Weekly Recap June 6th: Project Natal, E3 2009, L4D2 Boycott, Gran Turismo 5

This week felt like it was filled with gunpowder and was lit from the rear-end with a match that just blew all sorts of gaming news all over the place. Yeah, it was that insane. This was all because of E3 2009, which took place between June 1st and June 4th.

Microsoft let the bombs drop with their press conference that just shook the foundations of the news circuits regarding Project Natal. Sony wasn’t too far behind with the PlayStation Eye and some great games that were on display at this year’s expo. Nintendo…well, Nintendo was a sad, sad display of doing nothing more than feeding the casual machine.

Ryan Rigney did a little reporting on the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott brigade and it reaped some fairly interesting results, to say the least. Our Weekly Battle Bout returned for a special between Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3, and EA gets caught red-handed staging fake protests for Dante’s Inferno…ouch. You can check out everything that went down on the week beginning on May 31st and ending on June 6th, below.

Sunday

Prototype System Requirements. Because it’s important to know what it takes to control a shape-shifting, vehicle-throwing hero.

Crysis 2 Announced For PC And Consoles. It was bound to happen and now it has. Break out the champagne PS3 and 360 owners!

Square Enix Line-Up Reveals Two New Games. Click the link to find out what games Square has up their future-coiled, steam-punk-fantasy sleeves.

Review For inFamous. Blend Games’ Pete Haas puts down the verdict for this game.

2029 Online Closed-Beta Key Giveaway. It’s almost ready for the public but you can get a glimpse into this game with a free closed-beta key.

Fighting Games That You’ve Undoubtedly Forgotten About: Part II. And yes, some of these games could have stayed in the “forgotten about” category…Shaq Fu, I’m looking at you.

Monday

Ubisoft Announces Your Shape For Wii. Featuring no-hands gameplay and working out.

Star Wars The Old Republic Sith Vs Jedi trailer. Simply awesome…that’s all I have to say.

Microsoft To Offer Full Game Downloads On Xbox Live. And we do mean “full”.

EA Announces Mixed Martial Arts Game. It’s like the UFC but simply MMA.

Xbox Live Getting Twitter, Facebook Entertainment Services. Because somehow gamers can’t get enough of Twitter or Facebook…really.

Microsoft’s Natal Is Full-Body, Full-Voice Recognition Device. It’s terribly awesome and I mean that in a good way.

Left 4 Dead 2 Announced And Detailed. Find out why those boycotters wanted to boycott this game.

Tuesday

Team ICO’s Third Game Is: The Last Guardian. It came complete with a cool looking but slightly dopey trailer.

Sony Announces Eye-Toy Motion Controller For PS3. It’s more like a mo-cap ball on a Wii-mote, but you might want to check it out for yourself.

Jack Tretton Announces Rockstar’s Agent. It’s a PS3 exclusive, for real.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Announced For PSP. There’s even a pantless Big Boss running around…or is that Snake?

Gran Turismo Coming To PSP. It’s not just on the PS3 anymore.

Mario Galaxy 2 Announced. This was just one of two Mario games coming out for the Wii.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Announced. This was the second of two new Mario games for the Wii.

Wii Fit Sequel Unveiled. I don’t know who would be interested in this…oh wait, the million or so people who bought the first one.

Wednesday

Peter Molyneux Gets A New Job. It was all over his Twitter and now it’s all over the web. Find out what all the talk is about.

Halo Reach Is A First-Person Shooter. Yes, because some people thought it was a third-person point-and-click game.

Nintendo’s Canceled Handheld Revealed. Well, it’s sort of revealed because it’s actually canceled.

Alan Wake Fact Sheet And Screenshots. It’s not dead, it’s alive and well.

Final Fantasy XIV Not A PS3 Exclusive. And here it is we thought that when Sony said “exclusive” they weren’t referring to “multi-platform”. Oh well.

Thursday

Some Valve Fans Not Happy About Left 4 Dead 2. Ryan Rigney sparks huge flames with this little investigative piece.

Sony Offers Solution For UMD-To-Digital-PSP Go! Game Conversion. It’s a long-winded title with some important information for PSP gamers.

Huxley Nixes Cross Platform Play; Will Still be Free-To-Play. No cross-platforming between 360 and PCs, but it’ll still be free-to-play.

Game Power 7 Says “Kids Will No Longer Turn On TV Machines To Watch TV. It’s a darn tough thing to argue with once he explains why no one will want to watch TV anymore.

Activision Sues Brutal Legend Developer. Why can’t we all just get along?

Gran Turismo 5 Vs. Forza Motorsport 3. Who’s the big racing dog this time around? Check below for the poll results.

Project Natal And Xbox 360 To Last Beyond 2015. I don’t know how the 360 will last that long, but Micosoft has faith in their aging console.

Friday

2K Games Releases Borderlands Fact Sheet. And the fact is that this game is simply awesome.

WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 Announced. Sadly, the only thing you’ll get out of this news story is a roid-enchanced box-shot.

Natal Will Have Hardcore Games. Just when you thought this cool new device was going to be shrouded under a barrage of casual-ware.

No Subscription For Battle.Net. Fee-less gaming is every multiplayer gamer’s dream.

BioShock 2 Singleplayer and Multiplayer Details Exposed. And it’s more than what you were expecting.

EA Fakes Dante’s Inferno Protest. Well, any publicity is still good publicity.

Saturday

Face Mapping Coming To Perfect Dark On Xbox Live. It’s a possibility folks…you could be shooting at your own face in Rare’s revived shooter for the Xbox Live Arcade.

Spike Lee Doesn’t Approve Of NBA 2K10 Cover Athlete. And this is the same guy who made She Hate Me.

Shadow Of The Colossus DLC Coming To LittleBigPlanet. LPB fans getting a little SotC DLC.

Review for The Sims 3. Kelly West from Cinema Blend’s TV Section rounds out the week by giving us a good ‘ole review of EA’s Sims 3.

In the battle between Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3, the poll tallied close to 5000 votes and it was a surefire victory for Gran Turismo 5 with nearly 3000 votes. The fans have spoken and it looks like more of them will be willing to lay down some cash for GT5 over Forza 3. Be sure to stay tuned in for more news, insight, updates and media regarding the latest games right here at Blend Games.