The Champions Online Website announces next weekend is "Blood Moon Weekend," where everyone can check out the superhero MMORPG for free and see the content of their Blood Moon expansion. Word is: "The free promotional weekend will run from 10:00 a.m. October 30th until 10:00 a.m. November 2nd (Pacific), but all our subscribers will be able to enjoy the Blood Moon content starting October 27th." Thanks VG247.

Though some folks have been able to purchase Borderlands early, 2K Games confirms that the game's DRM will not unlock until next week's scheduled release dates for Gearbox's role-playing shooter (thanks nin via IGN). The 2K Forums have a comment from 2K community manager 2K Elizabeth explaining the situation:

Yesterday we learned that a fraction of the PC copies of Borderlands were accidentally sold to consumers in some countries but that gamers could not activate their copies yet. Since we learned of this problem, we have been looking into the issue to find the best possible solution for everyone.

I'm going to be completely honest with you guys right now. It is not possible for us to move the planned release date of the game forward. We could not possibly get the games into stores worldwide and out for digital distribution any earlier than planned. Less than 1% of all copies were sold, and if we unlocked the game today, illegal versions would most likely appear on torrents by the evening. I am sure all of you want our PC launch to be as successful as possible, and we simply won't be able to manage that any earlier than already planned.

I want to apologize for those of you who have gotten the game ahead of our release date, and ask for your patience and understanding. The game will be ready in the US and Canada at midnight eastern standard time on Monday, October 26th, and internationally by Friday, October 30th.

Steam News announces that preloads are underway for the Left 4 Dead 2 demo for customers who have preordered the co-op zombie shooter sequel:

Those who have pre-purchased Left 4 Dead 2 via Steam may begin pre-loading the demo, which is due to open early access on Tuesday, October 27. The early access to the L4D2 demo is open to both retail and Steam customers on both the PC and Xbox 360. Those who pre-ordered via retail should be able to pick up their early access codes now and be ready to play the demo on Tues.

Steam News announces that a new Steam client is now automatically available. The new client fixes voice chats in Left 4 Dead lobbies, updates Windows 7 video driver version detection, and addresses some bugs.

• Telltale Games - Monkey Island Treasure Hunt Bonanza.
• Win an ATI Radeon HD 5770 @ XtremeComputing. UK only.
• GameHorizon's Best of British Awards are next week. Tickets are still available.
• Behind the Scenes with Remedy at Electronic Game Show Mexico.

Including Plants vs. Zombies for $6.99 and Maelstrom for free.

• Act of War: Gold Edition on GoGamer. Save 65%.
• Battle Rage on GoGamer. Save 80%.
• Blood Bowl on GoGamer. Save 38%.
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition on GoGamer. Save 63%.
• Damnation on GoGamer. Save 75%.
• Dark Horizon on GoGamer. Save 74%.
• Fuel on GoGamer. Save 34%.
• Hospital Tycoon on GoGamer. Save 84%.
• Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust on GoGamer. Save 70%.
• Maelstrom on GoGamer. Save 100%.
• MySims on GoGamer. Save 88%.
• Might & Magic VIII on GoGamer. Save 65%.
• Might and Magic IX on GoGamer. Save 75%.
• Plants vs. Zombies on PCGameStore. Only $6.99.
• Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield on GoGamer. Save 65%.
• Rise of the Argonauts on GoGamer. Save 83%.
• Robin Hoods Quest on GoGamer. Save 74%.
• SimCity Societies on GoGamer. Save 88%.
• SWAT 4 Gold on GoGamer. Save 82%.
• The Sims 2: Best of Business Collection on GoGamer. Save 25%.
• The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff on GoGamer. Save 75%.
• The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff on GoGamer. Save 75%.
• Tom Clancy's End War on GoGamer. Save 88%.
• Utopia City on GoGamer. Save 80%.
• World of Warcraft 60 Day Pre-paid Game Card on GoGamer. Save 13%.
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for PC & Mac on GoGamer. Save 25%.
• WWII Battle Tanks: T-34 vs Tiger on GoGamer. Save 63%.
• X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 w/Aldrin Missions on GoGamer. Save 68%.
  
  Still on sale (previously reported)
   
• Aion on Direct2Drive. Save $5.00 with the code 5OFFAION at checkout.
• AI War: Fleet Command on Impulse. Save 25%.
• Alganon on Direct2Drive. Preorder and get beta access and in-game items.
• ARMA 2 on GamersGate. Save 50%.
• ARMA 2 on Steam. Save 50%.
• Baseball Mogul 2008 on Impulse. Save 33%.
• Borderlands on Direct2Drive. Save 10% on preorders.
• Borderlands on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchase of the game or the four-pack.
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on Impulse. Save 25%.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Amazon and Walmart. Includes a $20.00 credit. Thanks Big Download.
• Crazy Machines series on Steam. Save 25%.
• Cricket Revolution on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchases.
• Dark Salvation on the Mangled Eye Studios Website. Only $9.99 or $19.99 for the disc version.
• East India Company on GamersGate. Save 52%.
• Elven Legacy on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Europa Universalis III Complete on GamersGate. Save 64%.
• Gratuitous Space Battles on Impulse. Save 13% on preorders.
• Ground Control Pack on GOG.com. Save 30%.
• Hollywood Pictures II on GamersGate. Save 50%.
• JoWooD Games on GOG.com. Save 30%.
• Light of Altair on Direct2Drive. Only $5.00.
• Nemesis of the Roman Empire on Impulse. Save 33%.
• Pahelika on Impulse. Save 25%.
• Red Faction Guerrilla on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Restaurant Empire on Impulse. Save 33%.
• SFI Mission 4-Pack on the Strategy First Website. Four games for $19.99.
• Spiderweb Software Store. All games 10% off through October.
• Team Fortress 2 on Best Buy and FRYS.com. Only $9.99. Thanks Johnny.
• THQ Classic FPS Bundle on Impulse. Save 25%.
• Torchlight on Steam. Save 10% on pre-purchases.
• Warlords Battlecry III on Impulse. Save 33%.
• Warhammer 40k Dawn of War Complete Pack on GamersGate. Save 50%.
• Wolfenstein on Amazon. Save 41%.
• World of Goo on 2D Boy Website. Name your own price.
• X-Com Complete Pack on GamersGate. Save 40%.

• Assassin's Creed II on 1Up, GamesRadar, and GameSpot.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on IGN.
• Dead Rising 2 on IGN.
• Divinity II: Ego Draconis on Hooked Gamers.
• Left 4 Dead 2 on GameSpot and GamesRadar.
• Mass Effect 2 on GamesRadar.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat on IGN.

• Guitar Hero Vs. Rock Band - Behind The Numbers.
• Microsoft's reasoning for blocking non-MS memory units.
• Bayonetta Xbox 360 Screenshots.
• Final Fantasy XIII PlayStation 3 Screenshots.

• Nintendo Gameboy 20th Anniversary Retrospective.
• 3GS iPhone Games Get Special Code.
• LittleBigPlanet PSP demo “in the works”.

Thanks Ant.

• EVGA and NVIDIA prepping custom dual GPU PhysX card.
• Upgrade Your New PC to Windows 7 for Free. Thanks Digg.
• Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• Avalanche is top phishing gang by far this year. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• EFF defends Yes Men from business rage over climate hoax.
• Nigeria actually arrests, shuts down online scammers.
• Pirate Bay back in the courtroom. Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Cities XL on Eurogamer.
• Fallen Earth on MMORPG.COM.
• Tropico 3 on GameSpot.

• Antec Two Hundred Case on Hardware Secrets.
• Choiix Netbook Sleeve on Hi-Tech Reviews.
• Corsair TX950W PSU on Hardware Secrets.
• G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM on PureOC.
• GIGABYTE Radeon HD 5870 1GB Graphics Card Crossfire on Overclock3D.Net.
• Kingston 256GB SSDNow V+ Series SSD on Legit Reviews.
• Kingston HyperX Fan RAM Cooler on Testseek Labs.
• Motorola Cliq Cell Phone on Digital Trends.
• Samsung ML-1915 Printer on BusinessComputingWorld.
• Seagate FreeAgent DockStar NAS on HotHardware.
• Sena Premium iPod Touch Stand Case on Tech-Xtreme.com.
• SilverStone RV-02 Raven Case on Bjorn3D.com.
• Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer HSF on Rage3D.com.
• Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220 Earphones on Top Review Shop.

• We're told the Vendetta Online trailer on the Apple Website is the first HD game video they've presented…
• The id Software Store is selling a limited quantity of RAGE t-shirts…

Well it turns out my sore throat is more-or-less unrelated to my LPRD, the doctor found some sort of raging infection brewing in there. He doesn't think it's strep throat, he took a culture to test what it is, but he is already convinced it's bacterial and I'm on an antibiotic that will hopefully take care of things. It seems to be working already, as my voice is far less gravely already.

Hoarse Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Cubed. Fly Me to the Moon. Perfect Shot Sniper.
Links:	25 Insane iPhone And Gadget Costumes. Thanks Digg. Extreme Pumpkin Carving Makes Halloween Edgy Again.
Stories:	Wal-Mart fires employee for chasing after thief. Thanks ^Drag0n^. Disney Admits "Baby Einstein" Turns Kids Into Vidiots. Thanks Devicer.
Science:	Space Travel- Major Milestones.
Images:	Indiana Jones' Fridge Scene is Now an Action Figure. Thanks Digg.
Media:	The SkyNet House of Tomorrow. The first eight minutes of ABC's 'V'. Thanks Digg. Fail Trucks in Town.
Follow-ups:	Scientific societies warn Senate: climate change is real. Mars can wait; NASA should try landing on asteroids first.