GamesBeat weekly roundup: Rise of the Xbox One, League of Legends smashes records

We’ve had a busy week at GamesBeat thanks largely to the launches of the new consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. We’ve done a ton of coverage all week, including an in-depth look at the Xbox One controller and tons of reviews for Microsoft’s new system.

Of course, the rest of the gaming world has also kept busy. We’ve heard rumblings that Nintendo plans to make an educational-based tablet. Meanwhile, the popular free-to-play, highly competitive League of Legends was breaking streaming records.

It’s all here — and much, much more — in this weekly roundup of GamesBeat’s best stories.

Next-gen (or is it the current gen now?)

• The DeanBeat: Will you choose the Xbox One over the PS4? Depends on who you are
• In the land of Angry Birds: Rovio’s headquarters reveals its global entertainment ambitions (photo gallery)
• EA’s new CEO welcomes the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
• Biggest Xbox launch ever: Microsoft says it sold 1M Xbox Ones in less than 24 hours
• PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One: The winner is …
• Xbox One won’t have Twitch gameplay broadcasting at launch
• Xbox One’s Twitch app is only for viewing right now, but it has achievements
• Analyst expects average PS4 and Xbox One owner to buy about 3 next-gen games this holiday
• PlayStation 4 issues: Sony posts troubleshooting guide for the ‘blinking blue light of death’
• 5 Xbox One games have free-to-play-style in-app purchases (including $100 in tokens for Forza 5)
• Microsoft honors the player with the most Xbox Live achievement points
• The next-generation game console wars officially begin. Score so far: Sony sells 1 million, Microsoft 1
• iFixit teardown finds lots of sensors, but no NSA spying, built into Xbox One’s Kinect
• 17 huge upcoming Xbox One games: Titanfall, Halo, and more (video)
• The DeanBeat: Will you choose the Xbox One over the PS4? Depends on who you are
• Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare will bring hilarious firefights (interview)
• Couple uses PlayStation 4 to stream … a call-in talk show on Twitch? Yes — and 200K tuned in
• Scams promising free PS4 and Xbox One consoles are already taking on holiday shoppers
• Xbox One teardown reveals it’s even more like a PC than the PlayStation 4
• You told us why you are (and why you’re not) getting an Xbox One on launch day
• How to correctly use Xbox One’s bumper buttons
• How Xbox One’s video capturing is better and worse than PlayStation 4′s
• How Xbox Live makes Xbox One games better
• Sony taps SoftKinetic’s 3D gesture recognition to bring motion-sensing games to PS 4
• Sony’s Jon Koller on making the PS4 launch a ‘cultural touchstone’ (interview)

Above: An early prototype of the Xbox One controller showing angled trigger buttons.

Image Credit: GamesBeat

Our in-depth look at the Xbox One controller

• The Xbox One controller: Projectors, smells (!), and other stuff that didn’t make it in (part 1, exclusive)
• The Xbox One controller: What’s new with the analog sticks and D-pad (part 2, exclusive)
• The Xbox One controller: What’s new with the buttons and triggers (part 3, exclusive)
• The Xbox One controller: A look at the new rumble, faster speed, smooth design, and everything else (part 4, exclusive)

News

• Doom, Quake guru John Carmack officially leaves id Software for Oculus Rift maker
• Here’s the one thing that Valve hopes to get out of its Steam Dev Days conference
• Riot Games drew 32M fans to its Season 3 League of Legends world championship
• After 7 years, young game developer takes his Novus Aeterno online real-time strategy game to Kickstarter
• Xbox is an essential piece of the new Microsoft pie, says departing CEO Steve Ballmer
• Nintendo is reportedly working on an Android tablet for educational games [updated]
• Activision and EA boast about their booming next-gen software sales
• GameStop raises full-year guidance after beating expectations for Q3
• Consumer spending on games up 17% to $3.45 billion in Q3
• Grand Theft Auto V dominates list of most-played games of October
• Massive U.K. study finds video games have no negative impact on 11,000 kids
• Electronic Arts reveals Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare release date and 15 minutes of gameplay
• Former Sega bulldog Charles Bellfield passes away

Above: A screenshot from Need for Speed: Rivals.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Reviews

• Need for Speed: Rivals crashes through the wall between solo and multiplayer (review)
• Ryse: Son of Rome is a bloody good reason to own an Xbox One (review)
• Every turn is a story in the solid Forza 5 for Xbox One (review)
• Super Mario 3D World is better than Super Mario 64 or Galaxy (review)
• Killer Instinct’s sharp combat and smooth graphics highlight a fantastic, yet limited, fighting game (review)
• Crimson Dragon’s lackluster visuals and tedious gameplay ruin a spiritual revival (review)
• Dead Rising 3 is the Xbox One’s gigantic, though bizarre and simplistic, step into the next generation (review) [update]

Previews

• Gran Turismo 6 brings more of the real world — and even the future — to the racetrack (preview)

Above: The buttons might look comically oversized, but the GameStick’s controller is remarkably responsive.

Image Credit: PlayJam

Mobile and casual

• Mobile hit Clash of Clans cashes in during first month on Android
• Social game Glitch is dead, but it will live on in the public domain
• Glu Mobile’s first stab at Google Glass is a word and puzzle game
• Logitech unveils console-like controller for iPhone
• PowerA launches Moga Ace game controller for iOS devices
• QuizUp trivia game maker Plain Vanilla raises $2M
• Considering a GameStick? Here are 5 games you should play
• With Epic Empire, Pocket Gems aims to prove casual mobile gamers aren’t dead
• Apple owns the top 6 highest-revenue apps in its own app store (among the top 100 global brands)
• Hammer & Chisel raises $8.2M for battle arena tablet game
• Vegas World to become a platform for others to build social casino games
• Kabam names replacement for departing chief operating officer
• Android gaming in the cloud: Where is the money?
• NaturalMotion’s A.I. breakthrough: Clumsy Ninja melds zany character with true human motion & reacts to you

Pieces of flair

• 1 in 5 Nintendo 3DS gamers own Pokémon X or Y (infographic)
• Great tabletop games for video gamers: BattleCON: Devastation of Indines
• Lost in a Blizzard: An outsider’s view of BlizzCon 2013
• Generation gone: Where PlayStation mascot Crash Bandicoot is today