Weekly Recap Oct 30th: Champions Online Free-to-Play, Hybrid Announced, Windows Going NUI?

The beginning of the week was a little slow when it came to anything interesting or noteworthy, just the typical releases and announcements. But then things picked up when Cryptic Studios announced that they were converting Champions Online over into a free-to-play title beginning in 2011. More shocking news surfaced, in a good way, when Microsoft acquired a 3D motion-sensing company called Canesta, who focuses on natural user interfaces, not unlike Microsoft’s own Kinect. Added to this, 5th Cell revealed their new game, Hybrid, which is an action title for the Xbox Live Arcade. These stories and more in this October 30th, 2010 edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit: The Interceptor Trailer. If you’re an outlaw, beware of the Interceptor.

Redbana Announces 100 New Songs And Outfits For Audition. Fan favorites and brand new remixes are on the way.

Shaun White Skateboarding Launch Trailer Features World Morphing Tricks. Change the world to suit the needs of your very own tricks.

Nitrous Undefeated Debut trailer is Explosively Short. But it’s still cool.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Review. Is the Ghost of Sparta really worth your hard earned money? You’ll have to read the review to find out.

Monday

Game Power 7’s ASDA Story/World of Secrets Goes Live. Featuring sparkly graphics and a soul-mate system, no less.

War of 2012 New Server Launching October 26th. That’s last week for most people reading this.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom goes Gold. Which means it’s one step closer to hitting retail shelves.

Fable III Co-op Walkthrough and Baby Making Video Released. Yes, this is how babies are made.

WarDevil Cancelled. And sent to the graveyard of other video games based on bad ideas.

Tuesday

Nintendo Downloads: BIT TRP Fate, Flashlight. A few more interesting games to round out the WiiWare experience.

Tribes Universe Announced. Hi-Rez Studios picked up the license and is now aiming to redefine squad-based combat.

Review For The Sims 3 Late Night. Kelly West picks apart the good and the bad about the new Sims expansion.

Champions Online Going Free-to-Play. Obviously the biggest news of the week.

Call of Duty Black Ops FPS Freek Prestige Announced. Because it’s a prestigious bit of plastic that adds precision handling to analog controls.

No HD Remakes From Microsoft. No Halo or Halo 2 for the Xbox 360. Greedy dastards.

Wednesday

Free Fable II Weapons Released. Who doesn’t like free extra weapons? Well, if you do then you might want to find out how to grab a few.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Beta Improvements Detailed. A few improvements for the beta to make the game more buy-worthy in the long run.

Red Dead Redemption DLC Disc Dated. Brand new content coming in the format of a disc.

Call of Duty Black Ops Surprize Attack Sweepstakes Available With Pre-Orders. It’s actually possible to win some really nifty stuff from the sweepstakes.

Medal of Honor Hot Zone DLC Announced. After selling quite well it looks like EA is going to continue supporting it with some additional DLC.

BioShock 2 PC Getting Single Player DLC Patch. Arriving so late, in fact, that even the pirates don’t care.

PlayStation Rewards Beta Launches Tomorrow. A brand new rewards system that will enhance the overall PlayStation experience.

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Demo Walkthrough and Dark Horse Explained. A developer diary that explains a few more of the game’s features and functions.

Thursday

VisionRacer Gaming Rig Arrives Just In Time For Gran Turismo 5. An expensive venture but possibly well worth it.

Borderlands Level Cap Increase Patch Detailed. Because being a low-level newb is no fun.

Splatterhouse Goes Gold For Xbox 360 and PS3. Rick will soon be able to slice and dice now that it’s complete.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Pre-Sales Begin. Blizzard is already counting the dollar bill signs.

Red 5 Studios License NaturalMotion’s Morpheme For FireFall MMOTPS. Because they actually don’t want their characters to walk like they have rods permanently jammed up their butts.

Tribes Universe Testing Sign-Ups Begin. If you want try your hand at the new Tribes Universe you can do so by first signing up for the alpha test.

Friday

KillZone 3 Helghast Edition Pre-Order DLC Announced. If you can afford it, it might be worth it.

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective Release Date Announced. If you’ve been waiting for this game to arrive, Capcom has set up an official release date so now you can count down the days.

ZeniMax Buys Resident Evil Creator’s Studio. An acquisition that should reap interesting results…a possible Resident Evil Fallout crossover, perhaps?

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Goes Gold; Rome Trailer Released. Get a glimpse at Rome while you prep for the release of Assassin’s Creed.

MicroVolts new Halloween Themed Closed Beta Test Starts Today. Get in some playtime with some Halloween themes.

Keiji Inafune Leaving Capcom. Mega Man creator abandons the flagship that got him going.

FEAR 3 Release Date, Pre-Order Bonuses Announced. A new release date has been set and new bonuses are now available.

5TH Cell Unveils Xbox Live Arcade Game Hybrid That mystery game everyone was wondering about from the Scribblenauts creator? Well, it’s an action game.

Bunch of Heroes, Four Player Co-op Shooter Announced, Coming 2011.

Saturday

Skulls of the Shogun Gameplay, Multiplayer and Release Detailed.

Fallout New Vegas Review. Pete explains why this isn’t just extra DLC…it’s an overhaul.

Microsoft Acquires Canesta; NUI Coming In Next Windows, Xbox? it’s now a complete and utterly real possibility.

Uncharted The Fourth Labyrinth Announced. While it’s not a game, it is literature based on a game. Happy reading folks.

Demon’s Souls Sequel Possible.Demon’s Souls Sequel Possible. Well it better be given all the publicity it received.

NeverDead Screenshots Drop The Piano. Konami wanted to remind people that the game is still in production.

Jax Confirmed For Mortal Kombat Reboot. The arm-ripping soldier makes his appearance in the new Mortal Kombat.

That wraps up this edition of Game Blend’s Weekly Recap. The trailer of the week goes to Blood Drive. The game is launching soon and the launch trailer is currently up and available for viewing. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.