This Facebook Page has artwork that fan site ValveTime believes is from Half-Life 2: Episode 3 circa 2008, saying: "These fantastic images have been sent in by an anonymous visitor to the site from an unknown source. Despite that, we have no reason to believe they aren't real. One could argue that perhaps they are just generic Half-Life 2 concept art of concepts that never made it into the final game. But there's plenty of evidence here to suggest they are post Episode 2." Computer and Video Games says they've reached out to Valve for comment.

HeroHQ Community announces the just-released Amazing Spider-Man game is coming to Steam on August 10th (thanks Shacknews). Here's the news:

We know our PC fans have been eagerly awaiting news. As of today, we can announce that The Amazing Spider-Man game will be releasing for PC on August 10th, 2012.

Lots of fans have asked if ASM would be coming to Steam, and we're very happy to confirm that it will be!

Additionally, ASM on PC will be integrated with Steam Achievements.

Rockstar Games announces Local Justice, the first DLC pack for Max Payne 3, is coming to the console editions of the third-person shooter sequel on July 3rd and to the PC edition on July 17th, saying season pass owners will also receive all the game's prerelease DLC on those dates as well. Since this is a delay from plans to release the multiplayer map pack this month, this will be offered at a discount to start:

The Local Justice Pack, the first downloadable content pack for Max Payne 3, will be available on July 3rd for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the PC version launching on July 17th. This pack includes three new maps for Max Payne 3 Multiplayer featuring areas from the game’s intense final chapters, plus a new weapon, a new item, a new multiplayer faction and associated new Achievements, Trophies or Social Club accomplishments.

        • 55th Battalion HQ map for all game modes
        • The Imperial Palace and Departure Lounge maps for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer
        • Light Fingers Item for faster looting
        • M4 Assault Rifle with attachments
        • São Paulo Police Faction with related avatar customization options

Since the Local Justice Pack was originally announced to release in June, we're making it available during launch week for a discounted price of 480 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) or $5.99 on PSN and PC as a show of appreciation for your patience, after which point it will return to its normal price of 640 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) or $7.99 on PSN and PC. Of course, if you purchased the Max Payne 3 Rockstar Pass you'll receive the pack free of charge. The Rockstar Pass is currently available for 2400 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) or $29.99 on PSN and PC.

NADEO announces a week-long ShootMania Storm closed beta starts early next month, and that registration to receive a key will close on July 2nd. This post set along by Frans has details on the testing, and this forum thread features discussion of the news and offers some screenshots and a new trailer. Here's an outline of what the beta will include:

• Joust: 1 vs. 1
• Elite: 3 vs. 3
• Siege: 5 vs. 5
• Melee: free for all
• Royal: free for all with the dome over the map shrinking
• Battle: team vs. team, no size restrictions
• Time Attack: perfect for training

The Ubisoft Forums now offers the promised follow-up to begin to address issues with the just-released PC edition of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, the military shooter sequel. This involves not one, but two day one patches, which are also available automatically and mirrored on AtomicGamer and The Patches Scrolls. Here are the patch notes:

Main changes:

• Improved stability in online multiplayer matches;
• Improved voice chat quality for PCs running Windows Vista;
• Improved navigation through game’s menus.

Continue here to read the full story.

This trailer offers the first video developer diary for MechWarrior Online, where the president of Piranha Games fills us in on their design philosophy in creating the free-to-play mech combat game that's due this summer. Word is: "In this video, Russ Bullock outlines the four pillars of Mech-to-Mech combat in the upcoming MechWarrior Online. Russ dives into the various aspects of gameplay features and innovations that fans will experience this summer when they dive in to the InnerSphere. WARFARE. It’s a thing." Continue here to read the full story.

Cliffski's Blog has word that a new patch is now available for Gratuitous Tank Battles to update the armored strategy game to version 1.013. Here are the highlights: Continue here to read the full story.

The Drox Operative patches has today's new patches for the Windows and OS X beta of Soldak Entertainment's action/RPG. This page has the updated patch notes.

Valve announces Tribes Ascend is now available through Steam. For the next week they are celebrating with a 50% discount on the Tribes: Ascend Steam Starter pack, which includes the following for the free-to-play shooter:

• Lifetime 50% XP Boost
• 4 Bonus Weapons for base classes
• Infiltrator Class & 4 Weapons unlocks
• Technician Class & 4 Weapons unlocks
• 4 Perks unlocks
• 800 Tribes Gold

NVIDIA now offers new version 302.82 HQL-certified Windows 8 drivers. Word is: "This is a WHQL-certified GeForce driver to be used only with the Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview. This driver should not be used with Windows Vista or Windows 7. This driver offers full support for the new Windows 8 display driver model WDDM 1.2." Thanks HARDOCP.

• The Walking Dead- Ep. 2 "Starved For Help" on Xbox LIVE.
• Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

• Google's Nexus 7 tablet goes up for sale at $199, ships in July.
• I once was blind but now I see -- or, why I’ll never give up my PC for a tablet and smartphone. Thanks Ant.
• HP releases "Community Edition" of webOS as open source. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.
• Cradle of Rome 2 out now in the US for 3DS and DS.
• T-Mobile USA CEO Gives himself the axe.
• Five years ago they said the iPhone would be a flop ... Now?

• Today, Google Maps doesn’t need your stinking Internet.
• There's Troll and Troll- On Dealing With Internet Hate. Thanks Ant.

• US retires famous Red Storm supercomputer.

• US lawmakers seek review of broadband data caps. Thanks HARDOCP.
• Automated robbery- how card skimmers (still) steal millions from banks.

• Nuketown Returns as Black Ops II Pre-Order Bonus…

Link of the Day: Beauty and the BEAT. Thanks Trent.

The Team Fortress 2 Website caps off a few days of teasing with the release of Meet the Pyro, the ninth and final class-based video from Team Fortress 2. Valve uses this hot debut to announce they are working on a public version of the Source Filmmaker, which they use to create all such animated shorts. The Source Filmmaker is currently in closed beta testing for release later this year (Valve Time). In the meantime you can read up on the project on the new Source Filmmaker Website, where there's a trailer introducing the project. Continue here to read the full story.

Pastebin has what are said to be details on plans for new Mass Effect 3 DLC found in the new extended cut of BioWare's action/RPG sequel. The spoilery post includes details on a plot involving a Reaper named Leviathan, and supporting the idea that more content for the game us coming is a new tweet by Mike Gamble noticed by Eurogamer which reads: "As I've said before, we do this for you! EC was our gift to the fans. Hope you enjoyed. Also...keep your ears open over the next little while." Thanks BioWare Social Network.

The Ubisoft Forums and Steam Forums both have threads on issues with the just released PC edition of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There are mentions of screen resolution glitches and multiplayer connectivity issues, but the main complain seems to be from users having problems with WASD/mouse movement. For its part, here's what Ubisoft has to say about all this: "The team continues to work hard, improving the game experience, supporting the title and listening to the feedback. There are multiple updates planned over the life of the game and here is some additional information on to what exactly each type of update contains: http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/gr-portal...t=tcm:6-231-32. We'll try to keep you posted as much as possible regarding the future updates. See details for the day-one update here: http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php...rmation-Forums." Thanks VG247.

The Stronghold Kingdoms Website has word on a recent patch that added a new Crown Prince rank to Firefly's free-to-play installment in their Stronghold series of medieval construction games. Word is: "The Crown Prince is a huge extension to the game for high-level players and a lofty goal for those just starting out. It offers Lords and Ladies, good and bad, with potentially unlimited power. They are to be loved and feared…"

The TERA Website has word that the En Masse store now offers sales of the "Night Mare," a new mount for TERA that sells for USD $24.99, close to half the price of the game itself. No word on whether it comes pre-equipped with horse armor. Thanks Massively.

Battle.net now has word that the version 1.0.3a patch for Diablo III that went live in the Americas yesterday is now available on the European servers for Blizzard's action/RPG sequel, allowing American and European players to once again band together should they so choose. For those looking to avoid the automatic update, the various localized manual patches are available on The Patches Scrolls.

• Dead State on Forbes.

• Kazuo Hirai steps down as Sony Computer Entertainment chairman.
• The Amazing Spider-Man Ships to North America and Trailers.
• Cliff Bleszinski: “I don’t think Kinect has been fully realised”.

• A look back: Steve Ballmer laughs at the iPhone.
• Letter Mania on the iTunes App Store.
• SD Unified Purchases 26,000 iPads For District Students. Thanks HARDOCP.

• Zynga sets up shop outside of Facebook.
• Netflix may have to provide closed captions online. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.

• Ghost Recon Future Soldier PC Technical Review - Rage3D.com.
• iOS 6- fragmentation and segmentation. Thanks Ant.
• Intel Labs Goes Back to the Future. Thanks HARDOCP.

• Mountain Lion to phone home daily looking for security updates.

• In Rhode Island, lying online is no longer a crime.
• Sophisticated bank fraud attempted to steal at least $78 million.

• On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3 on Kotaku. Thanks nin.
• Spec Ops: The Line on NY Daily News.
• Strategic War in Europe on Out of Eight.

• 3R System L700 Eclipse Case on Hardware Secrets.
• ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional (Intel Z77) Motherboard on TweakTown.
• ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card on HARDOCP.
• beQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2 on ProClockers.
• Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Headset on HARDOCP.
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W PSU on ProClockers.
• CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme 2000 SE Gaming System on Bjorn3D.
• Dell XPS 14 (2012) on TechReviewSource.com.
• Intel 910 800GB and 400GB PCI Express SSD on TweakTown.
• Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge Processor and HD 2500 Graphics on PC Perspective.
• KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC on Guru3D.
• Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD on Bigbruin.com.
• Motorola XOOM 2 Tablet on t-break.
• OCZ Vertex 4 128GB RAID on Real World Labs.
• OCZ Vertex 4 256GB on PureOC.
• QNAP TS-669 Pro on techPowerUp.
• Razer Blade Laptop on USATODAY.com. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Roccat Isku and Kone Gaming Keyboard and Mouse on Ninjalane.com.
• Xigmatek SD1283 Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler on Modders-Inc.
• Z77 Mobo Roundup II: EVGA, ASRock, Gigabyte, Zotac on HotHardware.

• Dwarf Fortress gets 238 page illustrated Getting Started guide…
• Square Enix to avoid large-scale internal development after Final Fantasy XIII-2…
• Five Features Steam Needs…

So I spoke with the lady from the tree doctor place yesterday, and decided that since the guys showed up Friday because a customer complained they left a mess, I would help them out by saying what a great job they had done for us. When I told her this was because they thought they were supposed to do a follow-up visit here, she was incredulous that they could have mistaken us for the house they were supposed to visit, implying that they'd have to be idiots to think so. So it seems my effort at getting them out of trouble did the exact opposite. Teach me to try and help.

R.I.P.: Nora Ephron, prolific author and screenwriter, dies at age 71. Thanks JDreyer.

Helpful Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	Steamlands Player Pack. Cowboys Conspiracy. Fort Blaster: Ahoy There.
Links:	The 7 Most Ridiculous Resurrections in Comic Book History.
Stories:	"Battleship" Failure Blamed On "Avengers".
Science:	The way you count on your fingers may influence how your brain works. Having Your Coffee and Enjoying It Too. Thanks j.c.f. Meteorite Hunter Discovers New Mineral. Thanks Slashdot.
Images:	Grand Theft Auto Protagonists Hang Out. Like Coffee Mug. Skyrim Apology Cake.
Media:	Sorkinisms - A Supercut. Kickstarter Exposed As Internet Scam!.
Follow-up:	Operation BearLove Good, Cancer Bad has ended. Now what? Thanks nin.