Ubisoft announces that they are renaming Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online for its official launch on April 10th, saying when it leaves beta testing, the multiplayer shooter will be known as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms. “The end of open beta is a new start to the game. The difference between where the game started and the game today is so considerable that we felt we should mark it with a fresh identity," explains producer Corey Facteau. "Feedback from our five million players throughout beta enabled us to continuously increase the content of the game and to improve what makes the game unique, the blending of intense shooters with the teamwork and tactical depth of MOBAs. Ghost Recon Phantoms brings a narrative layer to the game based around The Phantoms, ex-Ghosts and current adversaries who left The Ghosts to pursue personal agendas. We’ve also added new gameplay elements to expand the depth of the game and give new experiences to seasoned veterans. Of course, no accounts will be wiped, and our current players will not have to start over." Here are the changes of which he speaks:

Updated Characters and Maps
The game’s new identity comes with a new art direction, including new character and device designs for all three classes as well as a complete reworking of lighting and level design on the majority of maps. Referencing military system prototypes, the art team created realistic new gear for players to deliver an experience representative of tomorrow’s battlefields.

Major Changes in Matchmaking and Customization
With the launch of the game, the development team will address the main concerns of player. Matchmaking will now take into account both the skills and gear, which will grant a fair gaming experience to all users, both new and veterans, paying or not. The team is also going to reveal the new “Mod Master” and weapon camo systems, which will allow countless customization possibilities. The details of these changes will be shared in a community video later this week.

Upcoming Features Built With the Community
Post-launch the team will continue to develop new features and weapons to keep the gameplay dynamic. Currently the team is fine-tuning tactical insertions and smoke grenades, which are being tested in large scale playtests by the community before being released in-game in the near future.

The Christopher M. Park's blog has an update from the Arcen Games founder on The Last Federation, Arcen's upcoming sci-fi grand strategy game. The update includes a progress report on alpha testing, a link to a recent article and (super long) video on major combat changes, and a new video trailer from the alpha showing changes since the previous video. There are details on how to sign up for the alpha and the upcoming beta, and we also have a clarification that the report that the game would be released last month was not accurate, as word is they expect an official release on Steam in the second half of April following a couple of weeks of pre-order beta access. Continue here to read the full story.

• Natural Selection 2 Build 264 now live on Steam. Thanks Ant.
• Franchise Hockey Manager Version 1.6.2 Game Update Now Available.

• Mars: War Logs on Steam. Save 75%.
• New Steam Weeklong Deals, Monday March 17th.
• SEGA-sized savings on Humble Mumble. Save up to 80%.
• Substance Indie Pack on Steam. Save 40%.

• The Elder Scrolls Online on Ars Technica.

Thanks Ant.

• Google rolls out cross-platform iOS-Android gaming with Play Games Services.
• iPhone Giveaway of the Day: Alien Shooter – Survive.
• Reviews of H&R Block for iPad, H&R Block 1040EZ, TurboTax for iPad, and SnapTax.

• Comcast and Time Warner Cable lost 1.1 million video customers in 2013.

• 'Syndromes' Drive Coders Crazy. Thanks HARDOCP.

Thanks j.c.f.

• Adobe patches a critical flaw in Shockwave Player.
• Phishing campaign targets Google Docs, Drive users.
• Pwn2Own 2014 ends, $850k distributed to successful hackers.
• IBM: A Letter to Our Clients About Government Access. Thanks HARDOCP.

• Alleged Bitcoin founder hires a lawyer in bid to 'clear his name'. Thanks HARDOCP.

Link of the Day: Superman With a GoPro. Thanks Ant.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment they've picked up the gauntlet, as they plan on offering an updated version of Gauntlet for Windows this summer through Valve's Steam service, saying this will fully support SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines. This is in development at Arrowhead Studios (Magicka), and they say it "innovates on past titles while staying true to the brand’s legendary format." WBIE also has more retro remakes in the works, as they say: "The game will lead the launch of WB Games Vault, a direct-to-digital portfolio that will deliver paid games based on popular Warner Bros. and Midway brands, plus original IP, across multiple digital networks." The Gauntlet website is already online, featuring newsletter signups, and an official announcement trailer which includes gameplay footage and an outline of the game's classes. Here's part of the announcement:

Upon selecting a playable character, the gameplay is set within dungeons where the object is to fight through the chambers slaying evil creatures and completing challenges. An assortment of special items can be located in each dungeon that can restore the player’s health, unlock doors, and shift the odds in the player’s favor with magical relics which can aid the player in surviving longer in the Gauntlet. The enemies are a vast assortment of fantasy-based monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, spiders, sorcerers and skeleton warriors.

Continue here to read the full story.

A thread on the Call of Duty forums and another on Reddit are indications that Activision has been actively banning cheaters from Call of Duty: Ghosts for violating the Code of Conduct for playing the military shooter sequel online. MP1st reports that these seem to be centered on PS3/PS4 players, noting Activision responds that “bans are put in place after an account has been investigated into. Any code of conduct violations WILL result in a ban. The user is responsible for all actions taken on the account." They add that "All bans are final and will not be reversed. Nor do we provide any additional information or specifics in regards to the ban," inspiring a petition requesting that Activision make its banning policies more transparent. In spite of all that, a more recent forum thread says that some users are having their bans lifted, kicking off with this comment: "It seems as if someone has been listening to us because I just checked my account on COD Ghosts and my permanent ban and console ban has been lifted and everything is back to how it was before the ban. It feels good to know that somebody paid attention and that my innocence has been proven. I hope you innocent people out there have also been cleared."

The Kickstarter is now underway for Chaos Reborn, a remake of X-COM originator Julian Gollop's "cult classic ZX Spectrum game ‘Chaos’, first published in 1985 by Games Workshop." The pitch actually fails to mention platforms, though one of the backer rewards promises a "digital downloadable version of the game, DRM free, for either Windows, Mac or Linux," so we know PCs are covered. The goal is to raise $180,000, and they are already over 10% there. Here's word on the plan:

The magic combat system remains true to the original Chaos. It is all about summoning a host of weird and mythical creatures, moving and fighting with them, and using your wizard to attack, defend, buff and de-buff with large array of spells. It is highly tactical and fast paced. But Chaos Reborn expands considerably on this by offering multiplayer modes, a single-player RPG system and co-op play.

Currently, we have an online multi-player prototype working, which you can see in the video. A third of the spells are implemented, but most of the graphics are place-holder and none of the creatures have animations yet. However, the game is fully functional and great fun to play. With your help we can implement all the features in our game design, and deliver the final game to you by spring 2015.

Capcom Unity offers a trailer and some concept art introducing Decapre, the latest addition to the roster of combatants in the upcoming release of Ultra Street Fighter IV, the upcoming fighting sequel re-remake. Word is: "M.Bison’s plans for domination are only getting stronger with the addition of Decapre to the USFIV roster. The final challenger has arrived and she’s ready to share her pain with the rest of the warriors. Will Cammy and the other Street Fighters be able to escape her wrath?" Continue here to read the full story.

The EverQuest website celebrates the 15th anniversary of the addictive MMORPG which was yesterday), offering a the-and-now infographic showing how times have changed since the game's launch and laying out a timeline of significant events surrounding the game. Thanks nin.

• Chaos Reborn: Interview -- Strategy Informer.
• Q&A: Why Vlambeer returned to its roots with Luftrausers - Gamasutra.

• Titanfall boosts Xbox One sales by 96 per cent in the UK.
• Sony blocks Platinum trophy in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
• Microsoft's Xbox Cloud is making Titanfall better.

• Twitch Partners with Gameloft for First Ever Mobile Streaming Experience.
• A new RollerCoaster Tycoon game has been announced. For mobiles.
• John Romero working on mobile versions of Dangerous Dave and plans other mobile versions of his older games.
• T-Mobile Plans To Bump Their Entire Network To 4G By 2015. Thanks HARDOCP.
• The 11 most impressive iWatch concepts so far: which would you wear? Thanks HARDOCP.

Thanks Ant.

• Comcast Starts Selling Electricity In Pennsylvania.
• CBS Claims They'll Do Internet Video If Aereo Wins.

Thanks Ant.

• Intel Plans to Report First-Quarter Earnings on Apr. 15, 2014. Thanks HARDOCP.
• Khronos Releases OpenGL ES 3.1 Specification.
• 70% of Consumers Haven't Heard of 4K TV.
• ABC, Disney Have No Plans For 4K TV Anytime Soon.
• 4K TV: don't believe the hype.
• How I rebuilt "Flying Toasters" using only CSS animations.

• World of Warcraft beats trolls in fight over 1996 “virtual worlds” patent. Thanks HARDOCP.
• Save the date. May 11, 2014. The day you can ask your (U.S.) carrier to unlock your phone. They can't say no. Thanks Ant.
• AT&T Pushes Bill That Will Kill DSL, POTS in Michigan. Senator AT&T loves introducing legislature.
• Comcast: We're Lobbying Congress For You, The People. Senator Comcast loves you.
• T-Mobile Announces Network Upgrade, Sues Verizon Over Ads.

• Infested Planet on The Indie Mine.
• Titanfall on Ars Technica.

• Antec KUHLER H2O 1250 Liquid CPU Cooling System on Nikk Tech.
• Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS on techPowerUp.
• Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 Case on ThinkComputers.org.
• Corsair Raptor M45 Gaming Mouse on Benchmark Reviews.
• Cougar MX500 ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Chassis on eTeknix.
• OCZ Vertex 460 240GB on APH Networks.
• PNY GeForce GTX 780 OC 3GB on Hardware Canucks.
• Raidmax RX-1000AE Power Supply on Pure Overclock.
• Shuttle Barebone DS437 Fanless Slim PC with Celeron CPU on Mad Shrimps.

• Need for Speed movie stalls domestically, hits globally…
• Good Game - Pocket Edition - Season 10 Episode 4…

Good morning, and happy St. Paddy's day! Celebrations in the BlueTower are going to be typically reserved, we're not that big on school-night carousing, and will surely be laying low this evening. It seems a shame not to mark the occasion, however, so maybe I'll drive the snakes out of the BlueTower. Speaking of driving (and carousing), please be careful on the roads, as this is one of those amateur nights that is all the more dangerous, and please don't drink and drive yourself.

Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	HTML5 Genetic Algorithm 2D Car Thingy - Chrome recommended. Thanks jimnms. Vehicles 3: Car Toons.
Stories:	History's big mysteries: Questionable deaths, missing people, monsters. CNN or National Enquirer? The US Mint is making a curved coin that looks like a baseball. Thanks HARDOCP. Worst drought in decades hits Brazil coffee belt as buyers brace for price rise. Ruh roh.
Science:	Friendly Fungus Protects Our Mouths From Invaders. Thanks Ant via Slashdot.
Media:	Trouble With Inflatable Plane Cabin Door Raft. Hidden Doggie Cam. Snoopy!