This post on Steam announces the release of the Pinball FX3 Care Package for free, offering three premium table packs for Pinball FX3, the free-to-play pinball simulation (thanks Eli). There is a Marvel Comics set, a Star Wars Set, and an Aliens set. So you can be a pinball wizard, but there has to be a twist: These will be yours to keep if you add them to your library between now and April 8th. Here's more on the freebies:

Like many of you, the new normal for us at Zen Studios is working from home and staying inside as much as possible. We sincerely hope that you, your family, and your friends remain in good health and in good spirits for the weeks and months ahead.

To help keep those spirits high, we’ve created a special care package to offer hours of free Pinball FX3 content inspired by the iconic creations of Lucasfilm Ltd., Marvel and 20th Century Studios. This package is absolutely free until April 8, and all nine tables from these DLC three-packs are yours to keep forever: Star Wars Pinball (The Empire Strikes Back, The Clone Wars, Boba Fett), Marvel Heavy Hitters (Deadpool, Venom, Civil War), and Aliens vs Pinball (Aliens, Alien vs Predator, Alien: Isolation). To enjoy them, just make sure you’ve also downloaded Pinball FX3, which itself is always free.

We’ll keep our eyes open for you on the leaderboards. Enjoy the tables and – above all – please stay safe.

The Entertainment Software Association has announced dates for E3 2021, saying the next version of their giant gaming trade show will run from June 15-17, 2021. This is according to GamesIndustry.biz, who report this was shared with ESA partners. E3 2020 was to be held from June 9-11, but it was cancelled last month due to concerns about COVID-19. At the time of the cancellation, the ESA promised E3 2021 will be "a re-imagined event," though it's not yet clear how it will change.

A new ESRB listing is now online for Saints Row: The Third Remastered, apparently revealing plans for an updated version of Volition's open-world action/adventure which was originally released in 2011 (thanks Eurogamer). The rating summary does not indicate when this might be released, but does justify the M, Mature 17+ rating it will carry when it is:

This is an open-world action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a criminal syndicate known as the Saints. As players attempt to take over a fictional city and exact revenge on a rival gang, they engage in driving and combat missions to progress the storyline. Players use machine guns, shotguns, swords, rocket launchers, and grenades to kill rival gang members. Players can also attack pedestrians, and in one mission, players shoot at police and civilians to create chaos in a rival gang's territory. One scene prompts players to run over a certain number of pedestrians within a given time; another sequence allows players to dispatch enemies by putting grenades in their mouths. Players can also use chainsaws to hack at enemies, resulting in small chunks of flesh and large splatters of blood. Damage from certain guns can result in decapitation. During the course of the game, female characters are sometimes depicted in outfits that reveal large amounts of their breasts/cleavage or buttocks; characters are occasionally depicted nude, though their nipples and/or genitalia are obscured by blurry pixels. In one sequence, players can walk through an erotic club containing several phallic sex toys and sexual contraptions. Some game environments and dialogue contain drug paraphernalia or other references to drugs (e.g., marijuana leaves and water bongs on a table; a radio DJ telling a caller to try heroin). The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “c*ck” appear in the dialogue.

The Rocksmith Website announces the Rocksmith team is "thrilled" to let us know they are working on a new project (thanks Polygon). They don't say what this is, so we'll have to wait for more details. But they do offer some bad news for fans of the real music game, saying this means they will not be producing further Rocksmith DLC. They do plan on continuing their weekly dev stream in a new format. Here's word:

We have big news today: The Rocksmith team, both here in Ubisoft San Francisco and globally, is thrilled to finally let you know that we’ve been hard at work on a new project!

To that end, we now need to shift focus away from DLC creation. As of this week’s Opeth Song Pack, Rocksmith Remastered has concluded its scheduled DLC releases. After 383 weeks of DLC releases, this pack brings us to a total of 1570 songs in the Rocksmith library, spanning over 7 decades (or 3 centuries, in the case of Bachsmith) and covering a multitude of genres for guitar and bass. For over a decade, we’ve watched players learn, grow, and constantly surprise us with your talent, creativity, and eagerness to help one another reach your goals. We truly could not be more proud to play a part in this guitar journey with you.

Although we will no longer be releasing new DLC, we still have weekly online content planned for Rocksmith fans. The Rocksmith Dev Stream will continue (in a new format), along with some more surprises. We will also continue to share updates for our new project when we’re ready on our website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Asgard's Wrath on Oculus Rift - Oculus. Save 12%.

• HAMSTER GAME by JMAA — Kickstarter. "HAMSTER GAME is a top-down roguelike shooter that's inspired by being the deranged lovechild of Binding of Isaac and Hotline Miami. A game that pays homage to everything the 90s gaming has brought to us: Doom, pizza, heavy metal, violence and gore, and so on."

• IGN To Deliver Global Online Summer of Gaming Event.

• PS5 video reveals just how powerful Sony's console is. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Donate to the CDC Foundation By Playing Xbox.
• PlayStation Blogcast 359- Eternally Yours.

• British 5G towers are being set on fire because of coronavirus conspiracy theories.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Mixer gives its streamers $100 to help them out during the pandemic.
• Cash and Credit Cards Are Dirty. Apple Pay Is Looking Better. Thanks Ant.
• Google Fi temporarily doubles the data limit for customers to 30GB.
• Firefox’s popularity falls further as Microsoft Edge becomes second most popular web browser after Chrome.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• GIGABYTE Join Forces with Folding@Home to Fight against Global Pandemic. Thanks Hypothermia.
• Ubuntu 20.04: The most exciting new features.
• How to use the dig Command on Linux.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Windows 10 security: How the shadow stack will help to keep the hackers at bay.
• A Hacker Found a Way to Take Over Any Apple Webcam.
• A hacker has wiped, defaced more than 15,000 Elasticsearch servers.
• Microsoft: Emotet Took Down a Network by Overheating All Computers. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.

• The Adventures of 00 Dilly - Christ Centered Gamer.
• Our three biggest takeaways from a week with Bannerlord - PC Gamer.
• In Other Waters - Review in 3 Minutes - The Escapist.
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Early Access Review in Progress - IGN.
• One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 - Review in 3 Minutes - The Escapist.
• Resident Evil 3 Final Review - IGN.

• Crucial MX500 2TB SATA SSD Review - TweakTown.
• GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master Motherboard Review - Nikk Tech.
• Silicon Power A55 M.2 1TB SSD - Real Hardware Reviews.

• "Uncharted" Was Shut Down On First Day. Cursed. Thanks Ant…

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett elected to Basketball Hall of Fame. That's a pretty deserving trio of first-ballot inductees with 11 championships and four MVP awards between them. All true superstars. Tim Duncan in particular was about as steadily great as any athlete of our time.

Hall of Fame Links
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Links

• CDC shows you how to make a simple coronavirus face mask in 45 seconds.
• Opinion - Stop Using Toilet Paper. Thanks j.c.f.

Stories

• Nobody Knows How to Wean Manatees Off Coal Plants. Thanks Max.
• Venezuelan naval boat rams cruise liner, damages itself, sinks.

Science

• COVID-19 could lead to an epidemic of clinical depression, and the health care system isn't ready for that, either. Thanks Acleacius.
• Crybaby Learns to Swim. Awww.
• Prank gone wrong in the best way possible.

Media

• Still TI: A TI-Themed "Still Alive" Portal Parody in TI-99-4A TEII Allophone Speech. Thanks Reddit via Ant.

Follow-up

• ‘We can’t go back to normal’- how will coronavirus change the world? Thanks RedEye9.