Mythic Entertainment is now offering a reenlistment program for lapsed players of Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, and Dark Age of Camelot to rejoin the MMORPGs for a two-week period. Word is: "Let the online pandemonium begin! BioWare Mythic has summoned all former Ultima Online™ (UO), Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning® (WAR) and Dark Age of Camelot™ players to join the Return of the Legends Re-Enlistment Celebration, beginning today, September 30. Returning legends will receive a hero’s welcome with free game time, bonuses, and events for the former players returning to the lands of Britannia, The Old World and Camelot."

Bohemia Interactive announces the acquisition of three new Eastern European developers: Altar Games, Black Element Software, and Centauri Production. Word is:

Bohemia Interactive, an award winning independent development studio and creators of the genre defining military simulator games Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and Arma 2, are proud to announce completion of full acquisition of development teams Altar Games (located in Brno, Czech republic), Black Element Software and Centauri Production (both located in Prague). All four original development studios will continue operating both individually and cooperatively on various projects, as parts of Bohemia Interactive.

Battle.net has word on new Battle.net privacy settings to allow opting out of the controversial Real ID program. Here's word:

We'd like to make you aware of the new Real ID-related privacy options we've introduced to Battle.net. These options provide Real ID users with additional tools for customizing the service based on their preferences, enabling the ability to opt in or out of the Real ID "Friends of Friends" and "Add Facebook Friends" features or to turn off Real ID altogether.

To access these settings, log in to your Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net/account. From there, click on the "Settings" tab located at the center of the Account Management menu and select "Communication Preferences" from the dropdown list. The new settings can be found in the "Privacy" section of the Communication Preferences page.

A new trailer from The Sacrifice shows off Valve's upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 that serves as a prequel to The Passing DLC. Valve also once again outlines how this will work as different DLC packs for each game, which will be free to PC owners:

Due for release on October 5, 2010, "The Sacrifice" is the prequel to "The Passing," and takes place from the L4D Survivors' perspective as they make their way South. In addition to advancing the story, "The Sacrifice" introduces a new style finale featuring "Sacrificial Gameplay" where players get to decide who will give their life so the others may live.

The Sacrifice DLC for L4D1 is a separate download than The Sacrifice for L4D2.

In The Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead 1 gamers receive the complete Sacrifice campaign with maps playable in Campaign, Versus, and Survival.

In The Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead 2 owners receive "The Sacrifice" campaign playable with the Left 4 Dead Survivors. In addition, those with Left 4 Dead 2 receive L4D's "No Mercy" campaign. Both campaigns are playable in Campaign, Versus, Survival, and Scavenge modes and both will feature the Left 4 Dead 2 Special Infected, items, and weapons.

"The Sacrifice" will be available for download on Xbox Live for 560 Microsoft Points and free to all PC gamers.

The Dragon Age Website announces plans for a new Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition, which will bundle Dragon Age: Origins with the Awakening along with all the DLC for the role-playing game. Here's a trailer from the bundle, which is expected on October 26, and here's the embedded clip. Continue here to read the full story.

The Bethesda Blog offers a third Fallout: New Vegas video developer diary highlighting development of the upcoming RPG sequel. Word is: "In this week’s episode, the team at Obsidian discuss the game’s art direction — sharing details on how they captured the essence of the Mojave desert and the classic, Rat Pack-era of Las Vegas."

Today is the last day to receive a $5.00 discount from Direct2Drive on all purchases over $15.00 by using the code "PAX" at checkout.

• Haunted Bundle on Direct2Drive. Save 25%.
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers on Steam. Save 50%.
• Manhunt 2 on Direct2Drive. Save 50%.
• Team Fortress 2 on Steam. Save 50%.
• The Sims 2 Double Deluxe on Direct2Drive. Save 50%.
• Tropico 3 Gold Edition on Direct2Drive. Save 10%.
  Still on sale. Continue here to read the full story.

• Sommet international du jeu de Montréal 2010. November 8 and 9, 2010.
• John Romero and Will Wright To Host IGDA Charity Dinner.

• Beyond Good & Evil HD for XBLA and PSN Announced by Ubisoft.

• iPad owners bugged less by ads than other device owners.

• AMD to delay the launch of Radeon HD 6000 series, while Nvidia drops GPU price. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• Leo Apotheker Named New HP CEO. Thanks Acleacius.
• The $100.00 (USD) Coolest Linux Workspace Contest Finalists. Thanks Ant via Linux Today.

• There is no Plan B: why the IPv4-to-IPv6 transition will be ugly. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Yahoo Losing More Top Execs. Thanks Acleacius.
• A Life Like No Other is an album from AMDZone's Jeff Tom that's available to pick your own price.
• Google offers JPEG alternative for faster Web. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• Google called chicken for dodging privacy debate. Time for the chicken dance. Thanks Acleacius.
• Some Android apps caught covertly sending GPS data to advertisers. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.
• One Year of Microsoft Security Essentials. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• California outlaws maliciously impersonating others online. Thanks Acleacius.
• Dozens charged in global virus scam.
• NVIDIA reaches settlement in class action suit affecting Apple, Dell, HP laptops. Thanks Mike Martinez.

Thanks Ant.

• "Myst" Game Series Becomes Film…
• GZDoom version 1.5.3 released…
• Stella version 3.2.2 is now available…
• ClientServerMAME version 0.7c…

Link of the Day: The Flintstones' 50th Anniversary: Their Most Memorable Moments. Thanks Acleacius.

Square Enix announces that FINAL FANTASY XIV is now live on North America, offering the new MMO installment in the long-running FINAL FANTASY role-playing series. A 30-day subscription is included with the game, after which time it is $12.99/30 days.

Steam News announces that the Steam Wallet is now live, along with in-game transactions, as a new Team Fortress 2 Mann Co. Store is now in business to allow the purchase of in-game items from within the teamplay shooter sequel. They say this is the first of many upcoming Steamworks in-game stores where Steam Wallet funds can be spent, and a new TF2 Mannconomy FAQ explains the new in-game economics. Speaking of economics, Team Fortress 2 is now on sale for 50% off. This also entails a new Team Fortress 2 automatic patch with the following changes. Continue here to read the full story.

A new F.E.A.R. 3 "Almaverse" trailer offers a frightening glimpse into Alma Wade's mind in the upcoming horror-themed shooter sequel. Word is: "The new trailer from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gives players a frighteningly close look at the Almaverse, the landscape of Alma’s nightmarish psyche. This Almaverse, inhabited by Alma’s demented visions, was under her control in both F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. Players only gained small glimpses into the Almaverse as she allowed it – until now. As the pregnant Alma grows closer to giving birth in F.E.A.R. 3, she begins to lose control of the Almaverse and unimaginable evil bleeds into players’ reality, with terrifying results." The embedded version follows. Continue here to read the full story.

Paradox Interactive announces that development of Lionheart: Kings' Crusade is complete, and Neocore Games' now-gold strategy game is slated for release on October 8. A new faction trailer is now available to celebrate the news, and here's a bit on the game: "Assemble your armies and prepare for an invasion. Developer Neocore Games today announced the development of the real-time strategy game, Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade, has completed. Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade is created by the developers of King Arthur: The Role-PlayingWargame and Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come."

Cultures Online is now live in North America, announces gamigo, offering a free-to-play browser-based continuation of the Cultures series of Settlers-style strategy/building games. This trailer show off the game and its Viking theme, and here's word on the game: "In Cultures Online, players can form tribes to settle an island together. They can loot resources from each other by winning PvP combat and fight for the top spot in the rankings. Funatics, the developers behind the Cultures series, created the latest version entirely in Flash. Smooth zooming allows players to see even the tiniest of details in their Viking world."

The 1C Games Interview on Gamesindustry.biz (registration required) talks with Nikolay Baryshnikov of 1C Company about the changing face of the games industry and the attitude of the Russian government towards gaming. Perhaps most interesting is an answer they highlight separately (registration required) where he talks about how their company will continue pursuing niches, saying "it's almost impossible to make money even on a good game." He goes on to explain: "Because marketing budgets are tens of millions dollars, consumers are expecting that they're going to pay $40 or $60 and get amazing things. Hundred hours of gameplay, tens of thousands of hours of DVD footage, super multiplayer, this and this and this. If we did this it would be, I don't know, $200 million... If we produce something of great quality but it lacks this component or that component, then press says, 'oh, 85. I played the game, it's kind of nice, but it has no video or any of this shit'. And consumer says 'it doesn't have multiplayer, I'm not going to buy it.' So it's catch 22." He explains their philosophy: "Try to find a niche like we did with IL2 or Rig'n'Roll or Men Of War, and try to number 1, 2 or 3 – the top three in the niche. Not compete with hundred million dollar development, with Call of Duty 7 – but make the best game and target it at much smaller groups of fans."

Gearbox Software now offers manual downloads of the new version 1.40 patch for Borderlands, their role-playing shooter. The new version accommodates the game's fourth DLC and addresses a bug where certain items would be destroyed when loading a map other than the location where they were originally found. There are two patches, one for Germany and one for all other territories. One or both downloads are mirrored on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying.

The list of LIVE Activity for week of Sept 20th from Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson includes an updated list of top 20 Games for Windows LIVE titles (based on UUs). The list follows. Continue here to read the full story.

• Game Connection Europe announces Game Connection Invest will part of their November program.

• Razer hits Xbox via Realtime.

• Nintendo predicts 4m 3DS sales in first month.
• Kids Like E-Books, Parents Not So Much. Thanks Acleacius.

• IBM to Acquire BLADE Network Technologies. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• Expanded Channel Support Drives Availability of AMD Opteron 6100 Series. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• CCleaner version 2.36 released. Thanks Ant.

• BitTorrent-Only Horror Movie Denied IMDb Listing. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.
• Cisco eats its own IPv6 dog food.
• Top 10 Funniest Internet Memes.

• Microsoft issues emergency patch for Windows Web bug.
• Daily Mail blames Nintendogs for attack.

• Net Neutrality Proposal Falls Apart. Thanks Acleacius.
• Zeus botnet bank thieves were careless with own security.

Scared to open the package: adventures in game writer bribery. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.

• Amnesia: The Dark Descent on Zero Punctuation. NSFW. Thanks Ant.
• Civilization V on ActionTrip and Ten Ton Hammer.
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on GameSpot.
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 on Technic3D. In German.

• Arctic Cooling Arctic M551 Laser Gaming Mouse on ThinkComputers.org.
• ASRock 870iCafe Motherboard on Hardware Secrets and ProClockers.
• ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme Motherboard on Vortez.
• ASUS N82Jv 14" Notebook on The Tech Report.
• Asus Crosshair IV Extreme Motherboard on Overclock3D.
• Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower on Modders-Inc.com.
• Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Case on Hardware Heaven.
• Corsair Air Series A50 Performance CPU Cooler on TweakTown.
• Crucial 128GB RealSSD C300 2.5" with Data Transfer Kit on XtremeComputing.
• EVGA GeForce GTS450 OC Graphics Card on Hardware Bistro.
• Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS Sports Watch on HEXUS.net.
• G.Skill Trident 2000 MHz DDR3 CL9 8GB RAM Kit on techPowerUp.
• GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 Motherboard on X-bit labs.
• GIGABYTE GeForce GTS 450 Graphics Card on Ninjalane.com.
• HighPoint RocketRAID 2760 Switch Architecture PCI-E x16 24-Port SAS-SATA 6Gb-s Controller on TweakTown.
• Mionix Naos 3200 Gaming Mouse on PureOC.
• NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 SLI versus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CrossFire Graphics Card on Legit Reviews.
• Roccat Kone + Plus Mouse on XSReviews.co.uk.
• Shuttle XS 3510MA ION2 PC on CDRinfo.
• Thermaltake Level 10 Case on TechSpot.
• Tom Bihn Brain Bag Laptop Backpack on Futurelooks.

• Where Everybody Knows Your Game. On NYC indie arcade babycastles.com and their Kickstarter campaign. Thanks Ant…
• EA courts more in-game ads with new analytics tech (registration required)…
• Doctor Who game commissioner to leave BBC…
• Left Behind Games Goes National with Walmart…

We're getting quite the rainstorm today around here. I guess this is more welcome than I would have expected, as we just recently got a phone message from our village saying they were lifting the restrictions on car washing and lawn watering they imposed in July due to drought conditions. The thing is, I figured they had been lifted long ago already, so it's a lucky thing I'm too lazy to wash my car or water the lawn.

R.I.P.: Hollywood legend Tony Curtis dies at 85.

Wet Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Sift Heads World Act 6. Notebook Wars. Fantastic Contraption 2.
Links:	Interesting Stuff from Old Gadgets. Pinball Coffee Table.
Stories:	Snooki Signs Book Deal to Write Novel. Months After Winning $1M In Lottery, Man Wins $2M. Thanks Roger. Christopher Nolan Confirms Batman 3. Thanks nin.
Science:	Solar Or Wind Power- Why Not Both? Astronomers discover planet that could support life. Stonehenge Skeleton Proves Site's Prehistoric Importance.
Images:	Real Life Pac-Man Discovered. I'd Like to Tap Her Mana Pool. Amazon Recommendation FAIL.
Media:	Summer of Music: Too Many Pools. Man And Crocodile Play And Swim Together Like Best Friends. Pool fail.