Weekly Recap Sept 11th: NFS World Free-To-Play, Batman Multiplayer, Kinect Bundle

Finishing off the second week of September didn’t reap the most shocking or startling news in the world of the interactive entertainment industry. Nevertheless, September seems to be the month that preps everyone for the forthcoming round of motion-sensing controllers due out later this year and that’s confirmed with Microsoft’s new Kinect bundle featuring an Xbox 360. News has surfaced that Batman: Arkham Asylum could be receiving some co-op multiplayer modes (and potentially competitive multiplayer modes as well) and EA took a bold step forward by making the popular Need for Speed World free-to-play. Now that’s a major blow to Test Drive Unlimited 2. These stories and more in this September 11th, 2010 edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Arcania Gothic 4 Demo Coming September 24th. For everyone who’s afraid that this game might suck without Piranha Bytes, here’s your chance to test it.

Dungeon Siege III Gameplay Trailer. Brand spanking new gameplay footage of the upcoming strategy title.

Altitude Free Weekend Now Live. Get a taste of an indy title free on Steam.

Borderlands Level Cap Increase is Free Update. Most updates (for the consoles) requires some coinage…but not this time.

Monday

NY Jets and Arkadium Studios Launch Ultimate Fan On Facebook. A game where fans…play the fans…interesting.

Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes Demo Hits PS3 Tomorrow. Wiping out a bunch of bad guys…in fact, it’s hundreds upon hundreds of bad guys.

Transformers War for Cybertron DLC Pack 2 Launch Trailer. All the details on a brand new set of content is revealed in the launch trailer.

Square Unveils Debut Trailer For SNES Style MMO, Wakfu. It’s not just an SNES style MMO, it’s a Final Fantasy Tactics style MMO, too.

Vindictus Early Open Beta Access Begins September 15th. Here’s a chance to become a big dog in a small pond before all those noobs flood in…assuming, of course, you aren’t a noob yourself.

Tuesday

Batman Arkham City Has Multiplayer. Things heat up between Batman and Catwoman for this super-sequel.

Nintendo Downloads: Samurai Showdown III, Fenimore Fillmore. One of the very best fighting games from the SNK camp joins Nintendo’s line-up.

PAX 2010: Braid Creator’s The Witness Gameplay Footage Revealed. How’s the new game look? Don’t sit around here reading the description about it…click the link to see for yourself.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Beta Invites Going Out This Week. You might be lucky enough to join in on the beta.

BioShock Infinite Screenshots Celebrate Fourth of July. One of the most frightening games of our time celebrates independence…how nice.

Gary Oldman and Ed Harris Join Call of Duty Black Ops Cast. Activision is calling in the big guns…again.

Top Spin 4 Announced for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. And Andre Agassi gets some special treatment in this iteration.

EA Sports MMA Demo Screenshots Take to the Mat. Brand spanking new screenshots of the game’s upcoming demo.

Wednesday

Duke Nukem Forever Demo Is Likely. Well, it should be likely given the amount of time we’ve been waiting for it.

Halo Reach Launch Parties, Chuck Webisodes, Invasion Week Announced. Whoa, whoa, whoa..that’s a lot of info in such a short title.

FragFX Shark, Barracuda And Piranha Arriving for PS3 In November. Three new controllers for the PC, Mac and PS3 that happen to be wireless and made of high quality.

250GB Xbox 360 Kinect Bundle Announced. A new bundle to help push Kinect into homes.

NBA Jam Eastern Conference Roster Revealed. All the playables from the eastern side get listed.

World of Warcraft Gets Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane’s Fall Events. Blizzard wants to keep the fans happy and here are a few events that do just that.

Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy Coming To Japan in 2011. One of the very best Final Fantasy games gets a prequel.

Mature Themed Adventure Game, Twisted Lands, Coming To PC. A little hidden object, point-and-click and story oriented casual title for the older crowd.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 Announced. Capcom wouldn’t let this franchise rot on a shelf.

iOS 4.1 Update Adds Game Center. It’s now easier to grab the games you want and play the games you want.

Thursday

Brink Hyping The Game Dev Doc. A look at a few more features in the game.

Medal of Honor Trailer High Value Target. Some targets are worth more than others.

Need for Speed World Goes Free to Play. Big news regarding one of EA’s top-brand franchises.

StarCraft II Authentication Fix Coming Soon. The fix couldn’t have come at a better time…especially if you’re a pirate.

WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2011 Roster Announced. A complete list of the WWE wrestlers and divas who will make this year’s cut.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Delayed until 2011 for PC. Probably due to those pesky pirates, no doubt.

NBA 2K11 Demo Release Date Announced. It’s weird that demos now get release dates…but the sooner we have a chance to play the game, the better.

APOX RTS/RPG/FPS Hybrid Announced by BlueGiant Interactive. Featuring all the intensity of just about every genre you can think of.

August 2010 NPD Sales Report: Madden Wins Again. Fanboys can fight over the August numbers as one game and one console make a standout performance.

Friday

Mega Man Universe Character and Stage Customization Details Revealed. New info on creating stages and characters in Capcom’s upcoming action romp.

Medal of Honor Must Sell 3 Million Or No Sequel. Yikes…EA puts some stiff stipulations on their upcoming shooter, WWE-style.

PlayStation Move Demo Disc Detailed. Find out what sort of software you can test the Move on.

Blood Drive: Mad Max Rip-Off Arriving This Fall for Xbox 360 and PS3. There’s nothing wrong with imitating a work of destructive art.

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Coming To Mac. All the foul-mouthed, sexual content you could possibly think up is now coming to Mac.

Third Person Shooter, Dead Meets Lead, Coming To PC. A unique new third-person shooter is on its way to the PC.

Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions Hitting The PC This Fall. After a slight delay, the PC version of the game will be arriving later in the fall.

Saturday

MAG 2 Revealed By Retailer. Outed by a retailer? Really? That's as cool as it is lame.

Fable The Balverine Order Novel Has Fable III Weapon Code. Who says reading doesn’t pay off for gaming?

Enslaved Dev Doc Monkey and Trip Relationship Is Like Jack and Chloe. A hacker and a killer…sound familiar?

Gears of War 3 Collector’s Edition What It Needs. A few hints on what the collector’s edition should contain.

15 Games That Changed XBLA Forever. This is a list you cannot miss.

That wraps up this edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap. We part ways this week with the one super-awesome live-action trailer for Halo Reach, which is an extended edition of the Deliver Hope trailer. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.