The Bethesda Blog has details on updates for the console editions of Brink that should now be available for Splash Damage's shooter. They also note that the Agents of Change DLC for the game will be released on Wednesday, August 3, and explain how to get it for free:

We’re excited to announce the final release date for Brink: Agents of Change. The content will be available this coming Wednesday, August 3rd, on Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network, and Steam. As long as you download Agents of Change during the first two weeks it becomes available, you’ll always be able to play it for FREE. If you don’t download in the first two weeks, it’ll cost $9.99 (or 800 Microsoft Points)… so be sure to get it early.

For a refresher on all the new maps, abilities, character outfits, and weapon attachments in Agents of Change, check out our previous post located here.

Sega Sammy's quarterly financials show losses the Japanese entertainment conglomerate blames on "generally weak" video game demand in the U.S. and Europe, reports Gamasutra. Word is: "Net revenues in the consumer business segment of the company (which includes home video games as well as toy sales) were down 22.3 percent year-over-year for the quarter, to 16.2 billion yen ($207.2 million), contributing to an operating loss of 3.9 billion yen ($49.9 million) for the segment, a loss increase of over 500 percent from last year." Looking forward, the company states it needs to adapt to conditions where "demand for new content geared to social networking service and smartphone is expanding."

• The Bethesda Podcast Episode 11- QuakeCon Special Edition Podcast.
• Win tickets to PAX Prime with GOG.com.
• Upgrading QuakeCon – More bandwidth and a chance to get upgraded to a suite.
• AT&T brings the bandwidth to QuakeCon.

Games

• Chantelise: A Tale of Two Sisters on Steam.
• E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy on Steam.
• Scratches Director's Cut on GOG.com.
• Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Alternate Costume Pack DLC on Steam.
• Supreme Ruler: Cold War on Steam. Save 10%.

Patches
GOG.com offers an article called "Patching GOG.com's The Witcher 2 to version 1.3."

• Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam. Encore Mutation: Taannnkkk.
• Tobe's Vertical Adventure on Steam.
• War Inc. Battlezone on Steam.

The Humble Indie Bundle #3 bonus: "Everyone who buys the bundle gets to play Minecraft for free until August 14th!"

• Alpha Protocol on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
• Capsized on Steam. Save 66%.
• Dragon Age: Origins on Games for Windows Marketplace. Save 50%.
• Dream Pinball 3D on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Earth 2140 Trilogy on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Earth 2150 Trilogy on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Earth 2160 on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Enclave on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy on Steam. Save 10%.
• Gorky 17 on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Just Cause on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
• Just Cause 2 on Direct2Drive.
• Knights and Merchants: The Peasants Rebellion on GOG.com.
• Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator on GOG.com.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
• TopWare Bundle on GOG.com. Save 50%.
• Two Worlds on GOG.com.
• The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut on Direct2Drive. Save 75%.
  Still on sale (previously reported). Continue here to read the full story.

• Battlefield 3 on the Battlefield Blog. How to earn enemy dog tags trough the noble art of backstabbing.

• Xbox inspired PlayStation investment in developer support - Xbox founder.
• Epic Wants "More Memory Than Anything Else" From Consoles.
• Rock Band 3 DLC Week of 8/2 - Singles from Beastie Boys, Heart, James Brown & Rufus.

• AT&T Officially Confirms Throttling Plans for Heaviest Users.
• THQ Core Games Boss Danny Bilson Obsessed With Nintendo 3DS Miis.

Thanks Ant.

• Are Internet Explorer users dumb? Thanks j.c.f.
• Twitter now sneaks "promoted tweets" into your timeline.
• Google Launches Hotel Finder Search Tool.
• RealPlayer version 14.0.5.660 is now available. Thanks Free-Codecs.com.
• Seattle Places Police Calls on Twitter. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• Microsoft Office365 - Gmail Man - Microsoft Global Exchange conference commercials.

• Army Hits Pause on ‘Wearable Computer’ Program. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• Q&A With Western Digital on Tech ARP.

• Expert Calls Blaming Video Games On Tragic Massacres Like Oslo And Columbine Racist.
• Facebook to pay hackers for bugs.
• Twitter begins filtering NSFW tweets. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• "Linking is not a crime": Czech Pirate Party declares war on Big Content.

Thanks Ant.

• First Person Shooter 'Red Eclipse - Supernova Edition' Released for Linux. Thanks Linux Today…
• Minecraft Mouse Trap…
• The Tripwire Interactive Web Store is now open for business, offering loads of TWI-related merchandise…

Link of the Day: Got $799,000? You could buy a town in South Dakota. Thanks Ant via Boing Boing. Who wants to chip in on a town?

The E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy Website announces that this Source Engine FPS/RPG is now available via Steam, where it is on sale for 10% off over the next week to celebrate the launch (thanks Derek). The game's science-fiction setting is described like this: "After an unending war with the metastreumonic Force, the powerful organization Secreta Secretorum you belong to is finally ready to undermine the head-strong federation, despite an intense struggle for power." Here's a feature list:

• The multiplayer, teamplay, co-op modes directly influence solo play, and vice-versa. The limits of solo and multiplayer games are finally left behind.
• Psychological and mental traumas management.
• 25 weapons, different shooting modes, dynamic precision, drilling shots, iron sighting, extended zoom.
• Complete hacking system with game play impact. 9 devastatingly subtle PSI powers.
• About 20 NPC with non-scripted, fully reactive and efficient AI, endowed with a sense of initiative. Bloody close combat with technical detail. Incredible physical movement realism thanks to Source Engine physics.
• Excellent replayability due to primary and secondary missions, dynamic environments, non-linear level progression, and random NPC spawn, type and appearance. Death doesn't penalize players: no need to restart the current mission.
• Open-level gameplay for hours of play without reloading.

The Star Wars: The Old Republic Website has a new trailer from BioWare's upcoming MMORPG that provides a developer walkthrough of The Esseles Flashpoint. Here's word: "The Esseles, a Republic transport that carries some of the most high-profiled members of the Galactic Senate across the galaxy, has come under siege from the opportunistic Grand Moff Kilran. Dallas Dickinson guides you along as a group of Republic heroes must band together to repel the Imperial boarding parties and retake their ship in this Developer Walkthrough. "

Battle.net has details on a new patch that's now available for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to update the real-time strategy sequel to version 1.3.6. The new version addresses a couple of bugs in the game, a couple bugs in the editor, and updates the tools. There are manual editions of the patch in various languages for download on AtomicGamer, and here are the brief patch notes. Continue here to read the full story.

The LinkedIn profile of Crytek programmer David Ramos indicates that Crytek is currently working on a new intellectual property in the shooter genre that's expected for Windows and consoles, saying he's been on the project for a year. He also mentions having previously worked on a new third-person shooter IP that was cancelled after three years. That may mesh with information in the résumé of artist Crytek Dimitry Kachkovski (Adobe Acrobat format), which references his work on a cancelled game titled Redemption. Thanks superannuation.

The Gearbox Software Forums have an update from community manager Chris Faylor saying that work is underway on patches for Duke Nukem Forever on all three platforms (thanks Shacknews). The patch for the Windows version will add some features to address some complaints about the PC version, including the two weapon inventory limit, which is to be doubled:

The development team has been hard at work combing through the feedback provided here and elsewhere, with updates based on this feedback currently in the works for all three platforms.

Among the changes coming to PC are a new expanded inventory option that allows you to carry up to four weapons in the single-player campaign, Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC) support, push-to-talk voice chat, the ability to adjust FOV plus other fixes and improvements that are still being tested.

We’ll be sharing more details about the updates, including those coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as they’re finalized. Thanks again for your support!

We received our answer about the DRM in From Dust after the Steam Listing suggested the upcoming god game might use Ubisoft's "always on" DRM. Confirming word from last night, here's the deal:

You will not need to be connected online when playing From Dust's single player campaign and challenge modes.

The ArenaNet Blog has details on ArenaNet's plans to show off Guild Wars 2 next month at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. One of the aspects of the upcoming MMORPG sequel they will be demonstrating is PvP combat: "Last but certainly not least, we’re premiering Guild Wars 2 Player vs Player (PvP) at gamescom! Swing by the ESL booth and head to the Guild Wars 2 area to get your exclusive hands-on PvP experience. Also check out our periodic exhibition matches that pit our valiant team of ArenaNet developers against the European guild BOON Control on the ESL center stage!" Thanks Guild Wars 2 Slovenija.

Carbine Studios has been operating in a stealthy mode since the MMORPG developer was formed back in 2007 by Tim Cain and other industry veterans, but it looks like that's about to change. A Letter from the Executive Producer on the new Carbine Studios Website has word from Jeremy Gaffney that the company plans to reveal what they are up to at Gamescom, and it sounds like they are not afraid of setting the bar too high, as he says: "But we think we've learned enough to make some dramatic steps forward. We have developed some new ways of making online games; games that can adapt to you instead of the other way 'round."

A new patch for Pro Cycling Manager 2011 is now available on the Pro Cycling Manager Forums, to update the sports management sequel to version 1.0.4.4. The patch is also mirrored on AtomicGamer and The Patches Scrolls, and the list of changes in the new version follows. Continue here to read the full story.

• Activision announces UK Call of Duty tournament.
• China bans ‘booth babes’ from video game convention.

• Confrontation on Blue's News.
• Tribes Ascend on Blue's News.

• Riccitiello: 3D shows "very poor returns" (registration required).
• Iwata cuts own salary in half.
• Kinect and Wii U tempt BBC into retail games.
• ESPN Update coming in August.

Thanks Ant.

• Five Percent of Mobile Gamers Willing to Spend More than $50. Thanks Slashdot.
• From 1890: The First Text Messages. Thanks Neatorama.
• Hands on: new Android Market app sells books and movie rentals.

• This is the web right now - The Oatmeal.

• Un-bustin' (monitor) caps with a soldering gat.
• Old King of Computers now on Ubuntu. Thanks Ant via Linux Today.
• Logitech Revue Slashed To $99 After Poor Sales.
• Intel Boot Loader Development Kit Now Available for Embedded Platforms. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• Feds stonewall on cell phone tracking of Americans.
• In Baring Train Crash Facts, Blogs Erode China Censorship. Thanks j.c.f.

• House panel approves broadened ISP snooping bill. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.
• Google Buys IBM Patents. Thanks [H]ard-OCP.

• Advanced Tactics Gold on Armchair General.
• The Asskickers on Ironhammers.
• Dragon Age II: Legacy on GameSpot.
• Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues on GameSpot.
• Pro Cycling Manager 2011 on Out of Eight.

• AC Ryan PlayOn!HD Mini 2 Media Player on TweakTown.
• ASRock CoreHT-252B HTPC on Overclockers Club and PureOC.
• ASUS G74 Laptop on PC Perspective.
• ASUS O!Play HD2 Media Player on Tweaknews.
• BitFenix Shinobi Window Mid-Tower Case on Bjorn3D.com.
• CM Storm Sirus Case on Overclock3D.
• Fractal Design CORE 3000 on techPowerUp.
• Gainward GeForce GTX 590 graphics Card on Technic3D. In German.
• GIGABYTE X58A-OC Overclocking Motherboard on Ninjalane.
• Grace Digital GDI-IRMS300 Internet Micro Hi-Fi Stereo System on Missing Remote.
• HP E-MSM460 Dual Radio 802.11n Access Point on Business Computing World.
• Netgear N600 DGDN3700 Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router on Legit Reviews.
• NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller on APH Networks.
• OCZ Revo 3×2 240GB PCIe SSD on The SSD Review.
• Thermalright T-RAD² VGA Cooler on eTeknix.com.
• TTesports Shock Spin Headphones on RBMODS.
• Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi Motherboard on Hardware Secrets.

• Treating ADHD with Video Games…
• Finally, GameStop gets serious about UK…
• Retro Game Master Episode 6: Mighty Bomb Jack. Thanks Ant…

Happy SysAdmin Day! If you are a system administrator, make sure someone takes you to lunch today. I know I'm going to try to leverage this since I'm the admin here in the BlueTower, which involves keeping MrsBlue online, as well as myself and this site, so I think I can drag some props out of this.

Admin Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Mr Runner 2.
Link:	Brilliantly Sarcastic Responses To Completely Well-Meaning Signs. Thanks Devicer.
Science:	Super Bacteria- Fighting Resistance Could Be Trickier Than Thought. Neanderthals were outnumbered by the first modern humans.
Images:	40 Color Photos Of Wales In The Victorian Era. Dog: I'm in charge...
Media:	The ultimate Tarantino mixtape. NSFW. Dr. Seuss' Fox in Socks... Read at BLAZING SPEED. Harrison Ford Settles a Feud. Thanks SLI.
The Funnies:	There Is No Ending to Spy Hunter.
Follow-up:	Mother of Girls in Taconic Accident Files Suit. Alcohol Withdrawal May Have Caused Amy Winehouse's Death.