Epic Games announces "The End" is coming today to Fortnite, as the Chapter 2 finale event for the battle royale/survival game. This one-time only event kicks off at 4:00 pm EST. Here's a Finale Event Teaser Trailer and more on what this entails:

Squad up with your friends and players around the world to take on the Sideways corruption. “The End” supports large parties of up to 16 players queued together, so bring the whole squad along. Be sure to log in early — ‘The End’ playlist will be available in Fortnite 30 minutes prior to the start time for players to jump in.

“The End” is a one-time only, in-game event. Content creators and players looking to relive the final moments of Fortnite Chapter 2 should take steps to record and archive their experience as replays will not be available. Players will be unable to edit their settings once "The End" begins, so please adjust any visual options to your preferred viewing experience before joining. Because the Season will end a day early, all players who log in before the end of the Season will receive a 225,000 XP reward.

Continue here to read the full story.

Following the revelation of plans to bring UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection to PC, the Steam Listing for the bundle is now online (thanks MP1ST). A release was promised early next year, but the listing doesn't narrow that down, simply showing a 2022 release date. Here's part of the description:

Seek your fortune and leave your mark on the map in the UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Uncover the thrilling cinematic storytelling and the largest blockbuster action set pieces in the UNCHARTED franchise, packed with all the wit, cunning, and over the top moments of the beloved thieves – Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer.

In an experience delivered by award winning developer Naughty Dog can, the UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection includes the two critically-acclaimed, globe-trotting single player adventures from UNCHARTED™ 4: A Thief’s End and UNCHARTED™: The Lost Legacy. Each story is filled with laughs, drama, high octane combat, and a sense of wonder – remastered to be even more immersive.

Official patch.

• Team Fortress 2 Update Released.

• Halo Infinite has an absurd desync problem which devs will “look into.”

Official trailer.

• Dying Light 2 Stay Human — Dying 2 Know- Episode 5. Thanks DSOGaming.

• Bringing Emotion into Action: 25 Years of Animation at Ubisoft With Gilles.

• 2021 Game Awards Host Silent On Activision Blizzard Allegations.
• Activision ‘will not be a part of’ The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley says.
• Team Fortress 2 TFConnect Charity Event.

• Bloomberg: Sony Interactive Entertainment planning new subscription service to rival Xbox Game Pass.

• Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and ether prices drop sharply.
• Tour the White House's Christmas decorations on Google Street View.

Thank Neutronbeam.

• Nvidia RTX 2060 12GB won’t have Founders Edition, sparking price concerns.
• Ubuntu is the brains behind Xiaomi's Half Life-esque CyberDog.
• A New Humanoid Robot Has the Most Realistic Facial Expressions Yet. Thanks Slashdot.
• Blender 3.0 Has Been Released. Feel free to insert your tender heart.
• A Top SoftBank Executive Wants $2 Billion in Pay. His Boss Disagrees (may require registration or subscription).
• This is why your external monitor looks awful on an M1 Mac.

• Pretty much all Wi-Fi routers are vulnerable to attack, study finds. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Apple AirTags are being exploited to steal cars in Canada.
• Hackers Are Spamming Businesses’ Receipt Printers With ‘Antiwork’ Manifestos. Thanks Slashdot.

• Open-source Vizio lawsuit takes an ugly turn. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Colorado's DMEA loses billing capability after cyber attack. Top suspects: Marla Singer and someone known only as "The Narrator." Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Reuters :Big tech will still be able to bypass new global tax law.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Case: Cooler Master’s Elite 500 ODD- An Affordable Optical Drive Option - Tom's Hardware.
• Case: OCC checks out the Hyte Revolt 3 mini ITX case (video).
• Case: Retroflag SuperPi 4 Case Review - Tom's Hardware.
• Headset: ASUS ROG Cetra II Core Review - Bass Heads, Rejoice! - TechPowerUp.
• Headset: Campfire Audio Holocene Review - Headfonics.
• Keyboard: Mistel Q75 Keyboard Review - TechPowerUp.
• Laptop: 2022 Vaio SX14 Review - MobileTechReviews (video).
• Laptop: Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 W7600 laptop in review- Powerful and light workstation - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Monitor: Dell S2421H Review - RTINGS.com.
• Motherboard: MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi motherboard review - PC Gamer.

• Call of Duty Testers Laid Off By Activision Despite Promises…
• It’s Never Been More Obvious That You Suck at Video Games (may require registration or subscription)…

I managed to find a booster yesterday. Our local CVS was able to take me as a walk in. It was kind of crowded, but I got in and out pretty quickly. I got the Pfizer booster, so I'll just wait for it to combine with my J&J shot (and the DNA of that radioactive spider that bit me) to turn me into some form of hybrid superhero. I had a tough choice to make in picking which arm to victimize. I'm basically a righty, so I usually get shots in my left arm. But I'm still putting my left arm through hell with physical rehab, so I chose the other. And the right arm was probably the correct arm, as it's killing me at the moment, and this probably would have interfered with my physical therapy. But otherwise I feel fine, so I'll just lay low this weekend and hope it stays that way.

Boosted Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Link

• Georg Simmel: how living in big cities affects the way we think. That shot of the Carnegie Deli fills me with nostalgia.
• The inventor of Tickle Me Elmo was a Unabomber suspect.
• 'Carolina Squat' vehicles are now illegal on North Carolina roads. Thanks RedEye9.

Stories

• Italian man tries to dodge Covid jab using fake arm. Thanks brother19.
• Carlsen Wins Game 6, Longest World Chess Championship Game Of All Time. Thanks Slashdot.
• Maryland homeowners burned down their home while attempting to rid the house of snakes.

Science
Thanks Max.

• Color-changing magnifying glass gives clear view of infrared light.
• Ocean plastic is creating new communities of life on the high seas.

Image

• The only total solar eclipse of 2021 in pictures: Amazing photos from Antarctica.

Media

• When you're the only person in band that practices. Thanks VideoSift.
• We're Not Gonna Take It - Mariah Carey Christmas Special. Thanks
• VideoSift.

Follow-ups

• Covid: Don't panic about Omicron variant, WHO says.
• Omicron variant may be worse for reinfection than delta, study says.

The Funnies

• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Adverse. Thanks James.

A post on the Respawn Entertainment Website from Chad Grenier announces he is leaving the studio he co-founded 11 years ago. Chad has been game director for Apex Legends, and he explains that stewardship of the battle royale shooter will now be in the capable hands of Steven Ferreira:

Apex Legends is in great hands and I feel like I can walk away knowing this game and community will continue to be taken care of. We’ve got years worth of content in flight, and I can’t think of anyone better than Steven Ferreira to take over as the game director and make sure it’s done right. Steven joined as a lead on the Apex Legends team shortly after launch in June 2019, where he’s been running half of the team and serving as my right hand for the other half. At Respawn, we’ve always believed that new leadership and new team members mean new ideas, new energy, and new innovations. This couldn’t be a more accurate statement to describe Steven’s many contributions over the years.

As I step away from Respawn, it’s important to let you know how much everyone at the studio and I appreciate the fans and this passionate community. Without you, this whole making games thing just doesn't work. And we’ve accomplished some truly extraordinary things together, from integrating fan art into the game to seeing the community bring Apex Legends stories to life on Twitter. It's been an absolute joy to watch the game and community grow.

Battlefield rumormeister Tom Henderson tweets that his understanding is the next Battlefield will be more of a hero shooter:

The next Battlefield title is scoped as a hero shooter of sorts - It's not a removal of specialists, but an enhancement of them.

#Battlefield2042 has always been intended to be a stepping stone to a "hero shooter" with a Battle Royale - It was just executed poorly.

It should be said to take with a grain of salt, of course, but given that I heard about this stuff last week and with all of the announcements the past couple of days, it makes perfect sense.

BF 2042 did change direction early on, but I can't see them changing it?

Here's more rumormongering to get the weekend off to a saucy start. Following a recent unconfirmed report about plans for a new BioShock game, VGC has more speculation about a fourth installment in the shooter series. This is based on a Patreon Video which it says jibes with its own reporting. Here's word:

According to Moriarty, BioShock 4 will take place during the 1960s in a fictional Antarctic city. This matches with what VGC has been told by our own sources about the game.

Narratively the game will be tied to the previous BioShock games, the journalist claimed, and developer Cloud Chamber is targeting a 2022 release.

“It takes place in a 1960s Antarctic city called Borealis,” Moriarty said. “[The game is] codenamed ‘Parkside’… I’ve been told that the development team has incredible latitude to get it right. That seems and sounds right to me.”

He added: “Internally the game is very secret and apparently, totally locked up. Apparently the inclination there is that they understand full well that this game will be compared to what [BioShock creator] Ken Levine does. And by the way, [Take-Two] is also publishing Levine’s next game.”

With the scheduled release date for Syberia: The World Before looming just a week off, Microids announces it is delayed. The release of the new installment in the adventure series is now planned for Q1 2022. Sadly, Syberia creator Benoît Sokal died earlier this year. He is mentioned in the announcement, but his passing is not mentioned as a reason for the setback:

We wish to share some important news regarding the Syberia: The World Before’s release date.

Initially scheduled for December 10th 2021 on PC, we’ve made a decision to push back the launch to Q1 2022. We soon will release more information about the exact release date.

We are committed to releasing the best possible game offering an immersive adventure which will transport you and remain faithful to the universe of Benoit Sokal. It currently seems necessary to give ourselves a little more time to finalize the development in the best conditions.

Continue here to read the full story.

THQ Nordic stirs the embers of Titan Quest with the release of Eternal Embers, a fourth expansion for the action/RPG. This is available for Windows on Steam with a 10% launch discount for the next week. The add-on has a bunch of new content and settings as it takes the game into "the mystic realms of the Far East." The Release Trailer takes a look, and the description explains further:

Action-RPG Titan Quest is getting a new expansion! In Eternal Embers, players will set foot in the mystic realms of the Far East. Legendary entities from Asian mythology like the Jade Emperor, the Ten Suns, and the Dragon King of the Four Seas are part of an epic storyline, spanning four new acts. Over 30 different types of enemies and bosses are standing in the player's path and a new mastery becomes available. With the legendary powers of the ancient Neidan masters, the blessings of demigods, and the will of ancient emperors, all the power is at the player’s fingertips.

With new weapons and new gear, new relics, new potion types, and additional game modes - Titan Quest: Eternal Embers offer a divine amount of fresh content for the critically acclaimed Action-RPG.

Continue here to read the full story.

New version 21.12.1 AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition drivers are now available from AMD Support. As usual, these Windows drivers offer some gaming support:

Support For

• Halo Infinite™
  • Up to 17% increase in performance in Halo Infinite @ 4K Ultra Settings, using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 21.12.1 on the 16 GB Radeon™ RX 6900 XT graphics card, versus the previous software driver version 21.11.3.
  • Up to 19% increase in performance in Halo Infinite @ 4K Ultra Settings, using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 21.12.1 on the 16 GB Radeon™ RX 6800 XT graphics card, versus the previous software driver version 21.11.3.
  • Up to 16% increase in performance in Halo Infinite @ 4K Ultra Settings, using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 21.12.1 on the 12 GB Radeon™ RX 6700 XT graphics card, versus the previous software driver version 21.11.3.
• Fortnite™
• Icarus™
• Blender 3.0™ on Radeon™ RX 6000 series Graphics.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Save 50% on BIOMUTANT on Steam.
• Save 64% on Tomorrow Corporation Collection on Steam.
• Save 20% on Teardown on Steam.
• Digitized Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Break Down First-Person Storytelling (video). Thanks Ant.

• Townscaper Is Now Available For PC, Xbox One, And Xbox Series X-S (Xbox Game Pass).
• GRID Legends Is Now Available For Digital Pre-order And Pre-download On Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.
• This Week On Xbox- December 03, 2021.

• People named Alexa are changing their names because of Amazon’s assistant (may require registration or subscription).

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Intel Raptor Lake CPU Falls to Core i9-12900K, Ryzen 9 5950X in Early Leaked Benchmark.
• ‘It’s a bot war,’ say Nvidia and AMD GPU hunters who quit their day jobs. Thanks Max.
• Nvidia, HP and Zotac Request Temporary Tariff Exemption on GPUs. Thanks brother19.
• 54 years ago, a computer programmer fixed a massive bug — and created an existential crisis. Thanks RedEye9.
• Ventoy 1.0.62.
• Download: MSI AfterBurner 4.6.4 Final.

• iPhones of US diplomats hacked using “0-click” exploits from embattled NSO. Thanks brother19.
• FBI- Cuba ransomware group hit 49 critical infrastructure organizations.

• Valve says DayZ and five other games are now anti-cheat ready for Linux (and Steam Deck)…
• Does the gaming press of old hold up today?…

Obituary: Acclaimed Shakespearean actor Antony Sher dies at 72.

GOG.com announces a Techland Classics Sale to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Techland, the Polish developer/publisher. In addition to the other discounts in the sale, this includes 100% off on Crime Cities. Here's a refresher on this shooter/vehicle simulation, since it was first released over 20 years ago:

Pandemia System: A futuristic world where law and order have been replaced by a tidal wave of terror and crime. The human federation decides to frame one of it's best men for treason and disobeying orders and sentences him to spend the rest of his days on one of the planet's prison cities. This is his cover as he begins the most crucial mission of his life.

Crime Cities is a revolutionary mix of shooter and future vehicle simulator with a complex plot, and explosive environment and life-threatening missions that are so mind-blowing, you'll think flying a hovercraft through a myriad of city skyscrapers is the easy part of the job.

Continue here to read the full story.

Crows Crows Crows Tweets that development is complete on The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, and this reimagined version of 2013's The Stanley Parable will arrive next year on Steam. Word is: "After 3 years of full time development, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is content complete and launching in early 2022 on consoles and home computers! Check out our Steam page!" Here's the description of what to expect from the adventure remake:

Everything that was in the original Stanley Parable is here, preserved just like it was back in 2013. But The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe also dramatically expands the world of the original game with new content, new choices, and new secrets to uncover. The labyrinth has just gotten bigger.

In addition, the game has been visually upgraded to reflect modern technology while faithfully preserving the tone of the original game. Accessibility features have also been added to the game, including localization of in-world text, colorblind options, and content warnings.

Chorus is now available for Windows on Steam, offering a third-person shooter set in space, where no one can hear you harmonize. The Steam listing still calls this a pre-purchase, but this post has a Launch Trailer and word the game is out. Here's a Chorus line:

Take control of Nara, Legendary Ace pilot and her sentient ship Forsaken, on their path to redemption as you travel across the galaxy with one quest – take down The Circle and their oppressive regime and face-off with The Great Prophet, its mysterious leader.

Experience fast-paced, zero-G action as you upgrade Forsaken’s weapons and tech, discover the mysteries of the Chorus universe and unite resistance forces against the powerful scourge of The Circle. Become the ultimate living weapon as you master your powers to achieve your goal. The journey starts now, we rise as one.

Continue here to read the full story.

WorldBox - God Simulator is now available on Steam, offering a god game for Windows from Maxim Karpenko. This in fact describes itself as the "ULTIMATE god simulator," though the throwback graphics in the this trailer suggest this god may need glasses. The description certainly describes a more impressive set of powers that bygone entries in the genre that put you in the role of a landscaper:

In Worldbox - God Simulator you can build your own world and fill it with life. Create different creatures: sheep, wolves, humans, orcs, dwarves, and even Dragons or UFO! Watch how civilizations progress and interact with each other; or you can use your powers to destroy. Start fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, launch meteorites -- everything is up to you!

Continue here to read the full story.

In a post on Steam, Crytek thanks players for a recent uptick in review scores for Crysis Remastered. They also mention a new patch will come to the shooter remake at the end of next month to improve CPU/GPU performance. The post also notes the game is currently on sale, and offers the following perspective on the game's "Can it Run Crysis" mode:

We also like to mention another thing that we've been seeing coming up a lot lately and that's the "Can it Run Crysis?" graphical setting mode. While it's technically the highest available graphical setting mode in Crysis Remastered, and although we’re working on performance improvements, we recommend everyone to treat “Can it Run Crysis?” mode as an experimental setting, not a baseline for performance benchmarks. It doesn't function as a regular graphic setting; it has unlimited view distance and level of detail, and it loads every detail in the level you're playing at the start of your session. This is an extremely taxing setting even for the top-of-the-line PC hardware currently on the market. When we came up with this setting, our aim was to future-proof the Crysis Remastered experience for years to come.

Eurogamer reports that developer Hazelight has abandoned the trademark for It Takes Two, the recently released co-op puzzle game. This was a response to legal threats from Take-Two Interactive, a company that is historically quite aggressive about trademark protection. A Hazelight spokesperson responded to a request for comment by saying the company "cannot comment on ongoing disputes," but remains "hopeful it will be resolved." This is odd in light of a notice of abandonment indicating Hazelight already surrendered this trademark shortly after Take-Two's objection was filed.

• Weekend Sale: outstanding adventure games up to 90% off - GOG.com.
• Choose Wisely Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

Official patches.

• Diablo II- Resurrected - 12.2 - PC Patch Notes - 2.3 - Build 67314.
• Euro Truck Simulator 2- 1.43 Update Open Beta.
• No Man's Sky - Expeditions Revisited 3.75.
• Team Fortress 2 Update Released.
• WORLD OF HORROR - 0.9.84 ‘THE CEASELESS CURSE.’

• Vanguard Operator is completely breaking the game.

Official trailer.

• This Is the President - How To Get Rid Of A Supreme Court Judge.

• Watch GWENT World Masters this weekend.

• Timothy vs The Aliens Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.
• Grim Dawn: Definitive Edition Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.
• Chorus Is Now Available For Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.

• Steam Deck Deposit - Steam Deck - Final Packaging + Dev Kits.
• Google Planning 'Pixel Watch' for a 2022 Launch Under Code Name 'Rohan'. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.

• Fundraisers shut down for man convicted in Ahmaud Arbery murder.
• Microsoft backtracks on Windows 11’s controversial default browser changes.
• US creditors can now DM debtors on social media. You up?
• Google Can Now Help You Find a Doctor That Takes Your Insurance.
• Hulu Pulls 'Astroworld- Concert From Hell' Documentary After Backlash.
• Facebook allowed ads that promoted anti-vaccine messages.
• Wikipedia’s Co-Founder Is Auctioning His First Edit As an NFT.

• Western Digital Spills Beans on HDD Plans- 30TB HDDs Planned, MAMR's Future Unclear.

• New report identifies malicious activity 'hotspots'. Thanks Ant.
• It's a truly cruel scam. Here's the dramatic way Google is trying to stop it.
• There's been a big jump in crooks selling access to hacked networks. Ransomware gangs are their best customers.

• Crypto CEOs Will Testify Before U.S. House Panel. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• U.S. Indicts Two Men for Running a $20 Million YouTube Content ID Scam. Thanks Boing Boing.

• Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P Test - OCinside (German).
• Headset: EarFun Air Pro 2 TWS Earbuds - Nikk Tech.
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Pro Review - Vortez.
• Mouse: Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless Review - TechPowerUp.
• Router: ASUS ROG Strix GS-AX5400 Review - APH Networks.

• Battlefield 2042 devs respond after players slam Santa Claus Holiday skin. Totally didn't plan on using that skin they paid to create…

Burger King is returning the Whopper to its original price. This is today and tomorrow in participating locations. There are Burger Kings outside the US, but I don't know if this is a worldwide promotion. My physical therapy place (actually occupational therapy for injuries above the waist) has one practically next door. The smell from this surrounds the area, so I finally gave into temptation a couple of weeks ago and picked up an Impossible Whopper for a nostalgia trip. Burger Kings have always been a mixed bag, and this one was at the wrong end of the mix. It was dirty, the service was slow and terrible, and they even got my order wrong ("cheese?" really?). So yeah, I'm going have it my way and pass. Even if it was $0.37, the Whopper I got would have been overpriced.

Round-up Your Way
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Stories

• Californian firm touts ‘mushroom leather’ as sustainability gamechanger. Thanks Slashdot.
• Why James Bond Producers Keep Saying Never Again to a TV Spinoff (Exclusive).

Science
Thanks Max.

• Caffeine Improves Reaction to Moving Targets.
• Bionic Eye Study Paves the Way Toward Human Trials.

Media

• Animation vs. Arcade Games. Thanks VideoSift.
• What REALLY Killed the Dinosaurs - Cyanide & Happiness Shorts (NSFW).
• Most People Don't Know How Bikes Work. Thanks RedEye9.