Celebrating 30 years in the games business, Ubisoft has been giving away a number of titles for a limited time throughout 2016. However, as a special end-of-year promotion, you can fill any holes in your collection or grab the whole shebang at once, free of charge.

Over on the Ubisoft Club website, the publisher is giving gamers one final chance to reap the benefits of their birthday celebration. Usually you give present to the one having the birthday, but Ubisoft decided to turn that practice on its ear. From now through Dec. 18, you can grab any and all of the following seven games with just a few clicks of your mouse.

-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

-Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

-Rayman Origins

-The Crew

-Beyond Good & Evil

-Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

-Assassin's Creed III

Again, there's no catch here. Just head on over to the site, click a box saying that you understand some of the games are not appropriate for minors, hit a couple extra buttons and, boom, you can get to downloading.

Ubisoft got its whole 30th birthday celebration rolling at this past summer's E3. From that point on, a free game has been made available each month of 2016, made up of the titles listed above. Some people were late to the party on occasion, though, and missed out on a game or two. For others, this might somehow be the first time they are hearing about the promotion. Either way, Ubisoft is looking out for you. It's a short window, so you might want to make with a quickness if you want to be sure to add any of these titles to your own collection.

We really appreciate the variety of titles here, including classics as well as more modern offerings that stand the test of time better than their younger counterparts. Classic Splinter Cell is definitely a nice get, right alongside one of my favorite games of the last generation, Rayman Origins. The Crew is perfect for driving fans while both Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil are perfect for folks who enjoy action and adventure. And then there's Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a rad romp through 1980's-era action in the form of a neon-tinted first-person shooter.

If you haven't picked up any of these yet, which games are you most excited to grab from this limited promotion? For those of you who have played some of these games, which titles should your fellow readers make sure to pick up? Give us all of the details in the comments below.

Ubisoft, despite playing it safe with a lot of their properties and rehashing concepts on an annual basis, actually took a pretty big risk with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a cheap total conversion of Far Cry 3. The risk paid off... big time. The property has moved more than a million copies all by its lonesome and the success has piqued the interest of Ubisoft to potentially pursue a limited retail run for the game.

Speaking with Michael Futter from GameInformer, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot talked about a number of things, including the success of some of their smaller titles, including the sub-platform releases of games like Call of Juarez: Gunslinger and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

As noted on Joystiq, Blood Dragon managed to move more than a million digital copies, although Guillemot didn't specify if that was across the Xbox 360, PS3 or PC or combined. We can assume they did equal numbers across all platforms, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft's arch-nemesis, the PC Master Race, pulled out ahead of the other two platforms in total sales.

Anyway, it was also noted that Blood Dragon could receive a limited retail run, with Yves commenting that...

This would be a huge thing for the return of mid-budget games. One of the biggest problems in the industry right now is that you're either a bargain basement developer or an AAA, living-at-the-Ritz developer. Being able to diversify and distinctly create new IP with existing assets and technology is a great way to go.

As for Ubisoft also saying that over the next two years their expenses will increase... well, let's just hope they can offset those expenses with more lower and mid-budget games that allow developers to still bask in their creative juices without seeing it all drained and sucked up like a milkshake through a straw, only to be regurgitated into a shallow imitation of its former glory as an AAA cash-in.

For now, if you haven't played Blood Dragon on console or PC, you can pick up a digital copy of the first-person total conversion right now for only $14.99. If you need a little extra convincing that this is a game worth playing just check out the promo videos for the lower-budget project below, you won't be disappointed.

One of the really big action stars from the 80s and 90s has been in a few big video games as of late. He was in the big budget Aliens: Colonial Marines and the low-budget Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon... the actor and director was not very pleased with working on the big budget game.

Game Informer had a really big story about the whole production and behind-the-scenes development of Blood Dragon, the huge surprise hit of the spring, and in it Michael Biehn talked a little bit about doing his voice-over work in both Blood Dragon and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Joystiq managed to pick out the quotes, in which Biehn says...

And oh boy did they not have a hit on their hands with Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game floundered its way out of the gates after the whole Xeno-gate saga and the drop-off rate was immense, to put it nicely.

The game is poised to receive a final piece of DLC before Gearbox finally calls it quits on the series, and rightfully so. It's such a shame that gaming companies were all about cashing in on the brand as much as Hollywood is keen on cashing in on the brand. Poor, poor Aliens... it just can't catch a break in any medium.

On the brighter side of the fence, Biehn only had kind things to say about Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a game that was the complete opposite of Aliens: Colonial Marines insofar that it was critically praised, had great sales numbers to be a low-budget title with very, very little marketing and was both unique and nostalgic in its creative endeavors.

Talking about playing the role of Blood Dragon's Rex “Power” Colt and working with creative director Dean Evans, Biehn stated state...

Hopefully we can get a Blood Dragon 2 further down the line, or perhaps another game with similar ambition and scope.

Both Blood Dragon and Aliens: Colonial Marines are available to purchase right now, but I would be a stupid fool if I suggested for anyone to buy Colonial Marines... but what the heck, you should buy the terrible, critically panned, financial failure that is Colonial Marines just because you can.

With minimal marketing save for what was directly aimed at core gamers in niche communities, and a retro-themed, cheesy take on the popular future vision from the 1980s, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has gone on to move half-a-million units in just under two months, with Ubisoft deeming the IP a success that surpassed expectations.

Shacknews (and it's good to see these guys still in operation, they seem to be moving through the silent phase of success right now, keeping sensationalism to a minimum and high-quality content pouring out frequently) caught the story from GI.biz, where CEO Yves Guillemot finally didn't have any crap to spew regarding PC piracy rates or badgering PC gamers like some of his other employees just a year ago. Instead, Guillemot was all about thanking and praising the gaming community and setting up the future of digital transparency when it comes to releasing sales data...

This is really, really, really good news because Ubisoft garnering success from Blood Dragon and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger means we could be seeing more tightly-budgeted, high-quality games at lower price points. This also opens the door to curtail those "sky-rocketing" production costs from publishers who always feel they have to go AAA or go home.

This, to me, is a fantastic thing and much better than publishers trying to dive into contracted, well-recognized studios to milk existing IP that made it big on Kickstarter.

Having more sub-games make use of existing engine technology and assets already established with AAA games is only good for the long run. Stuff like The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost & Damned and Blood Dragon and Gunslinger are great for the industry, great for the technology that powers them and great for gamers and developers alike given how cost effective these measures are.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has already spawned a lot of praise and meta-communities within the industry thanks to its neon-colored take on the 1980s with some amazing music provided by the electro-synth group Power Glove. That's not to mention that the game helped put Michael Beihn back into the spotlight and away from all that terrible, low-budget direct-to-video schlock he's been relegated to over the past few years.

Hopefully, with more publishers seeing how successful something like the $14.99 Blood Dragon was, they'll venture to use some high-end engines to have small teams work on small projects that bask in creativity and originality over Hollywood explosions and been-there-done-that warfare set in Brownstown.

The really big news item of the week is Electronic Arts acquiring a multi-year licensing deal from Disney Interactive to develop and publish Star Wars games, this extends to enabling DICE to use their Frostbite 3 for a brand new Star Wars game. Wolfenstein New Order has been announced by Bethesda and Activision Blizzard posts some positive news for the previous quarter save for one little thing...World of Warcraft has lost more than a million subscribers. These stories and more in this May 10th, 2013 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

eSports Watch: iRacing NEO Endurance Spa 500KM A long three hour race with so many twist and turns that even Christopher Nolan couldn't see coming.

GameStop: PS2 Trande-Ins End This June no more trading in your games for 5 cents.

PlanetSide 2 Update 8 Adds Harasser Buggy, MAX Weapons New weapons, new mechs and new vehicles invade SOE's PlanetSide 2.

Play Your Steam Games From A Browser With HTML 5 Codec The future is now and no, that doesn't mean SNK is bring this codec to you, but rather, some affiliates over at Mozilla.

Sega and Gearbox Say Aliens: Colonial Marines Lawsuit Is Meritless Without merit, lacking merit, nixed of merit...take your pick, that's what they say. Do you agree?

Defiance Hits 1 Million Players Trion and Syfy's newest MMO hits the one million player mark, which could be considered a success.

Star Wars Battlefront 3 Leaked Video Features Holy Sh*t Moments Galore This is like...”WTF?!” style “holy sh*t” moments. It's well worth it and definitely worth watching. Great, great stuff.

Ni No Kuni Developer Level 5 Established Three Mysterious Trademarks Three games in the works? From Level-5? Let's hope so.

Mr. Bree+ Brings Awesome Platforming to Steam's Greenlight Great production values and an intriguing story involving a Pig Frodo makes Mr. Bree+ a worthwhile title to watch on Steam's Greenlight.

Monday

Soul Sacrifice DLC Details Revealed While DLC usually is met with groans and moans by most core gamers, the good news in this story is that the first three packs of DLC for the game will be free.

Hearthstone Heroes Warcraft Void Terror Card Is A Warlock's Best Friend A new card for the new CCG of Warcraft is revealed.

Teen Killed His Mom Because She Took Away Call of Duty This is an extremely depressing story and you should brace yourself before clicking the link.

Skyrim Oculus Rift Support Invades Garry's Mod Really cool mods appear in Garry's Mod, further changing the game into something completely unrecognizable.

Iron Man 3 Mark XVII Heartbreaker Mod Invades GTA IV Super awesome mod that puts you in the shoes of Iron Man, complete with all sorts of awesome gadgets and repulsor technology.

Light Hero Rewards Up to $100,000 To One Lucky Completionist

Monster Hunter Online Will Release Internationally, Beta Set For June This is good news for a lot of gamers who felt burned that the game may have been relegated to a China-only release.

Tuesday

EA Buys Star Wars License, DICE Will Create A Star Wars Title Frostbite 3 + Star Wars could be cool...but at the same time, the license is now in the hands of the company voted as the absolute worst in the America, two years in a row.

GMod Kickstarter Lets You Install, Manage Mods For All Your Games

LittleBigPlanet Karting Gets Hacked By Tron Legacy Some really awesome gear from Tron Legacy is now available in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Plants Vs Zombies 2 Coming This July A new Plants Vs Zombies is finally on the way.

Video tests Skyrim With Oculus Rift And Kinect Talk about immersion. This is well worth checking out if you're a technophile with a penchant for pushing the limits of interactivity to new heights with the games you play.

Sims 4 Will Have An Offline Mode, Thank God EA has learned their lesson from SimCity and has decided that they will allow people to play the game offline.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Battle and Beasts Skins Pack Arrive A collection of skins that give you some beasts and some soldiers to play as in Minecraft for Xbox 360.

Humble Double Fine Bundle Includes Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Adventure Game The Kickstarter project is tossed in with a few of Double Fine's most infamous games for the latest Humble Indie Bundle.

Wednesday

DICE Says No Star Wars, Battlefield Games Running Frostbite 3 The big hitters from EA are being withheld from Nintendo, as EA gets back at the Big 'N' for opting out of using the crappy net service, Origin.

GTA IV Back to the Future Mod Can Travel To Western Times Unbelievable. You can actually travel through time.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX Offers Pre-Order Artbook If you really love Kingdom Hearts, this is probably one of those “can't pass up” moments.

Showdown Effect Adds Western Maps, Sci-Fi, Spy Characters for Free Free DLC, now this is how you treat fans.

Sleeping Dogs Kicks Off May PS Plus Line-up Free games for PS Plus members? Thank you very much.

Wolfenstein The New Order Announced A new entry in id Software's long running FPS has been announced by Bethesda. *fingers crossed* Please don't suck.

Mobile Content Revenue Expected To Consume Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita Sales for digital content on mobile devices is expected to overthrow current portable gaming devices, as reported by a new research report.

Gamezebo Offers Name Your Own Price Bundle of Casual Games Casual games at a price that suits you.

UFO Online Blasts Off Into Open Beta Gamigo's online xeno-hunting game has officially entered open beta.

Activision Blizzard Q1 2013, World of Warcraft Loses 1.3 Million Subscribers Activision's Q1 2013 results has some less than savory results for World of Warcraft.

Batman From Injustice: Gods Among Us Stalks Liberty City in GTA IV Play as the Dark Knight and clean up the streets of Liberty City.

Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded Spotlights Jasmine She dances as a mermaid in an aquarium and she's got smarts...and she's got big things going on for her...yeah.

Defiance, Warframe Make It Onto April's Top 20 Most Played Games List Raptr releases a new list of the most played games of April, and EA's SimCity continues to sink to the bottom of the barrel.

Thursday

Journey's Austin Wintory Releases Music For Suicide Prevention Charity Attached to a new short-film, Austin Wintory's music helps a charity for suicide prevention.

Thunder Wolves Coming to Steam May 15th The arcade shooter will arrive for Steam first and consoles second...a nice twist on the way things used to be.

GTA 5 Screenshots Represent Grove Street Families Check out some new screenshots for one of the most highly anticipated games of the year.

EA and FIFA Renew Vows Through 2022 More exclusive FIFA games from EA...rejoice? Cry? I really don't know.

Wolf Among us Screenshots Showcase Police Brutality Check out the sheriff of the town laying down a little unlawful violence.

Defiance Article Proposes Idea of Gamers Producing TV Show Sure...why not? What could possibly go wrong?

Nintendo eShop Gets Minis Move, Resident Evil Demo One of Capcom's more anticipated titles receives a demo on Nintendo's digital eShop.

Guacamelee Body Slams PSN Sales In April The digital beat-'em-up game game for the PlayStation Network has managed to top sales. I'm thinking Sony has found a real niche with indy games these days.

GTA London 1969 Mod Arrives For GTA IV A total conversion mod for GTA IV brings back all the good parts about London 69.

Gamers Threaten Class Action Lawsuit Over Diablo 3 RMAH Exploit Things get a little frisky in the Blizzard camp when more controversy erupts over the RMAH.

Friday

Martial Arts Capoeira Joins Steam's Greenlight One of the more underrated fighting games of last gen is making its way to Steam and is looking for a few upvotes.

Total War Rome 2 Release Date Set for September Also, the game comes with a rather massive $155 Collector's Edition set that is bound to get a few die-hard fans interested.

Hear Me Out: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Has To Win A GOTY For Best Soundtrack This soundtrack is amaza-balls, it would be a crime for this game to get overlooked at this year at the VGAs.

Half-Life 2 Adds Oculus Rift Support Valve said they would do it, Garry Newman said he's gonna do it and now it's done. Half-Life 2 has Oculus Rift support. Booya.

System Shock 2 Released For Steam An old classic makes a return to form on Valve's digital distribution platform like Van Damme getting his butt kicked, disappearing, getting a training montage and then coming back with oily shiny muscles.

Namco's Fiscal Results Prove You Don't Need To Sell 5 Million SKUs to Profit “Needs to sell 5 million SKUs or the brand dies” is a phrase not uttered in the offices of Namco Bandai and they've seen great revenue because of it. Just shows that the troglodytes using the religion of greed as their motivation for success are failing in spite of it.

Star Wars X-Wing, Speeders, Space Stations Invade GTA IV Who needs Battlefront 3 when you have GTA IV?

Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine Now Available For XBLA The cooperative thief game arrives for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Soul Sacrifice Creator Talks Tough Decisions Who would you sacrifice for victory? The game puts you in some tough spots to make some hard decisions.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Kickin It This Fall The Ultimate version of Tecmo Koei's Dead or Alive 5 will launch this fall for current generation home consoles.

Saturday

Borderlands 2 Krieg 17 Minute Video Released, DLC Releases May 14th Krieg will arrive on the 14th and the video gives gamers a great look at the upcoming content.

Flash Confirmed For Infinite Crisis With Gameplay Video The fastest man alive makes an explosive experience in the MOBA superhero title.

Sanctum 2 Preview Co-Optmus has a preview for the sequel of the tower-defense FPS, Sanctum 2.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Review For XBLA How does the Xbox 360 version of Blood Dragon stack up and is it worth the price of admission? XBLA Fans give their take on it.

The Art of Dragons' Crown Is Perfectly Fine, Please Stop Being Paranoid A very nice counter-argument that doesn't include Feminazi or other derogatory language. Nice.

That wraps up this edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap. You can check out a new gameplay trailer for Saints Row 4 below, showcasing the President laying waste to aliens with super powers and all other sorts of ridiculous things.

We're not even completely halfway through the year but I'm just going to call it...I have to: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has to win best original score for 2013's VGAs. It might seem petty to want the game to win for its soundtrack from an awards show that we all groan and moan about, but come on, this game deserves it!

So have you actually been playing Blood Dragon? I know some of you out there just see it as an amalgamation of regurgitated neon colors from an abandoned Madonna music video that never saw the light of day during the 1980s, but the one thing that makes Blood Dragon both fun and hilarious is how authentic the whole thing is, right down to the terribly befitting soundtrack from the 80s-themed synth-rock group, Power Glove.

Dean Evans and crew over at Ubisoft were given an opportunity to churn out a total conversion mod based on the Far Cry 3 engine and they didn't just churn out a conversion, they unleashed a masterpiece of nostalgic proportions. The typical overly macho hero played by action star Michael Biehn, the token black guy with a subplot everyone sees coming a mile off, right down to the stylishly misplaced Dr. Darling who still manages to keep a strong sense of fashion during a dual apocalyptic holocaust, it all fits and it all works.

The reason the game works so well, though, is because it's not trying to make fun of the 80s, it's celebrating everything we loved about it and Power Glove – even with a ripe opportunity to completely cook up something cheesy and unremarkable – took the music helm and avoided overdoing it, instead they powered through it like Steven Seagal at a turkey tasting event, leaving nothing on the table.

One of the things that really stands out so much with the Blood Dragon soundtrack is that it combines many elements from previous big profile blockbusters from the 80s, including the deep synth chords from James Cameron's The Terminator, the melodic harmonies that Vangelis used to help shape the Blade Runner score, an electric piano similar to that of David Michael Frank's Above the Law score, and even a heroic tribute based around Rocky 4's soundtrack. Power Glove reaches deep into the pop cultural fascination of the neon-themed 1980s era to give gamers a truly unforgettable score.

It would be nice if Blood Dragon walked away with the win for best original score, as it would validate that a game doesn't have to be contemporary, overly-marketed game to win, or that it has to be running brand new proprietary tech to be rewarded for creativity. And maybe, just maybe it'll spur more publishers to use established proprietary engine assets to branch out and try new things on a smaller budget but based around a really big idea...sort of like how the community took it upon themselves to port GTA: San Andreas into GTA IV.

Barring any scores that are as touching or moving as Journey, it's easy to believe that Power Glove could walk away the victor at this year's award show for their amazing score on Blood Dragon. Again, we're only halfway through the year but Blood Dragon has thoroughly impressed with its authentic recreation of a mature, sci-fi B-movie made to air on a Saturday afternoon.

If you can't get enough of the soundtrack you can actually pick up the digital album from Amazon right now. Hopefully Power Glove will also release a physical album at some point, as it would totally be worth owning.

This poll is no longer available.

One-liners? Check. Token black guy? Double check. Sincere cheese? Triple check. Tons of explosions? Quadruple check. Graphic sex scene set to an awesome soundtrack? You bet your retro bottom dollar bill.

Ubisoft didn't hold anything back with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, opening up a plethora of pleasantries in the form of digital sprites with the recently released total-conversion standalone. The cheap but well-regarded and critically acclaimed spin-off has spawned plenty to talk about and just about all of it has been positive.

I'm curious if the video above, courtesy of Cramgaming, will garner any of the criticisms that things like Mass Effect 3's side-boob and bare blue butt brought upon BioWare or will people overlook this little bit of exposure since it's using an ancient graphic art-style? Ubisoft only seemed to receive high marks for the original graphic sex scene in Far Cry 3.

Regardless of what any naysayers might have to say about it, Blood Dragon is a new-age masterpiece of retro grade goodness. And by and far, that soundtrack is absolutely so freaking awesome. Power Glove really knocked it out of the box and if you love it as much as I do, feel free to check it out on Amazon.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available right now digitally for home consoles and for PC. If you miss the greatest era of entertainment for mankind, then don't hesitate to pick up the game for only $14.99. Also, the first 30 minutes of Blood Dragon is an absolute riot...just...wow.

Today Ubisoft has released a standalone expansion for Far Cry 3, entitled Blood Dragon. A new launch trailer sets up the surreal adventure that players will embark upon.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon depicts an alternate version of 2007, in which the Earth has been devastated by nuclear war. Cyber commando Rex Power Colt is sent to a remote island to prevent a powerful bioweapon from being used. He'll have to combat a cyborg army as well as laser-breathing dragons.

The game is a sloppy love letter to the 1980's. Everything that can be neon is neon: armor, guns, and even snakes. When you shoot someone, they spray neon blue blood.

Ubisoft previously stated that the game is 6-8 hours long. I'm concerned whether the "hey, remember the eighties?" shtick will get old by the end of the campaign. It can't be any worse than That Eighties Show, though.

Blood Dragon is currently available throughout North America and will spread to Europe and other territories tomorrow.

It's another busy week on the digital marketplace as a Far Cry 3 spinoff, an enhanced version of the bizarre Deadly Premonition, a classic garbage rolling PS2 game and more make their way to the PlayStation Network.

When the PlayStation Store updates Tuesday afternoon, bright neon attire will be in order as the retro grindhouse goodness of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon gets released upon the masses. Using the Far Cry 3, Blood Dragon is all about cheesy 80's action movies featuring cyborgs, robot sharks and enough bright pink and blue lighting to permanently alter your color perception.

While the PlayStation Vita isn't exactly starving for games, its collection of unique exclusive titles hasn't exactly been overwhelming in its first year. Soul Sacrifice will be added to that roster tomorrow, however, and it's quite a doozy. This co-op game wherein players take on the role of monster-hunting wizards is something of an epic offering, with some folks logging more than 60 hours in the game's demo alone.

And then there's Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge, the PS3/Vita strategy/MOBA game that lets the player orchestrate the zombie apocalypse by controlling specialized hordes of the undead and brand new Monster minions.

Telltale Games': Poker Night 2 will bring mascot-fueled multiplayer poker action to the virtual table with T.A.C. Heroes: Big Red will ignite the PSP with strategic warfare set within some of the most infamous battles of World War II.

For those who missed out on Deadly Premonition back when it released on the Xbox 360, the Director's Cut finally brings one of the most critically divisive titles to US PS3's, complete with a graphical and control overhaul and brand new content.

Finally, if you're in the mood to have a song stuck in your head for the rest of your life, then you'll likely want to try out PlayStation 2 Classic, Katamari Damacy. As the Princs of the Cosmos, your job is to roll up everyday objects, big and small, to turn them into stars and replace the ones your clumsy father accidentally destroyed.

For more information on any of these titles, visit the PlayStation Blog. Otherwise, look for all of this, along with the usual batch of demos, trailers and DLC, to hit the PlayStation Network sometime Tuesday afternoon.

Ubisoft has released additional screenshots for Far Cry 3's upcoming standalone expansion Blood Dragon. One of the shots gives us our first look at the dragons hinted at in the title.

Blood Dragon takes inspiration from a 1980's action film. In the film's neon-filled future, the world has been ravaged by nuclear warfare. A cyborg army known as Omega Force is preparing a bioweapon on a tropical island. Sergeant Rex Power Colt (played by Michael Biehn) must defeat this army and destroy the bioweapon.

The new open-world environment of Blood Dragon isn't filled with tigers and buffaloes like the island in Far Cry 3. Instead, players will encounter mutants and dragons. The dragons, according to Ubisoft, will actually shoot lasers.

Over Twitter, Ubisoft revealed that the game will have 7 missions for Rex Power Colt to tackle. They estimate that it will take about 6-8 hours to complete.

The $15 expansion will debut on May 1st on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. If you pre-purchase through Steam, you'll get the soundtrack for no additional charge. Presumably the soundtrack, like the game itself, is 80's-tastic.

A quick behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon features the creative director for the total conversion, standalone mod and legendary B-movie actor Michael Biehn, second-hand star in movies like Terminator and Aliens.

Dean Evans, creative director for Blood Dragon, asks Biehn a few questions while expressing his man-love to the famous action star. Biehn plays Rex “Power” Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando in the upcoming 1980s themed neon-colored modification for Far Cry 3 called Blood Dragon. The standalone conversion sees players taking on the role of Colt as he attempts to stop an evil cyber general and take over his bases while unleashing the fury of the Blood Dragon.

Of all the AAA titles released and coming out, this is probably the one game that has me very excited, and the best part about it is that it's a budget-priced standalone expansion. Ubisoft easily could have made this some expensive, $19.99 DLC for Far Cry 3, forcing people to buy the latter in order to get the former, but they've done right by the community and they're releasing this uber-awesome expansion as if it were an indie title. I love it.

While I don't like Uplay, I hate Ubisoft's DRM and I abhor milk-based DLC, I at least have to applaud Ubisoft in this scenario for doing it right...but I still don't like Uplay.

You can look for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon to launch on May 1st. Need more info? Feel free to visit the Official Website.

Ubisoft scores a huge win amidst DRM controversy, gaining tons of praise from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon all while a Uplay foul-up allows people to torrent the standalone expansion for free (talk about self-inflicted epic fail). Capcom delays Lost Planet 3 to August and Batman: Arkham Origins is announced, making it the big reveal of the week. These stories and more in this April 13th, 2013 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

America's Army Proving Ground Now Accepting Beta Testers, First Image Released Get into the game and test out the latest version of America's Army.

League of Legends Adding Lissandra Ice Witch Soon A new hero is invading LoL and she's one frosty witch.

Black Rock Shooter Game Coming To North America, Europe The portable title taking Japan by storm will be making its way Stateside and across the Pond later this year.

Remember Me System Requirements Released Find out if your gaming rig is up to snuff for this upcoming third-person shooter.

Lifeless Planet Launching Later This Year The team has been working hard to bring this game about a lifeless planet to life later this year as the title takes shape and form.

Sang-Froid Tale of Werewolves Now Available On Steam Saving your sister from a bunch of hungry werewolves never looked so fun.

Monday

MLB 13 The Show Leads PSN Sales In the Month of March Curious if thatgamecompany's Journey is also still on the list? Be sure to click the link and be surprised at what made the top alongside MLB 13.

BioShock Infinite Alternate Box Art Released See what other covers the team considered for one of the best story-oriented shooters of the generation.

Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Trailer Details Rage Mode Bust open a can of whoop-arse on mobs of innumerable sizes using all of Van Helsing's skills.

Torment Tides of Numenera Racks Up $4.1 Million Via Kickstarter And we're inching ever-so-close to the mark where gamers will start Kickstarting AAA titles.

Thunder Wolves Brings Cinematic Bullet-Hell To PS3, Xbox 360, PC Pretty much an arcade version of Call of Duty with helicopters.

Grimlands Joins Kickstarter After Being Canceled The developers are looking for support via Kickstarter after Gamigo dropped the axe on them.

Skyrim Update 1.9 Hitting Xbox 360, PS3 More fixes inbound for a game that was released two years ago.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Release Date May 1st? A really good troll or a cool concept that Ubisoft is going through with? You decide.

Tuesday

No One Lives Forever and Why Hasn't It Been Re-Released? IP rights...you've got to love copyright laws.

Vita Update v2.10 Adds Folders Keep your content and apps organized with the addition of folders on your PSV.

Mega Man Canceled FPS Maverick Hunter Revealed Capcom had, at one point, put Mega Man into the shoes of an FPS hero...but then they backrolled on the idea and canceled it.

BioShock Infinite Recreated in Minecraft Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise...Columbia in voxel-cube format. Who would have thunk it?

Project Awakened Trailer Features Panda With A Baseball Bat and Giant Enemy Crabs Well, they're classic tropes in the world of video games and sure beat running around as a zombie with a giant purple dildo.

Xbox Live Arcade Hosts April Sales Check out some games Microsoft is actually letting you buy at a discounted rate.

Divinity Original Sin Hits Kickstarter Goal Another game from a self-publishing developer gets over the hurdle.

Lost Planet 3 Delayed to August Capcom wants to freshen the game up some more before releasing it to the public.

Batman Arkham Origins Announced Along With Blackage Mobile Game Rocksteady is ready to get back into the troughs and bring out another amazing Batman game.

Wednesday

Star Wars Battlefront 3 Version 2 Trailer Features Amazing Speeder Chase More of the canceled Battlefront game that you won't be able to play.

Frobisher Says Adds More Mini-Games With Mega Fun Pack DLC An odd new add-on for an odd game for the PSV.

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures Joins Steam's Greenlight The side-scroller makes its way to Steam's platform.

Grimlands Video Explains How Leveling, Guilds Work Drago gives gamers an inside look at how the leveling process works for Grimlands.

Project Eternity First Game Trailer Sports Dynamic Effects The Unity Engine gets a nice highlight in this brief teaser for Obsidian's upcoming RPG.

Tearaway Tears Into Vita This October One of the exclusives announced during Sony's event in February is launching this October.

COD Black Ops 2 Most Played Game In March, SimCity The Least Played Activision continues to dominate the charts while EA does not.

Thursday

Age of Wushu Officially Launches in North America After lots and lots and lots of promotion on small and niche-based MMO sites, Age of Wushu launches in North America.

SimCity Coming to Mac This June EA's city builder will launch this June for Apple's Mac.

Splinter Cell Blacklist Confirmed For Wii U Who says Nintendo's latest console won't have third-party support?

Batman Arkham Origins Screenshots Feature Penguin Black Mask More villains fill out the antagonist list for Batman in the prequel to Arkham Asylum.

PC Hardware Sales Decline By Nearly 14% There's a lot turbulence happening in the tech space and it's not looking good for PC hardware.

Friday

Flashback Remake Announced For XBLA, PSN Ubisoft and Vectorcell bring a classic back from the heyday of gaming.

Tales of Xillia Collector's Edition Includes Milla Maxwell Figure A cool figure comes with the purchase of the collector's edition.

Ridge Racer Driftopia Coming to PS3 and PC A new free-to-play title from Namco is on its way this year for PS3 and PC.

Dark Souls 2 Screenshots Run From Chariot Fight Namco Bandai unleashed some brand new screenshots for the action, hack-and-slash game.

Sims 3 Island Paradise Dives In EA keeps the Sims 3 expansions rolling out with some brand new content.

Saturday

Grimlands to Support Linux, Mac Drago Entertainment adds some new goals to their attempt to bring the troubled MMO to life.

Project CARS Screenshots Continue To Impress More screens from Slightly Mad Studios' high-end looking racer.

Battlefield 3 Gymkhana Edition Ramps Up The Badassery This is one of the most impressive displays of skill that is only surpassed by the awesome camera work.

Castle of Illusion HD Remake Coming to Xbox 360, PS3 this Summer The classic Sega Genesis title is heading to current gen consoles.

Dark Souls Sells 2.3 Million Units From Software has made some impressive milestones with Dark Souls.

Xbox 360 Achievement Sound Turned into Art What does success look like? Well, grab a glimpse of the sound in the form of a visual graphic thanks to a few inventive artists.

From Software Says Dark Souls on PC Was “Half-Assed” They're going to rectify that problem with the sequel.

That wraps up this edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap. You can check out some new gameplay footage of Mob of the Dead for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 below. Enjoy.

Hit first-person shooter Far Cry 3 and the 1980’s had a baby and they’ve decided to call the thing Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, an over-the-top, neon-soaked romp torn straight out of classic action films and headed to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. And what better way to prepare for its May 1 launch than to watch an old-school cartoon trailer showing off loads of testosterone-fueled badassary?

It was (sort of) announced earlier this month that Far Cry 3: Blood Dgraon would be headed to the virtual market on May 1st as a standalone title. What they didn’t prepare us for, however, was a ridiculously cool trailer boasting glimpses of gameplay spliced together with a story reveal as told through an 80’s-era cartoon.

This latest bit of media for Blood Dragon speaks directly to me. I was raised on shows like G.I. Joe, Thundercats and Silverhawks, as well as any gritty action flick featuring folks like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Those influences are dripping from every second of this two-minute look into Ubisoft’s latest downloadable game, which has me pretty pumped for its upcoming release.

While Blood Dragon will still take place on the Far Cry 3 island and still use the same controls, gameplay structure, etc., pretty much everything else about the game has been altered to fit this world of insane action and glorious neon lighting. In a word: Cybersharks.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is now listed on the official Xbox website. The eighties-style adventure is apparently a standalone game and will be arriving on the first day of May.

Blood Dragon is described on Xbox.com as a "kick-ass cyber shooter." Players take on the role of Sargant Rex Colt, a cyber commando who must face off against an army of cyborgs. It's up to him to rescue the girl and save the world.

The game is styled after a 1980's action film. The previously released screenshots revealed that that the game's setting is a neon, post-apocalyptic hellscape. The Xbox.com summary says that, in addition to cyborgs, players will also face mutants and "blood dragons." It also mentions that, like Far Cry 3 itself, Blood Dragon will feature open-world exploration.

The 1980's style of Blood Dragon is completed by the inclusion of Michael Biehn. Biehn starred in numerous action movies from the era like Terminator, Navy Seals and Aliens. No word yet on what role he plays in this game, but based on his film roles it seems probable that he's the hero.

Though it has Far Cry 3 in front of its name, Blood Dragon isn't just a DLC pack for that game. Instead, it's going to be a completely standalone game. No price was mentioned, though.

Ubisoft still hasn't actually announced Blood Dragon. They did launch a spectacular website, though.