The last few weeks have been uber-rocky for poor Sony and Sony Online Entertainment. Nevertheless, the company is aiming to regain their footing once again and is doing so in a number of ways, including attempts to safeguard user information. On the lighter side of the news spectrum, a bold new game is on the way called Of Orcs and Men, which really pushes the boundaries on storytelling from a different perspective. And heading back to the darker side of the news spectrum, BioWare and EA have announced that the highly anticipated, galactic-sized, action RPG, Mass Effect 3 will be delayed all the way up until early 2012…for sales reasons, of course. These stories and more in this May 7th, 2011 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.
Sunday
PlayStation Network To Resume Services This Week. That’s good news for everyone who can’t wait to get back onto the PS3’s online gaming community.
The Fancy Pants Adventures Review. Is this fancy pants adventure worth your hard earned MS Points?
Massive Damage Done To PSN. Despite the fact that Sony plans to restore the PlayStation Network, there has already been massive infrastructure damage to the service.
Marvel Universe Will Be Free-To-Play; Heroes Will Be Playable. A free-to-play Marvel title with playable heroes? Every 12 year old just screamed in unison with a fanboygasm.
Tales Runner Receives New Pets and Pet Racing Modes. Breed some pets and then race them against each other in the new modes.
Monday
DC Universe Online Merging Servers. They’re becoming a Mega-Server!
Sony Online Entertainment Website Down Due To Intrusion. Oh boy, it looks like Sony is getting jacked left and right. Too bad…too bad.
Atlus Announces Sexy Catherine Deluxe Edition. Pillows, boxer shorts and T-shirts…perfect for spending a night in with a loved one.
World of Warcraft Cenario Hatchling Pet Benefits Japan Relief. Buying a pet from the cash shop helps some homeless, hungry victims in Japan. Everyone wins…sort of.
Gears of War 3 Beta Testers Can Earn Buddy Tokens. You gotta love buddy tokens…playing with a buddy, kicking butt with a buddy. Ah yeah, buddy tokens for the win.
Redbox Game Rentals Going National. Gamefly will soon get some meaty competition from Redbox and their consumer friendly kiosks.
PSN Set To Return Next Week. Legitimately return…no PR hogwash this time.
Tuesday
Gritty RPG Orcs and Men Announced For PS3, PC, Xbox 360. It’s not the typical tale of Orcs and Men either.
Black Prophecy Receives First Monthly Content Patch. New missions, new fixes and better performance…if that’s even remotely possible
Dawn of Fantasy First Developer Diary Doesn’t Have A Happy Ending. And it’s not because someone forgot to pay the masseuse.
Square Enix Picks Up Distribution Rights For Dead Island. Square will be making sure the Americas know what Dead Island is all about.
Fallout Vegas DLC Announced; Honest Hearts, World Blues, Lonesome Road. Three new pieces of DLC are on the way.
EA Purchases Flight Control, Real Racing Studio. New mobile content is on the way.
L.A. Noire Collected Stories Coming In June. Short stories based on the upcoming game will be available digitally as e-books.
Nival, Creator of Allods Online Opens Office In North America.
Vision Game Engine Licensed By Defence Contractor, Rheinmetall. Games a real life defence contracting gets a little bit closer.
Nexon Revenue Increases By 59 Percent; MapleStory Adventures Coming Soon.
Mass Effect 3 Delayed To 2012. Polish…it’s obviously because of polish…right?
Duke Nukem Forever System Requirements Steeper Than They Would Have Been In 1998. Well, more than a decade later and that rig you bought back in 1997 is useless.
$150 Mario Kart Wii Bundle Announced; $20 Nintendo Selects Revealed. Everything is getting cheaper for the Wii because of the Wii 2 is on the horizon.
Darkness II Release Date Announced. Darkness falls sooner rather than later.
Review: Thor God of Thunder Rich Knight goes toe-to-toe with Thor…but the god of thunder doesn’t quite come out on top.
Thursday
Assassin Creed Revelations Brings Back Ezio. Too bad because I was hoping Altair would be back in the driver’s seat this time around.
L.A. Noire Remixed: L.A. Noire Official Soundtrack Announced. I don’t know if it’s too wise to release the soundtrack before people get a feel for the game.
Why Mass Effect 3 Was Delayed. It’s all about the Benjamins.
Supremacy MMA GameStop Pre-Order Bonuses Announced. A StrikeForce legend makes an appearance.
Age of Empires Online Beta Open To All For Two Days Only. It’s not ready yet but you can get in on the beta for a short while.
Generator Rex Agent of Providence Announced. Another TV-based video game is on the way for the kiddies.
Dead Block Announced, Features Rocking Zombies from the 1950s. Elvis isn’t turning in his grave…he’s getting out of it and rocking out like it’s 1999.
Xbox 360’s L.A. Noire Is Three Discs Long. All that talking and all that face-capturing tech takes its memory-toll on the Xbox 360.
Friday
PSN Users Get $1 Million Identity Theft Insurance. Sony is going out of their way to protect users after the major digital break-in occurred with PSN and Qriocity.
Calibur11 Showcases Xbox 360 Accessories At E3, 2011. Some super snazzy looking case accessories are coming out for the Xbox 360.
Lucent Heart Final Closed Beta For MMO Dating Game Starts May 12th. Get your dating mojo on before the game preps for the final release.
Saints Row The Third Initiation Station Character Creator Pre-order Bonus Revealed. You can create your character Before the game comes out. Nice, eh?
Outland Review. Dubbed as “Nature meets Tron” with platforming antics galore. This sounds like a grade-A keeper.
Saturday
XBLA’s Most Wanted: Star Wars X-Wing Alliance. One of the hidden gems from generations past.
Co-op Couples: The Perfect Partner. Who is the person you like to bust heads with? Come on, don’t be shy.
Top Cow Productions Interview. A name that’s quickly becoming synonymous with quality talks about their upcoming projects.
Astro Gaming Purchased By Skullcandy. Will the gaming accessories change in anyway because of the buyout? Click the link to find out.
Hitman 5 News Incoming Soon. A great way to end out the week…possible news goodies are in store for Hitman fans next week.
That wraps up this week’s recap here at Gaming Blend. For those of you wondering what happened to SSX, you can find out with a brand new behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming SSX Deadly Descent, below. Enjoy.
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