What We Learned This Week: Cataclysmic!

Every week, I learn a lesson about life from what happens in video games! This week, it's Cataclysmic-ly awesome! I learned that a tasty expansion will have me returning to an old MMO, fast.

The release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has everyone at G4 racing to reach the level cap, but we still had time to make our usual slate of awesome web shows. Check it out:

• Feedback: We had some of the top dogs at Blizzard talking Cataclysm!
  
• Sessler's Soapbox: Adam Sessler revealed his surprise Pac-Man fetish. 
• The MMO Report: Featured a Cataclysm special!
• Fresh Ink: Blair Butler reviewed the biggest comic book releases of the week.

And now, the news...

Monday

• Criterion Games have released details about the new Super Sports Pack DLC for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
• Square Enix has announced a new Tomb Raider.
• Thrustmaster is teasing the Gran Turismo 5 racing wheel.
• Amazon is offering a slew of deals on Blizzard games today.
• The Oddboxx, four Oddworld games, is coming to Steam this Friday.
• Rockstar Games have released some new L.A. Noire screenshots that show off investigating, lineups, and more.
• According to an analyst, keeping Call of Duty's multiplayer free is "a betrayal of shareholder trust."
• A guy completely faced his ex-girlfriend through her Netflix recommendations.
• A song from Sid Meier's Civilization IV and a song from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock have been nominated for Grammys.
• The CW plans to bring DC's Teen Titan member Raven to TV in a new series.
• We head into the brush with the latest iteration of this explosive action series.
• Check out our pitches for games that could have been had their titles simply been misspelled.
• Australia may allow mature games.
• Ubisoft is giving away 35 super geeky Abstergo Industries Researcher Packs as part of a new sweepstakes.
• Candace Bailey joins Attack of the Show as the new Co-Host!
• X-Play suggests Halo: Reach Noble Map pack.

Tuesday

• The Great Steam Treasure Hunt has begun.
• Zynga's latest browser game, CityVille, recruited 290,000 residents in the game's first 24 hours
• Rumor is, there are no more flesh and blood Lara Croft models on the way.
• Cartoons are already almost video games. Pixelate that stuff and hand it to us! Here are some cartoons we wanna play.
• You can buy Max Payne 2 right now for only 99 cents.
• City Interactive announced today that it has licensed the Unreal Engine 3 for use in a new shooter coming next year.
• The level cap of 85 in Cataclysm has been reached, before the game hit the streets in the U.S.
• Warren Spector has issued a response to the variety of complaints surrounding Disney Epic Mickey's oft critiqued camera design.
• According to Reuters, OnLive will offer movie streaming.
• There are a few deals around TRON: Evolution in this week in game deals.
• Get a look at the first 15 minutes of gameplay for TRON: Evolution.
• Dino D-Day, a first-person multiplayer shooter built on Valve's Source engine will be available for Steam on March 1, 2011.
• Check out the first details and trailer for Atari's new downloadable title Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime.
• Pixel Force: DJ Hero, the game we posted last week, has been taken down.
• SOE President, John Smedley, confirmed The Agency has been delayed due to it needing "a lot of work."
• We go in-depth with the head writer of The Old Republic for the latest on the long-awaited Star Wars MMO.
• Insomniac Games is slowly revealing new Resistance 3 screens via Facebook.
• Adam talks about his surprising addiction to the latest downloadable version of a gaming classic, Pac-Man.
• We recently had the opportunity to talk with BioWare's co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka.
• Kevin Pereira and Sara Underwood review the MALIBAL Nine X7200 laptop for all your gaming needs.
• The latest from the makers of Shadow Complex offers complex swordplay on mobile devices.
• Video didn't kill the video game star, it only made it better. Here are our favorite video game cutscenes from 2010.
• The folks of Dark Endeavor of Durotan put together the world's first WoW lip dub.
• Check out the launch trailer for the long awaited threequel Bejeweled 3.
• Didn't make it out for the big World of WarCraft: Cataclysm launch near you? Then check out our midnight launch event coverage.

Wednesday

• X-Play hooked up with a couple of jocks to talk games.
• There will be running and shooting at the same time in the next Resident Evil game.
• The nominees are in: Check out X-Play's Game of the Year nominees.
• This sentence is longer than the new teaser for Batman: Arkham City, but it's still worth checking out.
• Check out our review of TRON: Evolution.
• Insomniac Games has released two more Resistance 3 screenshots via Facebook.
• On this week's Feedback, our crew is joined by two lead designers from Blizzard to talk about World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
• EA announced today it will release a demo for Dead Space 2 on December 21.
• Loads more join the cast of The Hobbit, including Cate Blanchett, who will reprise her role from LOTR as Galadriel.
• Watch Around the Net with Kevin Pereira and Alessandra Torresani!
• Beloved classic arcade game X-Men Arcade comes out on December 15.
• We take a look at the best and baddest vehicles from this year's releases.
• Some gamers are reporting glitches with the new Gran Turismo 5 patch.
• X-Play went behind-the-scenes with the game's composer, Jim Dooley, to find out what made Epic Mickey's soundtrack unique.
• Mortal Kombat's next installment will feature the God of War himself.
• Kevin Pereira and Alessandra Torresani take a look at the Lenovo IdeaCentre B305.
• Blizzard admits that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm took six months longer than expected.
• We go hands-on with the multiplayer modes of the upcoming shooter Bulletstorm.
• Singer Michael "Shagg" Washington is suing Rockstar for using his likeness in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
• According to Blizzard, we can expect to see Deathwing in the second or third Cataclysm patch.
• We check out the latest adventure title from Gabriel Knight creator Jane Jensen.
• Night of the Sacrifice, or "Ikenie no Yoru" in Japanese, is an upcoming horror game for the Wii

Thursday

• Here are your first official details about Naughty Dog's much awaited threequel Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
• Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reveal Kim Jong-Il's son as a gamer.
• Radio guy Howard Stern has re-upped his contract with Sirius satellite radio.
• It is possible to get a Minority Report style interface from Kinect.
• Check out two new pieces of Batman: Arkham City artwork if you know what's good for you.
• PlayStation Plus subscribers are getting some sweet holiday gifts this Christmas.
• Amazon is offering deals on PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits all day today.
• The PlayStation 3 versions of Mortal Kombat is getting Kratos. Who should they put in the Xbox 360 version?
• Have a topic suggestion for this week's Feedback? Submit your question here!
• X-Play sat down with Fight Night Champion's producer, Brian Hayes.
• Disney meets World of Warcraft in "Part of your Guild."
• Radio Shack has an amazing deal for you: A DS Lite for only $75.
• Naughty Dog has released a few more details and a couple new screenshots for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
• A Fox Exec has squashed a boatload of rumors about the Alien prequel film. Most notably, the idea it was going to be two films.
• Capcom's Crimson Viper and Marvel's Storm have been added to the Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Morgan Webb and Kevin Pereira take you Around the Net!
• Blizzard had the cinematic ending to StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm leak onto the internet. Does it hurt the game?
• He fills them with water and uses them as instruments to play the Song of Healing from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask of course
• The AVADirect Silverstone Raven Gaming PC could be the most expensive desktop we've reviewed so far.
• Check out the bloody new "Sprawl" trailer for Dead Space 2 because clean pants are overrated.
• WikiLeaks may have cornered the market on state secrets and banking scandals, but we've got the biggest gaming leaks right here.
• Morgan Webb sits down with World of Warcraft Game Director Tom Chilton to discuss Cataclysm's development and release.
• The iconic card game makes the leap to PCs everywhere. Can you build your digital deck?
• With new game-modes and an awesome grapple gun, how can LittleBigPlanet 2 not be a blast to play?
• The Xbox 360 and Call of Duty: Black Ops were the big winners in November, according to the latest NPD figures.

Friday

• Playstation 3 car sim Gran Turismo 5 has sold over 5.5 million copies.
• Someone has stolen a ton of game systems used by kids with cancer.
• Check out the first trailer, and some new screenshots, for thatgamecompany's gorgeous looking Journey.
• The PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 will be released on Jan. 18. 2011 and Jan. 21 in Europe.
• Oddworld Inhabitants announced today its Oddboxx collection of titles will be available this holiday for $24.99.
• A collection of Billy Joel tracks will be on Rock Band 3 next week.
• A new patch has been released for the PS3 version of Fallout: New Vegas. It will be released for 360/PC next week.
• Nintendo has sold 2.7 million Wii and DS systems last month alone.
• The UFC is suing Ubisoft over the use of the phrase "Ultimate Fighting" on the box for Fighters Uncaged.
• A gamer by the name of DemonStrate beat Portal in 9 minutes and 25 seconds
• Do your eyes a huge favor and check out this extended CGI trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
• In the aftermath of Cataclysm, we tour the landscape to bring you a detailed look at the new Azeroth.
• Quake Arena Arcade will finally be available for Xbox Live Arcade on December 15th.
• It might be challenging to see which game deserve the title of Best Game of 2010 but for two of TheFeed's writers the choice is clear
• We talked about the most popular MMORPGs of today and the ones we're most excited for coming up in the future.