Bethesda.net announces the promised launch of the console beta for Prey, the upcoming first-person shooter refresh. Since PC owners will not get a demo to see how the game runs for them, they provide PC system specifications:

PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum
CPU: Intel i5-2400, AMD FX-8320
GPU: GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
Memory: 8 GB

Recommended
CPU: Intel i7-2600K, AMD FX-8350
GPU: GTX 970 4GB, AMD R9 290 4GB
Memory: 16 GB

PC DRIVERS

We’ll update this post with the driver information soon. Stay tuned!

PC ADVANCED SETTINGS

• Object Detail
• Shadow Quality
• Texture Quality
• Anisotropic Filtering
• Anti-Aliasing
• Horizontal Field of View
• Screen Space Directional Occlusion
• Screen Space Reflections

Steam News announces a free weekend is underway for Duck Game, coinciding with a half-off sale on the throwback Windows platformer. In case the title is not informative enough, here's more on the game:

Enter the futuristic year of 1984, an age where ducks run wild in a frantic battle for glory. Win over the crowd and gain a following by blasting your feathered friends with Shotguns, Net Guns, Mind Control Rays, Saxophones, Magnet Guns, and pretty much anything else a duck could use as a weapon. One hit and you're roasted. This is DUCK GAME. Don't blink.

• 2 to 4 PLAYERS in either Local Multiplayer Couch Combat, or NEW Online Play!
• Single Player challenge mode
• Easy to pick up, emphasizing strategy over twitch reaction
• 50+ Levels, 50+ Weapons
• Level Editor

Perfect World Entertainment announces that Neverwinter has attracted over 15 million players on PCs and consoles since the launch of the free-to-play D&D MMORPG. Cryptic Studios thanks everyone in this video, and here's more on the milestone:

Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of free-to-play MMORPGs, and Cryptic Studios announced that Neverwinter - a free-to-play MMORPG based on Dungeons & Dragons – now boasts more than 15 million registered players across PC, Xbox One and PlayStation®4. The game is now available in more than 110 countries worldwide, most recently releasing in Hong Kong on PS4.

Since its original launch in June 2013, Neverwinter has continued to receive expansions, bringing exciting and diverse content from the Forgotten Realms and Dungeons & Dragons lore. From defeating the elven lich Valindra Shadowmantle to facing off against monstrous demon lords in the Underdark and going toe-to-toe with frost giants in Icewind Dale, adventurers continue to experience the Forgotten Realms with players around the world. The Cloaked Ascendancy, now available on all platforms, marks the 11th major content expansion to the action MMO.

Continue here to read the full story.

Here's the announcement that Expeditions: Viking is now available for Windows on Steam (thanks Acleacius). This historical RPG carries a 10% launch discount for the next week, and there's also a Digital Deluxe edition that's 22% off that also includes the soundtrack, a digital art book, and the Blood-Ice DLC, described as "an ornate in-game sword item." Here's the pitch on the game:

Prepare for a grand adventure
As the newly appointed chieftain of a modest Viking clan, you’ll have a village of your very own. But to carve your name into the runestones of history you’ll need great strength, and great wealth to grow your village’s prosperity and renown. There is little left to be gained from the Norse lands and so you must set your sights on the the seas to the West, where tales speak of a great island filled with treasure ready for the taking.

Seek your fortune
Your trusted huscarls will follow you to Valhalla if that be the order of the day, but you’ll need more than loyalty to leave a legacy that will be remembered for a thousand years. Now assemble a worthy band of warriors, build a ship, and seek your wealth and glory across the sea. Britannia awaits in Logic Artists’ Expeditions: Viking.

Main features:

• Create your very own Viking chieftain! Carve out your character from our unique character system, where stats, skills, and abilities define your character’s role.
• Raiding or Trading? Vikings were known not only as violent warriors, but savvy tradesfolk. How will you find wealth, with the carrot or the stick?
• War and Politics: Side with various factions be they Norsemen, Picts, or Angles.
• Reputation: Be mindful of your choices, the stories of your actions may bring others to fear you, but will they trust you?
• Step into the pages of history: In a beautiful and visceral telling of the Nordic history.

Tripwire Interactive announces details on a digital deluxe edition of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, opening up preorders with a discount that makes this cheaper than the regular edition. This will also include in-game items and access to beta testing of the upcoming first-person shooter sequel. You can find all the details on the official website, and here's an overview which includes system requirements:

Tripwire Interactive today is pleased to announce that the sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, PC Gamer’s 2013 ‘Multiplayer Game of the Year’, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is now available for pre-purchase through Steam. As it marches closer to its impending release, the Digital Deluxe Edition of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam can be pre-purchased now, at a 25% discount. At release, the Standard Edition will be priced at $24.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition at $29.99. The pre-purchase discount offers the DDE version at $22.49 from now until launch. In addition, the pre-purchase will enable buyers to join a final closed beta weekend before launch.

The Rising Storm 2: Vietnam Digital Deluxe Edition contains a mix of exclusive in-game items, cosmetic unlocks and cool bonuses, including:

• 2 Exclusive Items: Camouflage “Boonie” Hats for the North Vietnamese and U.S. factions
• 4 Early Cosmetic Item Unlocks:
  • PAVN – Camo Ushanka
  • NLF – Headscarf
  • US Army/Marines – Lowland ERDL Helmet
  • US Pilot – Dark Horse Helmet
• The official soundtrack featuring original music from the game

The sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a hardcore tactical first-person-shooter set in the brutal killing fields of the Vietnam War. The game is a brutal, authentic recreation of the Vietnam War, allowing players to join the fight – whether it be on the sides of the powerful United States Military or the fearless Vietnamese resistance fighters.

Tripwire Interactive is also pleased to reveal to fans the final suggested hardware specs for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam:

Minimum Spec
Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
Intel® Core™ i3 @ 2.5GHz or AMD Phenom @ 2.5GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 or ATI Radeon™ HD 5850
4 GB RAM

Recommended Spec
Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
Intel i5 @ 3.2GHz or AMD @4GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® 760 or AMD R9 270X
6 GB RAM

• Dota 2 Update - April 27th, 2017.
• Team Fortress 2 Update Released.

• Elder Scrolls Online Weekend on The Humble Store.
• GRID Franchise on Steam. Save up to 83%.
• League of Legends Champion and skin sale: 04.28 - 05.01.
• Resident Evil Weekend on The Humble Store.
• Sniper Elite Franchise on Steam. Save 60%.
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands on Steam. Save 20%.

• Battlezone VR on PC Invasion.

• Prey Demo: Opening Hour Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• Dead Space 2 And Dead Space 3 Are Now Available Digitally On Xbox 360 And Xbox One Backward Compatibility.
• ACA NEOGEO ALPHA MISSION II Is Now Available For Xbox One.

• T-Mobile Claims Verizon Network Slowed 14% After Unlimited Data.

• Google Fiber Confirms Louisville as New Launch City.
• The secret lives of Google raters. Hide your kids, hide your wife. And hide your husband cuz they're ratin' everybody out here.

• Microsoft 3Q17: Cloud, Office, Windows strong, Surface slumps.
• Amazon's results beat estimates, lifted by cloud unit; shares hit high.
• Razer Announces The Lancehead Gaming Mice.

• Net neutrality rules took away your Internet freedom, FCC chair claims.
• Facebook and Google Were Victims of $100M Payment Scam. Thanks Hypothermia.

• Sarkeesian finishes Tropes vs. Women in Video Games…

Link of the Day: The Brilliant Earth Diamond Scam.

SEGA announces the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, the latest installment in the sci-fi real-time strategy series. The recent Fragments of War trailer offers the latest look at the game, and the announcement has all the details on the game, as well as Relic General Manager Justin Dowdeswell's comments about the release marking "a huge step forward into a new era for the studio:

Relic Entertainment and SEGA Europe welcome players back to battle today with the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III on Windows PC. Dawn of War III brings the iconic Warhammer 40,000 universe to life, immersing players in the explosive brutality of galactic war as they vie for supremacy and survival.

Dawn of War III marks the franchise’s return to real-time strategy essentials like base building, massive armies, and resource management, while retaining the series’ innovations in powerful heroes and unit customization. The result is a fresh take on RTS, made even better by the introduction of the largest units and most devastating abilities Relic has ever produced on-screen.

“This is a huge day for everyone at Relic,” said Philippe Boulle, Game Director of Dawn of War III. “Seeing Dawn of War III in the hands of players is the culmination of years of effort. We’ve been blown away by the reception at shows, and during betas. We’re thrilled to get it in the hands of fans.”

The battles of Dawn of War III surge to life as three familiar foes clash once more: Space Marines, genetically modified super soldiers fighting for the Imperium of Man; the Eldar, a mysterious race imbued with powerful psychic abilities; and the Orks, a brutal and violent horde of hooligans that are as entertaining to watch as they are terrifying to encounter.

A mysterious prophecy, a powerful weapon, and a planet re-emerging from the Warp set the events of the single-player campaign in motion. Told from the perspectives of all three factions, you’ll uncover a dark truth lies beneath the surface as the fates of Gabriel Angelos, Farseer Macha, and Gorgutz ‘Ead’unter become increasingly intertwined. The 17-mission campaign challenges you to command epic heroes, assemble huge armies, and wage war across a range of hostile environments.

In Multiplayer, the scale of Dawn of War III hits its peak as teams of up to three players go head-to-head in a fast-paced fight to the finish. But before you hit the battlefield, you’ll need to forge an army. With three factions, 27 elite heroes, and 60 Doctrines available to unlock, there are unprecedented options to shape your playstyle, and obliterate your foes across eight dynamic maps.

“This release marks a huge step forward into a new era for the studio,” said Justin Dowdeswell, General Manager of Relic. “It’s the perfect way to kick off our 20th year of making great games and a strong sign of what’s to come. This is only the beginning.”

Continue here to read the full story.

Steam News announces a free weekend gets underway today for The Culling, and the early access battle royale game is on sale for the duration of the event for those who enjoy their sample. Here's a rundown on the game:

Welcome to The Culling. As a contestant on this deadly game show you must explore, scavenge items, craft weapons, and build traps that will enable you to slay your fellow contestants and emerge victorious before the end of the round. Only with cunning, skill, and a little luck will you be able to prevail and survive the match.

Unlike add-on modes in open-world survival games, The Culling redefines the Battle Royale genre by providing a tightly focused stand-alone experience that delivers incredible thrills and endless story-worthy moments.

A post on Steam reveals that Awesomenauts is going free-to-play in about a month on May 24th. The Windows, Linux, and OS X platformer MOBA still costs $24.99 for now, so you may want to hold off on that purchase if you are interested. This video celebrates the news, and here is how they introduce the details:

Going free-to-play has always made sense for Awesomenauts, as more players simply means it’s a better game for everyone. It greatly improves the matchmaking and networking experience, and brings more people to community events and the amazing community-made mods.

We couldn't have done this without your support! Your continued feedback inspires us to dream big, and many of the changes we’re introducing with 4.0 are a direct result of that. Thanks to your support, Awesomenauts has grown from a scrappy indie title to one of the few enduring online games. And with your help we're going to launch Awesomenauts into the stratosphere!

Before we get down to talk about all the cool new stuff, we need to mention two very important things that will stay the same amidst all of these big changes:

• Awesomenauts is still the platforming MOBA you know and love. Nothing changes to the gameplay.
• We won’t sell power. You can’t pay to win. Players won’t be able to spend real money to get an advantage during matches.

So, with that out of the way: let's get down to all the cool new stuff in this update!

Continue here to read the full story.

Focus Home Interactive announces Pro Cycling Manager 2017 for Windows and Tour de France 2017 for consoles are both coming this June, offering the latest installments in these bicycle racing series. This Facebook post has details on the console versions, and this Facebook post has details on the PC game, and here's more on that:

We are happy to announce that Pro Cycling Manager 2017 will release in June this year on PC.

Become a sports manager, and lead your favorite pro team to victory. Today, discover the first images of Pro Cycling Manager 2017!

Manage a professional cycling team and compete against today's best riders in over 200 races (500+ stages) across the world, including iconic races such as La Vuelta and the iconic Tour de France.

The most important decisions are in your hands. From rider scouting, recruitment, staff hiring, contract negotiations, and sponsor management, make the right calls to secure the win. Every stage counts, and even during the races, the strategies and choices are up to you!

Take part in an exciting 2017 season packed with unique routes, punctuated by the iconic Tour de France 2017 and its memorable routes: from Düsseldorf to the Champs-Elysées, through Belgium and Marseille.

For the first time in the series, organize your team in a paceline at any time during the race to protect your riders and allow them to prepare ahead of key-areas. Your opponents not only weigh in the potential of your riders for each stage, but also evaluate them with a long-term perspective.

In-race pace and stamina management have been made more realistic, thanks to an improved physics engine that better accounts for climbs and descents. In Career mode, you can also now adapt the schedule and intensity of your training regimen to each rider in order to grant them with performance boosts during competitions.

Players can now form clans in order to join other members of the community to organize competitions, chat and compare achievements in-game. Likewise, a revamped progression system has been introduced in Pro Cyclist mode - perform well and fulfill the objectives given by your manager to progress within your team and beyond!

Stay tuned for more info about the new features and additions to Pro Cycling Manager 2017, as we unveil new information over the coming months before the game’s release!

Become a sports manager, and lead your favorite pro team to victory in Pro Cycling Manager 2017 in June this year on PC!

These Battlefield 1 Update Notes detail the Spring Update that's now live in the World War I first-person shooter (thanks VG247). This post is long and quite detailed, but the intro is a pretty concise summary:

Being a successful Battlefield player is all about playing the objective and working together as a team. With the Spring Update, we want to further push the team aspect of Battlefield and make teamwork an even bigger part of the experience – with the introduction of Platoons as this update’s central feature.

In this update, we are also releasing some much asked for server administration settings – yes, we heard you! More on that below.

We hope you will like the new features, bug fixes, and balance tweaks. See you on the Battlefield!

This post on Steam has details on a new version 3.5 title update for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. They say this is now available through Steam and Uplay, offering the following notes on what it does:

The PC Title Update 3.5 is now live on Uplay and Steam. Please update your game to take advantage of all the fixes and new features. Here is the complete list:

NEW FEATURES

• Players can request for help now while in down state.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed the fast travel icon not being displayed on the tacmap when using a Steam Controller.
• Fixed an issue where the screen would flicker when exiting the vehicle while using the Tobii Eye tracking device.
• Fixed an issue where the game language was not automatically set if the Arabic language was set as the title's language, from the Steam client.
• Fixed an issue where the game would show an incorrect display resolution in the Video menu if ALT+TAB was used during the confirmation pop-up message.
• Fixed an issue where the gray screen when the character is downed was displayed in NVIDIA Ansel.
• Fixed an issue where the 360 screenshot in Ansel had visual corruption if Ansel was used while the Night Vision was activated.
• Fixed an issue where the Weapon Fanatic achievement was not awarded if the weapon pack item was bought from the in game store.

NARCO ROAD

• Fixed and issue where the screen would flicker when using nitro boost while being detected.

The DiRT 4 website offers a new gameplay trailer showing off more of the hard-driving action in the upcoming rally racing sequel. The music in the clip also offers a preview of the game's licensed soundtrack. Codemasters also offers more details on the tunage for your tuner while also specifying a June 6th is when to expect this game that was announced with a more general June release window. Here's word:

Codemasters & Deep Silver today released a new DiRT® 4™ gameplay trailer showcasing the breadth of racing that fans will be able to experience on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC via Steam for $59.99 on June 6th. You can view the new DiRT 4 gameplay trailer on the official website: http://www.dirt4game.com or directly on the official YouTube channel https://youtu.be/D-9JLHIqUfQ.

The new trailer features the track ‘Instigators’ by Grace Potter, one of the songs from the amazing in-game soundtrack that has been created for DiRT 4 in an exclusive partnership with Globe, Universal Music’s in-house sync team. The agreement with Globe will see more than 40 licensed tracks appear throughout the game, matching DiRT’s unique style and tone and includes exclusive tracks from artists such as The Amazons, Sigma, Freak and Pretty Vicious alongside tracks from The Chemical Brothers, Disclosure, Queens Of The Stone Age and Bastille.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Teen Overwatch Player Goes Pro Despite Parents Taking Away His Internet.

• Prey For the Gods PC Interview - GameWatcher.
• XCOM-like Phoenix Point hits crowdfunding - Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Thanks Acleacius.

• Nintendo Switch shifted 2.74m units in its first month.
• Early Nintendo programmer worked without a keyboard.
• Nintendo's inventor of the N64 analogue stick is retiring.
• Nintendo Download- 3 … 2 … 1 … GO.

• 5G Hype Wars Escalate as AT&T Unveils Fake 5G Network.
• BlackBerry KeyOne will be available next month.

• Samsung reports its largest quarterly profit since 2013.
• Sobro - A Cooler Coffee Table - Indiegogo. Smart coffee table crowdfunds over $1 million. Thanks Hypothermia.

• A vigilante is putting a huge amount of work into infecting IoT devices.

• Full Throttle Remastered on Polygon.
• Outlast 2 on Eurogamer.
• Remastered Games Roundup on Zero Punctuation. NSFW.
• Scanner Sombre on Eurogamer.net.
• The Walking Dead - A New Frontier on GBase.ch. German.

• Aqua Computer and Rockit Delidding Tools tested on Core i7-7700K CPU on techPowerUp.
• ASRock AB350 Gaming K4 AMD AM4 Mainboard on Overclocked Inside. German.
• AZIO MK Retro Keyboard on techPowerUp.
• Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (7567) Laptop on PC Perspective. Gaming desktop GPU gone mobile.
• Lenovo IdeaCentre Y710 Cube Gaming PC on TweakTown.
• Linksys WRT3200ACM AC3200 MU-MIMO Gigabit Wi-Fi Router on TweakTown.
• Nixeus NX-VUE27P 1440P IPS Monitor on Hardware Canucks.
• Phanteks Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass Case on pcGameware.
• Scythe Byakko CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers.org.
• The Red Devil RX 570 vs. the EVGA GTX 1060 3GB Graphics Card Overclocking Showdown on BabelTechReviews.

• Ark- Survival Evolved patch delayed to May 3 so players can evacuate their volcano bases…

We're celebrating here in the BlueTower, as today is our wedding anniversary. That's actually poetic license, as MrsBlue is coming home from Pennsylvania later today, but we do have a dinner reservation tonight. It is quite a schlep home for her, though, so we're leaving open the option of switching our night out to the weekend if it suits us. Something about the occasion struck me just this week. We originally planned on getting married on the 20th, which was somewhat random, but we had to push it back a week due to a conflict with another wedding. Had our plan stayed unchanged, we would have gotten married on 4/20 before scooting off to Europe for a honeymoon that included time in Amsterdam. This was 21 years ago, so 4/20 wasn't even a thing back then, but I'm not sure anyone would have believed us that this was coincidence at this point. Probably doesn't help that our officiants were Cheech and Chong?

Annual Links:	Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play:	CollIDLE - Play on Crazy Games
Stories:	A Solid Gold Darth Vader for the Sith Who Has Everything. Thanks Neutronbeam. ESPN lays off about 100 employees, including Danny Kanell, Ed Werder.
Science:	Experts- Headline-grabbing editorial on saturated fats “bizarre,” “misleading.”
Media:	Alien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossing. Thanks Polygon. Honest Ads - Why Credit Cards Are A Scam. How Nature Documentaries Are Fake.
Follow-up:	United dragging report- ‘Our review shows that many things went wrong that day.’