Weekly Recap Sept 4th: Xbox Live Price Hike, AMD Dumps ATI, FireFall Announced

With the Penny Arcade Expo offering up a good helping of gaming news throughout the first week of September, gamers were treated to striking news like Duke Nukem Forever re-emerging for a 2011 release on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. One of the more frustrating news items includes Microsoft’s elevated measure of beating gamers into a state of depression with additional wallet-raping Xbox Live fees. AMD also dumps the ATI logo brand, which followed a top list of laptops to avoid for gaming, and former World of Warcraft designer announced a new MMO third-person shooter, FireFall. These stories and more in this September 4th, 2010 edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Review for Ivy the Kiwi? Rich Knight tackles the console rendition of the kid’s tale.

Black Prophecy Functions and Features Trailer. An in-depth look at some of the ships, parts, upgrades and space stations.

Epic Mickey Collector’s Edition Outed By Retailer Some people just don’t know how to keep a secret.

How To Unlock Boss Rush Blood Code and Zombie Survival In Scott Pilgrim. The movie may have tanked but the game is still picking up loyal fans.

Monday

Penny Arcade Team Fortress 2 Sam and Max and Strong Bad, all In One Game. Now that’s a gaming bundle.

DSi and DSi XL Getting Price Cuts. Making way for the new 3DS, no less.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Release Date Announced. Arriving this November for all you DS owners out there.

Zeno Clash Galaga Legions Get Xbox Live Discounts. Of course, it’s best to make use of it now before XBL gets its price hike.

Nintendo Downloads Tales of Elastic Boy, Cosmos X2. No idea what kind of game Elastic Boy is, but it sounds mighty interesting.

Tron Evolution Special Collector’s Edition Announced. Complete with a replica light cycle model.

FPS Freek Legendary Halo Reach Edition Announced. Because the Covenant are primed to get owned with someone using these.

Hudson Uses Lost in Shadow Facebook Page to Help Kids. Become a fan and help get a kid some extra cash. It’s quite simple, really.

Xbox Live Subscription Price Increasing This Fall. Wallet raping 2.0, anyone?

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Announced. One of the best new games this generation is getting the Goty treatment.

DC Universe Online Femme Fatale Screenshots. Watch the DC heroines dish out some punishment.

Monday Night Combat Title Update and First DLC Detailed. Brand new content on the way for the new XBLA title.

Tuesday

Dead Rising 2 Case Zero Hits Xbox Live. Find out how things got started with Chuck in this Case Zero episode.

God of War Ghost of Sparta Entertainment Pack Box Art Revealed. Kratos gets the handheld treatment.

Silkroad Online: Legend V Plus Update Includes Battle Arena. Joymax hasn’t completely abandoned their games...look here, this proves it.

WRC FIA World Rally Championship Rally Car DLC Coming In October. Classic rally cars from the 80s make an appearance in the upcoming DLC.

KOS Secret Operation Reload For Chaos DLC Announced. New maps, new features, new weapons equals more ways to frag.

Top Laptop Brands To Avoid For Gaming. Yeah if you see a laptop on this list, it’s probably worth avoiding.

AMD Kills ATI Brand To Make Way For New Processors. Looks like there’s trouble in paradise.

Mafia II Jimmy’s Vendetta DLC Due Next Week. Shortly after the release of the game comes some extra DLC.

Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta Delayed. Bummer. Looks like you’ll just have to settle watching those lengthy Final Fantasy XIII cut-scenes to compensate.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition Available Now For Xbox 360 and PS3. A new version to satisfy those hungry for the battlefield.

New Xbox 360 Controller Fixes D-Pad. Say what?

Wednesday

Top Hand Rodeo Tour Arriving This Fall Exclusively For PSN. Get those hands ready for some rope burn, as the PSN receives an exclusive PS Move rodeo game.

Review for Mafia II. It’s as good as you might expect, with a few obvious drawbacks.

Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Coming to iPad. After its success on the DS (or lack thereof) Rockstar smartly moved it to another popular mobile device.

StarCraft II Wings of Liberty Sells 3 Million. Want to help Blizzard count the dollar bills? Well, you can’t. Too bad for you.

OnLive Delays Kane and Lynch 2 Multiplayer Options. More delays for the multiplayer options for cloud version of Kane and Lynch 2.

CrimeCraft August Update Adds 14 New Weapons, Abilities and More. This game went from being a stinker to a moderate clunker that’s not all that bad.

Legend of the Guardians Demo Arrives Next Week for Xbox 360 and PS3. A demo sort of sneaks onto the scene.

Thursday

Epic Games Announces Project Sword for iOS; Epic Citadel Now Available. Two noteworthy news items in one action-packed news post.

Telltale Games Announces Back to the Future Games. New Back to the Future games are on the way from the people who brought you Monkey Island.

The First Templar Closed Beta Registration Is Now Open. Find out if the game is worth playing in a new CBT.

Dragonica Fuels the Romance with new Marriage System. Makes you curious if the divorce rates will shoot up soon after people start getting married.

LA Noire Delayed to 2011. Another delay? That’s entirely unsurprising.

Bloody Good Time Announced for Xbox 360 and PC. New IP that promises some bloody good fun.

Path of Exile Announced Coming in 2011. A mix of Diablo and Baldur’s Gate no less.

Call of Duty Black Ops Wager Match Multiplayer Trailer. Check out some brand new multiplayer action in the new Black Ops mode.

3D Space RPG Pirate Galaxy Now Available for Facebook. Surprisingly enough, Facebook finally gets a real game.

Friday

GoldenEye 007 Pre-Order Bonuses And Goodies Announced. a nice bevy selection of lame swag is available when you pre-order.

RZA Joins DJ Hero 2. No big surprise there.

Poker Night AT The Inventory Revealed. A collection of icons from the world of video gaming make an appearance in this poker game.

Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath Remake Coming To PS3. The gaming industry further employ’s its Hollywood traits with another remake of a classic.

Fable II Screenshots Go Heroic. And by heroic it’s just some shots of the hero doing hero stuff.

Killzone 3 Release Date Announced. If the second one had you remotely interested, the third one will definitely snag your attention.

PAX 2010 Duke Nukem Forever Coming To PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2011. Oh really? Let the curse begin

Modern Warfare 2 Gets Double XP Weekend for Labor Day. Chalk up some extra points for a weekend extravaganza.

Fallout New Vegas All Roads Preview Now On iPhone and iPad. A look at the new Fallout via the iPhone, no less.

Legendary Champions CBT Has Started; Free PS3 for Level 40 Characters. An awesome giveaway for people who just like to play.

XpanD Unveils Universal 3D Glasses for 3D Enthusiasts. Universal 3D glasses for not-so-universal 3D TVs.

Saturday

Dead Rising 2 Case Zero Drink Mix Guides. Make sure you mix the right tonic with the right gin.

Legend of Edda CBT Starts This Month; Early CBT Access Available. A new kind of anime-MMO is recruiting players.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Preview. Stick Skills unleashes a new preview of the upcoming sports entertainment title.

WP7 Gaming With Xbox Live In Your Pocket. The future of mobile gaming includes Xbox Live Anywhere.

PAX 2010 Portal 2 Comical Co-op Screenshots. Some snazzy new bad-action screenshots featuring two dorky robots.

Former World of Warcraft Designer Unveils FireFall MMOTPS. This is a huge game that could potentially change the F2P market.

That wraps up this edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap. You can check out a brand new trailer for Crysis 2 below, featuring some of the limited edition swag that comes with the bundle.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.