Bethesda tweets a response to questions about the end game in Fallout 4, offering reassurances for those who want to keep exploring the wasteland in the post-apocalyptic RPG sequel (thanks VG247). Here's word:

To our fans who’ve asked: Fallout 4 doesn’t end when the main story is over and there is no level cap. You can keep playing and leveling.

The Steam page for Mad Max now offers system requirements for Avalanche Studios' upcoming game based on the hard-driving film series (thanks DSOGaming). Currently they indicate the game requires a minimum of 6 GB of RAM:

MINIMUM:
OS: 64 bit: Vista, Win 7, Win 8
Processor: Intel Core i5-650, 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 Ghz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660ti (2 GB Memory or higher) or AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2 GB Memory or higher)
DirectX: Version 11
Hard Drive: 32 GB available space

RECOMMENDED:
OS: 64 bit: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (3 GB Memory or higher) or AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3 GB Memory or higher)
DirectX: Version 11
Hard Drive: 32 GB available space

Paradox Interactive announces Stellaris, a new science-fiction strategy game they say "escapes the past," since this is the first game from Paradox Development Studio not set in the past. The Stellaris website is already online, and it currently features this reveal teaser trailer they unveiled today with a first look at the project. Here's the announcement:

Paradox Interactive today revealed at Gamescom a brand-new game from Paradox Development Studio, the grand-strategy design team behind the Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings series. Paradox is proud to announce Stellaris, the first grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studio that is set in the far future – not the past. Henrik Fåhraeus, the lead designer of the hit medieval strategy role-playing experience Crusader Kings II, turns his eyes to the stars in a science fiction strategy game that will be about more than just building empires in the skies.

For millennia our race has developed, explored and battled for control of a planet. Now we turn our eyes beyond our own solar system, to other stars in our galaxy. New planets, new discoveries, maybe even new civilizations await us. And Paradox Development Studio, the masters of grand strategy, will be your guides on this new voyage.

With a dynamic decision system and a heavy emphasis on exploration and science teams, Stellaris gives you much more to research than bigger lasers or stronger hulls – though you’ll need those too. Space is very big, and your first step will be getting a grasp of just what is around you and how it can be best used for the benefit of your civilization.

Thousands of planets populate procedurally generated star systems giving you the largest possible theatre for performing the emergent stories that Paradox has become famous for. Customize your ships, encounter unique randomly generated races, and participate in advanced diplomacy that would make Picard look like an amateur.

And all in a beautiful and evocative star map unmatched by anything we’ve made before.

Are you prepared for the glorious future Paradox will be showing you?

Continue here to read the full story.

Paradox Interactive offers first details on After Dark, an upcoming expansion for Cities Skylines which does not currently carry a release date. They show things off in this Gamescom reveal trailer, and here's what they say this will add to the nightlife in the urban planning game:

Night time is fun time! After Dark is the first expansion to the hugely popular classic city simulation Cities: Skylines. The game expands on the repertoire of features and customizations designed to enhance the thrill as well as maintain the challenge of the city building experience.

Developed by Colossal Order and published Paradox Interactive, the central feature of the latest expansion is the day and night cycle, which alters the approach to managing your city. Will you construct a bustling city that lives and breathes at night or will your city succumb to the perils and misadventures of night life? You’re only limited by your imagination, so take control. The sky is the limit! Find out what life is like in the city when the sun goes down!

Main features:

• Day and Night Cycle: Day and night changes in the city and affects citizen schedules. Traffic is visibly slower at night and some zoned areas do not work with full efficiency, further easing the traffic. Service vehicles move around as usual. A free update for all users.
• Leisure specialization: Commercial areas can specialize in leisure activities. Leisure areas are especially active during the night, but work like regular commercial areas during the day.
• Beach specialization: Commercial areas such as beach bars and restaurants, small marina and fishing tours on the shoreline can specialize in beach activities.
• Expanded City Services: Criminals will now be taken to Prison from Police buildings. Taxi service will help citizens and tourists travel around the city. Cargo hubs are harbors that accept cargo trains straight to the terminal. International airport is a huge airport, allowing much more traffic than the previous airport. It has a metro station attached to it. Bus terminal allows citizens to transfer to other bus lines in the terminal building.
• New transportation options: Bikes and dedicated bike lanes and bike ways let citizens opt for a faster alternative to walking. Bus lanes can be used to help the public transportation run smoother.

Continue here to read the full story.

The forecast apparently calls for scattered mythology, as Kalypso Media announces the release of A Chance of Dragons, a new add-on for Dungeons 2, the Windows, OS X, and Linux game of dungeon keeping. This is available through the Kalypso Launcher and Steam. Here's word:

The Dungeon Lord scoffs at the “threat” of mere dragons, until its revealed that an immense treasure is being kept out of his evil grasp by a horde of dragons and their Smaug-sized leader!

In the new DLC add-on, 'A Chance of Dragons,' devious dragons are infiltrating the world of Dungeons 2. The dragons have entrenched themselves in an old castle and you must summon your evil might to face the oncoming threat of a dragon invasion. In three all new skirmish missions you must push forward into the dragon’s castle stronghold, hunt magical dragon eggs, face off against powerful mages and finally, challenge a dragon of immeasurable power and might to restore your evil dominion across the land. And of course - win massive, massive amounts of treasure.

With over 10 hours of gameplay across three fiery missions, 'A Chance of Dragons' brings a whole new set of enemies and challenges to even the most seasoned of Dungeon Lords.

This Kickstarter seeks funding for The 13th Doll: A Fan Game of The 7th Guest, an upcoming follow-up to Trilobyte's FMV games The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour. As the title implies, this is from a group of fans calling themselves Attic Door Productions, but the twist is that this will be offered as a full commercial game with blessings and licenses from Trilobyte. A couple of years ago Trilobyte announced their own attempt at a third game in this series, but their crowdfunding effort failed. This project looks like it's in better shape, as it's 75% funded with about three weeks to go. Here's word on the game:

The 13th Doll ties in with the events of The 7th Guest. A decade after Tad managed to escape the mansion, he is still haunted by the souls, dolls, and Stauf's victims he left behind. So haunted, in fact, that the young man now resides in a mental institution - misunderstood, plagued by guilt and obsessed with one idea: to escape the dreary padded walls of his asylum cell, return to the mansion - the site of his innermost fears - to rescue those he left behind and defeat Stauf once and for all!

A new trailer was released at Gamescom today to show off the Cartel faction that's been added to the multiplayer beta version of Act of Aggression available to those who preorder the RTS game on Steam. This announcement and this blog post both discuss the latest patch for the game, which also includes an improved zoom function. Here's word:

Eugen Systems' pre-order beta on Steam for techno-thriller RTS Act of Aggression has been taking the internet by storm, with players enjoying before release the Chimera and US Army factions in the game. Now, a new faction is in town and rearing to get into the fight: The Cartel, a Private Military Company sporting the world's most elusive prototypical technology, showcased in today's new video!

Big consumers of Aluminum (one of the games primary resources), the Cartel's base is a mineral hungry power-house, but their units are not, relying on raw cash to expand their military operations. Sleek, black, prototypical units and infantry will make up the bulk of your army, able to cloak themselves as you research through the Private Military (its legal front), and Block Ops tech trees.

Today's content update also includes an increased zoom-out function, following the players' feedback. Zoom-out 30-40% further and see more of the battlefield, alongside a dedicated button for satellite view, so you'll miss none of the action in Act of Aggression's latest exciting patch. Pre-order now to jump right in before the September 2nd release on Steam!

Along with the Cartel, players will also now get access to three new maps, a 1v1 and two 2v2 maps with the new free-for-all game-mode, pitting the US Army, Chimera, and Cartel against each other! And remember, where diplomacy fails, nuclear war prevails!

Continue here to read the full story.

This video is a sizzle reel from Epic Games they released today at Gamescom to show off various game projects in the works using their Unreal Engine. Word is: "Epic has released a new gameplay montage showcasing footage from some of the incredible titles created with Unreal Engine, including ARK: Survival Evolved, Sea of Thieves, Rocket League, Shenmue III, Gigantic, Kingdom Hearts III and more!" They also offer a separate clip focused on Hellblade, the upcoming PC and PS4 game from Ninja Theory. Here's what they say about that: "Epic has released a brand new video that goes behind the scenes of Hellblade and details Ninja Theory's vision and direction for their highly anticipated game. The UE4-powered title is the company’s first game to be independently published and is a combination of intimate melee gameplay, emotional character stories and a stunning aesthetic vision." Continue here to read the full story.

• Subnautica - The Habitat Update.

• Gamescom Adventure on GOG.com.
• Invisible, Inc. on Steam. Save 40%.

• Sheltered Is Available In Game Preview For Xbox One.

• Angry Birds 2 hits 20 million downloads in week one.
• Microsoft open sources (most of) its iOS-apps-on-Windows compatibility layer.
• Zoombinis on Google Play and iTunes.

• FCC urges carriers to turn off copper networks, upgrade to fiber.
• We're heading straight for AOL 2.0. Thanks Ant.

• Gamasutra - Oculus' Palmer Luckey lands on Time cover, game dev Twitter explodes.
• Corsair and Cherry Introduce New, Quieter Mechanical Keyboard Switches.
• DDR4 Memory Scaling on Intel Z170 - Finding The Best DDR4 Memory Kit Speed.
• Has Epson killed the printer ink cartridge?
• Santa Fe Opera to tackle Steve Jobs' complicated life. Thanks HARDOCP.

Thanks j.c.f.

• Waiting for Android’s inevitable security Armageddon.
• Best Buy fails to erase some returned devices before re-selling them.
• "Man-in-the-Cloud" Attacks Leverage Storage Services to Steal Data.
• Symantec Patches Critical Vulnerabilities in Endpoint Protection.
• Labor Department vulnerable to data breach.

• Is Buck Rogers in the public domain? New movie hangs in the balance.

• Victor Vran plans Motorhead expansion…
• Arma 3 - Community Guide: Machine Gun Teams…
• Final Trailer: "Hitman: Agent 47." Thanks Ant…

Link of the Day: Working retail at closing time.

Blizzard reveals the promised new World of Warcraft expansion, announcing World of Warcraft: Legion, a new add-on coming to the MMORPG. They don't say when this will launch, but direct interested players to the WoW website to sign up to beta test this "later this year." The add-on will add a new Demon Hunter hero class, artifact weapons, a new zone, and a 110 level cap, along with the ability to instantly boost one character to level 100. Here's more:

World of Warcraft: Legion ushers in an era of unprecedented conflict for the Alliance and the Horde as the Burning Legion’s crusade against creation enters a terrifying new stage. The expansion is loaded with features and content that will transform players into Azeroth’s elite vanguard against the shadow, including:

• New Hero Class: Demon Hunter—Unleash the demon within as an all-new melee hero class gifted with preternatural mobility—and the ability to metamorphose into hellish new forms.
• New Feature: Artifact Weapons—Smite the Legion with legendary weapons of lore. Earn Artifact power to unlock abilities and traits, and customize your weapon to suit your needs.
• New Continent: The Broken Isles—Discover the fate of a lost night elf civilization, confront twisted fragments of the Emerald Nightmare, and hunt agents of the Legion in all-new zones.
• New Feature: Order Hall—Whether you’re paladin or warlock, unite fellow NPC members of your class’s order to carry out missions at your command.
• New PvP Honor System—Fight for fame, glory, and a range of new PvP-specific powers as you face the opposing faction in Arenas and Battlegrounds.
• Boost to Level 100—Come fully prepared to battle the Legion with a level-100 character boost, and fight alongside your friends in this epic new chapter of World of Warcraft.

“In World of Warcraft: Legion, the stakes for the Alliance and the Horde are higher than ever, so we’re putting some of Azeroth’s deadliest forces directly in players’ hands,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Whether they’re wreaking havoc as a Demon Hunter or unlocking awesome new abilities for their Artifact, players will develop their characters’ power in ways they never have before.”

Firefly Studios unveiled plans at Gamescom to bring Stronghold Kingdoms to iOS devices, saying the mobile versions of the strategy game will support cross-platform gaming with the Windows and OS X editions. They also take the occasion to reveal first word on the next installment in the series, though they are holding back on details on what they are currently calling Stronghold Next. Here are all the beans their spilling at the moment:

Effectively our code name for what will go on to become a new standalone Stronghold title on PC. We know that traditional entries in the series are just as important to players as they are to the devs here at Firefly, so we wanted to let you know our more distant plans for the series on PC as well as on mobile. We have nothing more to announce at this time as we are still very much at the concept stage, but we do want your ideas! Get in touch via the Steam forum, social media and our own forums so that we know exactly what you want out of a new Stronghold game.

2K Games and Gearbox Software announce February 9, 2016 will be the birthday of Battleborn, the upcoming first-person shooter for Windows, Play Station 4, and Xbox One, adding that they will share details later this year on a public open beta that will precede the release. They also reveal new heroes and other details about the game, though we worry about their enthusiasm, as they only use the catchphrase "badass" five times in relaying the news, though their favorite adjective also appears a few times in this new trailer. Here's word:

Set in the distant future, Battleborn is a first-person shooter featuring 25 unique playable heroes who form an unlikely alliance to save the last star in the universe from a mysterious enemy hell-bent on its destruction. Battleborn’s narrative-driven story mode can be played alone or co-operatively by up to five friends splitscreen* and online. The game’s three different competitive multiplayer modes can be played by up to 10 players online in action-packed 5v5 matches. Regardless of the mode being played, players will experience deep and customizable character growth for all 25 playable heroes.

Continue here to read the full story.

Taking advantage of the recently announced delay for Mighty No. 9, Batterystaple Games announces a September 15th release date for 20XX, their own spiritual successor to the Mega Man series. The game is currently on Steam in Early Access following a successful Kickstarter, and you can take a look at gameplay in this previously released trailer. Here's word: "20XX is a co-op-friendly action platformer roguelike. Explore procedurally generated levels, collect new weapons and abilities, purchase upgrades, and battle mighty bosses in the name of saving the human race maybe!" Continue here to read the full story.

At Gamescom Blizzard has introduced Lúcio, another new Overwatch hero, making up for a lack of recent character reveals by offering four new videos to illustrate what he brings to the upcoming teamplay shooter. There's an introductory video for this "international celebrity who became his home country of Brazil's symbol for positive social-change." Lúcio plays music and rides roller skates, presumably then killing all who dare laugh at him. In addition to the intro clip, they have a new hero overview showing his support role, another introducing Lúcio clip, and a Lúcio ability overview. Here's word:

Growing up in one of Rio de Janeiro's favelas, Lúcio initially turned to music as a way to lift people's spirits and help them rebuild as a community in the wake of the Omnic Crisis. Now an international celebrity, Lúcio seeks to inspire positive social change through his music and fights to make the world a better place.

On the battlefield, Lúcio’s cutting-edge Sonic Amplifier buffets enemies with projectiles and knocks foes back with blasts of sound. He also plays two different songs—one to heal his team and the other to boost their movement speed—and uses his Crossfade technique to switch between them at will. And when the going gets especially rough, Lúcio will drop the beat, activating a temporary Sound Barrier to shield all nearby allies.

Continue here to read the full story.

This video is the Gamescom 2015 trailer for The Technomancer, offering a cinematic look at this cyberpunk RPG that's expected next year. Here's word on the clip and how the game will get your ass to Mars:

In this video, supported by music from renowned composer Olivier Derivière (Remember Me, Assassin’s Creed IV – Freedom Cry...) who composes the game's Soundtrack, we watch our hero Zachariah attempts to communicate with Earth, as he is chased by Mars’ illusive secret police, tasked with hunting down the rogue Technomancer across the post-apocalyptic red planet. A relic of Mars’ ancient human history, your journey with Zachariah starts long after human colonization of Mars, with its artefacts sprawled about the Martian landscape – including hordes of humans physically scarred by cataclysms of the past.

Mars’ world holds many secrets, and The Technomancer’s quests yield many results depending on how you choose to solve them. Learn more about the world by interacting with the companions who join your party, and level them up as you build friendships with them. An RPG, The Technomancer features 3 exciting combat styles and many ways to improve both melee combat and your Technomancer lightning abilities, intertwined with the melee combat in the game.

Continue here to read the full story.

"Games for Windows was a prior approach where it was more, at that time, like 'how do we take things?'" says Kevin Unangst, senior director for PC gaming in the Xbox group. "We knew we wanted to help make great multiplayer, we knew we wanted to bring things over... but it wasn't the right approach. It was the approach of 'let's just take those things and transplant them'."

• SYSTOLE by CoCo- Collective Consciousness — Kickstarter. "Acrobatic 2.5D platformer set in a twisted mechanical world! Use magnetism to attract or repel yourself as you explore new horizons!" Playable Windows demo offered.

• Dota 2 Update - August 5th 2015.

• It’s been confirmed: competitive Call of Duty is ditching Xbox one for PS4.
• Xbox One Limited Edition Halo 5: Guardians Bundle Pre-Order.
• Xbox One DVR Doesn't Work Without External Hard Drive.
• Xbox Chatpad Pre-Order.
• Sony is not “gobbling up third-party exclusives, it’s buying them,” says Phil Spencer.

• T-Mobile has the fastest mobile network in US. Thanks Ant.
• This is what Android looks like in 2015.
• Save the Planet - Airplane Fighter on the App Store on iTunes.

• Reddit Updates Content Policy, Swings Ban Hammer.
• Opera 31 unveils redesigned Discover service, tweaks sync options. Thanks Ant.

• Basemark & Crytek To Develop New VR Benchmark.
• Microsoft releases Windows DVD Player for Windows 10 -- free for some, but not for others. Thanks Ant.
• Pranksters admit hitchBOT hoax - which raises more questions. Thanks Mashiki.
• U.S. Companies Must Reveal How Much CEOs Earn Compared To Workers. Thanks HARDOCP.

Thanks Ant and j.c.f.

• Today's top malware threats -- are you prepared?
• Nuclear nightmare- Industrial control switches need fixing, now.
• "How to secure Windows 10" The paranoid's guide.
• Zero-Day Vulnerability in OS X Exploited in the Wild.
• 79% of companies release apps with known vulnerabilities.
• Macs can be permanently compromised via firmware worm.
• Hackers can remotely steal fingerprints from Android phones.
• WordPress 4.2.4 Fixes Three XSS Vulnerabilities and One Potential SQL Injection.
• Chinese VPN Used by APT Actors Relies on Hacked Servers.
• RIG Exploit Kit 3.0 Succeeded in Infecting 1.25 Million Machines.

• RIAA says BitTorrent software accounts for 75% of piracy, demands action.
• Chrysler and Harman Hit With a Class Action Complaint After Jeep Hack. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Warrant required for mobile phone location tracking, US appeals court rules.
• Tutor who helped students cheat by keylogging teachers gets 1 year in prison.

• Armello on AngryCentaurGaming.
• Rocket League & Tembo The Badass Elephant on Zero Punctuation. NSFW.
• Submerged on Eurogamer.

• ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ on ocaholic.
• ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero (Intel Z170) Motherboard on TweakTown.
• ASUS Z170-A motherboard on The Tech Report.
• Intel i7-6700K Skylake on LAN OC.
• Origin PC BlackWidow Chroma Mechanical Keyboard on AnandTech.
• ROCCAT NYTH on Vortez.
• Sapphire R9 380 Nitro 4GB Graphics Card on Technology X.
• Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme on Bjorn3D.com.

• How The Witcher 3’s economy was saved by polynomial least squares. Thanks
• Slashdot via

I dunno, they say Gamescom is the biggest game show of the year, but it sure feels like a lot more news rolled out of E3 this year. Actually I think the assessment of the show's size has to do with the size of the exhibition space and the number of attendees, not number or size of announcements, so I guess that's not a contradiction. Also, the show isn't over, yet, so maybe there are still some bombshells to come.

Eventful Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	Cut 3D. Inversia. Donut vs Donut.
Media:	Think You Hate CGI in Movies? THINK AGAIN. Judy Greer: The “Archer” Cast's Filthy Sign Language Live Shows. Thanks nin. District 9 - 8-Bit Cinema.
Follow-up:	Donald Sterling files for divorce from estranged wife Shelly Sterling.