Starhawk for PS3 and Minecraft for XBLA highlights this week’s releases [7-13 May 2012]

Another slow week for game releases. The PlayStation 3 is getting Starhawk this week, a third person shooter developed by LightBox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica and is the spiritual successor to Warhawk. Players will engage enemies on foot, and in both ground and air vehicles. A new system called “Build & Battle” is one of the main features of the game which allows players to build structures such as bunkers and armouries to turn the tides of the battle. Features single player, multiplayer and an offline and online co-op mode.

This week will also see the release of Minecraft for Xbox Live Arcade developed by 4J Studios. The game is pretty much identical to the original PC version but with slight differences. The Xbox 360 version will have Kinect support and will feature a tutorial mode that isn’t found in the PC version. The crafting system have been simplified and players can play with their friends in 4-player splitscreen mode and can support up to 8 players in total.

Portal 2 is getting a free downloadable content this week named Perpetual Testing Initiative for both PC and Mac through Steam. It’s a free download that allows players to build their own puzzle chambers and can be published over at the Steam Workshop for others to rate and try out the user generated content. Players can also test out their chambers instantly within the editor.