Weekly Recap Jan 9th: Natal Release Date, M.A.G. Open Beta Starts, M11x Unveiled

With the new year in full swing and January playing host to the first trade show o the year, gamers didn’t have to wait long for 2010 to start pumping out newsworthy content. Speaking of trade shows, the 2010 CES took place this week with Microsoft giving a keynote speech, which included news about a new Arcade Game Room for Xbox Live, and an official release window for Project Natal. Sony wasn’t completely bereft of stealing some limelight. The company has M.A.G. entering open beta, making the game the first ever MMOFPS for the PS3, and Dell unveiled the Alienware M11x ultra-gaming laptop, which is the smallest, most powerful gaming laptop that will be available to consumers. These stories and more in this January 9th, 2010 edition of the Blend Games Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Dark Void System Requirements Announced. Find out if your PC can fly with this adventure game.

BC Wars Brings Prehistoric Action To MMORPG Genre. Obviously, this must be a first of its kind.

Independent Games Festival 2010 Finalists Announced. Is your favorite on the list?

GodsWar Catches Wedding Bell Fever With New Wedding System. You get married and divorced using Cupid and his Shadow.

Heavy Rain Pal Release Dates And Pre-Order Incentives Announced. Find out what’s in store when you pre-order this game.

Fable 3 To Be Shown Soon. Hmm, that’s good news for Fable fans. But is the game coming too soon after the last travesty that was Fable 2?

Halo Reach: Super Secret Multiplayer Mode. Here’s some juicy info from our friends over at Stick Skills.

Monday

Final Fight 3 Now On Virtual Console. The old-school days rekindled.

Fast Draw Showdown Slings Into Action. An arcade classic now available for the Wii.

Fairytale Fights Demo Downloads Surpass 700,000 Now if only the sales matched the demos, Playlogic would be in business.

Sega: No More Mature Wii Games. It’s another blow to the hardcore Wii gamer.

EA Shutting Down Online Play For Madden 09 And Other Sports Games. It’s a tragic thing for gamers who log into older sports titles in the EA library.

MAG Open Beta Begins. And it’s free for all who wish to join.

Rumor: EA Resurrecting NBA Jam On Wii. Could it be? A classic on a console where the only fun games happen to be on the Virtual Console?

Last Ranker Combat Trailer Released. Find out what the combat is like in this JRPG.

EA Sticks With Tiger Woods; Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online Launching This Month. He may be scandalous, but he still makes EA money.

Tuesday

Sony Trademarks VoyAgent. Whatever that is…

Dragon Age: The Awakening Expansion Pack Coming In March. Yet another expansion pack is on the way.

Dark Void Demo Arrives This Week. And if you’re reading this one week later, it’s still available in case you were wondering.

Dragon Age Return To Ostagar DLC Delayed. If you’re aching for more content out of Dragon Age, you’ll have to wait.

Final Fantasy XIII TV Spot Media Blowout. Tons of new clips, in-game content and portraits are on display in the new blowout.

Metal Slug XX Coming To North American PSPs. If the original MSX wasn’t enough, it’s time to double it up for the PSP.

Eagle Eye PS3 Controller Converter Debuts At CES 2010. It allows gamers to use keyboard and mouse combinations as they see fit.

Fallout New Vegas Wish List. Blend Games’ Editor Pete Haas puts out a wish-list for things he’d like to see included in the upcoming Fallout.

Wednesday

Space Marine Librarian Cooler Than Expected. How much cooler? Click the link to find out.

First Fallout New Vegas Details Coming Next Month. After you read the wish list, find out what to expect in the new details.

Mass Effect 2 Writer Wants More Comics. And he’ll probably get them, too.

God Eater Receives Two New PSP Trailers. Gamers won’t be disappointed with this game, either, after seeing the trailers.

Halo Reach Release Date Revealed? You bet your Spartan Mark IV coffee mug it is.

Darksiders Ships With Mystery Gift. Want to find out what the mystery gift is? Take a jump through the link.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 DLC Confirmed. The game isn’t even out yet but there will be new content for it, anyway.

Ballmer At CES 2010: 39 Million Xbox 360s Sold Worldwide. How accurate is that figure? Not very accurate.

Mad Catz Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Stick Revealed. Because it’s more super than the sticks released last year.

CES 2010 PlayStation Network Expanding To Your TV PC. Where isn’t digital content expanding? No where.

Thursday

Microsoft’s Project Natal Confirmed For Holiday 2010 Release. It’s now set in stone.

You can play old games on your new console. Novel, right?

Alan Wake Will Get Post Launch DLC. I’m not sure what else he could do, but the developers have plans for Alan to do it.

Neill Blomkamp: District 9 Video Game Would Be Fascinating. And possibly another movie-to-game failure…but a director can dream.

Sins of a Solar Empire Diplomacy Beta 3 Launches Today. Get in on the action if you like intergalactic diplomacy.

Mass Effect 2 Screenshots Introduce M-100 Grenade Launcher and Katana Shotgun. The weapons are about as diverse as the alien life in the game.

Dell Unveils New Mobile Ultra-Gaming Laptop At CES 2010. It’s 11 inches of a gaming powerhouse.

MotoGP 09/10 Revs Up 12 New Screenshots. Featuring Laguna Seca, of course.

Gran Turismo 5 Mercedes SLS Real Life Car Vs In-Game Car Trailer. Want to find out which one looks more realistic?

Overgrowth And Natural Selection II Pre-Order Bundle Announced. Featuring some indie-gaming goodness packaged up in one nice little budle.

Monster Hunter Tri Safari Hunting Screenshots. Life on the safari.

Marvel Civil War Hits PSP. A whole bunch of comics now accessible via the PSP while you’re on the go.

Dark Void Hi-Res Nvidia Screenshots Hover Into View. And the game looks gorgeous.

Red Dead Redemption Screenshots: Rancher’s Daughters And Snake Oil Salesmen. And it all looks good, too.

Friday

Heavy Rain Release Date Revealed. And we now have a date in which the rain will get heavy.

EA Attacking Call of Duty With Bad Company 2. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing but they’re willing to play it.

Star Wars The Old Republic Dromund Kaas Screenshots And Concept Art. Get a firsthand look at Dromund Kaas in the upcoming MMORPG.

New Borderlands 1.20 Patch Released For PC, PS3 And Xbox 360. A few new fixes for the fun but ever-so-glitchy Borderlands.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC Beta Details Announced. You can check out some of the details for the upcoming PC beta.

Mass Effect 2 Illusive Man Screenshots. Check out a few new screens of Martin Sheen’s Illusive Man.

Interview: Altis Gates. Find out what the project manager had to say about this upcoming free-to-play MMORPG.

Sims 3 Gets Free Valentine’s Day DLC. Well, that must be rewarding for avid players.

Saturday

Kung Foo Enters Closed Beta; Parodies MMOs A parody on kung-fu and no Steven Chow? Now that’s a travesty.

BattleSwarm: StarCraft Meets Starship Troopers RTS Screenshots. Imagine controlling lots of bugs like Starship Troopers, but with the intent of Starcraft

Dante’s Inferno Discount Figurine Offered With Pre-Orders.

Command And Conquer 4 Nod Stealth Tank Strikes Again. Another look at one of the tanks in the game.

Aliens Vs Predator Demo Confirmed. A new demo is on the way for the upcoming AvP.

Lego Universe MMORPG Debut Trailer Features Universal Battles. Not epic, but universal.

The Perfect Overrated Game. A list of ways to make your game overrated, as seen on The Game Reviews.

That wraps up this edition of the Weekly Recap. We part ways this time not with one, but with two new trailers for THQ’s awesome new action adventure game, DarkSiders. You can check out the new trailers below, which are definitely worth a little eye-time. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.