Weekly Recap July 16th: Mass Effect 3 Demo, Modern Warfare 3 Glitches, EA Buys PopCap

Summer isn’t always the best time to look for the most promising gaming news; mostly it’s just delays, screenshots, trailers and a few “coming soon” attractions to keep an eye on. Nevertheless, there’s always a few companies you can rely on to keep the industry sizzling and EA happens to be one of them, especially after they bought out Popcap Games. Yeah, they’ll be feeding plants to zombies now. BioWare also talks about a possible Mass Effect 3 demo and Activision confirms that some pro-glitchers were hired in to find glitches in Modern Warfare 3. These stories and more in this July 16th, 2011 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Hi-Rez Says Tribes Ascend Is Free-To-Play Not Pay-To-Win There’s a big difference between the two.

Deus Ex Human Revolution Dev Doc Explores The Cities of 2027. What will the future of Detroit, Paris and Montreal look like? Eidos has an idea.

Free Strategy Game Castles of the Empire Announced, First Screenshots Released. A new free-to-play strategy game…they’re almost becoming as abundant as the free-to-play shooter games.

Grand Theft Auto IV Makes Steam Top 10 Thanks To Graphics Mod. The iCEnhancer has really enhanced the overall appeal of the aging open-world action title.

Epic Games VP Says PC Has Shot By Consoles. Totally. And some game companies are making it clear that they’re ready for the next generation.

Monday

Infinity Ward Brings Pro Glitchers In For Modern Warfare 3 QA. Because the best way to find glitches is to bring in pro glitchers.

Dark Souls Screenshots Are Anti-Social. Well, what kind of undead demons would they be if they were all friendly and stuff?

Snazzy Concept Art Surfaces For Amy. Some shady environments and devilish looking characters pop up for the horror-survival title.

DUST 514 Has Small Cover Charge But May Go Free-to-Play. In an extremely competitive online landscape CCP has to think carefully about this.

Magic School bus: Oceans Coming This Fall For Nintendo DS. Plenty of adventure and action to be had on your DS…without getting wet.

Valve Comic Book Collection Coming This Fall. Check out a list of some of the colorful, action-packed stills you’ll be able to grab this fall.

Mass Effect 3 Demo On The Way? It looks like a possibility but don’t hold your breath.

Tuesday

Rumor: Battlefield 3 System Requirements Aren’t As Bad As You Think An updated look at the system requirements for one of the most anticipated games of the year is no where near as scary as you might think.

Game of Thrones Genesis Screenshots Visit The Iron Throne and Castle Black. Find out how a few iconic places from the Song of Fire & Ice look in the new screenshots.

Why Is Star Wars Galaxies Shutting Down? It’s because of Star Wars: The Old Republic…that’s no joke.

StarCraft II Region Linking Goes Live Next Week.

DC Universe Online Fight The Light DLC Stars Green Lantern. If you enjoyed the movie then you can experience even more Green Lantern action with the new DLC starring the man that uses green lights to beat up galactic bad guys.

EA Buys PopCap Games. It’s a sad day in the world of indie games.

Mortal Kombat Gets Purple Rain Come July 19th. And I’m not talking about Prince…but that would be pretty cool.

Xbox Live Being Integrated Into Windows 8. Good news for Xbox 360 fanboys who also happen to be PC gamers.

Wednesday

Cities XL 2012 Announced, Coming October For PC. New structures and environments so you can build the perfect city of your dreams.

PlanetSide 2 Will Have A Cash-Shop, But Pay-To-Win Not An Option. The cash shop revolution is at hand.

Ubisoft Acquires Owlient To Add To Their Free-To-Play Agenda. Ubisoft is really taking this free-to-play thing seriously.

Tribes: Ascend Playable At QuakeCon 2011. You can get a first-hand look at the next-generation of Starsiege Tribes this year.

2K Explains Why XCOM Is A First-Person Shooter. The answer will probably frustrate you more than anything.

Rayman And Altair Headline Ubisoft’s Comic Con 2011 Line-Up. Ubisoft has some big plans at this year’s Comic Con, click the link to find out what they are.

EA Shutting Down Army of Two and Battlefield 2 Multiplayer. They’re preparing to put all their money into the upcoming Battlefield 3 multiplayer.

Resistance 3 Developer Diary Comes Full Circle. Insomniac talks about the entire trilogy and how it all comes full circle to a startling completion in the third game.

Capcom Reveals San Diego Comic Con 2011 Line-Up. A new title is ready to be announced along with some cosplay contest and more.

Thursday

Driver San Francisco Single Player Revealed In New Trailer. Take a close look at how to play the game when you’re rolling solo.

Fray Screenshots Showcase How Next Gen X-Com Should Be. A new gameplay mechanic makes this game worth checking out.

Call of Duty XP Tickets Go On Sale July 19th. Want to head to the XP convention later this year? Then grab some tickets next week.

Call of Duty Elite Beta Starts Now. For a few extra coin you can jump in on the Call of Duty craze.

Epic Says UE3 Samaritan Demo Is How Next Gen Games Will Look. Epic is setting the bar pretty darn high with this one.

Project Blackout Update Has Attacking Dinosaurs. Guns versus Dinos is the way to go.

Demo For Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Is Too Big. Bethesda can’t afford to waste time or to spoil Skyrim.

Another South Park Game Coming Exclusively To Xbox 360. You’ll have to click the link to find out what makes this game different from the rest.

Friday

Mortal Kombat Rain Vignette Explains His Quest For Power. Although, it doesn’t explain why he wears purple pajamas. Oh well, maybe next time.

Crysis 2 DX11 Comparison: HD 6990 vs Zotac GTX 590. How well do these two cards stack up in an overclocking benchmark? The results probably won’t surprise you.

World of Warcraft Real ID Party System Goes Live. Find out who’s who while playing World of Warcraft..trolls beware.

Call of Duty Black Ops Annihilation Gets PS3 and PC Release Date. Arriving a little late for PC and PS3, the Annihilation Map Pack is still on its way for PC and PS3 owners.

Two Worlds II Velvet Game of the Year Edition Coming In October. Extra goodies, more quests, better weapons and everything else you love about medieval-fantasy game of the year edition boxsets.

Saturday

Outland Review. What is Outland and what kind of game is it? Well, the review breaks it all down for those of you who have never heard of the game…and I’m sure that’s a lot of you.

Call of Duty Elite…What the &*&#? Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Find out why the title has an expletive in it and why Call of Duty Elite is a pile of #&$%.

Ms Splosion Man Co-op Review. How’s the co-op in this new-school arcade classic? Co-Optimus does a complete review of the game that’s worth checking out.

BloodRayne Betrayal Flaming New Screenshots. Hot off the press some brand new screenshots featuring a flaming skeleton dude and a lot of green goop.

That wraps up this edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap. You can check out the new Binary Domain trailer that gives you a brief rundown of all the weapon types in the game. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.