Weekly Recap Aug 7th: Batman Arkham City, Mario Crossover, Halo Reach Is Gold

The first week of August had a lot of sparse, scattered noteworthy news items throughout the week. Early on in the week there was the discovery of Super Mario Crossover, a M.U.G.E.N type software app that allows players to control their favorite side-scrolling stars from multiple games in a crossover scenario; Rocksteady has released some additional details on the upcoming Batman Arkham City, including the story location and some of the villains the Caped Crusader will interact with. And for all you green-and-black Spartan fanboys out there, you can cheer like a little schoolgirl because Halo: Reach has officially gone gold. These stories and more in this August 7th, 2010 edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

BattleSwarm Field of Honor Review. Things heat up on the battlefield when Gears of War meets StarCraft II in this hybrid MMOFPS versus MMORTS.

Assassins Creed II Black and White Ezio Figure Now Available Separately. New action figures for die-hard collectors.

Ghost Trick Director Shu Takumi and Producer Hironobu Takeshita Interview. Pete Haas gets the dirt on Capcom’s latest handheld outing.

Hydro Hunder Hurricane XBLA Review. Find out if this watery racer is worth the Microsoft Points.

Arc Rise Fantasia Review. Rich Knight details on why this classic-made game may not fit into today’s current generation of RPGs.

StarCraft II Wings of Liberty Review. Here it is folks, the full bread and butter review of StarCraft II.

Limbo Recreated in LittleBigPlanet. Somehow, the PS3 fellows recreated Limbo in LBP.

Monday

Fable III Villager Maker Unveiled. Yes, it is what you think it is.

Moonlight Online Adds HDRR, Realtime Lighting System to Gameplay. Quite advanced for a free-to-play tweeny vampire title.

Backbreaker Update Adds new Features, Including Replay System. You can now share those awesome tackles and spectacular throws with friends over Xbox Live or PSN.

Victoria 2 Goes Gold; Let the Monarch Overthrowing Begin. At the turn of the 19th century you have to kick butt and put some kings and queens in their place.

Titanic Mystery Set to Release This September for DS, Wii and PC. Stopping terrorists, uncovering bomb threats and saving the world is just another day in the life of Jack Bauer…oops, I mean, the main character from Titanic Mystery.

DiRT 3 Debut Trailer Released. ESPN released the new trailer featuring some brand new, never before seen footage.

Nintendo Downloads: Deer Captor, BlayzBloo. Sounds like crap games but there might be something good in there for someone.

New York Ranks 1st In iPad Owners; California Greenest State for Gadgets. Lots of tech talk in a new report from Retrevo.

Medal of Honor Never Outmanned Trailer Featuring Linkin Park. More Linkin Park in what may be the coolest game trailer of the year.

Tuesday

Fable III Delayed for PC. Apparently the touching and groping needs some refining on PC.

System Shock 2 Studio Unveiling New Game Next Week. Something similar to BioShock perhaps?

Super Mario Crossover Is The Greatest Thing Since M.U.G.E.N. Now this is news. I mean, huge news.

EA Announces Create For November 2010 Release.

StarCraft II Sells 1.5 Million In Two Days. No big surprise there.

The Sims Medieval Announced. Milked much? I’d say so.

NBA Elite 11 Comes With Free NBA Jam. If you buy one, you automatically have no choice but to get force-fed the other.

New Hero Online Expands Character Customization In New Expansion. You don’t just have to create Asian people anymore.

Moto Racer 1 and 2 Get Re-Released through DotEmu. One of the best racing games from two generations ago gets re-released.

Hellion Mystery of the Inquisition Location Fly Through and Details. Find out where you’ll be murdering and pillaging in Flying Fish Works upcoming game.

Power Gig Rise of the SixString Trailer Spotlights The Rise Clan. Lead singer parents get murdered so he seeks revenge through music.

Wednesday

Mass Effect 2 FirePower DLC Now Available. Need that extra kick to kick butt? Well it’s here space ranger…it’s here.

Crysis 2 Delayed Until 2011. What’s the hold up? Click the link to find out.

Need for Speed Shift 2 Coming In 2011. EA is moving the franchise forward in the same fashion as before, just in a different direction.

Fable III Opening Cinematic Features Chickens Fighting for Survival. A chicken literally tries not to lose its head.

Civilization V Demo Coming In September. Commanding civilizations has never been this fun before.

Section 8 Summer Sale Starts But Not For Americans. TimeGate has let gamers know that their FPS military space opera is available for a budget price on the PS3.

Torchlight 2 Announced And Features Multiplayer. Big news for the week as the famed action-RPG is getting a sequel.

Kung Fu Live Demo gameplay Debuts At GamesCom 2010. A fighting game featuring you and it’s up for testing at the GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.

Yogi Bear Announced for Wii and DS To No One’s Surprise. Gimped gameplay and shoddy graphics for everyone.

Thursday

Modern Warfare 2 Single Player Demo Released for Xbox 360 and PS3. One full stage of exhilarating action waiting for you on PSN and Xbox Live.

And Yet It Moves Gets Wii Release Date. Popular puzzle title gets some Wii lovin’

Red Dead Redemption Title Update 1.06 Released for Xbox 360 and PS3. A few more fixes and some minor upgrades.

BioShock 2 Minerva’s Den DLC Announced. If you still want some more out of your BioShock 2 experience, then you’ll be pleased to know that more is on the way for this game.

Batman Arkham City Plot Details, Platforms Release Window Announced. Everything you need to know about the game before it gets plastered over every major gaming magazine out there.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Beta Release Date Announced. Want to get in on the multiplayer action? Click the link for the details.

Mafia II Dev Doc Covers Al The Fancy Illusion Engine Tech. From high-tech lighting to destructible environments, it’s all covered in the latest developer documentary.

Def Jam RapStar Features NAS, Public Enemy, Wiley and More. Most of these people are foreign to my ears but hip-hop fans will probably see the list past the jump and see it as music to their ears.

UFC Undisputed 2010 PSP Details Announced. From the roster to the game modes, find out what the handheld version of this fighting game will feature.

Arcania Gothic 4 Coming to PC, Xbox 360 This Year; PS3 Version Delayed to 2011. Looks like the PS3 becomes the little retarded kid in class once again…always late to the finish.

Friday

True Crime Hong Kong Delayed to 2011. Delayed for the sake of quality, no doubt.

Red Dead Redemption Legends And Killers Trailer. Red and crew from the first game make a playable appearance in Rockstar’s Wild West masterpiece.

Operation Flashpoint Red River Coming 2011 For Xbox 360, PS3, PC. A four-player co-op rendition of Operation Flashpoint is on the way.

Sonic Colors Release Date Trailer And Box Art Revealed. Project Needlemouse is closer to retail shelves than you think.

Kung Zhu Brings Ninja Hamsters To Nintendo DS This Fall. Ninja hamsters? Sign me up.

Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days Multiplayer Modes Explored. Backstabbing, gun-totting, untrustworthy multiplayer explored in a new dev doc.

Lara Croft and The guardian of Light Gets PS3 And PC Release Date. Whether the game is good or not, find out when Lara will be heading back into the world of adventure for the PS3 and PC.

Saturday

Halo Reach Goes Gold. This is it folks, the game is complete…it’s time to countdown the days for it to hit retailers.

Still No Machinarium On XBLA Now $5 On PC Instead. Ahh, poor Xbox Live Arcaders, maybe next time.

Halo Reach Post GameStop Report. Get the details on the GameStop report for Halo Reach.

Mafia II The Betrayal of Jimmy DLC Screenshots Released. New cars, new clothes and new missions. Click the link to check out the new screens.

Games That Nobody Plays Anymore: Shatter. Platform Nation takes a look at a long forgotten game.

Reparing Xbox 360 Consoles in and out of Warranty. What sort of fixes lay in wait for those who have and do not have warranties? Hit the jump to find out.

Quake Live Subscriptions Launch. id Software decided it was time gamers started ponying up some cash to play this old-school online shooter.

That wraps up this edition of the Game Blend Weekly Recap. You can check out a brand new trailer for Sega’s upcoming triple-A shooter, Vanquish. Enjoy.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.