This week’s news was headlined by quite a few big items, including AMD claiming that the Xbox 720 will have Avatar quality graphics, Activision announcing that GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is head to the Xbox 360 and PS3, and Capcom shocking the world with Hello Kitty X Street Fighter. These stories and more in this July 23rd, 2011 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.
Sunday
AMD Says Xbox 720 To Have Avatar Quality Graphics. It’s years away from release but AMD is already making some bold claims.
GTA IV Continues To Top Steam Charts Thanks To iCEnhancer. The graphics mod continues to keep the aging open-world shooter in the spotlight.
LucasArts Free-to-Play Star Wars Galaxies Wouldn’t Work. Too much money is the reason why LucasArts is letting this once popular MMO hit the digital trash can.
RailWorks 3 Train Simulator 2012 Coming September. Manage trains of various types with the new simulator this fall.
Monday
Dev Says Publishers Reluctant To Spend Because There’s No Clear Frontrunner. Yeah, because obviously frontrunners determine innovation in Bizarro World.
Ghost Recon Online Was Put Off Because Retail PC Gaming Was Dying. Ubisoft didn’t trust the PC market until free-to-play became the new big thing in gaming.
PC Gamers Get Call Of Duty Elite Beta This Fall. Access to the premium service starts with the release of Modern Warfare 3.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Hits North America In January. If you suffered through the first XIII maybe you’ll enjoy the second one, which is bound to maintain a cut-scene every five miuntes.
Battlefield 3 Won’t Be Available On Steam Because EA Is Jealous Of Valve. Silly as it sounds…it’s true.
Tomb Raider Dev Says Lara Croft Was Losing Relevance. Of course she was…p0rn took her place.
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary Pre-Order Bonuses Announced And Behind The Scenes Video Released. New footage of the upcoming remake along with some special bonus goodies have been announced.
Super Meat Boy Developer Announces Binding Isaac. Brand new game from the dudes who brought you one of the most popular platforming games ever made.
Tuesday
Mass Effect 3 Identical On Xbox 360 And PS3, Says BioWare. And why shouldn’t it be?
UbiSoft Says Wii U Forcing Sony, Microsoft To Launch Next Gen Consoles Early. How much earlier is the real question.
Darkness II Delayed To February. A minor hold up for the game that puts story over flash and panache.
Turtle Beach Limited Edition Modern Warfare 3 Headsets Announced For Xbox 360, PS3. Get your game-on with some high-quality headsets this fall.
John Carmack Stands Up For Call of Duty. All the flack Call of Duty has been receiving gets defended by the king of first-person shooters, John Carmack.
Unstoppable Gorg Announced For PC, Xbox 360 and iOS. Space invaders from Planet X are on the horizon and Futuremark wants you to stop them.
El SHaddai Ascension of the Metatron Delayed To August 16th. A minor “logistical” snag sets the religious themed action game back by a bit.
Pokemon Rumble Blast Release Date Revealed. The first Pokemon game for the 3DS gets an official release date.
Spider-Man Edge of Time, X-Men Destiny Voice Talent Announced. Here’s a hint…Val Kilmer.
David Jaffe Rips Battlefield 3 For Irresponsible Hype. Journalist and gamers alike aren’t safe from this guy’s rabid rants.
Protoype 2 Release Date and Homecoming Trailer Unveiled. We knew it was coming in 2012 but now we know when in 2012.
18 Percent of Gamers Play Female Shepard In Mass Effect. Only 18 percent. You can see that as good or bad, depending on where you stand.
World of Warcraft Novel: Thrawll of Twilight Aspects Now In Stores. Big fan of the literary side of World of Warcraft? Well you can continue the journey in the written word now that book has landed on store shelves.
HomeFront Heads To The Rock With New Map Pack. if you’re still trying to defend America from the Koreas, here’s some extra fuel to keep the fire burning.
VisionBall Offers Kinect Quality Gaming On iOS Platforms. New kind of tech that will help developers deliver Kinect-style gaming to iOS platforms.
Super Meat Boy Developer Says We Don’t F*cking Care About Piracy. Now why would hey say such a damaging thing? Because they don’t care mofos!
GoldenEye 007 Reloaded Announced for Xbox 360 and PS3. The first person shooter gets rebooted on current-gen consoles.
Review: Captain America Super Soldier. Sega redeems themselves with a decent beat-e’m-up mirrored after the new movie.
Thursday
Freddy Krueger Coming To Mortal Kombat; Mortal Kombat Kollection Announced. The master of dream horror is making his debut in one of the most violent fighting games ever.
Ubisoft Banks On Strong Sales From Driver, Ghost Recon Online To Curb Slump. Ubi’s finances aren’t looking the best this year but a few upcoming titles could change that.
Red Orchestra 2 Heroes of Stalingrad System Requirements and Box Art Prepare for Launch. The WWII shooter is nearing release. Find out more details after the jump.
Payday Heist Stirs Up Some Action Packed Screenshots. Robbing places and using co-op tactics is just part of the experience.
Name A Character In Soul Calibur V. You can name a character in Soul Calibur V. Now how cool is that?
Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson NBA 2K12 Cover Athletes. Some of the biggest legends in the history of the sport grace the cover of the upcoming NBA title.
Star Wars Old Republic Now Available For Pre-Order. You can put some money down on the upcoming MMO to get first dibs on a lot of cool features.
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Editions Gets Release Date and Trailer. The old-school fighter is getting a redo for today’s generation of gaming…which includes competitive online multiplayer modes.
Friday
Infinity Ward Robert Bowling Admits Defeat Says He’s Buying Battlefield 3. There’s nothing like feeding the competition.
Old Spice Guy Joins Gears of War 3 Cast, Amps Up Sexiness. I mean, a guy in a towel with a chainsaw? How can you beat that?
Soon Video Games No Longer Will Cost $60 Says EA. They’ll cost a lot more if every aspect of the game is broken down into DLC.
GTA V Might Use L.A. Noire MotionScan Face-Tech. It’s definitely a good thing if Rockstar decides to employ the tech.
Activision Reinventing Guitar Hero. The series was supposedly canceled but now it’s making a comeback…Activision just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Hello Kitty X Street Fighter Coming In 2012; Capcom Is Not Joking. It’s for real people, very real.
Saturday
Xbox 360 Helps Bring In The Money For Microsoft. Turning a profit? About time.
Star Wars Kinect Bundle Announced. The first motion-based, controller-free Star Wars game comes in some special bundle packs for those not willing to spend ridiculous amounts on the game and Kinect separately.
Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Review. Find out if this sub-title is worth the money.
Penguin Stars In Latest Batman Arkham City Trailer.
Opposed To Fun: Infinity Ward Would Never Include Zombies. Wow, really? Well I suppose they would still include glitches? Zing!
That wraps up this edition of the Weekly Recap here at Gaming Blend. You can check out a snazzy new trailer of Sonic 20th Anniversary showcasing the rich history of the little blue hedgehog through the years.
