Here are the details on a new Left 4 Dead patch that's now automatically available through Steam to update Valve's co-op zombie shooter:

    • Fixed problem with add-on installer failing to install add-ons properly on some versions of Windows

    • Transition screen now shows campaign and map names for add-on campaigns

    • Bug fixes and enhancements for Novint Falcon controller

The Deal on Gamestop.com is the name of a new daily offer they will provide, which will provide a "great offer of the day" as well as other price drops and bonuses (thanks G4tv). They kick things off by offering a 25% discount off of the price of all used games, as officially determined by their used game price dartboard. Also, weekend deals on Direct2Drive include Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II for 50% off and Braid for $5.00 off. They also remind us that Aion preorders grant access to the Aion beta, while Dragon Age: Origins preorders (US and Canada only) will earn you an exclusive item. Finally, GOG.com is offering 20% off all weekend on chess games. This post from yesterday outlines additional weekend sales on Steam, GamersGate, and Impulse.

The Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta Launch Trailer on GameTrailers offers a look at combat within the mothership in the upcoming Fallout 3 DLC. The clip also shows a bit of an alien abduction, but thankfully cuts away before anyone breaks out the probes.

Who called shotgun? There's a Singularity "Shotgunning" trailer on GameTrailers showing some, well shotgunning from Raven's upcoming 4D shooter, as well as some time manipulation from the TMD.

IGN offers a new Fallen Earth Trailer from Fallen Earth, the upcoming MMORPG from FALLEN EARTH, LLC. The trailer introduces the "3 B's of the Apocalypse": Blood, beasts, and babes. And remember, if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

There's a DC Universe Online Developer Walkthrough on GameTrailers where Wes Yanagi from SOE demonstrates a mission and some combat from the upcoming PC and PS3 superhero MMORPG. The video camera is locked down to offer a steady view of gameplay, though the monitor only occupies about a quarter of the screen so we can check Wes' ears for wax.

Thinking Brink- Splash Damage's Console Evolution on Gamasutra is a conversation with Splash Damage designer Edward Stern about BRINK, their upcoming action game, focusing in part on the developer applying their experiences from PC development to the world of consoles. Reading this leaves little doubt that Ed's paid his shooter dues: "Obviously, from a PC hardcore FPS background, we know both the best and worst time you can have playing a game is online. It can be astonishing four-dimensional chess. It can be absolutely the best thing you could be doing. It could be tactical and brilliant, or it can be just an exercise in soul-crushing frustration and homophobic, racist, misogynist abuse as well.

If you want to discuss Ghostbusters: The Video Game, who you gonna call? Terminal Reality, which is what HotHardware did for their interview about the game. Their questions reflect the site's focus on hardware, discussing the Infernal engine, multiple CPU support, and the challenges of multiplatform development.

• Aion on MMORPG.COM.
• Arkham Asylum on GameSpot and IGN.
• Ashes Cricket 2009 on Eurogamer.
• Batman: Arkham Asylum on Games Radar.
• Borderlands on Computer and Video Games and Games Radar.
• Faunasphere on MassMOG.com.
• Risen on Hooked Gamers.
• Section 8 on IGN.UK.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat on No Mutants Allowed. A collection of known details.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Wet dated for September.
• Saling The World: Wii Sports Resort Leads Worldwide Charts.
• Call of Duty Classic to be released on XBL and PSN - eventually.
• Rock Band DLC Week of 8/4 - Spinal Tap's "Back From the Dead".
• Pearl Jam's Backspacer Gets Day One Rock Band Release.
• No More Heroes 2 not having multiplayer due to time constraints.
• Gears of War 2 Free Xbox Live Weekend Begins.
• German ratings board lists Braid for PS3.
• UFC 2009 patch out now.
• Sony Answers 12 Questions about PlayStation 3 Motion Control.
• Tekken 6 to see an October 29th Japanese release.
• Brutal Legend's Profanity And Gore Filters Promote Family Play.
• Madness: Bayonetta's crow ... is really a pig. A hopefully a manbearpig.

• Amazon US Refunds Windows License Fee, Too.
• Four tech spats that could be settled over a beer with Obama.

• Apple To Release Out of Band Security Patch for iPhone.

• RealNetworks suffers 15% drop in Q2 games revenue…
• 5 Games to Throw Down a Black Hole (and 5 We’d Pull Out)…

Thanks Morris for pointing out 10th anniversary of the release of Outcast. Well, at least according to Wikipedia, as according to our archive, Appeal's action/adventure game came out in Europe around June 25, 1999 and in the states on August 19, 1999. The funnier part is noting the game's future setting: 2007.

Link of the Day: Official: Ridley Scott to direct new 'Alien' movie. Thanks Slashdot.

FilePlanet is now offering access to open beta testing of CrimeCraft, Vogster Entertainment's upcoming online persistent-world third-person shooter focused on the joys of gang combat (thanks Massively). The beta requires a free FilePlanet account, rather than a paid subscription, but participation is only offered in the US and Canada, and players must also be at least 18 years of age. An announcement on the CrimeCraft Website discusses the beta, and upcoming activities and competitions it will offer.

Gamasutra reports on Disney's quarterly financial results, which show a 20% drop in revenues from Disney Interactive Media, the worst performing division at that Mickey Mouse outfit. Word is: "Disney reported that in fiscal Q3, Interactive Media logged revenues of $113 million, down from $142 million for the same quarter a year ago. Lower marketing and development costs in the games business helped narrow operating losses in the segment, which declined to $75 million from $91 million a year ago."

The promised playable demo for East India Company is now available, so we can sample the naval combat real-time strategy game that just went on sail today. The demo is available from AtomicGamer, ComputerGames.ro, FilePlanet (registration required), and The Patches Scrolls, with the latter site offering a German-language demo for the game as well.

Edge Online has another follow-up beyond the tweet from earlier about the dust-up yesterday about PlayStation 3 framerates for RAGE, id's upcoming shooter. Though the Computer and Video Games article that started this said that: "It's not mentioned whether the PS3 framerate will be addressed by the game's eventual release," Edge provides more of John Carmack's commentary on the subject that seems to indicate otherwise, offering two additional quotes from the id Technical Director:

“Everything is designed as a 60 hertz game. We expect this to be 60 hertz on every supported platform.”

“The work remaining is getting it locked so there’s never a dropped frame or a tear, but we’re confident that we’re going to get that.”

As Crytek announces on Twitter, the Crysis Monthly Update #15 is online just as the month concludes, announcing among other things that Crytek is now on Twitter (we groove big time on recursiveness here). The update also has an "Inside Crytek" interview with Senior Sound Designer Florian Fusslin, details on a three-on-three tournament, an update on a time-machine/DeLorean mod, and word on plans for another free trial for Crysis Wars, the multiplayer Crysis game. Word is: "We have another trial period coming up at the end of next month to help you guys relax throughout the end of your summer. We'll be offering loads of cool competitions throughout the trial period, plenty of giveaways, lots of fun! Be sure to keep checking back for more updates!"

Turbine announces a delay to the North American launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited until September 9, after originally setting an August 6 release date for this subscription-free edition of their D&D MMORPG. Here's word on the delay and a refresher on what DDO Unlimited has planned:

“We’ve had a tremendous response to DDO Unlimited from the players and press who are participating in our beta program,” said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of DDO Unlimited. “We’ve been holding a series of live events as part of the beta program and have seen an unprecedented level of participation from players. While we are very pleased with the performance of the game and are excited about the response from the players, we are committed to delivering a high-quality experience. We feel that more time is needed to deliver on this commitment. As a result, we are delaying our launch to ensure that we can support the massive increase in players that we are expecting and deliver them a free to play experience like none other.”

DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap, introduce a new player class and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry’s best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found only in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Turbine will provide DDO VIPs early access to the game to beginning September 1, 2009 and will provide free, unlimited access to everyone on September 9, 2009.

A post to the RAGE Twitter Feed responds to the rage over the report yesterday based on an Edge Magazine interview where John Carmack indicated the framerates on the PS3 are half or less than on Windows and Xbox 360. They offer a very generalized reassurance to PS3 owners concerned about the performance of id's upcoming post-apocalyptic shooter:

The Edge Magazine article has caused quite a ruckus. We are committed to ensuring that gamers on all platforms have a great RAGE experience

Gamigo announces Project S (working title), an upcoming subscription-free MMOG focused on martial arts from the developers of Martial Heroes. Project S will launch in the fourth quarter of this year, and applications to participate in closed beta testing are now being accepted on the Project S Website, where they have some screenshots and a trailer. They are offering a €1000 credit to the gamigo account of the winner of their contest to come up with a proper name for the game (simply send your suggestion to ProjectS@gamigo-mail.de), and here's a bit on the game:

Travel from the mystical world of the far east to the ancient west in this amazing new MMORPG that blends Martial Arts Culture with western style graphics. Packed with numerous quests, engaging mini- and gambling games like pet racing, fishing or farming as well as crafting and trading systems, Project S (working title) caters to both fans of PVE and PVP. Fast, action-packed combat with spectular animation and effects set in a detailed, graphically rich 3D world perfectly fits with the guild wars and city siege systems and keeps you engaged for months - without download or subscription fees.

We haven't heard much about Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger since it was announced a little over a year ago, but now there is a new trailer for this FPS/RTS hybrid on GameTrailers.com presented in a Tarantino/Rodriguez grindhouse style. The clip shows some gameplay, touting the game's marriage between the shooter and strategy genres, and bragging on its co-op support.

Another new Blood Bowl trailer offers another "Meet our Champions" trailer from Cyanide Studio's fantasy-themed sports game. Word is: "This week, the Lizardmen show their skills on the Blood Bowl field! Mixing team players of brutal strength and nimble runners, the Lizardmen show they can overcome any obstacle either by dodging the opponents... or simply running over them." The clip is posted on the Blood Bowl Website and mirrored on Gamer's Hell.

A patch is already available for East India Company to update this just-released RTS game to version 1.01. The patch is available on The Patches Scrolls, where they also offer the patch notes, which say the following:

Features
- game pause can now be disabled in the game info by a checkbox or the pause-button
- the 3D Port view can now be disabled in the port loading screen
- the 2D Port view loading screens (with game tips) can now be disabled

Bug Fixes
- a problem with some file names on certain language settings fixed
- a problem with Navigator skill fixed
- a problem with marines not always shooting on the tactical battles fixed
- some minor typos fixed

Atari announces The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut is now available via digital distribution, offering the latest and greatest edition of CD Projekt RED's action/RPG, with none of the censorship that was present in its original North American release. Here's a Quick intro for The Witcher- Enhanced Edition Director's Cut to catch up on what this is all about. Outlets now offering sales of the Director's Cut are Direct2Drive and Impulse. Also, the promised patch to remove the censorship from previously released versions of the game is now available, and can be found on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, and The Patches Scrolls.

Paradox Interactive announces the release of East India Company, saying the naval combat RTS game has set sail in North America, and will be released in Europe in two weeks on August 14. The game should be appearing on store shelves, and it is also available digitally though Direct2Drive and Impulse Driven, while Steam currently says: "This game will unlock in approximately 3 hours," which gives a little more time to get in on the preorder bonus that will get you the free "Pirate Bay" DLC for the game. Also, according to a Paradox Tweet, the demo for East India Company will be released "very soon." You can view the game's launch trailer on GameTrailers.

Steam News tries to nudge us into pre-purchase of the Aion Standard Edition or Aion Collector's Edition with a reminder that pre-purchasers qualify to participate in the closed beta for the upcoming MMORPG, and the latest round of testing will be conducted over this weekend beginning at 3:00 pm EDT today.

Steam now offers sales of the BNSF Officially Licensed ES44AC & SD40-2 RailWorks Add-on for owners of the retail edition of RailWorks. This additional content is already included in versions of the transport simulation purchased through Steam.

Eurogamer reports that "several senior staff" from The Agency project have parted ways with Sony Online Entertainment's Seattle studio. This includes Matt Wilson, who had headed up the studio that's developing the upcoming PC and PS3 espionage-themed MMOG, along with art director Corey Dangel and producer John Smith, who joined Wilson earlier this month to form Detonator Games.

"It's true that Corey and I no longer work for SOE," Wilson confirms for Eurogamer. "This was a very hard decision to make, but it's the right decision for both us and the project. There were a variety of factors into making this decision, but we wish SOE and The Agency the best success." They contacted SOE, who declined to comment on what they call a "personal matter." As for the game, SOE says development continues as before: "The Agency is not undergoing a reboot of any sorts - that is incorrect," a spokesperson tells them. "The team in Seattle is still working diligently on this project and we're looking forward to showing you new content in the future."

Spiderweb Software announces the release of the entire Geneforge series on one CD for Windows and Macintosh, offering all five installments in this RPG series at what they are calling "a huge discount." If you need a catch up, here is their description of the series:

Geneforge tells the story of the Shapers. They have the ability to create life in any form they choose. They can make living tools that obey their commands, plants that can flourish in the harshest wasteland, and powerful monsters that can crush all who oppose them. The Shapers ruled the known lands, and any who try to rebel or learn their magical secrets are destroyed.

But then their creations rebelled. Tired of serving their creators, they fought back. In the five games of the series, their rebellion goes from an isolated struggle in forgotten, remote lands to a civil war that ravages their world. You will take part in this war, fighting for the Shapers or their rebellious creations. Your choices and actions will remake your homeland. Or destroy it.

A manual patch for the recent automatic patch for Fallout 3 is now available for those who would rather step on the clutch to update the action/RPG sequel. The US and UK English version 1.7 patches are available on this Bethesda Softworks Downloads Page, and there are also pages for the French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Austrian versions. They also offer links to patch notes which are not actually online at the moment, but an outline of the new Mothership Zeta achievements it adds can be found on the Examiner. Downloads of all these patches are mirrored on Gamer's Hell and The Patches Scrolls.

CompuExpert announces a new automatic update is now available for Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War, the World War I combat flight simulator from Russian developer neoqb and published by 777 Studios. The update includes UI improvements, new aircraft, and more, as outlined here:

The new update to Rise of Flight includes a number of improvements to the combat flight simulator's interface. A new chat system has been implemented in network play, allowing players to communicate more easily. The flight map can now be accessed and navigated more conveniently, and menus and screens throughout the game have been improved. A profile statistics screen now tracks and displays a wide variety of statistics, keeping players up-to-date with data about their accomplishments.

A number of improvements have been made to Rise of Flight's multiplayer capabilities. In addition to the new chat system, connecting to other players for networked games is now easier, and server creation is now fully functional.

Two new airplanes have also been added to Rise of Flight with the update. The British S.E.5a biplane and the German Pfalz D.IIIa fighter join the other meticulously rendered World War I era planes.

Also included are improvements to the artificial intelligence that allow computer-controlled planes to fly and fight more effectively, increasing the simulator's challenge and realism.

A new unofficial patch for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is available to continue the homebrew support for this action/RPG since original developer Troika went under. The new version 6.4 is mostly bug fixes, and the patch is available for download from its exclusive host, The Patches Scrolls.

The Tropico 3 interview on gry.o2.pl talks with Boian Spasov of Haemimont Games about the next installment in the strategy management series. The main body of the conversation is Polish, but the right hand column also offers the entire conversation in English. They discuss game mechanics, how the sequel is similar and dissimilar to its predecessors. One of the answers says their preliminary system specifications should be close to those of Grand Ages: Rome:

At this stage of the development of the game nothing is yet set in stone, but we aim for minimal system requirements close to those of our previous title - Grand Ages: Rome. Those were:
Windows XP or Vista;
2.0 GHz Pentium 4/Athlon processor or better;
DirectX 9 compatible 3D graphics card with 128MB Ram - GeForce 6600 (ATI 9600) or better;
1 Gb RAM;
8 x DVD-ROM Drive;
1.5 Gb free hard disk space.

Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals is now available via digital distribution and the Enki Bilal-inspired adventure designed by Benoit Sokal is available at many of the usual suspects. We see it's on now on Impulse, and Steam is selling the game, at a 20% discount for the next week. A playable demo for the game was released last September.

Rise & Ruin is a subscription-free "3D battle, multiplayer trading card game" for which open beta testing is now underway. This game has an interesting pedigree, as it is produced with financial support of Telefilm Canada through the Canadian government. This page offers a gameplay trailer, and here's a bit on the game: "Players level up their own ideal avatar while assembling decks from an ever-growing pool of powerful attack, defense, magic, and specialty cards. Thrilling, cinematic 3D battles take place directly in a web browser allowing for fast and accessible game play."

Capcom Sees Record Quarterly Growth In Q1 2009 on Gamasutra reflects the latest financial reporting from Capcom, who made out okay for the period:

Demonstrating solid performance during a period that has been difficult for the game industry as a whole, Japanese developer and publisher Capcom has posted a 23.0 percent growth in profits on a 19.2 percent revenue increase for the fiscal quarter that ended June 30, 2009.

According to the company, this marks the company's best profit and revenue performance since it began tracking quarterly results.

Revenues rose to 19,497 million yen (US $203.9 million), and profits rose to 3,664 million yen (US $38.3 million). In particular, Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for PSP were called out as particularly strong performers, with the latter having achieved 3.5 million sales in Japan.

• G-Phoria 2009 Voting Ends Tomorrow At Midnight.
• Joymax Announces Regional Finalists for Game & Game World Championship 2009 in Germany.
• Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega Corp. and Akihiro Hino of Level-5 Inc. Hold Talk Show at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2009.
• Edinburgh Interactive Festival Preview.
• Giveaway of 10,000 Limited Edition Halo Wars Figures Online Starting Friday Noon EST. EDT.
• SuperCar Challenge Beta Keys on Computer and Video Games.
• Faunasphere Beta Account Giveaway on Massive Multiplayer Online Games.
• Reminder- GDC Austin Alumni Deadline Is July 30th.

• PS3 Manufacturing Costs Down 70 Per Cent - Report.
• Wii Rebound Only Possible With Price Cut, Attractive Bundles, says Pachter.
• Xbox Avatars to appear in Guitar Hero 5. Wii!
• Could new Squenix teaser promise a Final Fantasy VII remake? Apparently not.
• Call Of Duty: World At War Map Pack 3 Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin "Reborn" DLC Xbox 360 Screenshots.

• Ape Brain Narcissism Misses the Singularity- An Artificial Life View. More I on AI.

• Stunning Nano-Phone Surfaces in Patent. Thanks Devicer.

• GameStop Launches Casual Digital Store.
• Report: In-Game Ad Growth Skews Towards Web-Based Games.
• Cable fault cuts off West Africa. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• The Untold Story of SAIC, Network Solutions, and the Rise of the Web. Thanks Slashdot.
• 'I now pronounce you monetized'.

• Dell fined $30,000 by Taiwan government over pricing mishaps. Thanks Ant.
• Dutch court rules that The Pirate Bay should be blocked. Thanks Slashdot.
• Tenenbaum takes the stand: I used P2P and lied about it.
• Hacker Loses Bid to Avoid Extradition. Thanks Neutronbeam.

Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

• Adobe Security Updates For Flash and Shockwave.
• Conficker talk sanitized at Black Hat to protect investigation.
• Search Spammers Hacking More Websites. Thanks Slashdot.
• Researchers exploit flaws in SSL, domain authentication system.
• Saving us from forged DNS data- an update on DNSSEC.
• Defense stalwarts building cybersecurity CSI.
• Meter hackers find free parking in San Francisco.

• Bionic Commando on IGN.
• Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 on Edge Online, The Hachiko, and IGN.
• Darkfall on MMORPG.COM.
• East India Company on IGN and Out of Eight.
• Men of War on PC Cohort.

• ASRock X58 Extreme Motherboard on Futurelooks.
• Cooler Master Choiix Netbook Sleeve on OverclockersHQ.com.
• Cooler Master 922 HAF Case on Overclocker Cafe.
• CoverBee 8.9″ Mini Laptop Sleeve for Netbook - Black Dahlia on Test Freaks.
• GeForce GTX 275 Versus Radeon HD 4890 Graphics Cards on Legit Reviews.
• GIGABYTE GA-EP55-UD4P Motherboard on Overclockers Club.
• GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 285 2GB OC Graphics Card on TweakTown.
• GIGABYTE GV-R465D2-1G1 Radeon HD 4650 Graphics Card on Motherboards.org.
• Intel Core i7 LGA1366 CPUs on iXBT Labs.
• MSI AMD 785GM-E65 Motherboard on PC Perspective.
• Palm Pre SmartPhone on HotHardware.
• Patriot Xporter Magnum 64 GB Flash Drive on techPowerUp.
• PhotoFast’s G-Monster V5 256GB SSD on TweakTown.
• Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB SATA Hard Drive on Big Bruin.
• Speakal iPig iPod Dock on I4U News.
• Super Talent's super tiny Pico Mini USB Drive on TweakTown.
• ThermalTake Element G Case on Ninjalane.com.
• Thermalright HR-03 GTX Graphics Card on Bjorn3D.com.
• Thermaltake Toughpower XT 750W PSU on Hardware Secrets.
• Xclio Godspeed One Advanced PC Case on DragonSteelMods.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Tales Of Monkey Island Is Telltale's 'Best Performing Title'…
• Andy Baran's Last Article: The Early Days of EGM (part 1 of 2)…
• What to Expect From Will Wright's Stupid Fun Club…
• G.I. Joystick- New Video Games Train Today's Troops by PC World…

Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day!

I mentioned recently that the Blammo database had passed the 100,000 entry plateau, but that since this counted stories that were deleted due to duplications and other errors, it didn't accurately reflect the number of stories on the site. Early yesterday we hit the 100K mark for actual news stories posted here over the 10-plus years since we switched to database news. This seems an appropriate occasion to tip a hat to Blammo's original programmer furn, Bagpuss who was part of the early days of this process, as well as Frans, who has put in a ton of work since then to keep things running smoothly and add new capabilities (down to the ability to calculate how many of those database entries were deletions).

Also on the topic of story quantity, you may have noticed the story density here has gotten a little thicker lately. I feel I have suffered too long from trying to over-manage the size of the news page here, which had become increasingly impractical. The flow on the news page here now reflects rethinking this conservative approach to post more stories as they break and to consolidate less. I figure I'd take this occasion to mention this in case anyone has any feedback about this to share.

Quantitative Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Amberial Axis. Splitter 2. A Rat at the Cliffs.
Links:	10 Old PC Game Franchises We Want Rebooted. Thanks ClassicGaming. Smell Like No Man Has Smelled Before with Star Trek Cologne. 25 NOT Your Traditional Grandma's Russian Nesting Dolls.
Science:	Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in Three Months. Scientists discover why we never forget how to ride a bicycle. Peer Wulff - great name. Discovery May Help Treat Obesity (registration required).
Images:	TF2 Sniper Weapon. Thanks Debiruman Redi. Most satisfying costume I have seen at any Comic Con.
Media:	Motorhome Demolition Derby. Thanks Digg. Extreme Anti Smoking Ad.
The Funnies:	xkcd - Understocked.