclusive four-part series on the DualShock 4 controller explores how Sony designed and redesigned the controller. This in-depth look at the DualShock 4 reveals how Sony started designing the controller from the beginning of the new console’s development — from how the crazy ideas to how the new trigger buttons work. Seriously, it’s worth reading to understand how the controller people are already playing with at in-store display kiosks took shape.

In other news, Apple announced its new iPad Air and we look at what that means for gaming, the Xbox 360 approaches $80 million lifetime sales, and the hard drive space crunch continues with the 40GB of space needed to install Call of Duty: Ghosts on PC.

News:

• The DeanBeat: Will your mobile game strategy take you more global or more local?
• Microsoft thinks Xbox One is worth $500 for its extra features — even if you don’t want them
• Zynga expects to be profitable for full fiscal year, so to speak
• Zynga announces a hiring, not a departure: DeNA West’s Clive Downie is its new chief operating officer
• Time to clear out the hard drive: Call of Duty: Ghosts require 40GB of storage space on PC
• Super Mario Galaxy HD? Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says it’s ‘possible’
• The ‘people’s console’ hits mainstream: Ouya Android devices come to Target, with demo kiosks coming soon
• Street Fighter publisher working on new fighting game
• Play the original Gone Home prototype made with Amnesia’s horror-game engine
• RIP, Wii — Nintendo ceases production of its first motion-control console
• Slender: The Arrival spookin’ up Steam in time for Halloween
• How Elder Scrolls Online’s character creation improves on Skyrim

Announcements and reveals:

• Pokémon X and Y save bug fixed; patch available to download now
• BioShock Infinite’s Burial at Sea downloadable content finally gets a release date
• Pigskin pick ‘em without gambling: Kizzang launches Pick the Board cash prize contest
• Plants vs. Zombies 2 finally rises to eat Android’s brains
• Don your ball gags or zipper masks: Saints Row IV: Enter The Dominatrix expansion available now
• Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi Wii U bundle includes ‘two’ games, launches Nov. 1
• Ridge Racer! Sony boss Kaz Hirai giving keynote address at CES 2014
• Sims 4′s virtual world will ship in fall 2014
• Titanfall dropping in March; Respawn reveals the $250 Collector’s Edition

Mobile news:

• Doom creator John Romero will help guide the development of mobile-gaming tool Corona SDK
• MediaSpike reaches 20M monthly users with product placement in social-mobile games
• Fiksu upgrades FreeMyApps to reward users for actions, not just downloads (exclusive)
• Party in your pants pocket: Mobile gaming’s PlayHaven now covers 800 million unique gamers
• Big Fish adds the ability to play Android games through its PC and Mac apps
• Clash of Clans, Puzzle & Dragons working together again to further dominate global gaming
• Kids code games: 80M user messaging app Kik jams in NYC

GamesBeat 2013:

• GamesBeat panel spotlight: Making the next billion-dollar game in Asia
• GamesBeat panel spotlight: Social casino games move to the main stage
• GamesBeat session spotlight: The future of game technologies
• GamesBeat panel spotlight: The next billion-dollar game-investment opportunity
• Meet the 7 finalists for the GamesBeat 2013 Who’s Got Game Innovation Showdown

PlayStation 4:

• The PlayStation 4 controller: A close look at the touchpad, light bar, design, and everything else (part 4, exclusive)
• The PlayStation 4 controller: What’s new with the buttons and triggers (part 3, exclusive)
• The PlayStation 4 controller: What’s new with the analog sticks and D-pad (part 2, exclusive)
• The PlayStation 4 controller: The weird stuff that could’ve been (part 1, exclusive)

Ruh-roh:

• Zynga losses aren’t bad, but the decline in social gamers continues
• DeNA abruptly replaces its top U.S. executive Clive Downie

Video hoedown:

• Crisis of Infinite Marios: Super Mario 3D World looks wonderful in its latest trailer
• Check out this 5-foot-tall version of a Combat Creature robot (video)
• Battlefield 4′s story trailer reveals in-squad fighting, apple tossing, and dog punching
• Call of Duty: Ghosts looks a lot like ‘Gravity’ at the end of its launch trailer
• An appeal to emotion: Sony’s PlayStation 4 ads go for the heart

Above: The iPad Air comes in white (with silver) or black (with space gray).

Image Credit: Dylan Tweney/VentureBeat

Tech:

• Microsoft may have some ideas about where you can stick Xbox One’s Kinect
• iPad Air: What Apple’s latest tablet means for mobile gaming
• This Xbox One racing wheel costs as much as a PlayStation 4

Earnings:

• Microsoft sells another 1.2M Xbox 360s in Q1; console approaching 80M in lifetime sales

Acquisitions incorporated:

• Chinese entertainment company planning to acquire 20% chunk of Firefall studio for $24 million

Previews:

• With real instruments and lessons, Rocksmith 2014 seeks to banish faux guitar video games (preview)

Above: Power-ups also apply to your doppelgängers.

Image Credit: Nintendo

Interviews:

• Super Mario 3D World devs discuss Mario’s future, going HD, and the different ways to say ‘meow!’ (interview)
• Why Killzone: Shadow Fall will feel like Berlin during the Cold War (interview)
• The CEA’s Jim Barry: The old man and his gadgets (interview)

Pieces of flair:

• The GamesBeat community on their favorite current-gen games
• ‘Stay Awhile and Listen’: How Diablo became the game that fascinated millions and helped make Blizzard famous
• What’s next for Ouya: CEO embraces cloud gaming, is open to third-party consoles
• A visual tour of Riot Games, one of the ‘best places to work’ (photo gallery)
• Skylanders Swap Force: The cheapest way to get all the toys you need for the main campaign
• Rune Factory 4 has a secret: It’s all your favorite games rolled into one
• 10 endings that shocked everyone this gaming generation
• Read+Watch+Listen: Bonus material for Grand Theft Auto V fans
• Remembering the current-gen games you already forgot