Larian Studios sends word that a pair of PCs went missing during their gamescom participation, and these machines contained early builds of Divinity: Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin, their two upcoming Divinity games. They say they have other copies of the source code, but are unhappy at the theft of their machines and are looking to inspire their return. Word is: "Larian is offering a $5000 reward for information leading to the identification of the culprit and return of the PCs. We're asking the game community to band together to track these criminals down and to get the games back!"

The BioWare Blog announces the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3 is due this month for all the action/RPG sequel's platforms:

We are very pleased to officially announce that the Mass Effect 3 Leviathan single-player DLC will be released on August 28th, 2012 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Please note that on Playstation 3 in Europe, it will be available on August 29th.

To help us celebrate this joyous occasion, we are also releasing a fresh batch of Leviathan wallpapers for you to enjoy. Get ‘em here.

This Kickstarter is for a game called Planetary Annihilation, a "next generation" RTS game that developer Uber Entertainment says will offer "Total Annihilation-inspired gameplay on a planetary scale." Uber is the company behind Monday Night Combat, it includes veterans of the genre who have contributed to Total Annihilation, Command & Conquer, Supreme Commander, and Demigod. Word is: "We all know that the RTS genre has taken a hit. There just aren’t that many quality original RTS games coming out. If you love to play games like Total Annihilation your options are pretty limited. This is where Planetary Annihilation comes in. It is meant to be a truly innovative spin on what RTS games can and should be." Thanks Chiechien and Sylvester.

Another new Kickstarter is for Nuclear Eclipse Online (N.E.O), an online first-person shooter that's been in the works for the past couple of years at Boiling Core Entertainment. They are shooting for beta testing in October:

We have been working on NEO for awhile now and it’s almost ready. We are shooting for a closed beta in October and a planned open beta at the end of November. The internal tests have all been positive, but the game needs a lot more polish before we are ready to open it up to players. We need to rethink some things and fix some bugs. One thing personally is the art direction as far as character models. The mutant zombies just aren’t mutant-y or zombie-y enough for my taste yet.

As the run up to the release of the version 1.04 patch for Diablo III, Blizzard continues their promised stream of information about what it will offer. They now have Barbarian and Wizard previews, outlining how each of these classes will change after the new patch, which is expected by the end of the month.

AMD Support & Drivers now offers new version 12.8 Catalyst reference drivers for ATI/AMD graphics cards, offering their first Windows 8 driver, saying this includes support "for the DirectX 11.1 and the new WDDM 1.2 driver model." They say these offer the following performance improvements over the version 12.6 drivers:

• Up to 25% in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
• Up to 3% in Battlefield 3
• Up to 6% in Batman: Arkham City
• Up to 3% in Dues Ex: Human Revolution
• Up to 6% in Crysis 2
• Up to 15% in Total War: Shogun
• Up to 8% in Crysis Warhead
• Up to 5% in Just Cause 2
• Up to 10% in Dirt 3

Valve announces more aspects of their upcoming Steam Community update, describing features for organizing and showing off your collection of screenshots, videos, and Workshop items. Word is: "With this update, Steam is putting all the content you’ve created and shared in one convenient place to make it easier to both show off and manage. Your screenshots will be organized into a rich, continually scrolling page that we’re calling the ‘Image Wall’, showing off both your recent and top-rated images at the top. Videos and Workshop items will also get their own sub-section in your shared files, with the ability to easily sort and manage them."

• Crysis Maximum Edition on Amazon.com. Save 75%. Thanks nin.
• Dungeons & Dragons Online Menace of the Underdark on Steam. Save 50%.
• Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack on Steam. Save 10%.

• Korean telecom execs hint at wide LTE support with next-gen iPhone.

• Here's Comcast's Coming Speed, Pricing Lineup. Thanks Ant.
• Windows 8 vs. Windows 7 Performance.
• New DRM-Free Label. Thanks Slashdot.

• Windows 8 RTM out now for MSDN, TechNet subscribers.
• Windows 8 vs. Windows 7 Performance.
• Verizon offers two defenses of indefensible $5 fee.

Thanks j.c.f.

• Bogus "MS Cyber-Crime Department" warnings lead to phishing.
• Microsoft patches critical security holes in Windows.
• Oracle releases unscheduled fix for critical vulnerability.
• Magento shops attacked through Zend vulnerability.
• BackTrack 5 R3 adds tools for Arduino and Teensy attacks.
• Multiple Web Vulnerabilities Identified in SonicWALL Email Security.

• North American Battle.net Account Update - Diablo III

Link of the Day: Help me raise money to buy Nikola Tesla's old laboratory - The Oatmeal. Thanks nin.

EA announces Command & Conquer, a new free-to-play online strategy game (which they are calling a "destination"), saying this will now include the BioWare-developed project originally announced as Command & Conquer Generals 2. This is to launch next year, and they are currently signing up beta testers on this site, where they have more details, and this new trailer. Here's word:

An all-out war rages in Command & Conquer, as players take control of multiple factions, compete for resources, build up operation bases and lead massive batteries of tanks, soldiers and aircrafts into battle. With incredibly detailed units, fully destructible environments, dynamic physics and exhilarating visual effects, Command & Conquer is poised to re-define what gamers expect from a strategy game. Heralding feedback driven design, Command & Conquer will evolve and develop with an expanding array of new content based on community response.

Continue here to read the full story.

RailSimulator.com announces Train Simulator 2013, the next installment in this transport game, saying this will pull into stores worldwide on September 20th. This will include a game update for owners of Train Simulator 2012 with new features like the new user interface, new control and menu options, and Steam Workshop integration, though the previous game will not receive the new TS2013 routes and locomotives. Word is:

In addition to further-enhanced graphics and performance, Train Simulator 2013 features exciting new local content for the UK, US and Germany in the form of London to Brighton, Sherman Hill and Munich-Augsburg route complete with locomotives. TS2013 will also feature updated HUDs, including a minimal HUD with just the bare essentials, which can be adjusted to be less intrusive. Significant improvements have been made to the 2D task map, which can be viewed while driving: players can now skip to each destination along the route in order, and back to their train. Players can also highlight destinations in the world while driving, a particularly useful feature when shunting/switching.

This teaser trailer shows off Farming Simulator 2013, the next installment in this series where you get to watch the grass grow. The clip focuses on some of the big harvesting equipment the game puts at the player's disposal. Here's word on the new version, which eSports fans will note includes competitive multiplayer support:

Farming Simulator 2013 keeps all the ingredients that makes the staple of virtual farming, while incorporating many new machines, vehicles, crops, animals, and environment. Farming Simulator 2013 features equipment from top 20 vehicle manufacturers. Dozens of new machines have found their way into the game, such as those from reference brand Case IH, as well as some special, gigantic farming machines, like Grimme’s harvester which makes an appearance in today’s video.

Of course, this edition keeps its complete online mode and online services, making it possible for the community to manage a farm up to 10 players in multiplayer, but also create, download and share mods, vehicles, and equipment, as well as custom made tools through the customization options directly integrated into the game.

The Team Fortress 2 Website has another update on the Mann versus Machine co-op expansion that's expected today for Valve's teamplay shooter sequel. This post discusses the upgrades available to players harvesting the wreckage of the metal menaces the new patch will bring and also introduces Coal Town, a new museum-themed map.

A post on the Diablo III Website has more on planned changes in the upcoming version 1.04 patch for Diablo III, outlining how they will change the Legendary items in Blizzard's action/RPG to help them better live up to that label. This includes the addition of new affixes and they go on to describe their hopes that this will introduce more build diversity to the game. They also explain the ill conceived planning that made legendaries "kind of crappy," and how they are looking to de-crappify them going forward. They also talk about how this will impact set items (which are also legendary items themselves), and offer this video showing how the artists have been working to make these items have cooler appearances.

The King's Bounty: Warriors of the North Website now offers the a new official trailer from the next installment in the strategy/RPG series. Here's a reminder about this project: "The game is scheduled for a Q4 2012 release and features 60+ hours of gameplay with a new hero, Olaf, the son of the Northling King. Olaf dedicates his life to the fight against the undead infesting the Northern Lands of Endoria and he will face epic battles, valor and love. Accompanied by gorgeous Valkyries who will assist him on the battlefield, he will liberate the icy wastelands of the North and Darion, the heart of the Endoria, from the reign of the evil Necromancer." Continue here to read the full story.

• Impire on Strategy Informer.

• Dust: An Elysian Tail on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

• Internet Blackout in Malaysia- Netizens Protest Evidence Act Amendment S114A. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.

• AMD Announces New, Higher Clocked Radeon HD 7950 with Boost.
• Ninjalane Podcast - Family Games Roccat Kave Review GSKill Trident X DDR3 2400Mhz.

• Federal court rules cops can warrantlessly track suspects via cellphone.

• Bullet Run on GameGrin.
• Darksiders II on Techgage.
• Diablo 3 on Technic3D. In German.
• Final Fantasy VII on truepcgaming.
• Sleeping Dogs on The PA Report. Thanks nin.

• Aerocool Touch-2000 on HardwareLook.com.
• Corsair Force GS 240GB SSD on TweakTown.
• Dell Latitude E6430 on TechReviewSource.
• OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD on CDRLabs.com.
• Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Overclocked Video Card on TweakTown.

• Can a Video Game Tackle Alcoholism Without Being Preachy?…

We have to bring our Accord to the shop for a seatbelt replacement today. What's funny is, I think we would characterize the car as very reliable, but this is at least the third "silent recall" we've had for this it, including a new transmission. I guess our perception of reliability is pretty strongly impacted by whether we have to pay for the repairs or not.

Recalled Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	CLOP. Gang Blast.
Media:	'The Star Wars That I Used To Know'. Thanks Neutronbeam. The Evolution Of The Uneven Bars. Land Ahoy! And we are NOT stopping. Synchronized Swimming Is Terrifying.