A statement on VGC from Ubisoft announces a shakeup to the company's editorial team to create more varied gameplay experiences. They tie this back to last year's news that the publisher/developer was delaying three games to rethink their approach after disappointment in the response to Ghost Recon Breakpoint and The Division 2. VGC says: "It’s believed that by spreading editorial’s responsibilities across a group of leaders, the team can help bring a more distinct identity to their respective games. VGC was also told that simply expanding the group’s resources and giving it some presence outside of Paris could have just as much of a positive impact." They offer this quote from an anonymous source: "In the previous system that editorial had, there were often the ideas of just one or two people getting put into every game. That’s why you tended to see such similarity, because it’s the same taste and opinion being replicated." Here's the short statement on the topic from Ubisoft:

“We are reinforcing our editorial team to be more agile and better accompany our development teams around the world as they create the best gaming experiences for players.”

• Borderlands 3 Hotfixes- January 16, 2020. Thanks Neutronbeam via Forbes.
• Spirit of Diablo is a mod for Diablo 2 that aims to make it feel and play more like the first game.
• Sekiro Combat Overhaul Mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim available now for download.

• Disintegration: Watch a Full Mission Fighting Deadly Sci-Fi Robots.
• Microsoft Flight Simulator: Feature Discovery Series Episode 5: Soundscape. Thanks DSOGaming.

• Double XP weekend now live in Modern Warfare through January 21.

• Escape From Tarkov is a daunting and savage evolution of battle royale - PC Gamer.

• Kidnapped 14-year-old girl rescued after friends use Snapchat to find her.

• Instagram drops IGTV button, but only 1% downloaded the app.
• How the internet helped crack the Astros' sign-stealing case. Thanks Engadget.
• ICANN needs to ask more questions about the sale of .ORG.

• AMD confirms ‘Nvidia killer’ graphics card will be out in 2020.
• Intel Core i9-10900, Core i5-10500 Comet Lake Results Posted.
• Scientists May Have Discovered Universal Memory, DRAM Replacement.
• 'Remarkable' Mathematical Proof Describes How to Solve Seemingly Impossible Computing Problem. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• NHS chief says loot boxes are "setting kids up for addiction" to gambling.
• A Georgia election server was vulnerable to Shellshock and may have been hacked.
• Hitting the Books: Hackers can convince your IoT devices to betray you.

• To catch a thief, go to Google with a geofence warrant – and it will give you all the details.
• FBI Takes Down Site With 12 Billion Stolen Records.

• MXGP 2019 - The Official Motocross Videogame - Christ Centered Gamer.
• Vestaria Saga I: War of the Scions review - Rock Paper Shotgun.

• AMD Ryzen 9 3900X vs. Ryzen 9 3950X vs. Intel Core i9 9900KS CPU In Nearly 150 Benchmarks - Phoronix.
• Bitspower Premium Summit M CPU Block Review - TechPowerUp.
• MSI RX 5500 XT Gaming X 8GB Graphics Card - LanOC Reviews.
• Patriot Viper VPR100 1TB SSD - LanOC Reviews.
• Reeven Justice II CPU Cooler Review - TweakTown.
• Zalman Z7 Neo Case Review - Overclocked Inside.

• Unsolved Mystery: Which Game Industry Exec Did Joe Biden Just Call A 'Little Creep'?…

Looking forward to a visit today from our friends from our old neighborhood, including the twins and Jedi the Jindo. This is for a sleepover, representing a milestone in getting our new home in order after the delivery of all our possessions made the place look like an episodes of a hoarders show. There's still work to be done to get rid of more stuff and get what remains in order, but that is now mostly concentrated down here in my office/mancave. So all-in-all most of the place is in pretty good order now, which is really encouraging.

Obituary: JRR Tolkien's son Christopher dies aged 95.

Orderly Links:	Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.
Stories:	The Sword in the Stone Removed Ahead of King Arthur Carrousel Refurbishment at Disneyland. Thanks Boing Boing. Portrait of a Lady: Painting found hidden in Italian gallery wall confirmed as long-lost Klimt.
Science:	What Wolf Pups That Play Fetch Reveal About Your Dog. Thanks j.c.f. Fish Oil Supplements Tied to Sperm Health. Thanks Max. Scientists say hot ocean "blob" killed one million seabirds.
Media:	GUNS AKIMBO Trailer (2020). NSFW. Mom Guesses Who's Slept with Her Daughter - Lineup. NSFW. A Security Joke: Brinks “High Security” Cable Lock Jiggled Open.
Auctions:	Louis Vuitton just bought the world's second-biggest diamond.
Follow-up:	Boeing addresses new 737 MAX software issue that could keep plane grounded longer. Thanks RedEye9.

IGN has an official statement from Valve saying Left 4 Dead 3 is "absolutely" not currently in development, following the recent reveal of concept art for a new installment in the co-op zombie shooter series. Here's the full statement:

“We’ve seen rumors to this effect for the last couple of months,” Valve said in a statement. “We did briefly explore some Left 4 Dead next gen opportunities a few years ago. But we are absolutely not working on anything L4D related now, and haven’t for years."

“It’s clear some people are having fun creating misinformation to spin up the community and other outlets. Unfortunately, for now a new L4D game is not something we’re working on.”

3D Realms announces they are working on Kingpin: Reloaded, a remake of Kingpin: Life of Crime, Xatrix Entertainment's first-person shooter from back in 1999 (thanks Indie Retro News). Here's a Reveal Trailer, and they offer some screenshots of the updated graphics along with the following details:

In a stylized noir art deco gangland that never was, the Kingpin rules above all else with a bloody fist. When his lieutenant Nikki Blanco leaves a no-name Thug battered and broken, the upstart criminal rises from a puddle of blood, lead pipe in hand and revenge in mind.

Kingpin: Reloaded brings new life to the Quake II engine classic. 4K resolution, ultrawide support, and improved graphics in Enhanced mode enable the beautifully-depicted metropolitan nightmare shine. Controller support makes the game more accessible for anyone who wants to explore the depths of Kingpin’s depravity. Overall improvements like new quest and conversation systems make Reloaded even better than the original.

Stalk lamp-lit streets and take down rival gangs to let the Kingpin know his end is nigh. Kingpin’s immersive sim elements allow the Thug to recruit other gangsters with a conversation system. Increase the Thug’s influence through multiple hub-based missions. Run with the gang on a violent warpath with upgradeable weapons including Tommy guns, bazookas, and more. Location-based damage leads to bloody, thrilling battles: kneecap, maim, or go for the head.

If that sounds too extreme, try No Violence mode. However, the “colorful” language proudly used by Kingpin’s gangsters remains. Lean even further into that era and start fragging in Gang Bang mode’s old-school multiplayer.

Continue here to read the full story.

In a Joe Biden interview in The New York Times, the former US vice president and current presidential hopeful discusses technology, saying he's in favor of revoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says that online platforms aren't liable for things their users post on them. He also talks about his dealings with silicon valley during his time at the White House. In one of his signature freewheeling rambles he calls the executives he spoke with "creeps," "righteous," and "arrogant," referring to their output as "games to teach you how to kill people." Here's the perspective on current technology from someone who still refers to phone calls as coming through a switchboard:

And you may recall, the criticism I got for meeting with the leaders in Silicon Valley, when I was trying to work out an agreement dealing with them protecting intellectual property for artists in the United States of America. And at one point, one of the little creeps sitting around that table, who was a multi- — close to a billionaire — who told me he was an artist because he was able to come up with games to teach you how to kill people, you know the ——

CW: Like video games.

Yeah, video games. And I was lectured by one of the senior leaders there that by saying if I insisted on what Leahy’d put together and we were, I thought we were going to fully support, that they would blow up the network, figuratively speaking. Have everybody contact. They get out and go out and contact the switchboard, just blow it up.

And then one of these righteous people said to me that, you know, “We are the economic engine of America. We are the ones.” And fortunately I had done a little homework before I went and I said, you know, I find it fascinating. As I added up the seven outfits, everyone’s there but Microsoft. I said, you have fewer people on your payroll than all the losses that General Motors just faced in the last quarter, of employees. So don’t lecture me about how you’ve created all this employment.

The point is, there’s an arrogance about it, an overwhelming arrogance that we are, we are the ones. We can do what we want to do. I disagree.

The Battle Brothers Website announces plans for upcoming Battle Brothers DLC called Blazing Deserts, not to be confused with blazing desserts, like crepes suzette (thanks DocZ). This third DLC for the turn-based tactical RPG is expected sometime in Q2, and it will be accompanied by a "sizable" free update with QOL improvements and balance changes. Here's a full rundown on what to expect:

The focus of the DLC will be on expanding and enriching the existing world with a new land of burning deserts and lush jungles to the south. Across these lands you’ll find a unique culture loosely based on historic Arabian and Persian cultures of the medieval ages built atop the ruins of the Ancient Empire in the world of Battle Brothers. You’ll find new lore and a different political system, equipment not seen anywhere else, and fresh contracts to earn your stay with. There’ll be a new late game crisis, new legendary locations and several new beasts roaming the wilds. This DLC will be our biggest one yet for Battle Brothers.

Here’s the rough list of features we’re aiming for:

Continue here to read the full story.

• Steam Daily Deal - Beholder 2, 60% Off + a free non-giftable copy of Beholder.
• Steam Daily Deal - Shadow Warrior Franchise, up to 75% Off.

• NVIDIA's NEW FPS Limiter vs. RTSS & In-Engine Limiters - Input Lag Results. Thanks Simon.

• Sci-Fi Twin-Stick Shooter Hovership Havoc is Available Now on Xbox One.
• Far-Out Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• This Week on Xbox: January 17, 2020.
• Next Week on Xbox: New Games for January 21 to 24.
• The Drop: New PlayStation Games for January 21, 2020.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Skip Ahead Ring (2004.200116-0000).
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Ring (2002.200114-2000).

• Quantum Locking Will Blow Your Mind—How Does it Work? Thanks Simon.

• Ubisoft files lawsuit against Rainbow Six Siege DDoS attackers.

Link of the Day: How '1917' Was Filmed To Look Like One Shot.

Something's brewing, tweets Baldur's Gate 3. The tweet includes a short embedded video with the following tagline: "Something's brewing 02.27.20," so it will be more than a month before we learn what this means for the RPG sequel. If you're looking for clues, the clip also includes some footage of some motion capture actors and the following quote: "There've been many developments since last you were in Baldur's Gate my friend. It's time to return." - Volo. Thanks PC Gamer.

NPD Group tweets their tally of the top 10 best-selling videogames of 2019 along with their list of the top 10 bestselling games of the decade from 2010-2019 (thanks ResetEra). So were the 2010s the decade of Grand Theft Auto V or the decade of Call of Duty? Or why not both? Here are the lists:

US NPD SW - 2019 Top 10 Sellers - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was 2019's best-selling game.

Top 10 Best-Selling Games, 2019 Year

US NPD SW - 2010-2019 Top 10 Sellers - Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling game of the decade.

Continue here to read the full story.

The transcript of yesterday's CD Projekt RED conference call reveals that the delay to Cyberpunk 2077 will not prevent the dreaded crunch that so often is part of wrapping up a game's development (thanks VG247). This comes despite a couple of promises that the developers of their RPG would not have to crunch to complete the game. Here's the question and the answer provided by the company's joint-CEO Adam Kiciński:

P6: And is the development team required to put in crunch hours?

AK: To some degree, yes – to be honest. We try to limit crunch as much as possible, but it is the final stage. We try to be reasonable in this regard, but yes. Unfortunately.

Android Police report that Valve is officially bringing Steam to Chromebooks, though it is not yet revealed when this will happen (thanks TechRadar). Word is this will come through the Linux support in Chrome OS, so this is something you can do already, but at this point it is not officially supported. They also note that most Chromebook hardware will only be up to the task of playing a limited number of games:

The next question, of course, is just what sorts of games would even be worth playing on a Chromebook when run directly on local hardware. Currently, most Chromebooks have extremely limited 3D acceleration performance, with only the most recent devices like Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook possessing vaguely passable GPUs. Liu said we could expect that to change: more powerful Chromebooks, especially AMD Chromebooks, are coming. Liu would not explicitly confirm that any of these models would contain discrete Radeon graphics, but told us to stay tuned.

NVIDIA now offers a new version 442.01 GeForce hotfix driver for Windows 10 to update their Game Ready Driver version 441.87 (thanks DSOGaming). Word is these address three specific issues:

This Hotfix driver resolves the following issues:

• [Call of Duty Modern Warfare] Streaming of gameplay using StreamLabs OBS will randomly stop
• [The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine] Game may crash when a user reaches a specific cut scene
• [SLI+G-SYNC Stutter] User may experience minor stuttering when using NVIDIA SLI in combination with G-SYNC.

Windows 10 64-bit Standard Driver - Click Here
Windows 10 64-bit DCH Driver - Click Here

*Please note: Windows 8.1x64 is not supported on Turing GeForce RTX 20 and GeForce GTX 16 series graphics cards.

• GOG.com Weekend Sale: Platform games up to 90% off.

• Developer insight - Combat - Haxity.

• Fortnite streamers team up with NFL Pros for Twitch Rivals Streamer Bowl.
• The Power Rangers fighting game is an esport now.

• Microsoft's Xbox Console Streaming preview goes global.
• Marvel's Iron Man VR gets delayed to May.
• DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor Pre-Purchase Is Now Available For Xbox One.

• Facebook Backs Off Controversial Plan to Sell Ads in WhatsApp. Thanks Hypothermia.
• Facebook canceled two original Watch series.
• The Streaming Wars have barely started and they’re already exhausting.

• All the Problems with CES - Laziness, Lying, & Bad Products. Thanks Hypothermia.

• Microsoft releases critical Windows 10 security update – which doesn’t work.
• Unlocking news: We decrypt those cryptic headlines about Scottish cops bypassing smartphone encryption.
• Researchers find serious flaws in WordPress plugins used on 400k sites.
• Using Google Authenticator? Here's why you should get rid of it.

• Facial recognition: EU considers ban of up to five years.
• Facebook sued in U.S. federal court for alleged anticompetitive conduct.
• Stolen creds site WeLeakInfo busted by multinational cop op for data reselling.
• Disney is hunting down the most popular Baby Yoda toys on Etsy.

• Fight'N Rage - Christ Centered Gamer.
• A Metroidvania for the HARDCORE! - OUTBUDDIES - Parallax Abstraction.

• Dream Machines DM4 Evo Mouse Review - TechPowerUp.
• SilverStone FARA B1 Review - APH Networks
• Zendure SuperTank 27.000mAh External Battery Review - Nikk Tech.

• Man "Hijacks" Airport Monitor To Play PS4 Game…

I really enjoyed HBO's Watchmen series. I also liked Zack Snyder's movie adaptation, which many did not, so I may not be the one to trust on this. But the show was better received across the board, so I'm in a firm majority on this. So it would stand to reason I'd be unhappy that its showrunner says he will not return for a second season, which HBO indicated effectively brings the show to a conclusion. That is not the case, though, I think this is an excellent call. The program erased my concerns that there was a story to be found for a sequel to the graphic novel, so I won't doubt they could find fuel for a new season. But it was really such a strong single arc that I have no problem with them calling it here. The meandering of season two of Westworld perhaps serves as a warning, as I enjoyed that, but not with nearly the same fervor as season one. The odd thing about the USA Today article on the news (thanks Neutronbeam) is how it concludes saying: "Sorry, fans, but the season-ending cliffhanger will likely never be resolved." But I don't think the ending was nebulous at all. Does anyone feel it was unclear what the next step would be (pun intended) after the final frame? I sure don't, which may be why I don't think there needs to be a season two at all.

Links:	Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.
Stories:	Can ‘Star Trek’ Chart a Way Forward? Man Busted for Impersonating Extremely Mediocre Former MLB Pitcher.
Science:	Eating differently on weekends can lead to 'metabolic jet lag,' long-term health problems, experts say. A new robotic pigeon can bend its wings like a real bird. Thanks Max. Middle-age misery peaks at 47 years of age, study says.
Media:	Squidworm - Deepsea Oddities. Jeopardy Burn. KIYA Key Safe Opened FAST.
Follow-up:	Tardigrades Can Survive In Space, But They Have One Surprising Weakness. Thanks RedEye9.