You've only got two days left to play the massively multiplayer shooter MAG. Sony plans to shut down the servers for the 2010 PS3 exclusive on Tuesday along with two SOCOM games.

In MAG, three mercenary armies battle each other in locations across the world. Players can join any of the three factions and get access to different weapons and customization options. Players can purchase new skills and equipment as they gain experience.

The most notable aspect of MAG was its size. The game supported battles with up to 256 players. Teams were organized into squads, platoons and companies to encourage organization. Squads were led by players with higher in-game ranks.

MAG's size was a double-edged sword, though. When the player base shrank, there weren't enough bodies to fill out the battles. That, in turn, made the experience worse for the players who stuck with the game and made them more likely to quit. Unlike PlanetSide 2, MAG wasn't free to play so it was harder to attract new players to populate the battlefield.

Sales for MAG weren't abysmal. The game was re-released as a Greatest Hits title about eight months after its launch, which means that it sold at least half a million copies. MAG couldn't maintain that momentum, though, especially in the face of stiff competition from other, newer shooters.

Sony announced in March 2012 that they were shutting down Zipper Interactive, MAG's developer. They said at the time that they would continue to support the game after Zipper Interactive's closure. It was only a matter of time, though, before MAG became too sparsely populated for Sony to justify the server upkeep.

MAG's servers will officially shut down on January 28th. SOCOM: Confrontation and SOCOM: Special Forces, two other shooters released by Zipper to mixed reviews, will close down on the same day. Confrontation and MAG are online-only so the server shutdowns will effectively kill those games. Special Forces at least has a single-player campaign to fall back on.

MMOs like Warhammer Online and The Matrix Online celebrated their end with special events. Sony doesn't seem to have any festivities planned for MAG's end. However, some fans are trying to get former players to come back on January 27th for one last battle royale.

Sony will shut off another batch of game servers on May 20th. The games losing their multiplayer on that date include Gran Turismo 5 and multiple Resistance titles. I'm sure we'll see even more server shutdowns by the year's end.

Sony is removing the rug from under the feet of multiplayer-only games. In result, Sony is removing the rug from under the feet of gamers who still play (or might enjoy) those multiplayer-only games. Throughout the early first quarter of 2014 there will be a number of games that will cease to exist, forever.

Gamepolitics rolled out the list of services and games that Sony will be shutting down throughout early 2014, including the multiplayer servers of Gran Turismo 5 and all of the Resistance games.

These cost cutting measures don't end just there.

Sony has gone on ahead and decided to shutdown some older PS3 games, including the multiplayer-only M.A.G, or the Massive Action Game, which prompted to support up to 256 simulataneous players. SOCOM: Confrontation and SOCOM: Special Forces are also going down under. The three aforementioned games will have their life-forces cut short beginning January 28th, where-as Resistance and Gran Turismo 5 will have their multiplayer operations come to cessation beginning May 20th.

It's interesting because M.A.G was released in 2010 and just three years later we see the game having its doors closed. SOCOM: Confrontation and SOCOM: Special Forces released in 2008 and 2011 respectively.

Some of you probably already know what I'm going to say next, but I'm going to say it anyway: This is what your all-digital future will look like no matter who is in charge. Games with dedicated servers hosted by the companies WILL NOT last forever. Given the closed ecosystem of console games, it also means that player-hosted or independent servers are not possible unless you have a modded system.

In simple terms, this means that any game boasting use of the Cloud or heavy reliance on offloading computing to server networks is basically saying that it has a limited shelf life. This certainly calls into question games like Titanfall, where Microsoft and Respawn Entertainment have been desperately touting the buzzphrase of “power of the Cloud” as if it means something to anyone with an ounce of common sense. The reality is that all it means is that when Microsoft deems Titanfall something not worth the upkeep, the servers will eventually be shutdown or used for some other offloading for another game, and kaput goes Titanfall.

We're definitely starting to see console games take on the online-only atmosphere and whenever the games end up being shutdown, you lose a little bit of that console's library each and every time.

With Microsoft constantly talking about moving towards an “all digital future”, and we begin to see how older games are continually being shutdown and locked out of the annals of video game history, it's almost as if some of these companies are looking to kill off the historical value and culture of the games just to cash-in on a flash in the pan.

Expect to see more news about multiplayer and online-based games for consoles being shutdown as we continue to get deeper into the eighth generation of gaming.

The rumors were true: Zipper Interactive is closing its doors for good. Today Sony confirmed that they're shuttering the studio, best known for creating the PlayStation exclusive shooter series. The company has about 80 employees.

"Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm the closure of Zipper Interactive, a Seattle-based internal game development studio that has been part of the global development operation of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS)," Sony said in a statement sent to Game Informer. "The closure is a result of a normal cycle of resource re-alignment within SCE WWS. Zipper has completed all work associated with its most recent project, Unit 13 for PlayStation Vita."

"Zipper titles MAG, SOCOM 4 and Unit 13 will continue to be supported, including the new Daily Challenges in Unit 13."

Zipper started out as PC developer, making vehicle combat games such as Mech Warrior 3 and Crimson Skies. They entered the console shooter market with the release of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs in 2002. That series became the center of their attention. They released seven SOCOM titles across the PS2, PSP, and PS3.

The company posted this brief goodbye on their official Twitter account: "After 17 years it’s time to head off into the sunset. A sincere thank you to all our fans for everything you've done for us. Farewell."

Even though Zipper is closing, the SOCOM series could live on. As I said last week, Sony could just hand the franchise off to some other studio. Slant Six Games, who has created three games in the series already, seems like a possible candidate. Sony made no mention of SOCOM's future today, though.

Zipper Interactive, creator of the SOCOM military shooter series, may be closing its doors soon. A new report suggests that Sony, who owns Zipper, is planning to shut it down due to unknown reasons.

Kotaku, citing multiple sources, says that Zipper employees are being laid off. At least one project is being cancelled as well. The layoffs are said to be so numerous that complete closure of the studio is likely.

The Redmond, Washington-based studio was founded in 1995. In their early years, Zipper specialized in PC vehicle-based shooters like Crimson Skies, Mech Warrior 3, and DeathDrome. Ever they released SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs in 2002, though, their focus has been on console shooters. Sony acquired the company in 2006.

Zipper hasn't had a lot of success in this generation of consoles. Both massive multiplayer shooter MAG and SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALS underperformed in sales. The fact that PSN was down for the month immediately after SOCOM 4's release didn't help its chances. Still, reviews weren't great for that game or MAG.

If Zipper is shut down, that probably won't mean the end of the SOCOM series. Presumably Sony would hand the series off to Slant Six Games, who created SOCOM: Confrontation for the PS3 as well as two PSP entries in the franchise.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of PS3 multiplayer shooter MAG's release. Zipper Interactive will be celebrating the occasion in three different ways.

On January 26th, members of the Zipper Interactive QA team (i.e. the testers) will be playing online throughout the day. They've played the game an absurd amount so they should provide a good challenge. From the 26th until the 30th, in-game queue and "Happy Hour" XP bonuses will be boosted to 256%. During this same time period, the Domination and Acquisition modes will become Faction Neutral.

If you never picked up MAG, note that you can get it pretty cheaply these days. It's part of the Greatest Hits collection so you can get it new for $29.99. Right now, Amazon's offering at a discount so you can grab it for $15.88.

Zipper Interactive released the massive 2.0 update for multiplayer shooter MAG today. The patch includes support for PlayStation Move.

The patch also raises the level cap, revamps the skill tree, and adds a clan deploy feature that allows up to 128 players to queue together. Here is the full list of changes.

Gameplay (General)

• Character level cap has been increased from level 60 to level 70
• Added new “Supply Depot” menu and in-game economy system (see “Gameplay – Economy” section for details)
• Implemented new “Clan Deploy” feature that allows Clan Leaders and Officers to deploy into group queues of up to 128 players
• Characters moving from MAG v1.XX to MAG 2.0 will receive an immediate and automatic Respec the first time they log in
• Repair Kits can now inflict damage on enemy soldiers, vehicles and objectives
• XP rate for “Repair” has been increased from 1.5XP/ 10pts to 3XP/ 10pts
• Players can now track all “sprinting” enemies on the mini-map without the need for equipment
• All “Damage Bar” rates for “Domination” maps have reverted back to their original (and identical) values
• Tuned the frequency in which a player can jump to eliminate “bunny hopper” techniques
• Reduced helicopter settle time, widened turret rotation and significantly increased health to strengthen their use as a forward spawn point
• The “Silent Step” OIC Leadership ability now works as intended by allowing nearby squadmates to move at both regular and running speeds without detection from the motion sensor — does not stack with any related skills or modifiers

Gameplay – (Economy)

• Added in-game currency known as “Credit Points (CP)” that is awarded for by completing objectives, earning ribbons, finishing missions, and killing enemies
• All gear and weapons are now located by default or can be sold or purchased in the “Supply Depot” menu

Gameplay – Skills (Overall)

• All Skills cost only one point per unlock, allowing players to purchase new skills with every level increase
• Removed all gear and weapon attainment from the “Skills” menu, they now reside in the separate “Supply Depot”
• Added “Engineering, Medical, Resistances, Special Ops,” and ‘Vehicles” meta-categories to the “Skills” menu
• Removed “Electronics, Explosives, Heavy, Personal Defense,” and “Support” meta-categories from the “Skills” menu
• Each meta-category in the “Skills” menu now has multi-branching paths
• The “Advanced Grenades, Improved Resuscitation, Improved Shot Detection, Improved Stealth,” and “Knives Expanded Reach” skills have all been eliminated or rolled into other skills (see Skills sub-sections below for details)
• Respec Points progression has been changed from 1K, 2K, 3K, 3K-Repeat to 1K, 3K, 5K, 5K-Repeat
• Respec Points can no longer be “banked” and are capped at the amount needed for the next Respec

Gameplay – Skills (Assault)

• Added the following skills to the “Assault” menu: “Assault Swap Speed” and “Rocket Launcher Reload Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Assault” skills: “Assault Reload Speed, Assault Rifle Steady Aim, Assault Swap Speed, Grenade Launcher Reload Speed,” and “Rocket Launcher Reload Speed”
• “Assault Reload Speed” skill has changed and now decreases the reload time for all assault rifles and machine guns
• “Assault Rifle Improved Stability” skill has been renamed to “Assault Recoil Stability” and has been changed to reduce the recoil on all assault rifles and machine guns
• “Assault Swap Speed” skill has been changed and now decreases the amount of time it takes to swap assault rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers and grenade launchers

Gameplay – Skills (Marksman)

• Added the following skills to the “Marksman” menu: “Increased Scope Magnification, Marksman Fire Rate, Marksman Recoil Stability” and “Marksman Swap Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Marksman” skills: “Increased Scope Magnification, Marksman Fire Rate, Marksman Reload Speed, Marksman Recoil Stability, Marksman Steady Aim,” and “Marksman Swap Speed”
• New “Increased Scope Magnification” skill increases the level of zoom when using a scope on a sniper rifle
• New “Marksman Fire Rate” skill increases the rate of fire for all sniper rifles
• New “Marksman Recoil Stability” skill reduces the amount of recoil on sniper rifles
• New “Marksman Swap Speed” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to swap sniper rifles

Gameplay – Skills (Close Quarters)

• Added the following skills to the “Close Quarters” menu: “Close Quarters Fire Rate, Close Quarters Swap Speed, Improved Knife Damage,” and “Knife Frequency”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Close Quarters” skills: “Close Quarters Fire Rate, Close Quarters Recoil Stability, Close Quarters Reload Speed, Close Quarters Swap Speed, Improved Knife Damage,” and “Knife Frequency”
• “Close Quarters Improved Stability” skill has been renamed to “Close Quarters Recoil” stability and has been changed to reduced recoil on all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Close Quarters Fire Rate” skill increases the fire rate of all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Close Quarters Swap Speed” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to swap all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Improved Knife Damage” skill increases the amount of damage knife attacks do to enemy soldiers
• “Knives Improved Swipe Speed” Skill has been renamed to Knife Frequency” skill, which decreases the time between knife attacks

Gameplay – Skills (Special Ops)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Special Ops” menu: “Extended Tracking Duration, Improved Acoustic Locator, Improved Explosive Detector, Improved Motion Tracker, Improved Sensor Jammer” and “Improved Suppressors”
• New “Extended Tracking Duration” skill increases the amount of time a detected enemy is tracked on the mini-map and CNI
• New “Improved Acoustic Locator” skill increases the effective range of an equipped Acoustic Locator gear item
• New “Improved Explosive Detector” skill allows a soldier with an Explosives Detector gear item equipped to approach enemy mines while prone without triggering them
• New “Improved Motion Tracker” skill increases the range an equipped Motion Tracker gear item detects enemy movement
• New “Improved Sensor Jammer” skill allows a soldier with Sensor Jammer gear items to move at a faster rate before being spotted by enemy Motion Trackers, as well as masking nearby squadmates
• New “Improved Suppressors” skill increases the effectiveness of any suppressor when mounted on a weapon

Gameplay – Skills (Medical)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Medical” menu: “Heal Recharge Rate, Improved Healing, Improved Resupply Rate, Medical Kit Heal Range, Self Heal Speed,” and “Resuscitation”
• New “Heal Recharge Rate” skill reduces the time between medical kit and first aid kit applications
• New “Improved Resupply Rate” skill reduces the time it takes to refill your gear and ammo at supply points
• New “Medical Kit Heal Range” skill increases the range a medical kit can heal wounded teammates
• New “Self Heal Speed” skill decreases the time it takes to apply a first aid kit or medical kit when self-healing

Gameplay – Skills (Engineering)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Engineering” menu: “Advanced Electronics, Advanced Explosives, Improved Repair Kit Damage, Improved Repairing,” and “Mine Deploy Speed”
• New “Advanced Electronics” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to take control of battlefield electronics-based objectives
• New “Improved Repair Kit Damage” skill increases the amount of damage the repair kit does to enemy soldiers, vehicles and objective assets
• New “Mine Deploy Speed” skill reduces the amount of time it takes to deploy anti-personnel and anti-tank mines

Gameplay – Skills (Athleticism)

• Added the following skills to the “Athleticism” menu: “Increased Launcher Move Speed, Increased Move Speed,” and “Improved Sprint Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Athleticism” skills: “Advanced Paratrooper, Increased Endurance, Increased Launcher Move Speed, Increased Move Speed, Improved Sprint Recovery,” and “Improved Sprint Speed”
• New “Increased Launcher Move Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves and aims while holding a rocket launcher
• New “Increased Move Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves normally
• New “Improved Sprint Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves while sprinting

Gameplay – Skills (Vehicles)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Vehicles” menu: “Improved Smoke Screen Rate, Improved Turret Cooldown, Improved Vehicle Awareness, Improved Vehicle Impact Damage, Increased Vehicle Speed,” and “Vehicle Mine Resistance”
• New “Improved Smoke Screen Rate” skill reduces the amount of time between smoke screens activated by the driver of the vehicle
• New “Improved Turret Cooldown” skill reduces the time it takes for the soldier’s turret weapon to cool down after it has overheated
• New “Improved Vehicle Awareness” skill makes the mini-map visible while a soldier is manning a vehicle or bunker turret and can be upgraded to add base Acoustic Locator and Motion Tracker functionality
• New “Improved Vehicle Impact Damage” skill increases the amount of damage inflicted on enemy soldiers when impacted by the driver’s vehicle
• New “Increased Vehicle Speed” skill increases the top speed of the vehicle the soldier is driving
• New “Vehicle Mine Resistance” skill decreases the amount of damage a vehicle the soldier is driving takes from enemy anti-vehicle mines

Gameplay – Skills (Resistances)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Resistances” menu: “Chemical Damage Resistance, Extended Bleedout, Explosive Damage Resistance Flashbang Resistance, Impact Damage Resistance,” and “Increased Health”
• New “Extended Bleedout” skill increases the time a soldier can remain incapacitated before he bleeds out
• New “Flashbang Resistance” skill decreases the duration a soldier is affected by flashbang grenades

Weapons

• Increased base damage on most automatic weapons by an average of 15%
• Improved the spread rate of Assault Rifles and Submachine guns when auto-firing so that they remain accurate longer
• All suppressors now reduce shooting detection range by half of their old default value
• Knife tuning: Reduced range by roughly 30 centimeters and decreased default “facing” damage bonuses
• Knife tuning: Changed knife attack angle so that a hit requires target to be closer to the center of the screen
• Shotgun tuning: Corrected issue that prevented all shotguns from reloading when the player was still holding the “fire” button
• Explosive tuning: Anti-personnel Mines now have a “line of sight” check for detonation and have been given a more realistic damage cone
• Explosive tuning: Increased “Anti-tank Mine” damage to vehicles by 50%

Gear and Apparel

• Explosives Detector no longer beeps when in proximity of a teammate’s mines — only when near an enemy’s; beep frequency has also been adjusted
• Motion Tracker has been updated so that it is no longer based on an enemy’s speed and is now based on an enemy’s stance, detecting movement for all un-jammed players
• The Sensor Jammer had been updated so that all prone movement by the equipped player is masked; can be enhanced with “Improved Sensor Jammer” skill to mask crouched movement at level 1, walking at level 2 and sprinting at level 3
• Light/ Improved Light Armor base speed has been reduced by nearly 3%
• Heavy/ Improved Heavy Armor base speed has been increased by nearly 3%
• Light and Heavy Armor types have been given “bonus” modifiers when used in conjunction with “Speed” skills so that Light Armors receive greater benefits and Heavy Armors receive lesser benefits

Interface

• Added “Community News” page to better inform players in-game of all MAG-related events or promotions
• Different grenade types now show specific in-game icons when thrown
• Repaired bug that would sometimes result in the post-game results screen displaying the incorrect amount of earned XP
• Added “Total Awarded Currency Points” to “Bonuses” section of the character “Stats” page
• Added Interdiction and Escalation Concept Art to “Extras” menu

Audio/Visual

• Thrown or launched grenades now have a “trail” effect as well as an updated overall appearance to make them more visible on the battlefield
• Solved issue that prevented equipped grenades to appear in the player’s hand prior to throwing them
• An assortment of camera and animation optimizations for various scenarios including but not limited to iron sight/ laser sight zoom, ladder climbing, mine placement, self-healing, and weapon swapping
• Improved presentation of the character “jump” animation
• Updated various pieces of artwork with newer versions for better performance
• Fixed issue that sometimes prevented medical device appearance and/ or animations from displaying properly
• Increased the Sensor Array’s animation time to match the duration of its usage
• Repaired bug that prevented the “Alarm” audio from being played when charges were planted at “Objective C” in the “Syr Daria Uplink” and “Darrien Network” maps
• Slightly lowered the amount of camera shake from air strikes, explosions, and when firing weapons
• Repaired camera “pop” problem that would sometimes occur when sprinting out of a parachute drop
• Removed “shiny” graphics that would randomly appear on bridges for all maps in which a bridge is present
• Fixed issue that prevented win/ loss voice-over from being played when game clock expires in “Interdiction” mode
• Improved visual appearance of the Ribbon awards

Technical

• MAG now fully supports the PlayStation Move peripheral
• Fixed “Spooning Elevator” bug that allowed players who revived downed teammates while laying on top of them to float upwards and reach areas not intended to be accessed
• “MVP” criteria no longer considers bonus XP modifiers in its equation
• Repaired issue that disconnected some members of large-sized clans from the MAG game environment when logging in
• Fixed issue that would sometimes halt the patching process at 99% of the install period
• Resupply Depots have been optimized so that the meter accurately reflects what is being resupplied and the resupply process itself is more efficient
• Players can no longer take the driver’s seat in vehicles that are not their squad’s “spawn” APC, but can take any other seat in the vehicle regardless if their squad “owns” the APC or not
• Repaired issue with “Happy Hour” timer that would sometimes shave a few minutes off the correct total
• Solved problem that sometimes caused incapacitated players to rotate and move around
• Players are now prevented from spawning inside a helicopter that is headed out of the map
• Mended problem that caused the “Primary Objectives Completed” stat to sometimes double for various game types
• Made additional fixes for rare “game crash” scenarios
• Various localization updates and changes

Patch 1.07 for multiplayer shooter MAG is now live. In addition to fixing bugs and adding a faction neutral version of Suppression game mode, the patch introduces a "Happy Hour" mechanic.

"Happy Hour" is an XP bonus for your first hour of play each day. During that hour, you'll get 100% of the usual XP. It's a clever way to get you playing regularly, sort of like the Random Dungeons and Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft.

The full patch notes are below.

Gameplay

• “Happy Hour” XP Bonus has been added to give players a 100% XP bonus for their first hour of gameplay every 24-hour period
• All “Suppression” mode maps can now be attacked by all PMCs
• All “Sabotage” mode maps can now be attacked or defended by all PMCs
• Added functionality that allows each game mode to have its own unique XP bonuses
• Fixed bug that would sometimes delay the proper initial spawn times.
• Repaired bug that sometimes inverted a player’s control scheme following a parachute drop
• Reduced helicopter settle time and significantly increased health to strengthen their use as a forward spawn point
• Slight increase to bunker turret damage vs. vehicles

Weapons

• Shotgun overhaul with reduced maximum, effective and headshot ranges; small increase in magazine size, shot spread, and shoot speed following reload (12 Gauge Pump, Boudini 12 Gauge, T-195)
• Increased initial magazine count for Sub-Machine Guns, Assault Rifles, and Sniper Rifles
• Corrected a tuning error with assault rifle and light sniper rifle foregrips, returning them to their previous level of recoil
• Slight decrease in reload time for KP5 Sub-Machine gun
• Updated Light Machine Gun muzzle flash effect and increased reload time by 15% (MK46 Mod0, Apex 100, RTK-74)
• Increased reload time by 10% for Medium Machine Guns (KP45 MG, MK43 Mod 1, PKP MG)
• Slight decrease in crouch-fire spread for AK-74U Assault Rifle
• Minor increase in fire-spread for ATAC 2000 Assault Rifle
• Pistols are now held closer to the center of the screen (M9, F57, IZ-443)

Map – Alyeska Terminus

• Repaired glitch in which players could walk through the wall on into Vent Station F without destroying the gate
• Fixed bug that made snipers laying prone on the balcony of the “Great Wrangler Café” immune to damage
• Various collision and art fixes that prevent players from gaining access to areas that were not intended to be accessible

Map – Flores Basin Transfer

• Remapped all Objectives to more closely match other Domination missions
• Extended to roof cover for Objective buildings in Platoons 1 and 3
• Added cover to railing in Platoon 1 building for additional Defender-side protection
• Added additional roof panels to Objective buildings in Platoons 2 and 4
• Added roof cover to the Defender spawn exits
• Removed some cover located on top of the boats in Platoon 2 to improve AAA and bunker sightline
• Changed the access points leading onto the AAA boats in Platoon 2
• The flank route on the left side of Platoon 1 has been cut off
• Partially obstructed segments of the flank route on the right side of Platoon 1
• Added more sightline obstructions between the Objective building doors and the Defender spawn exits in Platoon 3
• Blocked the direct sightline at Objective B
• Added sight-line obstructions at Objective C and G buildings
• Reduced the number of access points that attackers have in all Objective buildings
• Repositioned Bravo bunker in Platoon 2 to eliminate long sightlines on multiple Attacker spawns
• Repositioned Delta bunker in Platoon 2 to improve AAA sightline and give Attackers better spawn protection
• Pulled back the tank traps in Platoon 1 to the Defender’s side of the bridge
• Various collision and art fixes that prevent players from gaining access to areas that were not intended to be accessible

Interface

• Added display to all game mode queues that show the current XP bonus attached to that queue
• Added countdown timer to Bleedout screen to show how many seconds are left before the player’s next PMC spawn wave begins
• Fixed display issue with “Sabotage” wherein the incorrect number of player dots were shown on the mode side-panel

Audio/ Visual

• Improved lightmapping effects for Alyeska Terminus and Flores Basin Transfer Domination maps
• Added “surface” sounds when driving vehicles to reflect what kind of terrain is being driven on

Technical

• Updated patching technology to allow for smaller patch sizes when updating maps
• Repaired crash bugs associated with spending too much time in the CNI or being killed via headshot while using it
• Fixed display issue that resulted in dead players appearing to “float” above the location in which they died
• Fixed bug that prevented Squad Leaders from receiving points for destroying enemy vehicles with air strikes
• Various localization updates

Since MAG's release earlier this year, Zipper Interactive has been releasing new content in drips and drabs. However, now they're gearing up to release the game's first expansion pack, Interdiction, on June 22nd.

Interdiction is a $9.99 downloadable content pack that adds a game mode of the same name. Interdiction is a 128-player mode in which two factions try to seize control of three command posts. Each squad will get an APC to assist them in competing their objectives. This new game type will be supported in three new maps (Lake Bayano Spur, Sovot Motorway, and Iron Cree Quarry) also included in the DLC pack.

The Interdiction DLC also comes with a bunch of smaller bonuses. It adds a Heavy Improved armor set that can be used by all three factions. There's also new Medals, Ribbons, and Trophies for you to earn. They're listed below.

Ribbons

• Jump Start – Capture 2 Command Posts in a round of Interdiction
• Mowing the Grass – Get 10 kills with a vehicle turret in one round
• Dashed Hopes – Destroy 2 mines with gunfire in one round
• Cannonball Rally – Become an MVP (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in a round of Interdiction

Medals

• Roadside Assistance – Capture 10 Interdiction control points over your career
• Landscape Architect – Get 50 kills with a vehicle turret over your career
• BOD – Destroy 20 mines with gunfire over your career
• Designated Driver – Earn 5 Interdiction MVPs over your career

Trophies

• King of the Hills (Bronze) – Earn the Roadside Assistance medal while playing Interdiction
• Red Ball Express (Silver) – Earn the Designated Driver medal while playing Interdiction
• Road Runner (Gold) – Capture 3 Interdiction control points in a single round

If you're an online shopping addict, your willpower will be sorely tempted today. GameStop offering several big releases from late 2009 and early 2010 at a discounted rate.

For the next 24 hours, they've got 16 games on sale. PS3 exclusives God of War III and Uncharted 2 are only $34.99 and $39.99, respectively. Xbox 360 gamers, meanwhile, can grab BioShock 2 for $24.99 and Mass Effect 2 for $39.99.

These deals will expire at 11 am CST on May 13th. Also note that they're only available online; the standard prices will still apply if you buy these games at a store.

Zipper Interactive is celebrating the release of a new downloadable content pack in the traditional manner. They plan to hold a double XP event this weekend.

The double XP weekend begins on April 29th, the day that the DLC will arrive. It will run until 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, May 2nd. Note that the bonus XP will only be applied at the end of the match so quitters will miss out on the rewards.

The new content in question is the Fast Attack Gear Pack. The free pack adds special edition sniper rifles and improved light armor for all factions.

Multiplayer shooter MAG is about to get another helping of free downloadable content. Starting Thursday, April 29th, players will be able to download the Fast Attack Gear Pack.

The Fast Attack Pack adds two new items for all three factions. Each faction will receive a special edition sniper rifle (Raven’s HM 90 SE, SVER’s SASR M, and Valor’s MK 14 Mod 1 EBR) with "performance adjustments and visual variations." The second item, Improved Light Armor, can be yours for 400 credits.

When Zipper Interactive released another piece of free content, the Trooper Gear Pack, it was accompanied by a double XP weekend. There's been no mention of that happening this time around, though - at least not yet.

Next week the first downloadable content for MAG will arrive. Surprisingly enough, it won't cost you a cent.

The "Trooper Gear Pack" adds flashbang grenades to the game, as well as special edition Light Machine Guns for each of the game's factions. Fashion-conscious players will also be relieved to hear that Zipper's adding two new uniforms, dubbed "Trooper Dark" and "Trooper Light." Like the new weapons, they're available for all three PMCs.

The DLC will be released on Thursday, March 25th. To celebrate, Zipper will hold a double XP weekend. It runs from 12 am Pacific Standard Time on Thursday until 11:59pm PST on Sunday.

PC/Xbox 360 role-playing game Mass Effect 2 and PS3 multiplayer shooter MAG both hit North America on January 26th. Instead of taking sides in the console war, GameStop will be holding a midnight launch for both.

There are a couple thousand GameStop locations participating in the launch. A full list (in PDF form) of participating stores can be found here (thanks, Blue). It looks like every location will be selling both games at midnight.

Most stores will open at 10 PM on January 25th for the event. You're encouraged to call your local store just to be sure, though.

MAG, like many other PS3 games, will allow you to collect a healthy pile of digital bowling trophies. Today Sony announced the full list of Trophies you can earn through the massive shooter.

Bronze

• Angel of Mercy – 25 enemies killed in their in incapacitated state over a career
• Boom Town – Earn the Mortar Demolition, Total Blackout and AAA Demolition Ribbons
• Close Call — Earn three Bomb Squad Ribbons
• Clown Car – Awarded when a player destroys an APC or a Bunker, killing two players
• Commandon’t – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Commando
• Coughing Killer – Killed an enemy while affect by poison gas grenades
• Dropping Like Flies – Destroy five enemy helicopters
• Duteous Maximus – Be on the winning faction for 10 Directive matches
• Efficiency Engineer – Earn three Bunker Buster Ribbons
• I Drink Your Milkshake – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Field Support
• I Got 5 On It – Kill 5 enemies with a single Strategic Strike, excluding Poison Gas Barrage
• In Your Face – Earn five Combat Melee Ribbons
• Jack of One Trade – Awarded when a player reaches the bottom tier of a skill tree
• Junkyard Jockey – Earn three Mr. Badwrench Ribbons
• Lil Buddy – Earn two Purple Sidekick Ribbons
• Mia Culpa – Kill 50 enemies in a turret over a career
• Out of Scope – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Sniper
• Screeching Halt – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Rapid Assault
• Target Practice – Awarded when a player shoots down 25 paratroopers over a career
• The Harder They Fall – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Direct Action

Silver

• A Whole Lotta Hurt – Earn five Combat Machine Gun Ribbons and five Combat Fragger Ribbons
• Baby Need a Bandage? – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons and 5 Golden Cross Ribbons
• Chest Candy – Awarded when a player has earned one of every ribbon
• Devil Dog – Earn 5 Combat Assault Ribbons and 5 Combat Sidearm Ribbons
• Double Trouble – Earn the Golden Cross Medal and the Grim Reaper Medal
• Hammer of the Gods – Called in 50 cluster bombs or mortar barrages
• Headhunter – Earn 5 Silver Bullet Ribbons, the Longshot Ribbon and the Sniper Master Specialist Medal
• Precious Cargo – Destroy 20 Escort Vehicles over a career
• Silent But Deadly – Awarded when a player kills 25 enemies with Poison Gas over a career
• Steamroller – Have a 3-to-1 Kill-to-Death Ratio in any match
• Take Me to Your Leader – Earn 1 win as a squad leader
• The Streaker – Earn the Streaker Medal
• Triple Threat – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons, 5 Master Engineer Ribbons and the Grim Reaper Medal

Gold

• Commandant in Chief – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Raven character
• Eager Beaver – Awarded when a player has earned one of each medal
• Prima Noyan – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a S.V.E.R. character
• Sergeant Major – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Valor character

Platinum

• Massive Action Gamer – Won All Trophies

MAG's open beta just recently concluded. It will be released on January 26th in North America. It hits Europe on January 29th.

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.

Massive multiplayer shooter MAG's last beta was pretty huge but some of you were smelly and/or ugly enough not to get in. Well, good news: the fifth beta began today and it's open to everyone.

To participate in the open beta, you'll need to first download the 298 MB MAG beta file from the PlayStation Store. No, the whole beta isn't 298 MB - that's just the client program. After downloading a 37 MB patch for said program, it will restart and then begin downloading the actual game files. The files will total between 1.8 GB and 2.3 GB depending on what region you live in. Or you could've just preloaded these files two weeks ago and saved yourself this whole ordeal.

Beta 5 will end on January 10th. The game hits stores on January 26th in North America and January 29th in Europe.

Zipper Interactive announced this morning that their large-scale multiplayer shooter MAG has gone gold in select territories. The game will arrive as expected on January 26th in North America and Asia, January 28th in Japan, and January 29th in Korea.

"The European discs are finishing up final quality assurance rounds right now and we expect to see those editions go gold sometime in the next few weeks," Zipper community manager Jeremy Dunham stated on the PlayStation.Blog. Sony confirmed on Friday that MAG would arrive in Europe on January 29th.

Zipper will launch the MAG's fifth and final beta on January 4th. Unlike previous beta phases, this one will be open to all comers - no special key will be necessary. You'll be able to download the necessary files beginning on December 22nd so you're locked and load when it goes live. Beta 5 allows you to test out the game's 64-player Sabotage and 256-player Domination modes and will run until January 10th.

After three-to-one gamers voted in favor of M.A.G over Halo 3: ODST in our three week poll here at Blend Games, Sony has announced that those faithful to the unreleased shooter can earn some cool new in-game items and access to the beta via pre-ordering the game.

Different retailers are offering different pre-order bonuses that gains M.A.G gamers various benefits. At GameStop the pre-order bonus includes access to an exclusive SVER mercenary and access to the beta that will be available to those who pre-ordered the game after November 9th, even if you aren’t a subscriber of Qore.

Speaking of the big 'Q'...Qore subscribers will have access to the public beta starting on October 12th and it will apparently be open 24/7. That’s definitely good news for PS3 owners.

Amazon’s pre-order bonus includes PlayStation Home Space and, yeah, PlayStation Home swag. That’s probably the lamest of the pre-orders, but anyway GameCrazy is tossing in exclusive access to a Raven mercenary, complete with second-generation high-tech combat gear.

You can check out the full list of pre-order details over at the Official PlayStation Blog. M.A.G. is due out on January 26th 2010, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. For more gaming news, info, updates and media be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

An absolutely huge week for gaming news and media starting on August 16th and leading up to August 22nd. We kick things off with a few reviews, including one of Shadow Complex. Release dates have been set in place for Diablo 3 and M.A.G, amongst many others this week. Microsoft also announced Fable 3 during this year’s GamesCom event and the real news-piling, eye-peeling buzz of the week came from Sony’s camp and the revelation of the PS3 Slim and a new price-cut for the standard PlayStation 3. Not to be one-upped, Microsoft also let loose some information about Xbox 360 price-cuts.

With GamesCom this week we have a ton of new trailers available throughout this edition of the Weekly Recap. These stories and more in the Blend Games Weekly Recap for August 22nd.

Sunday

Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver Announced For DS. And yet another Pokemon game is on the way. Nice. There has to be like thousands of those little Pokemon critters available for capture by now.

Review: Real Heroes Firefighter. Rich Knight of Blend Games puts out an honest review for this semi-realistic Wii game.

Serious Sam HD: Epic New Trailer. It’s not overly epic but it’s epic enough.

M.A.G. Release Date Revealed; Sony Avoids Holiday Season. No competition with Halo or Call of Duty for this new shooting game IP.

Xbox 360 Elite Price Drop To $299. And the price-wars begins…again.

Monday

Bethesda Says Five Fallout 3 DLC Episodes Is Enough. This means no more additional content for Fallout 3 and Bethesda should be thanked by gamers for doing so.

Wii Now Supporting Full Movie Playback Via SD Kit. Watching DVDs on a Wii is now a possibility.

Aion Goes Gold And Gets Ready To Topple World of Warcraft. NCSoft announced that the most highly anticipated MMO of the year has finally gone gold.

BioWare Explains Why Dragon Age Was Delayed. It includes taking on a whole bunch of triple-A RPGs at once and trying to make sure each one doesn’t suck. But that’s just a guess.

No Subscription For APB. These are the words many MMO gamers have probably been waiting for. The only problem is that Realtime Worlds doesn’t say how gamers will be paying for All Points Bulletin.

Review: Shadow Complex. Ryan Rigney from Blend Games reviews the highly talked about side-scrolling, 3D platform game. Find out how he scored the game.

Tuesday

Fable 2 Episodes Coming To Xbox Live. New content to prolong gamers until Fable 3 hits store shelves. Not a bad plan.

Why PS3 Slim Doesn’t Have Backwards Compatibility. And why gamers will still need to either re-buy PS2 games or a new PS2. More money for Sony, either way.

Gran Turismo PSP Free With Registration. Buy a PSPGo and get Gran Turismo for absolutely free. Wow.

PS3 Slim Announced And PS3 Price-Cut Finally Announced. It’s more like a pseudo price-cut but more hardware for less money is never a bad thing.

PSP Muscles Into Kindle’s Turf With Digital Reader. More ways to store data for gamers on the go is definitely a step in the right direction for the PSP.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Release Dates Revealed. How long will you have to wait to get it on in Bad Company 2? Not long at all.

JoWood Announces Yoga For Wii; Hardcore Gamers Celebrate. It’s all about butt-twisting, thigh-numbing fun. Who needs an FPS game when you have Yoga?

Wednesday

Infinity Ward Says Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Beta Is Possible. Thank goodness. For a minute one might think that this game wasn’t going to be over-promoted.

Saboteur Trailer Causes Havoc In Paris. It’s an awesome new trailer for one of the most innovative new games to come out.

Dead To Rights Retribution Standoff Trailer Turns Into Gears of War. When Namco said they were taking the game in a new direction, no one would have suspected that they meant Gears of War.

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Stunning New Trailer. And “stunning” just might be an understatement.

Army Of Two 40th Day Trailer Offers No Escape. There is only no escape for the bad guys.

Left 4 Dead On PS3 Isn’t Needed Now That Dead Nation Is Coming. Some gamers agree while others disagree. It’s completely up to the gamer whether they think it’s cool or not.

Dark Void Release Dates Revealed. Capcom finally puts a final date and day to this sci-fi shooter.

Napoleon Total War Announced; First Screenshots Released. The toughest little man in history gets his own game.

Rumor: 250GB PS3 Slim To Be Announced.

Fable 3 Announcement And Trailer. The third (and hopefully) final game in the Fable series.

Thursday

Failoc-alypse Flash Game IS A StarCraft, Diablo, WoW Mash-Up. It’s like all your favorite Blizzard games rolled into one giant cluster-game.

Crysis 2 Website Launches With New Videos And Images. Everyone said Crysis 2 wasn’t coming to game consoles, but now the website just further rubs that in the faces of naysayers by showing that it is coming to consoles.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Shows History Of Amadeus Arkham. This is one cool trailer for one sick doctor.

CDV Kicks Crappy Economy In The Nuts With Sacred 2. Some people just know how to get what they want.

Final Fantasy XIII Is Simultaneous Xbox 360 And PS3 Release. No more fanboy-debates about when these two titles will drop for either console, because it’s going to be the same time.

2029 Online In-Game Instant Messenger To Rival MSN Messenger. Pretty big news for this MMO as it may change the entire face of how gamers communicate within MMOs.

R.U.S.E. Beta Accepting Applications. And there s no trickery in this announcement whatsoever.

Friday

Diablo III Monk Class Introduced With Trailers And Screenshots. Everyone has been geeked about the new classes in Diablo III and now it’s time to take a look at one of them.

Splinter Cell Conviction Vs. Uncharted 2: Round 1 – Multiplayer Versatility. Gamers may complain about comparisons but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to participate in, nonetheless.

Bungie Says Halo Reach Has Been In Development Since Halo 3’s Release. At least we all know that the game won’t be shovelware.

Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 Debut Trailer Features Randy Orton Vs John Cena. Summerslam comes early for SD Vs. Raw fans. The trailer isn’t bad but it looks an awful lot like SD Vs Raw 2009.

Mafia II Demonstrates The Art Of Persuasion. 2K Games gives gamers a glimpse into persuading some unfriendly foes with some equally unfriendly methods.

Battlefield 1943 PC Version Delayed To 2010. The wait is long but not as long as Diablo III’s 2011 release.

Avatar: The Game Official Trailer. James Cameron’s Avatar game trailer finally surfaces. Is it worth the hype? Check it out for yourself.

Saturday

ToeJam And Earl Coming To Xbox Live. Now gamers can pay to play something that’s over a decade old and free on emulation.

StarCract II Marketplace Sells User Maps. Because making a profit is making a profit, even if it’s some lousy user-generated maps.

Full Details On The New Goblin And Worgen Races Coming To WoW. It’s like a man-nerd’s fantasy dream come true.

StarCraft II Beta Will Begin In 2009. Blizzard finally starts delivering the goods for StarCraft fans.

Diablo 3 Coming In 2011 Or Later; World of Warcraft Cataclysm Due Next Year. Good and bad news all wrapped up in one nice little news package to round out the week.

That wraps up this edition of the Blend Games Weekly Recap. You can check out the official debut trailer for Guild Wars 2 below. Enjoy. And remember to stay tuned in with Blend Games for further news, insight and media regarding all things gaming.

Even though Sony acknowledged back at E3 that M.A.G was due for release this year around the time of the holiday rush, it has now been confirmed that M.A.G won’t make the congested holiday season line-up. Instead the game will appear on store shelves just after all the festivities.

On the Official PlayStation Blog it has been confirmed that M.A.G’s shelf life won’t begin until January 26th, 2010. It looks like Sony has scheduled the release to pretty much avoid all the competition of the high-end releases, which may or may not be in M.A.G’s favor. After all, most companies clean up on consumers during the Yule tide season.

Well, at least they can relish in the fact that three-to-one gamers are looking forward more to M.A.G than Halo 3: ODST. However, poll or no poll, that’s not really going to help sell stock keeping units.

You can learn more about the game by visiting the Official M.A.G Website. For more gaming news, info, updates and insight, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

From August 9th to August 15th the week was over-flowing with hearty new game trailers, news and announcements. Turns out Dragon Age: Origins is suffering from the Section 8 complex insofar that PS3 gamers will be left in the gutter. News about the Halo movie have surfaced, or more-so why the movie itself won’t be surfacing. A new debut trailer was recently made available for the innovative new Aspyr shooter, DreamKiller and id Software’s Rage, and Nintendo announced that they are going to win back hardcore gamers with an inflatable horse. Way to go Nintendo, you really know how to hit all the right notes for keeping the fans pleased. These stories and more in the Blend Games Weekly Recap for August 15th.

Sunday

Ozzy Osbourne Will Perform At BlizzCon 2009. That’s good news for the people who can still understand the guy.

Three Nintendo Titles Have Potential To Sell 10 Million Units. It’s obviously titles including Mario, Wii Sports or the word “Fitness”.

Dragon Age Origins Delayed Again; PS3 Version Now Undated. Another slap in the face to PS3 gamers. Find out how long the delay will be by clicking on the link.

Spirits Of Metropolis Part Of Archive Games New Line-Up. They are all puzzle games so it’s just a matter of various grades of puzzle games that are featured in the line-up.

Johnny Cash To Be Latest Dead Music Legend To Join The Guitar Hero Series. There’s no artist this series won’t touch, look for more grave-robbing hits to make into the next Guitar Hero.

Review: King Of Fighters XII. Blend Games’ Andy Keener pummels his point of view into this latest iteration and it’s not good.

Monday

Mortal Kombat 9 Aims To revolutionize Online Play. What about revolutionizing the premise of a Mortal Kombat game actually being good for once?

Midway UK Brand Purchased For Only $0.82 Cents. As if Mortal Kombat’s legacy isn’t embarrassing enough, the UK and French brands were sold for less than a hotdog at a local vendor.

Email Scam Targets Battlefield Heroes. Find out how it works and what it does.

Free Madden NFL 10 Copy With Sports Illustrated Subscription. Some consumers are getting scammed and it’s not the people who subscribe to Sports Illustrated.

Wii Vitality Sensor Coming In 2010. This is to go alongside the inflatable horse.

Nintendo Patents Inflatable Horseback Controller For Wii. Who in their right mind would buy this? Honestly?

Tuesday

First Dragon Age Origins DLC Details. The game isn’t out yet but people are already psyched on what’s to come.

Halo Movie Shelved In Favor Of Games. That’s not a bad idea considering that the movie would be a game-movie, anyway.

Neilson Games Study Reveals Nintendo Wii Usage Is Terribly Low. It’s no surprise that Gamecube and Xbox owners would prefer playing real games on a real console.

Sacred 2 Ice And Blood Add-On Not For North Americans, Mexicans Or Canadians. For whatever reason most regions that actually enjoy playing video games won’t be getting this add-on for Sacred 2.

John Carmack Thinks SonyWill Jump The Gun With PS4. Well, Microsoft did it with the Xbox 360, so it looks like it’s time for Sony to screw themselves over too.

Prison Break Game Coming To Xbox 360, PS3 And PC. It’s going to be a suspenseful, plot-twisting action game. Tv-to-game stigma could be low but still possible.

Wednesday

TimeSplitters Developer Interested In Natal. Sounds like Crytek UK could implement a little monkey business into their Natal plans.

DriverAgent To Fix Outdated Drivers For Gamers. If gamers happen to lack the tech-savvy required to keep the drivers up to date or are too lazy, DriverAgent could be a saving grace.

Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising System Requirements. Is your computer up to snuff for this massive new military game? Click the link to find out.

Indie Game Edmund Imitates Rapelay; To Ban Or Not To Ban? Touchy subject matter for an insensitive but poignant game.

Contra ReBirth Coming To North America. WiiWare gamers rejoice! A real game is coming and maybe now gamers don’t have to worry about sifting through all those workout titles on the Wii.

GRIN Closes Its Doors. Another development company hitting the bricks, and possibly for the best.

Section 8 X Servers Allow For Up To 32 Players On Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is finally catching up to multiplayer PC gaming from 2001. Is that awesome or what?!

GRIN Veterans Form Outbreak Studios. After getting booted and closing the doors to GRIN, the vets of the studio then reformed under a different name. That’s business for you.

Thursday

Mini Ninjas Release Date Revealed. It’s just a matter of time before gamers will slice and dice with miniature ninjas.

Crysis Wars Free For Another Week. If this doesn’t get people to clicking, then someone doesn’t deserve to be called a gamer, really.

F.E.A.R. 2 Slow-Mo Deathmatch Coming In September. This is an awesome trailer accompanying news that multiplayer will now support slow-motion.

World Of Darkness MMO Confirmed By CCP Games. It’s like Vampire: Masquerade except now with thousands of other players. Nice.

Street Gears G Project Update Now Available. It’s like Jet Set Radio and it now features new military racing tracks. Now if only it had graffiti it would be the best MMO of all time.

Army Of Two The 40th Day Release Dates; Multiplayer; Pre-order Bonus Revealed. Sounds like too much information too soon. That’s actually a good thing.

2K Marin Hard At Work On Post Bioshock 2 Title. Because Bioshock 2 obviously isn’t time-consuming enough for the devs.

Friday

Lost Planet 2 Co-Op Demo Coming To Xbox Live Next Week. The later you read this the closer the demo is to becoming available.

Dungeon Fighter Trailer Shows Off Side-Scrolling MMO Action. It’s unique but not quite as good looking as Wind Slayer.

June 2009 NPD Sales Report: Predictable Results For DS And Wii. What, were you expecting the PS3 to beat out the PS2?

Karos Online Closed-Beta Applications Being Accepted. Want to play the new MMO by Nexon? Get in line now because the beta gets underway on August 21st.

Three-To-One Gamers Prefer M.A.G Over Halo 3: ODST. Interesting poll results that may reflect the waning grip-lock Halo had over the industry.

Saturday

DreamKiller Trailer Debuts With Intriguing Concepts. It’s not like shooting toast and jelly at monsters but it certainly isn’t Duke Nukem 3D either.

DiRT 2 Rally Vs Reality Trailer. Codemasters was bold enough to put polygons against fiber glass and the difference is tough to spot at times.

Diablo II Vs. DarkEden: Classic Round. A little weekend treat that sees Diablo II resurfacing to face off against the vampire-hunting MMO, DarkEden.

That wraps up this week’s news here at Blend Games. We round out this week with a new gameplay trailer for id Software’s highly anticipated,

[[ i.rage i ]] . The game doesn’t look half bad and appears to mimic Gearbox’s Borderlands.. Enjoy.

After several thousand votes were cast, the results are in. And as shocking as the numbers may seem, it actually turns out to be the general feeling amongst gamers when comparing the two games across Microsoft’s and Sony’s console platforms: Nearly three to one gamers prefer M.A.G over Halo 3: ODST.

Over the course of three weeks, in coalition with Electronic Theatre, we here at Blend Games conducted an empirical survey that questioned gamers about how they felt about certain attributes and features for both games and which one they preferred. Each week there was a clear cut answer and the user input was ostensibly in favor of M.A.G.

Regarding multiplayer versatility, more gamers felt that despite Bungie’s rich success from Halo 2 and Halo 3’s multiplayer, Zipper Interactive’s attempt with M.A.G was more noteworthy and something they looked forward to more than Halo 3: ODST.

Gameplay and weapon balance was also given to M.A.G in a nearly dead-even vote based on the polls and user input. This was in result from some feeling that ODST will simply be a revised gameplay experience of Halo 3 rather than something new with improved gameplay.

Finally, more gamers felt that they would prefer M.A.G over Halo 3: ODST because it would define more replay factors with the persistent online experience and strong focus on community and player advancement. The polls in this specific category showed that M.A.G won out in a two-to-one vote.

Of course, these are just preliminary feelings of how both games measure up to gamers from a pre-release standpoint. Based on the voting figures and user input, however, it will be very fascinating to see what the sales trend will be for both games based on this unofficial data.

For more gaming news, info, insight and updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Gams.

Huge gaming news was covered here at Blend Games for the official first week of August. Between August 2nd and August 8th we found out that a new demo for Section 8 was released, a sequel for The Conduit is very likely, Treyarch did the near-impossible by porting CoD: Modern Warfare over to the Nintendo Wii and a scuffle between Blend Games, N4G and Destructoid users occurred over the call for a ban on rape simulators (now being called “platinum” games). These stories and more right here at the Blend Games Weekly Recap.

Also, don’t forget to check out some of the hottest trailers released throughout the week, including the new footage of the highly anticipated Aion: Tower of Destiny, the gorgeous new game Dust: Elysian Tail, an opening cinematic for Monster Hunter 3 for the Wii, as well as new footage of SpyBorgs and Wolfenstein.

Sunday

2BeeGames Indie Game Competition Offers Up 10,000 Prize. Just make a simple game and submit it to potentially win. That’s it.

Fatal1ty Contest Offers Free Trip To QuakeCon 2009. It’s even easier than creating a game: just submit some contact information. If that's too hard then that's just sad.

Monster Hunter Tri To Arrive In North America In 2010. Easily one of the best games on a Nintendo platform is finally coming to North America.

Sims 3 World Adventure Expansion Pack Announced; First Screenshots Revealed. Another best seller in the expansion pack series of Sims games? Definitely.

Section 8 Demo Coming For Xbox 360. As soon as TimeGate can afford a PS3 dev-kit reports will start filing in about a PS3 demo. Don’t expect that news until mid-2010, though.

Monday

Galaxy Online Adding 3D Projector Support Playing a mediocre looking game on a 3D projector might not be so cool but it might be best to check out the full story first.

Unreal Engine 3 Gets Multithreaded Support; Devs Have No More PS3 Excuses. Yep, read it and weep…no more “multithreaded programming is too much for our studio” excuses now that it’s part of the Unreal Engine IPP.

Star trek Online Beta Due In Late 2009; Beta Keys Given To Champions Online Lifetime Or Six Month Subscribers. In short, if you pay $199.99 to play a potentially fail-worthy game you get access to the Star Trek Online beta. That’s bull-hockery.

Braid Creator’s Next Game: The Witness. No sense giving this away, just click the link and read up on how the game is played.

Warner Bros Says This Is Vegas Not Cancelled. That means wet t-shirt contests and drunken dance-party brawls are still on the way.

Tuesday

N4G And Destructoid Users Don’t Mind Raping Women In Games. The opinionated news article that started it all is right here for public viewing. Agree or disagree, this debate is not over by a long-shot.

High Voltage Wants Conduit Sequel. Well the original may not have sold well but that doesn’t mean a sequel isn’t in the works.

Madden Arcade Coming In Late 2009EA isn’t content with keeping Madden to the consoles…there will be an arcade game, too.

World At War Comes To The iPhone. If it fits on the Wii then it should easily be able to fit on an iPhone, right?

Uncharted 2 E3 Trailer Is Better In English Or Japanese? Don’t debate it here, just click on the link and check out both trailers.

Wednesday

Some Gamers Just Aren’t Thrilled With The DSi. Well, some gamers just aren’t digging it.

Aliens Vs Predator Due In February 2010 It’s a matter of counting down the months before being able to play as the hunter, the hunted and the prey.

LittleBigPlanet History DLC Trailer What would a sackboy do in Egypt? Well, click the link to find out.

Champions Online Embraces Gun-Kata In New Trailer. Christian Bale’s Preston would cry a single-tear from being so impressed.

Blur Pre-Order Goodies Differ By Retailer. Well, looks like there won’t be furry dice being offered at the local PlanetX.

Xbox Live Games On-Demand Launch Titles Revealed For UK And US [Updated]. Doesn’t look like Fatal Inertia is among the launch titles. Aw, too bad.

Treyarch Bringing Call Of Duty Modern Warfare To Wii. After everyone said it couldn’t be done, Treyarch is doing the impossible.

Thursday

StarCraft 2 Coming In First Half Of 2010; Delay Won’t Affect Diablo III. Starcraft 2 may not affect Diablo III but World of Wacraft might affect both. Nevertheless, get all the info by clicking on the link.

Activision Double Fine Reach Settlement On Brutal Legend Lawsuit. All the suing, counter-suing ended with a non-suing out-of-court settlement involving Electronic Arts. Ironic? Definitely.

Nintendo DSi Project Mysteriously Teased By Uacari. No one can say what this game is or what it’s about, but it’s coming to the DSi.

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines Writer Founds DoubleBear Productions. What sort of projects will come out of the studio? Click the link to find out.

Rise And Ruin Enters Open Beta. If Yu-Gi-Oh was an online fighting game that was fused with Tekken, then this would be that game.

Batman Arkham Asylum Delayed For PC; But How About That PhysX? Yeah, so this game is getting delayed to make better use of physics.

Friday

Tekken 6: Larger Than Life Character Artwork. They really are some large character artwork pictures that any Tekken fan might enjoy seeing.

jOG Now Works With Over 100 Wii Games. Good news for gamers trying to lose weight…yes, it means more jogging when playing. This would be insane for a Wii version of GTA, a few wanted stars and gamers would drop calories like crazy.

Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Screenshot Released. One new screenshot for one awesome looking retake on the classic tale.

Final Fantasy XIV Website Goes Live. Hopefully no one gets a “cease and desist” letter from Square for looking at it the wrong way.

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Turtles In Time Re-Shelled. Blend Games’ Ryan Rigney puts his verdict on this remake. So it is worth playing again on the next-gen consoles? Click the link to find out.

Huxley Goes Open Beta In North America. Finally! After being missing in the press action for months on end, Huxley returns with an open-beta vengeance.

GameStop Eyes Digital Distribution; Appoints General Manager Of Digital Media. Now gamers can get ripped off without leaving the comfort of their computer chair.

Saturday

New Samurai Warriors 3 Cinematic Trailer. It’s for the Wii, but judging by the trailer no one would have guessed that.

Lead And Gold Debut Trailer For Gamers Who Can’t Wait For Read Dead 2. As the headline states, if Red Dead Redemption is too far away on the release calendar you might want to check out Lead & Gold.

Motion Control And Disability. The Game Reviews surveys how motion control can help disabled gamers. Nice.

Halo 3: ODST Vs. M.A.G: Final Round. It’s the final round between these two titans and it doesn’t look good for Halo 3: ODST.

That wraps up this week’s edition of the Weekly Recap. We part with a new trailer of Wolfenstein featuring a massive shootout in the Zeppelin. And be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for further news, updates, info and insight regarding all things gaming.

It’s the finale in our three week overview comparison of Halo 3: ODST and M.A.G. This week we tackle the very delicate but important subject of replay values. Yes, how replayable will either game be and will both titles offer up the longevity necessary to hold gamers over until the next sequel?

In the previous rounds M.A.G pretty much swept the floor with Halo 3:ODST. Even in Round 2 for Weapon Balance, gamers agree that M.A.G owned up over ODST. Well, joining us for this third and final round between the two shooter titans for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is the staff from Electronic Theatre. There’s no sense putting a lot of words to paper or digits to the pad, so let’s get this thing started with the final round right here at Blend Games.

M.A.G

ET - ManPac: Perhaps the easiest argument to level at MAG would be that of it’s replayability. Simply bullet-pointing the extensive Class System, the comprehensively team-based gameplay, the command system and opportunity to climb the ranks, and the invigoratingly fresh look at earning skills (known as “load-outs” here) would be more than enough to compete against the majority of online multi-player titles on the Current-Generation, before even beginning to discuss the variety of gameplay objectives available for the unquestionably large-scale battles. The revision of Capture the Flag mode that sees squads commandeering enemy vehicles from several points on the map will keep the Officer in Command engaged in a totally different capacity to that of a grunt storming across the battlefield to plant an explosive on an enemy heavy weapon, and with a matchmaking system that will vary your position in your chosen faction with each battle, MAG will provide an extensive array of gameplay opportunities.

BG - William Usher It’s true that M.A.G has such a large scope on the variety of simple game modes. I like the idea that the game manages to execute a pseudo-persistent world element and continually offers gamers something new to do with old-school game types. The destructible environments and ever-changing atmosphere between the three factions almost makes it sound like it could be as addictive as any other MMO out there.

Halo 3: ODST

ET – Kev. J:Yes, there’s a complete single-player campaign with varying difficulty settings, skulls and (hopefully) an engaging storyline. Yes, this can be played co-operatively, both online and split-screen. Yes, there’s the complete multi-player component from Halo 3, including every setting, map, gameplay mode and Downloadable Content expansion offered since the original release’s launch. But, more than any of this, is a brand new gameplay option called FireFight.

FireFight is said to have taken it’s inspiration from Gears of War 2’s Horde Mode, though it could just as easily be said that Bungie had been inspired by Konami’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Mega-Drive release Zombies (i.e., Zombies Ate My Neighbours in the US). FireFight is a brand new co-operative mode for up to four players, featuring all the Halo antics you’ve come to love in a survival against the odds. Grenades, vehicles, unique maps and persistent online Leaderboards are available for you to carve your own battles, along with the option to modify the difficulty not only through the now traditional four settings, but also through the implementation of Skulls. Skulls command a variety of effects, such as removing your shield’s recharge capability or increasing the damage enemies can sustain, but each offers a unique twist once the standard settings have been mastered.

With Halo 3: ODST looking like a more generous package by the day, to suggest that it’s lifespan is limited by anything less than your commitment to First-Person Shooters would be little more than a farce. Get a group of friends together, and you’ll be most likely to spend just as much time arguing which of the gameplay options available you should play as actually playing them.

BG – William Usher: Well that’s summed up rather nice, but the problem with all Halo games fall in the realm of gameplay depth. The problem is that Halo 3 had a ton of options but eventually got pretty repetitive and boring, hence it failed a bit in the replay department. That’s not to knock that there is a ton of things to do in the game, though. ODST looks to inspire more replay with a meager addition of new weapons and a few new modes but it’s tough to tell if it will be more replayable knowing that it’s still pretty much a Halo 3 expansion pack with a full-game retail price.

You’ve read the comments, you’ve seen both games in action and now it’s time to lay down your vote in this final round of Halo 3:ODST Vs. M.A.G.

This poll is no longer available.

Last week we compared two first-person shooters for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the category of multiplayer versatility. Without a shadow of a doubt many gamers felt that M.A.G won that bout hands-down. And according to the poll results, only one out of every three gamers tend to see Halo 3: ODST as providing the better multiplayer options in comparison to M.A.G.

This week we cover the topic of weapon balance for both games. Will Halo 3:ODST have better weapons and balance or M.A.G? Joining us for this week is Kev. J and l.m.h from Electronic Theatre. All right, enough prattle. Let’s get this thing started.

Halo 3:ODST:

BG – Mark Barley: The weapons in Halo 3: ODST are simple yet effective. The game is very well balanced between alien weapons and human weapons. For every UNSC weapon there is the Covenant counterpart. This makes for accurate weapon balance.

BG – William Usher: It’s not just about a fair set of weapons for Halo but how they respond, react or how effective they are during intense combat scenarios. One of the obvious drawbacks to ODST is that the marines can’t dual-wield certain weapons that the Chief could. This ultimately limits the effectiveness of their use, especially when considering that some weapons in Halo are only useful when dual-wielding. With that said, ODST will automatically suffer from Battle Rifle/Pistol-is-best-for-all-scenarios complex, considering that those are the most balanced weapons in the series dating back to Halo 2.

ET – l.m.h: Halo fans have long become used to tinkering. The Needler was overpowered, they said, offering a limp version of the weapon in Halo 2 before bringing it back to near it’s former glory for Halo 3. The Assault Rifle may have been omitted from Halo 2, but in Halo 3 it returned with greater accuracy and dealing more damage. Even the most basic weapon, the Magnum, has been positioned as a different variant of that which preceded it each time; Halo: Combat Evolved featured the M6D, whilst Halo 2 offered the M6C, and Halo 3 delivered the M6G. The difference? A missing scope and a little more automation may be apparent at a glance, but every Halo multi-player fanatic has their favourite.

With all this messing about going on it would be hard to criticise Bungie’s quest for the correct balance, but harder yet to present an argument for a developer that has clearly demonstrated so much care and attention to one of the most fundamental aspects on online First-Person Shooter deathmatching. Balancing is one of the most fundamental aspects of multi-player, and yet few consider it to the depths that Bungie so clearly do.

M.A.G (Massive Action Game)

BG - Ryan Rigney: I'm afraid I can't comment on things like Weapon Balance... I've never seen anything about M.A.G's weapons, although I'm sure it'll have something generic like the shotgun, sniper rifle, and assault rifle, etc.

BG - William Usher: I’ve seen most of the weapons in M.A.G, and while they are fairly generic – with the exception of the high-tech looking assault weapons from the Raven group – they seem to be much more balanced than Halo 3:ODST. The only obvious drawback is that the Sever group uses less accurate and cool looking weapons, which might create a bit of an imbalance for players who stick with the traditional or high-tech armament from the Valor or Raven PMCs. For the most part, though, the “generic” route just might be a good thing for M.A.G, as it prevents the devs from having to do what Bungie is continually trying to fix: weapon imbalance.

ET – Kev. J: Set in the near-future, MAG will utilise videogame revisions of modern weaponry. While laser bolts may be off the menu, a variety of pistols, grenades, rockets and automatic weaponry are present and correct. Each and every weapon revealed so far has its own unique set of strengths and weaknesses, all based on real-world militia tactics. Grenades may well provide the immediate impact an assault requires, but if no other squads are prepared to strengthen your numbers they can often leave you standing in the open with little support. Assault rifles may be accurate at mid-range, and powerful, but when faced with an enemy force more numerate than your supporting allies, you’ll find it a challenge to repeatedly suppress a well planned assault

. While most modern First-Person Shooters have similar foundations for their weapon selection and rule-sets therein, MAG delivers far more realism behind the limitations of each due to it’s command structure. As a grunt, your frontline tasks will be to hold or assault defensive positions and structures, keep heavy weaponry secure and support other squads, and though the full array of available firepower is yet to be revealed, that which has been shown so far has clearly been chosen for their appropriate balance between each other, and the task at hand.

You’ve read the descriptions and gone over the details. If you still need a little visual influence feel free to check out the video trailers for each game below and then place your vote on which game you feel offers up the better weapon balance and choice. And remember to stay tuned in with Blend Games as we conclude this three-part bout with the third and final round of Halo 3:ODST vs M.A.G.

This poll is no longer available.

Summer seemed like it was just gearing up and now it seems to be readying itself to mellow out for fall. Oh, how time flies. Nevertheless, from July 19th to the 25th we had a fast-paced week with some snazzy news that’s definitely worth checking out. This includes Epic’s Mark Rein discussing Gears of War and Natal, some key members from EA’s Visceral Studios leaving for Activision, news and media from the San Diego Comic-Con event and, of course, the big clash between Halo 3: ODST and M.A.G with Electronic Theatre’s staff providing a bit of input for each game. Let’s get this hot-tamale train rolling on the tracks here at Blend Games, and don’t forget to check out some the latest gaming trailers featured throughout the recap, including the new Monty Oum crossover series, Dead Fantasy IV.

Sunday

NBA Jam’s Secret Mortal Kombat Court Revealed. This was back when Mortal Kombat was actually considered kool.

F.E.A.R. 2 Alternate Ending Released. Find out what happens in the real alternate ending.

The Top Ten Best Beat-E’m-Ups Of All Time. Streets of Rage and Final Fight better be on that list.

Industry Rant: Video Game Censor Troll Jack Thompson Is A Good Guy? If he’s a good guy than Cheney was a great Vice President.

Microsoft Turns Obama’s Stance Into PR Plug. And healthcare is not part of Microsoft’s promotional repertoire for the 360. Thank goodness, because MS had a tough time keeping the 360 from dying to three red rings.

Dark Void Hands-On Preview. The Game Reviews takes Dark Void on a test ride through the skies. Find out what they thought about this sci-fi, physics-based shooter.

Monday

Spyborgs Gameplay Media Blowout. In-game trailers of the game that will be sure to bore most gamers.

Gears Of War 2 Dark Corners Screenshots. Worth checking out if you plan on downloading the new content.

The Saboteur Release Date Announced. It’s just a matter of time before gamers can lace up their rebellious boots and get a lap-dance from a French hostess. Really.

Valve wants gamers to fund projects just not for the PS3. That’s not likely to happen but a developer can always dream.

Mafia II Walkthrough Includes Shooting, Driving And Censored Signs. It also includes a man’s gonads getting blown off but you didn’t read that here.

Microsoft Wants Handheld Xbox. Is a portable Xbox finally coming to the market? Click the link for the full details.

Tuesday

June PC Sales: Sims 3 Begins Its Reign. The once and future king of big-budget casual gaming is restarting its reign on the sales charts.

Epic Says Gears Of War And Natal Don’t Mix. Looks like gamers won’t be flailing their arms about to chainsaw someone in half. How sad and unfortunate.

Why The Hell Does Everybody Still Like Battletoads So Much? Blend Games’ Rich Knight knocks down the door of popularity for the iconic gaming franchise featuring violent, mutated toads.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Release Date Revealed. It’s time to mark the calendars dear PS3 gamers.

Why Games Fail To Emotionally Connect. The Game Reviews opens up on why games just don’t connect like movies and novels. Definitely an article worth checking out.

South Park XBLA Details. Gaming Front takes a look at the details surrounding the upcoming South Park game for Xbox Live Arcade.

Wednesday

Comic Con 2009 Halo Waypoint Coming To Xbox Live. All part of the over-promotional campaign for the Star Wars of the 2000 generation.

Halo Legends Announcement And Trailer. It won’t take much convincing to goad readers into clicking on this link…or will it?

Activision Wanted Brutal Legend To Be Guitar Hero Sequel. Honestly, as if all those darn Hero spin-offs aren’t enough? Really?!

Iron Man 2 New Trailer And Exclusive Screenshots. The trailer may not be new to you but the screenshots are.

Gaming Company Wants Naked Bald Guys. There’s no description suited for explaining this other than to direct readers to clicking on the link to find out what this is all about.

Activision Snags Visceral Games Leaders. You know the guys who made Dead Space not suck? Well now they work for Activision. Ouch, on behalf of EA.

Thursday

Avatar Game Trailer Will Debut On August 21st. A lot of people are hyped up for this game but the entire concept seems kind of lame. Check out the article to see what the trailer might feature.

Beyond Good And Evil 2 Might Not Happen. And it was such a good series too. Find out what happened to the sequel and why it may not happen. It’s just one click away.

EndWar 2 In Development. Tom Clancy’s EndWar is on the receiving end of a sequel…a bit unlike the above Beyond Good and Evil.

Guerrilla Games Taking A Break From KillZone 2. All the killing in the zone must have gotten to them. Click the link to find out what’s next for these guys.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Release Date Revealed. Find out when you can get gay’d up with Gay Tony on XBL.

Dreamland Online Puts Final Fantasy Into Super Mario Gameplay. This game could be described in no other way and it looks kind of cool, too.

Friday

Unreal Tournament 4 Is Years Away. That’s too bad because UT3 was a darn good game.

Epics Founder Discusses Developers Future. Find out what Epic has in store for gamers in their future endeavors at 360 Sync.

Namco Bandai Wants Inversion. New IP for a new game the company is working on. Click the link for all the details.

Halo 3: ODST Vs M.A.G Round 1: Multiplayer Versatility. Which game do you think will have better multiplayer versatility?

Halo 3: ODST Gameplay Trailer. Whether you’re into comparison articles or not, this here is just a straight-through gameplay trailer of an awesome game.

Sigourney Weaver Lends Her Voice To Avatar: The Game. James Cameron’s project has more than just the Aliens’ star voice-acting in the upcoming game. Click the link for the full details.

Mass Effect Save Files Affect Mass Effect 2 More Than You Think. And it’s not just pointless side-missions either.

Saturday

Valve Says Left 4 Dead 2 Easier To Make Than Half-Life 2: Episode Three. It’s often said that the Valve team is lazy, but are they now admitting to it?

Star Wars The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition Coming To PC And Mac. Even more Sitheir and Darthier than before.

Gamings Most Impractical Characters. The Game Reviews breaks down why some of these characters just don’t make a lot of sense.

Borderlands Co-Op Preview. 360 Sync Rounds out the week with a preview of the co-op heavy shooter, Borderlands.

That wraps up the second to last week of July's recap. Be sure to check out more of Cinema Blends San Diego Comic-Con coverage and remember to stay tuned in with Blend Games for further news and updates regarding all things gaming. We leave you with two new trailers for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 featuring both Jean Grey and Gambit. Enjoy!

Everyone is looking at this fall as being another showdown between Microsoft and Sony. Only this time it’s not hardware releases that will face off against each other, but first-party software titles. In one corner there is Halo 3: ODST and in the other corner, the 256-player mammoth known as M.A.G.

To further delineate between the two games we’re doing something a little different here at Blend Games. The staff from Electronic Theatre have joined us to break down which game deserves your vote: M.A.G or Halo 3:ODST. The entire thing will take place over the course of three rounds with one round per week. This week, we cover the topic of Multiplayer Versatility. So without further ado, let’s get this battle started.

Round 1: Multiplayer Versatility

Halo 3: ODST:

BG - Ryan Rigney: When you're talking about a Halo FPS (none of which having ever gotten a Metacritic score below a 90) and a random, bland-looking Battlefield knockoff with a dumb name like M.A.G, the term "contest" really shouldn't come into the conversation. This is a definite case of "Quality Vs. Quantity," as nothing that has ever been shown about M.A.G. has ever generated any response other than "WHOA MAN THAT'S A LOT OF PLAYERS."

BG - William Usher: It’s definitely quality vs quantity, but I don’t know if Halo 3: ODST is carrying the mantle of quality in its multiplayer options. For as far as we’ve all seen it looks extremely generic with a tacked-on horde mode that made Gears of War 2 a game worth playing, which has simply been renamed to FireFight. I’m not really digging it. Still, it carries everything Halo 3 had and that still speaks volumes in favor of ODST.

BG - Mark Barley: Halo is the birth mother of online console FPS's, it's multi-player is the most proven online offering this generation of consoles has to offer. It's ranking system is proven, the matches are well paired, and the lag is almost non-existent with a good connection.

ET – ManPac:The argument for Halo 3: ODST’s multiplayer rests upon the success of Halo 3’s online capabilities as beyond the new Co-Operatively gameplay mode, FireFight, Halo 3: ODST’s retail package will contain an entirely separate disc containing the complete Halo 3 multi-player experience. That Halo 3 remains one of the strongest online console titles this generation will of course help Halo 3: ODST’s online credibility no-end, but in terms of versatility you’d be hard pressed to find another console First-Person Shooter more flexible than Halo 3’s Forge.

It’s no secret that Halo 3’s Forge is one of the series most cherished additions to the console online gaming space, not only giving gamers the opportunity to devise their own maps, but also create entirely new gameplay modes. The infamous Halo 3 RocketBall has become a favourite amongst the growing console mod community and with Halo 3: ODST promising to deliver the complete package – including each Downloadable Content expansion and three brand new maps – it’s highly likely that this community will be reinvigorated by it’s launch this September. When coupling this with the four-player co-operative main campaign, and the brand new survival mode, FireFight, short of supplying fully-functioning Spartan armour there’s clearly no more diverse First-Person Shooter package in the console online gaming spectrum.

M.A.G.

BG – William Usher: In this round it’s a tough call to say if M.A.G. is offering more versatility than ODST only because the PS3 shooter is all about multiplayer. Heck, without multiplayer M.A.G would be nothing. However, the fact that its focus is on organizing something to do for 256 players at all times, makes it a truly unique visage for the world of interactive shooting games. Also, Zipper Interactive is no new-comer to online multiplayer, especially with the SOCOM franchise sparkling on their resume. So for M.A.G, the fact that every player will be designated to a team and a team designated to a task gives the game a single-player focused goal for multiple players. The vehicles, air support, para-troopers, counter-artillery and RPG elements make M.A.G a worthy contender in the field of multiplayer versatility. It’s not like it’s always going to be the same thing over when playing this game alone or with friends. A

ET – l.m.h: Few could argue that Zipper Interactive’s forthcoming MAG is set to offer one of the most versatile online multi-player games yet to be seen on the Current-Generation of videogame systems. Built from the ground-up to house large-scale online warfare, MAG has the potential to become the world’s biggest First-Person Shooter playground ever. Confirmed as set to offer 256 player matches from launch, players must as individual components of a well oiled wheel in order to maintain the advantage.

Divided into squads of eight-players, each has a role to play in supporting their commanding force across the battlefield. A deep Class System may see you start as a Medic for one of the three warring factions, but a number of actions you perform on the battlefield will be recorded and utilised to develop your character – find yourself handling more weaponry than gauze and band aids and you could well find your character earning “load-outs” (more commonly referred to as “skills”) more suited to a traditional Assault Class. Fighting through the ranks, a good player will reach the role of squad leader after a short amount of time; a great leader can find themselves taking the role of Officer in Command on the frontline. Whatever your playing style, MAG is flexible enough to accommodate your skills.

Voting Time!

You’ve read the descriptions for each game and we’ve come to the conclusion of Round 1 for M.A.G vs Halo 3: ODST. Based on what you’ve read, which game do you feel has better multiplayer versatility?

This poll is no longer available.

The exclusive first-person shooter, M.A.G, is nearing release for the PlayStation 3. As the time of development draws closer to an end Zipper Interactive has released a new developer documentary detailing the three mercenary divisions in the game.

The three playable divisions include Raven, Valor and Sever. As always, each one has its own distinct personality, weapons and look. Valor is the typical organized military outfit that features the rough-and-tough leathernecks and their standard-fare conventional military equipment.

Raven is the private mercenary group that has a lot of high-tech gear, clean cut facilities and operates in a smooth, futuristic fashion. Sever is the complete opposite of Raven and they look like a rag-tag group of punks with grimy weapons and painted faces.

What’s funny is that the developers in the following video pretty much admit that they mostly prefer Raven out of the three of them for the simple reason that they look cool and use cool weapons. Now I’m curious about whether there will be an imbalance in the favor of Raven granted that they have higher quality weapons and equipment.

Anyway, you can check out the vid doc below. For more gaming news, info and updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

Believe it or not, a game that’s all about 256 players trying to kill each other off actually has an intricate plot. Is that not insane, or what? Well, Zipper Interactive thinks it’s a feasible task to include an actual in-depth story-overlay to the MMO settings of M.A.G and they explain it all in a video documentary called The Shadow War.

In addition to running around and blasting everything in sight, M.A.G will actually have story elements driving the action forward. I’m not entirely sure how the private military corporations who are trying to kill each other will have a story that ties-in with player commanders, but if Zipper Interactive thinks they can pull it off, who am I to argue?

Anyway, M.A.G will be one of the first console-based shooter games to incorporate MMO-based open-world combat, player leveling and rank advancement. You can check out the new video documentary provided by GameTrailers, which does a good job of laying out the details of the game’s general storyline.

You can visit the Official M.A.G. Website for further details on the game. And for more gaming news, info and updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

The Massive Action Game (and I kid you not, this is actually the game’s name) may not look all that fantastic compared to Heavy Rain or Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but it sure does pack a hefty punch as a true MMO console shooter. The new trailer lays down some in-game footage and lets loose on showcasing some of the game’s armament and vehicles.

Like any standard-fare, persistent MMO, MAG will allow players to advance in rank, choose from a variety of classes and partake in faction wars. The thing that sets this game apart from any other console MMO is that as players win battles and earn recognition on the battlefield they will eventually be able to command other players with an RTS-like commander mode (i.e., Savage or Savage 2).

The following video trailer is just a collage of in-game shots and a showcase of the 256 player action taking place on destructible maps with all sorts of vehicles and turrets just blasting the living crap out of stuff. You can check out the video below or visit the Official Website for more information on the game. MAG is due out later this year for the PS3. For more gaming news, info and updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

The second-to-last week of February unearthed all kinds of gaming news goodies. From a hands-on preview of Halo Wars to a weekend review of Halo Wars, there’s definitely a fill of news for Halo fans. A minor graphics comparison between Arma II and Crysis kicked up a storm and, of course, the Mass Effect 2 teaser trailer practically had every gamer falling over and foaming at the mouth.

Sunday

Hands-On Preview For Halo Wars kicks off the week. Before getting to the review find out what CB’s Steve West had to say about the game.

Left 4 Dead Game Diary Featuring Exploding Poptarts, Lesbian Rambos and Mini-skirts. That title alone should warrant a clicksy.

Interview With Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp Creator. Blend Games’ own Andy Keener interviews the chap that brought the platforming community game to the Xbox 360.

Top 5 Most Romantic Moments In Gaming Revealed. Find out what gaming’s most romantic moments happened to be.

Monday

Shadow Of The Colossus Clone Strictly For PS3? As if anyone had to guess, Sony owned property stays on Sony property.

Therapy Trainer Making Gaming Equipment For Amputees. Some of the gadgets are kind of cool. Find out how the technology is changing physical therapy.

Are Fanboys Turning Into Fundamentalist? Well, do they follow a blind faith? Is the very thing in which they believe a falsified truth? Read the whole article to find out.

Forza Motorsport 3 Could Be Coming This Christmas. Well, end of the year holidays are a long way away, but there’s rumors circulating about a Forza 3 appearance alongside jolly ‘ole Saint Nick.

One Free Game A Day For The Entire Year. It’s a website and there’s one free game a day, for the entire year. Seriously!

Tuesday

BlizzCon 2009 Dates Are Set. Find out when and where.

Dell Opening A Digital Store. Find out what the company will be offering and what it means for electronic consumers.

Hideo Kojima, Creator Of Metal Gear Solid, Is Receiving A Lifetime Achievement Award. I think the headline speaks for itself. Click to find out why.

Booth Babes Are Coming Back To E3! I’m sure many a lonely gamers are excited.

The Flash Game Was Cancelled. Bet you didn’t know there was even a Flash game being made, huh?

Halo Project Taken Over By Robots! Really, find out how it all happened. It’s not as shocking as you might think.

Infinity Ward Working On Assassination Game? That’s one of the many rumors going around. Click the link to find out how this all came about.

Wednesday

X-Play And Attack Of The Show Will Be Scaled Back. It has something to do with a crappy economy…click the link to get all the details.

SixAxis And Wii-Mote Get Rival In GameCap. Find out how this motion-cap works.

Full Frontal Nudity In GTA IV Lost And Damned. And the very swinging thing on display rhymes with Rick.

Nintendo DSi Has Officially Been Dated In North America. Check out when you’ll be able to get your hands on the new Nintendo handheld.

Nocturne 2 Could Be Receiving A Sequel. Terminal Reality recently released information hinting at a Nocturne sequel. Click the link to find out what it was.

Blizzard Releases Details For Ulduar The New World of Warcraft Raid Dungeon.

Dead to Rights: Retribution Has Been Rebooted For The Xbox 360 And PS3. The third game in the series ignores the numerical value and pretends like it’s a sequel (and Namco is hoping everyone forgets the second game, just like I’m still trying to forget the second game).

Thursday

Ubisoft Joins Midway In Publishing The Wheelman. Midway filed bankruptcy, so Ubisoft is helping with Vinny D’s Wheelman game.

Unreal Tournament III New Content Exclusively Not For Xbox 360. New maps, new characters and new content but not for the Xbox 360.

Mirror’s Edge DLC Now Available On Xbox Live And PSN. Find out what’s been added and why it’s worth your time.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Coming This Summer. It’s not just for PC, either.

Stimulus Package For Game Developers. And you just thought average-Joes would be receiving an economic stimulus package.

Friday

NASA Working On New MMO. It’s been officially announced that the people who send people to the moon and beyond, will be sending people to virtual reality and beyond. Seems like NASA is twenty years too late, but better late than never.

American McGee’s Alive Is Receiving A Sequel. The 2000 hit that could easily be mistaken for a Tim Burton film turned game, is coming to a console near you.

Review For Halo Wars Is In. Find out what all the fuss was about regarding Steve West’s review for Halo Wars.

God Of War 3 And MAG Coming In 2009? Will these PlayStation exclusives end up on the PS3 sooner than you think?

New Interview For Angels Online. New info and news regarding IGG’s MMO. Check out the exclusive interview for all the details.

Saturday

Splinter Cell Conviction Demo Could Be Appearing At GDC This Year. That’s the rumor that’s been going around, but how likely is it to happen? Click the link to find out.

New Review For F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin. If you haven’t read up about this game yet, find out what Blend Games’ own Pete Haas has to say about it.

Another IGG Interview. This Time With GodsWar Online. So what makes this game different from the rest? Read the interview to find out.

New inFamous Cut Scenes Released. Exclusive new trailers now viewable by everyone.

Obama’s Favorite Video Game Revealed! Yes, we round out the week by finding out what President Obama’s favorite game is.

Well, that wraps up this week’s news, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for more news and updates regarding all things gaming.

It's already shaping up to be a pretty big year for PS3 exclusives with Killzone 2 and inFamous on the way but we might be getting two other big ones by the end of 2009: God of War 3 and MMO shooter MAG.

"[Killzone 2] ushers in an unprecedented year of titles to hit the PlayStation platform throughout the year including the blockbuster exclusives Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, inFamous, MAG, Heavy Rain, God of War III and MLB 09 The Show," says an SCEA press release obtained by Shacknews. The point of the press release was to remind everyone of Killzone 2's release next week but...well, we know what everyone's going to be talking about now.

God of War 3 in 2009? I can buy that but MAG? We've heard next to nothing about that game, a 256-player shooter, since last summer. If this press release is true, though, that's going to be a pretty huge holiday season for Sony.