Weekly Recap Oct. 31st: Netflix On PS3, Xbox 360 Holiday Fail, DSi XL Announced

This was an interesting week of gaming news. It was announced that Netflix will no be available on the PS3 and you don’t need a “Gold” subscription to use it. To make matters worse for Microsoft there was a recent poll by GameCrazy in which the Xbox 360 was not a favored game console among teens/tweens for the holiday, in fact they didn’t even make mention of it on their wishlist…ouch. Nintendo also took part in the industry news fray with the announcement of a new widescreen Nintendo DSi XL. In addition to making it known that the new handheld would be hitting the market in Japan they also acknowledged that it would be making an appearance at retailers in North America, too. These stories and more in the October 31st edition of the Blend Games Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Review: Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games. Blend Games’ Any Keener takes the slopes and reviews Sega’s latest mini-game crossover.

Command And Conquer 4: Unit Profile GDI Crawler. A new unit in the popular RTS series has been revealed and you can check it out right here at Blend Games.

Gears Of War 2: Title Update 5 Goes Live On Monday; Patch Notes Released. More fixes, updates and patches for Gears of War 2 because Epic doesn’t want you to stop giving Microsoft money for XBL.

Why Epic Mickey Is A Wii Exclusive. Want to find out why Warren Spector’s epic-sized Disney adventure won’t be on the Xbox 360 and PS3? Check it out right here.

Review: GUNNAR Optiks MLG Glasses. They improve your vision and increase your performance when staring at a screen for hours-on-end, but are they worth the price?

Review: Half-Minute Hero. Rich Knight breaks down the finer points of why Half-Minute Hero is worth the purchase and more than half-a-minute of your time.

Monday

Rumor: Elder Scrolls 5 Set 200 Years After Oblivion Could it be? A more modernized Elder Scrolls? Well, you’ll just have to read the full article to find out.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Achievements/Trophies List Revealed. Want to find out what you can achieve and place on your mantel of awesomeness? Well, all the good stuff is just a mouse-click away.

Review: Borderlands. Blend Games’ Ryan Rigney explains why crossing into Borderlands is actually a good thing.

GamersGate And LAYERNET To Provide Gamers With More Indie Titles. Simulators galore are now available thanks to LAYERNET and you can get them on GamersGate.

Independent Gaming Receives Information Support From Indievision. Legal, publishing and development support is offered by a great staff of volunteers at the new indie organization, Indievision.

Netflix Coming To PS3. Xbox 360 owners thought they got all the good stuff. Well, it looks like the good stuff is now coming to the PS3.

CrimeCraft Goes Free-To-Play; Content Update Released. Want to create your very own criminal and play online with friends, for free? Well, look no further than the now free-to-play MMO, CrimeCraft by Vogster.

Excitebike World Rally Coming To WiiWare. Classic NES gaming will be making a return to a Nintendo platform. The only problem is that it happens to be on WiiWare. Oh well, I guess you have to take what you can get.

Tuesday

Modern Warfare 2 Has Third Person Camera Mode. Once an FPS always an FPS? Well, that doesn’t apply to Infinity Ward’s upcoming shooter, mainly because the game will be receiving a full-fledged third-person option.

Sims 3 Gets Free Halloween DLC. Like playing The Sims? Can’t get enough of it? Like Halloween, too? Well don’t waste time reading this, click the link to find out how to get free Halloween content for The Sims 3.

Assassin’s Creed Lineage Part 1 Released. Move over bad Hollywood movies based on video games, Ubisoft is showcasing their moving making skills in a new short-film based on the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Ballad Of Gay Tony Screenshots: Superheroes And Shady Deals. More screens to coincide with the release of the latest and last Liberty City Stories episode.

Wednesday

Review: Nostalgia Blend Games’ Pete Haas reviews Ignition’s latest DS RPG outing. Is it worth the budget price?

No Multiplayer In Metro 2033. THQ’s latest FPS won’t have multiplayer…and you’ll have to click the link to find out why.

Brutal Legend Tears Of The Hextadon DLC Announced. Already finished playing Brutal Legend? Well, new DLC is on the way to freshen up the gameplay experience.

EA Sports MMA First Screenshot Revealed. New screenshot for the MMA fighting game by EA…and yes, it’s only one screenshots.

Ravensword: The Fallen King Controls And Gameplay Walkthrough Trailer. It’s already being called the iPhone’s Zelda and with very good reason. You can check out the new in-game trailer that shows off some of the game’s neat features and functionality.

Facebook Users Can Play Aurora Blade Without IGG Account. Shocking as that may sound, it’s the new wave of social-network gaming.

Survey Says That Wii Sports Resort And Guitar Hero 5 Are Wishlist Favorites. Even better than Modern Warfare 2? Amongst teens and tweens…yes.

Xbox 360 Not Wanted As Much As Wii/PS3 Amongst Teens For Holiday. Let the flame-wars begin.

Gearbox Promises Fix For Borderlands Character Wiping Issue. When you play online and lose your character data you’re probably pretty pissed. Well, Gearbox is working on a fix for that issue.

God Of War III Demo On District 9 Blu-Ray. The demo news just keeps coming and this time it’s a free demo on the District 9 Blu-Ray.

Thursday

Command And Conquer 4 Beta Launching In November. Need some more C&C action in your life? A new beta could be coming sooner than later.

Mafia II Script Gives Heart Attacks. The writers of the game had a tough time writing the game…why is that? Well, you might want to click the link to find out.

Widescreen DSi XL Coming To America, Too. The Japanese don’t always get all the good stuff, Americans get some of the good stuff, too.

Editorial: PC Games Are Breaking Gamers: The System Requirement Dilemma. Are hardware requirements breaking you every time you want to play a brand spanking new game? A few solutions can be found inside.

Mercenary Wars Weapon List Rundown. A complete rundown of kick-butt weapons in this MMOFPS.

Launch Trailer Blowout: Borderlands, Tropico 3, Crossfire And Torchlight. Want to check out some of the new launch trailers for some of the newly released games? Look no further than the link right in front of you.

Resident Evil Archives Resident Evil Zero Ship Date Announced. Capcom has ironed out the ship date for this Wii shooter and it also happens to carry a budget price, too.

BioShock 2: Capture The Little Sister Multiplayer Trailer. 2K Games revealed a brand new multiplayer mode and most gamers will probably want to check out the trailer that explains how it works.

Runaway A Twist Of Fate: Screenshots Are All About The Spies. Need a little bit of espionage in your point-and-clicking? Check out some of the new screenshots to FHI’s upcoming adventure game.

Bayonetta Developer Diary 1 Angels And Demons. So why is a 500 year old witch killing angels? Only the developer diary can answer that question for you. Better click the link.

Friday

Star Wars The Old Republic: Jedi Knight Class Revealed. Sith saber-wielders, beware…it looks like the Jedi Knights will be making an appearance as a playable class in the upcoming MMO.

King Of Fighters XII Online Patch Available For Xbox 360. Those annoying online bugs have finally been addressed with a new downloadable patch.

God Of War III Ultimate Edition Announced; Pre-Order Customers Get Demo Today. People love demos and here’s a chance to get your hands on a GoW III demo before everyone else.

Ray Redi’s Xevicom Forever To Become FPS For PC. Based on the cult graphic novel, the new game will feature all the vigilante crime-ridden action you could possibly imagine.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta Or Demo Possible. More demo news, this time for the highly anticipated Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Army Of Two The 40th Day Halloween Trailer. What’s trick or treating like with two kickbutt mercenaries? Click the link to find out.

2009 Golden Joystick Awards Winners Announced Games picked by gamers for gamers. Find out who won what.

Rumor: Dead Space 2 Coming In 2010 The scariest game from 2007 ill be receiving a sequel in 2010…or will it?

Saturday

No Assassin’s Creed II Demo. No demo for Assassin’s Creed II? For real? Well, you’ll have to check out the full news article to find out why this game can’t be play-tested before it’s bought.

Tales of Monkey Island: The Trial And Execution of Guybrush Threepwood Released. A new episode is now available for download. Fancy a laugh? Jump through the link for the details.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles official Website Updated. new content new features? Well, if you’re a Resi-Evil fan you might want to click the link to find out what’s been updated about the site, courtesy of Electronic Theatre.

Divinity 2: Ergo Dracos Gameplay Media Blowout. Four new gameplay trailers have surfaced for this upcoming open-world, RPG for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Gamings Top 10 Terrors. What’s the most terrifying thing you’ve ever experienced in a video game? Well, The Game Reviews list the top 10 moments of terror in gaming.

Assassin’s Creed II Dev Doc: Ezio Vs Altair. Want to find out which assassin was more killerific? Look no further than the link sitting right in front of your eyes.

That wraps up this week’s edition of the Weekly Recap here at Blend Games. We wouldn’t leave you high and dry without a little something to whet your appetite for some extra gaming goodness, which is why we have the brand new debut trailer for the upcoming Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil Zero for the Nintendo Wii right below this text. The game is due out on December 1st, exclusively for the Wii. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.