Sledgehammer Games tweets that a double experience points are being handed out in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare all weekend on all platforms: "NOW LIVE: #DoubleXP Weekend has been activated for @CallofDuty: #AdvancedWarfare across all platforms! Enjoy!"

Valve has updated their Scam FAQ according to PCGamesN, saying they will no longer be returning items to scam victims, saying "All trade scams can be avoided." To that end, they offer an extensive guide on scam avoidance. Here's the explanation for why items will not be returned:

Our community assigns an item a value that is at least partially determined by that item's scarcity. If more copies of the item are added to the economy through inventory rollbacks, the value of every other instance of that item would be reduced.

We sympathize with people who fall victim to scams, but we provide enough information on our website and within our trading system to help users make good trading decisions. All trade scams can be avoided.

The Assassin's Creed website is offering signups for a reward program for Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Unlike prior such programs, this does not require a preorder to participate, but it still offers the chance to get some free stuff in exchange for "interacting with Assassin's Creed online." Here's a bit of the explanation from the UbiBlog:

Join the Family. Get rewards. It’s as simple as that. You may remember last year’s rewards program from Assassin’s Creed Unity. Well, it’s back and offering bigger and better rewards this year for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Plus, you don’t even have to pre-order the game to enter for cool prizes. There is absolutely no purchase necessary. By completing activities like reading articles, taking fan surveys or watching trailers, you can rack up points that can then be entered into winning awesome stuff like a trip to San Diego Comic-Con or a beautiful Assassin’s Creed Syndicate skinned PS4 console. Sign up for the program by clicking on the image below.

[Pretend this is an image]

Of course, there are tons of other prizes like Ubi Workshop gear and in-game content as well. As you collect points, you’ll be able to use them to enter a raffle for big prizes (for things like the skinned PS4, it will be 1,000 points per entry), or save them up to directly purchase some of the smaller prizes like these cool shirts.

The Spin to Win you saw with Assassin’s Creed Unity is also back, but has undergone some changes. Like the Join the Family program, there are no purchases necessary. You’ll be able to spin five times a week in order to score some easy points, which can then be redeemed for goodies in the Join the Family program.

This trailer takes us "deep inside the dark zone" in The Division, Ubisoft's upcoming Tom Clancy shooter. This includes gameplay footage and a developer interview, as explained by UbiBlog:

Ordinarily, government agents – even sleeper agents activated to restore order after the apocalypse – are supposed to work together. If our first glimpse of The Division’s Dark Zone can teach us anything, however, it’s that cooperation is the first thing to go out the window when really great loot is on the line. The Dark Zone is a place of contamination, fear and betrayal – and Fredrik Rundqvist, The Division’s executive producer, is here to give you an idea of what to expect.

A contaminated chunk of land in the middle of Manhattan, the Dark Zone is a PvP area where you’ll be able to earn the best loot in the game – provided, of course, you can survive the attention of other players long enough to extract and decontaminate whatever you find. The Division is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on March 8, and you can guarantee access to its beta by pre-ordering.

More from UbiBlog, as they offer a new trailer talking with Angela Barrett about her role as Six in Rainbow Six Siege, the next installment in the specops series. The clip alternates between the live interview with the actress and gameplay footage, some of which features her character, making for a nice trip through the uncanny valley. Here's the accompanying description:

Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett is making franchise history with her role as Six in the upcoming Rainbow Six Siege. For the first time in series history (games or books), Six will be a woman. First there was John Clark, then we had Chavez, and now, years after the program’s deactivation, we see a new Six step up to breathe life back into the Rainbows. She places you in charge of assembling a team of elite counter-terrorist specialists from around the world to combat a mysterious new threat: the White Masks. We spoke with Angela Bassett herself to get a feel for the character and learn what it was about Six that got her into the motion capture booth.

“We wanted this to be a new era for Rainbow, so we knew we needed a new Six to usher it in,” says Game Designer Andrew Witts. “We really wanted someone who had a commanding presence and could play that no-nonsense, “this is what needs to be done” kind of role. It had to be someone who felt like they could lead this team. Angela Bassett has played so many incredibly strong roles and she just felt like a perfect fit.”

Continue here to read the full story.

Steam News announces the release of METAL SLUG on Steam, offering the chance to play the original game in this run-and-gun action game. Here's word on the PC version of the game, though they note this will not run under Windows XP:

MAIN FEATURES

• ARCADE MODE (MAIN MISSION):
  Play the original arcade version of “METAL SLUG ” with its charismatic protagonist soldiers Marco & Tarma, maneuver the almighty “METAL SLUG ” tank, and fight your way through the 6 missions of the game to thwart Gen. Morden's evil ambitions!
• MISSION MODE (STAGE SELECT):
  Play and enjoy your favorite stages at will! Train alone or with a brother-in-arms on the missions you have unlocked so far!
• ONLINE MISSION (ONLINE MULTIPLAYER):
  Connect to Steam and clear missions with a brother-in-arms far away via the Online Co-Op Play feature.
  Engage with a fellow countryman or foreign ally and let the mission begin!
• SETTINGS:
  Configure control, language, video display, and sound volume settings for the best “METAL SLUG ” experience on PC.
• LEADERBOARDS:
  Check your current rank & score in “METAL SLUG” at any time, and challenge other players to be the best “METAL SLUG ” soldier in the world!

Steam now offers Toukiden: Kiwami, a "hunting/action" game for Windows from KOEI TECMO. As the title implies, this is a very Japanese release, reflected by the post about a day one update in kanji, though there is also a translation, which explains it fixes an issue that could cause the game to freeze. Here's the description: "'Toukiden: Kiwami' is a hunting action game where players take on the role of a Slayer possessing unique abilities, and battle the Oni to save mankind from destruction.
To defeat these huge Oni, players band together to sever, pierce, and crush parts of the Oni using the Targeted Destruction System! Multiplayer for up to 4 players is supported." Here's a recent trailer. Continue here to read the full story.

Forest Warrior for Windows is now available on Steam as an Early Access release, providing an opportunity to get in touch with your inner Ewok. Word is: "Forest Warrior is a game in which you will have to survive a forest full of evil monsters like zombies, birds and fire spirits. Using weapons as hatchets, guns and explosives you will have to stay alive in increasingly difficult waves." Evil monsters like birds always ruin everything.

Development of Her Story is now history, as the adventure game is now available on GOG.com and Steam, offering a detective story for Windows and OS X featuring an unusual narrative technique. This trailer shows off the game and its use of full-motion video that brings on an unmistakable sense of nostalgia for the days when this was state-of-the-art. Here's the description:

Her Story is the new video game from Sam Barlow, creator of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Aisle. A crime fiction game with non-linear storytelling, Her Story revolves around a police database full of live action video footage. It stars Viva Seifert, actress and one half of the band Joe Gideon and the Shark.

How does it work?
Her Story sits you in front of a mothballed desktop computer that’s logged into a police database of video footage. The footage covers seven interviews from 1994 in which a British woman is interviewed about her missing husband. Explore the database by typing search terms, watch the clips where she speaks those words and piece together her story.

Continue here to read the full story.

• 2K Games Packs on The Humble Store.
• Blast from the Past Sale on GOG.com.
• Music Creator 7 on Steam. Save 60%.
• Summer Sale on the MacGameStore. Save up to 90%. Includes a free game offer.
• Tropico 5 on Steam. Save 75%.

• World of Warcraft Patch 6.2 Hotfixes - June 25. Thanks Ant.

• Between Kickstarter’s frauds and phenoms live long-delayed projects.
• INK approved by Steam Greenlight. Creative platformer coming to Steam this summer.
• Shenmue 3 by Ys Net — Kickstarter. Stretch goals discussed. Twitch session planned for tonight to discuss this further (no link yet). Thanks GameSpot.

• Star Wars Battlefront Interview: "There Are 10,000 Ways to F*** This Up" - GameSpot. Excerpt: Star Wars: Battlefront Dev Says It Didn't Consider Single-Player Campaign.
• Kotaku Asks: Monkey Island Designer Ron Gilbert.

• Players Announced For Archon's $250,000 Hearthstone Team League.
• ‘Father of Survival Horror’ distinguished with the Spanish Academy Of Interactive Arts and Sciences Gamelab Honor Award.
• New StarCraft II Ladder Maps for 2015 Season 3.
• Team Secret on independence and why they're seeking sponsorship.

• No Man’s Sky on Kotaku.
• Rise of the Tomb Raider on Eurogamer.

• Nintendo is looking into its own Early Access program.
• Q is Now Available for Xbox One.

• Report: Apple looks to reinstate some iOS apps that use Confederate flag.
• Intel throwing more effort into wearables market, as tech evolves.
• Disney to ban selfie sticks at all of its theme parks worldwide.
• Mario Italiano Four Families on the App Store on iTunes.
• Monster Want Burger on the App Store on iTunes.
• Tiny Hugs on Google Play, iTunes, and Windows Phone Apps+Games Store.

• Internet access “not a necessity or human right,” says FCC Republican.
• Charter: We won’t impose data caps after buying Time Warner Cable.

• Cirque du Soleil Kurios embraces virtual reality to wow guests.

• Private investigator snooped on e-mail of Scientology critics.

• Private investigator snooped on e-mail of Scientology critics. Who would possibly hire someone to do that?

• Combat Cats on Steam. Match 3 meets cats, potentially exploding the Internet…

Link of the Day: Badminton- Play of the Day alright... holy cow.

The official website for Star Wars Battlefront is now accepting applications to participate in closed alpha testing of the upcoming Star Wars action game on Origin. Here's word, which does not offer any clues about how difficult it may be to get accepted: "Apply for your chance to join the Closed Alpha and help us prepare for the release of Star Wars™ Battlefront™ starting on November 17, 2015 in North America. Available for Origin on PC only, the purpose of the Star Wars Battlefront Closed Alpha is to perform a number of technical tests that will help the team at DICE as they continue the development of the game." MP1st has details from an email to prospective applicants saying that testing will begin on July 2nd after a day to preload, and they also have these system requirements, which only apply to this test:

• CPU: Quad Core CPU e.g. Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.8 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 955 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz
• RAM: 6 GB
• OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64-bit operating system required)
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with 2 GB of Video Memory

Square Enix and Eidos Montréal have produced a four-part documentary on the Deus Ex series to celebrate the release of the original action/RPG 15 years ago today (give, or take a few days) and the upcoming installment in the series, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The first chapter, "Legacy of Deus Ex," is now available, and for some reason it is posted exclusively at IGN. The accompanying announcement also offers a chance to vote on contents for a collector's edition, and explains how to score a free digital copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut by donating over one dollar to charity through Gamechanger. Here's what's up:

Square Enix® and Eidos Montréal®, the award-winning studio behind the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution®, today announced that, as part of the franchise's 15th anniversary, they are producing a special four-episode documentary that highlights the progression of the series from the original Deus Ex® launch on June 26, 2000 to the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™. The first episode can now be viewed on IGN.com and features original game creators Warren Spector, Chris Norden and Sheldon Pacotti discussing the creation and legacy of the first Deus Ex.

To view the first episode of the four part documentary, please visit:
http://www.ign.com/videos/2015/06/26/dx15-the-legacy-of-deus-ex

Square Enix also announced how fans can influence and shape the contents of the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Collector's Edition. As a nod to the Deus Ex focus on player choice, many items like an Adam Jensen Replica Statue, Mini Art Book, a Replica Weapon and Pin Set among others, are up for selection to be included in the final Collector's Edition until July 3.

To learn more about Collector’s Edition selections, please visit: DeusEx.com

Finally, Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal have partnered with GameChanger Charity to provide donors with a free PC digital copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut for every contribution made to the charity in excess of $1. In the spirit of the Deus Ex themes of human empowerment and freedom of choice, donors will have the ability to decide how their funds will be used by GameChanger. A non-profit focused on improving the lives of children suffering from life-threatening diseases, GameChanger makes an impact by providing direct services in hospitals, delivering video game gifts & supporting families financially.

To donate to GameChanger for a copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut, please visit: http://dx15.org.

Gearbox Software offers the E3 Gameplay Demo video for Battleborn, which shows off their first-person shooter/MOBA for over 23 minutes. The intro warns that this is prerelease footage, not final game content, and there is a caption for the entire clip warning "in development & subject to change," so don't expect any lawsuits to spring forth from this. Here's the accompanying explanation:

Battleborn was hands-on for the first time ever at E3 2015. Here's your chance to get a look at the 20 minutes of Battleborn gameplay that was available on the show floor! This mission follows a team of five Battleborn, Thorn, Caldarius, Phoebe, Orendi, and Oscar Mike, as they infiltrate an old Peacekeeper base on the planet of Bliss.

Battleborn is not-yet-rated and is releasing this winter for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more information about Battleborn and its characters, head over to the official Battleborn website!

Continue here to read the full story.

The Bombshell website now offers the E3 trailer from Bombshell, the upcoming action/RPG from Interceptor Entertainment and undead publisher 3D Realms. The description says this uses 100% in-game footage and promises the game will be playable next month when it is shown off at QuakeCon. The caption also points to Game Informer's article with screenshots, though this is a couple of general sentences and the single screenshot is a capture from the game's previous trailer, so this may not be the article they were expecting. Continue here to read the full story.

With sales of the PC edition of Batman: Arkham Knight suspended and refunds being offered, Rocksteady is "working like crazy" to put things right, and PC fixes have taken priority over updating the console version. Rocksteady's Sefton Hill tweets about fixing the PC version and how it is a top priority (thanks MCV). Here are the tweets:

Totally supported decision to suspend PC version. We have our best engineers at Rocksteady working like crazy to help fix the issues ASAP.

Thanks for the feedback! We hear you and are looking into it. Will keep you updated. (PC fixes come first)

Wargaming is dealing with backlash from unhappy customers over changes to a Humble Bundle deal for World of Warships, their upcoming naval combat game, though they have compromised from their original stance on the topic. The deal originally offered a premium ship (the Murmansk), premium game time, in game gold, ship slots, and closed beta access, but later players were told they would not be able to keep their premium goodies once the game went live. This met with backlash from customers claiming deception (especially after the ship then went on sale in the item shop), but the latest update on the World of Warships official forum now tells players they will be able to keep their Murmansk after all. This reddit thread is where this all boiled over, and the latest update to the original post notes that the other elements of the deal are still not being fulfilled. Wargaming's explanation is that they never intended the ship and other perks to carry out of the closed beta, even though the original offer stated they would. They edited the wording of the offer at some point after it was posted, but failed to revise their blog post, and for a while were trying to stand their ground, but eventually relented on ship ownership. Thanks Lord Solar Macharius.

The sleuths at SteamSpy now offer their estimates of Steam Summer Sale statistics based on publicly available data (thanks DSOGaming). The top seller was Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at almost 900K units, while the top earner was Total War: ATTILA, which hauled in close to $15 million, while ARK: Survival Evolved took in over $10 million. Here are the ten games that sold the most copies during the sale, along with estimates of how much revenue they earned.

1. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 899,405 copies, $6,736,543
2. Total War: ATTILA 488,827 copies, $14,733,246
3. Total War: SHOGUN 2 439,250 copies, $3,289,983
4. ARK: Survival Evolved 431,456 copies, $10,738,940
5. Castle Crashers 417,927 copies, $622,711
6. Left 4 Dead 2 395,818 copies, $1,579,314
7. Medieval II: Total War 371,090 copies, $1,851,739
8. How to Survive 310,074 copies, $229,455
9. Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition 308,159 copies, $4,616,222
10. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition 303,501 copies, $907,468

The Mac OS X edition of Trainz A New Era is now available, offering an even newer era for this transportation simulation. This can now be purchased from Simulator Central and the Mac App Store, and they say it will be added soon to the Steam. where those who own the Windows edition will get the OS X version for free. Word is: "The long wait is over for all Mac users! TANE has rolled into the station ready for you to climb aboard. Whether you're seated in the Collector's Edition cabins, Deluxe Edition lounges or enjoying the ride in the Standard Edition seating you're about to have a journey like no other!"

Trion Worlds tweets a tease, showing a mysterious image, and pointing the way to a Devil Inside You website with the image, and a quote reading: "In the shadows' dying light let the devils guide our fight." That's all for now. Feel free to speculate. Thanks GameInformer.

• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at E3 2015 - Message from Warren Spector and E3 in 60 seconds.

Kotaku - Stop Preordering Video Games. Thanks Jdreyer.
Duh.

• Hang With Nerdist and Play Battleborn at SDCC '15.
• Heroes of the Storm Brawl With The Blues: Eternal Conflict.

• Total War: Warhammer E3 interview on GameWatcher.

• Call to Arms on Steam Community. Along with a developer update.

• PS4 Users Unable to Play Battlefield Hardline Ultimate Edition DLC.
• Sony investigating slow PSN downloads.

Thanks Ant.

• iOS 9 and Safari View Controller- The Future of Web Views. Thanks OS news.
• An hour with Safari Content Blocker in iOS 9. Thanks OS news.
• Anti-Uber Taxi Protest Blocks Access to Paris’s Roissy Airport. Thanks Slashdot.
• Apple's Siri Connecting Users With Police For Asking About 9/11.
• The voice of Siri explains the art of the voiceover.
• First look at the Pwn Pad 3, the latest in mobile security mayhem.

• Driving Diversity at Facebook. Thanks HARDOCP.

Thanks Ant.

• Microsoft has a new mission statement, and it’s basically the same as its old one.
• Here’s how long the hiring process for that tech job will take.
• Batman: Arkham Knight Benchmarked- Graphics & CPU Performance - TechSpot.
• CCleaner Version 5.07.5261.
• PC Perspective Podcast #355 - AMD R9 Fury X, Sapphire Nitro R9 390, Batman- Arkham Knight and more.

• France Targeted by NSA Spies and Parliament Passes Surveillance Law. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Russia Is Banning the Internet Archive and Blaming It On Terrorism. Thanks HARDOCP.
• No, 2 self-driving cars didn’t have a “close call” on Silicon Valley streets.

• NZ ISPs back down on anti-geoblocking support. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Presidential GOP hopefuls move to ban US online casino-style gambling.

• The Detail on True PC Gaming.
• Harold on True PC Gaming.
• Scourge of War: Waterloo on Armchair General.

• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2015) on Techgage.
• AMD Radeon R9 Fury X on Eurogamer.
• ASUS Strix R7 370 DirectCU II OC 4GB on ocaholic.
• Cooltek GT-04 on ocaholic.
• D-Link DIR-890L-R AC3200 Ultra Performance Wi-Fi Router on TweakTown.
• Mionix Zibal 60 Keyboard on True PC Gaming.
• MSI GT80 Titan on AnandTech.
• Noctua NH-L9x65 CPU Cooler on pcGameware.
• Samsung SM951-NVMe (256GB) PCIe SSD on AnandTech.
• Scythe Ashura on Overclockers Club.
• Tenvis IPROBOT 3 Wireless Network Camera on TweakTown.
• Zotac ZBOX CI321 nano Mini-PC on PC Perspective.

• Good Game Spawn Point - Series 6 Episode 19. Thanks Ant…

I talked about the Knicks and the draft yesterday, so it's no surprise that their pick literally made children weep. Here's hoping the team knows more than the fans, though it's been a very long time since that's actually been the case.

Tall Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	Amigo Pancho 6. Fly N Frog. Last Invader.
Stories:	World's first commercial jetpack set for 2016 launch. Thanks HARDOCP. Investigators Say Whole Foods Has Been Ripping Us Off More Than We Realized.
Media:	KIDS REACT TO MARIO VS MINECRAFT. The Arthur Intro Recreated In GTA V is Somehow Perfect. Obstacle Racing Like A Boss.