A post on the Call of Duty Website outlines "everything you need to know" about the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War open beta, including the chance to earn a reward for the release version of the military shooter. Here's the overview: "During the Beta, experience signature Black Ops combat across traditional 6v6 modes, the higher player count 12v12 Combined Arms, and a brand-new 40-player mode, Fireteam: Dirty Bomb. The Beta will feature a selection of the game’s Multiplayer maps set in distinct global locations during the Cold War. Players can progress and rank up in the Beta-specific levelling system where loadout items, including new weaponry, covert spy tech through Field Upgrades, and badass Scorestreaks can be unlocked by earning XP." Also, this post now offers PC system requirements for the beta:

	PC BETA MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS	PC BETA RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATIONS
OS	Windows 7 64-Bit (SP1) or Windows 10 64-Bit (1803 or later)	Windows 10 64 Bit (latest Service Pack)
CPU	Intel Core i5 2500k or AMD equivalent.	Intel Core i7 4770k or AMD equivalent
VIDEO	Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB / GTX 1650 4GB or AMD Radeon HD 7950.	Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB / GTX 1660 Super 6GB or AMD Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580
RAM	8GB RAM	16GB RAM
HDD	45GB HD space	45GB HD space
NETWORK	Broadband Internet connection	Broadband Internet connection
SOUND CARD	DirectX Compatible Requires DirectX 12 compatible system	DirectX Compatible Requires DirectX 12 compatible system

Watch Dogs: Legion is to be released on October 29th, and today Ubisoft announces plans for a free game update that will come on December 3rd to add an online mode to the third-person hacking sequel. They illustrate the news with a new Story Trailer as well as a Post Launch Content Trailer. Here are the details on the online update and what to expect from the Season Pass, including an Assassin's Creed crossover:

Today, Ubisoft released the story trailer for Watch Dogs: Legion that places the fate of London in players' hands. Zero-Day, an unknown entity, has framed the secret underground resistance, DedSec, for the bombings that contributed to the fall of London. In Watch Dogs: Legion, players must fight to liberate London by building a resistance.

Led by Ubisoft Toronto*, Watch Dogs: Legion will release on October 29, 2020 on Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Stadia and for Windows PC on Epic Games and Uplay. The game will also be available on UPLAY+**, Ubisoft’s subscription service. Watch Dogs®: Legion will also release on Xbox Series X | S on November 10 and digitally on PlayStation®5 alongside the console on November 12. The physical version of the game on PlayStation 5 will be available on November 24. Watch Dogs: Legion will also be available on Amazon Luna when the Ubisoft channel launches.

Ubisoft also announced that the Online multiplayer mode of Watch Dogs: Legion will be available on December 3 as part of a free game update for all Watch Dogs: Legion players. Watch Dogs: Legion has a robust post-launch plan that will bring fresh content to the single-player mode, and introduce online multiplayer modes.

Continue here to read the full story.

Ubisoft announces the launch of Season 2: Aftermath of Hyper Scape, their battle royale game. They say: "In Season 2: The Aftermath, Hyper Scape introduces new content including a hack, weapon, Hyper Scape Crowncast features, gameplay lore, a new Battle Pass, and customization items." The Ubisoft Website has all the details and last week's Season 2 Gameplay Trailer. Here's more on new features and the free and premium battle pass:

NEW GAME FEATURES
New for Season 2, a ranking system will be available, giving players a way to see how they fare amongst other contenders. The rank will be formed based on the ten best matches of each player – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond or Champion. Only matches played in Crown Rush Squad will count for the rank.

Starting with Season 2, players will get a Daily Gift every day they play Hyper Scape. The Daily Gift can include different items, such as Battle Points or cosmetics. They will also have access to their own and their squadmates’ player profiles, featuring information such as average damage dealt or K/D ratio.

Continue here to read the full story.

Perfect World Entertainment announces a new season called House Shattered is now live in Star Trek Online, Cryptic Studios Trekkie MMORPG. They accompany the news with the announcement that the free-to-play game is also now available on the Epic Games Store, and if you get it there you can still play alongside players using Steam or Arc Games for access. Here's a Shattered Launch Trailer, here's a captain's log, stardate right now:

The Year of Klingon continues! After the tragic events which unfolded at Khitomer during House Divided, Captains have been labeled as enemies of the Klingon Empire. Players must seek refuge on Nimbus with Klingon captain, Adet’Pa, brought to life by Rekha Sharma from Star Trek: Discovery (Fans may also remember her as Commander Ellen Landry from Rise of Discovery). Also on the run are General Martok (voiced by J.G Hertzler from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and J’Ula, sister of T’Kuvma. The Klingon matriarch’s general, Aakar (voiced by Robert O’Reilly from Star Trek: The Next Generation) has teamed up with J’Mpok to hunt players down with stolen Mycelial weaponry. Without taking sides in a brutal civil war, it’s up to players to end the bloodshed and re-establish peace in the galaxy.

Continue here to read the full story.

Early Access is now underway for Primordials of Amyrion on both the Epic Games Store and Steam. This is a tug-of-war strategy game for Windows from WIREGAMES Publishing and GD ENTERTAINMENT. Here's an Early Access Launch Trailer to help determine if this tugs at your heartstrings, and here's more on how this involves more strategy than just being bigger than the other guy:

Primordials of Amyrion features:

• Lord Over Land - Battle for control of the realm without the tedium of dictation. It's macro over micro.
• Choose Your Path - Upgrade Primordials, champions, minions and towers to directly counter an opponent's army.
• Battle of Wit and Will - Test your mettle in 1v1 duels. No teammates can steal glory or bring your great name to shame.
• Bolster Forces - Unleash devastating activatable abilities in support of valiant minions marching into a brutal war of attrition.
• Manage Resources - Spend resources early and go for the killing blow, or build up an economy in an effort to overwhelm the long-game.

Continue here to read the full story.

9th Dawn III: Shadow of Erthil is now available for Windows, consoles, and mobile, and the PC edition has dawned on Steam. Word is: "A 2D open world RPG and “collect-a-thon” dungeon crawler packed full of adventure, 9th Dawn III: Shadow of Erthil allows players to explore dungeons filled with more than 270 unique monsters – and enough treasure, loot, and rare materials to last a lifetime. There are also 1,400 uniquely drawn items to collect – including more than 300 weapons and 550 armor types and accessories." Last week's Main Trailer offers a look at gameplay from this open-world RPG sequel. Here's more:

9th Dawn III: Shadow of Erthil is a huge 2D open world RPG and collectathon dungeon crawler packed full of adventure! When asked to investigate mysterious, ghostly sightings around the lake of Elmson, you trek through the lands of Cedaltia to uncover the truth. Upon arrival, you catch rumors of an untrustworthy king and become the chosen one to journey to Lorwyck Castle and confront him – a journey that will guide you through ancient fortresses, dark dungeons, perilous swamps, and more!

Continue here to read the full story.

• Humble Let's Fight Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Civilization-building game Before We Leave launches free update.
• Drox Operative 2 version 0.819. Here is a write-up.
• XTHRUST adds easy mode.

• The Final Tour of Oakland's Video Game Museum & How We Can Save It - Noclip. Thanks Ant.
• Working in games with chronic illness.

• The Gayming Awards to premiere 24 February 2021 presented by EA Games.

• Planet Coaster: Console Edition - Dev Diary #2 - Ways to Play.
• The former lead designer of PS5’s Kena claims he was ‘maliciously forced out.’
• Overwatch Will Be Free On Nintendo Switch For A Limited Time.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Beta (2010.201004-1348).
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha (2010.201004-1348).
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Skip-Ahead (2011.201004-1600).

• Apple will reveal the iPhone 12 on October 13th.
• Chrome 86 beefs up password security on Android and iOS.
• Microsoft's Surface Duo gets its first post-release firmware update.

• Facebook has banned QAnon.
• Facebook deletes Trump post calling COVID-19 'less lethal' than flu, Twitter adds warning label.
• Twitter locked Trump’s account over columnist’s personal info.
• Mozilla Thunderbird — Release Notes (78.3.2). Thanks Frans.
• Arlo's latest cameras can run for up to six months on a single charge.
• "The Witcher" S2 Synopsis, Ciri Pics. Thanks Ant.

Thanks Ant.

• House Democrats push Congress to break up Big Tech monopolies.
• Intel Desktop Roadmap Through Q2 2021 Leaked - No HEDT Update Till 2H 2021, RKL-S In Mid March.
• Intel 12th Generation 'Alder Lake' CPU With 8 + 8 Cores Spotted In Sisoft Sandra Benchmark.
• Corsair Introduces The KATAR PRO WIRELESS Gaming Mouse.
• ‘Robot Millipede’ Could Soon Be Coming to a Body Near You. Do they have a Voight-Kampff test for bugs?
• Android Studio version 4.0.2. Thanks ConsoleGenRL.
• BurnAware version 13.8. Thanks DSLReports.

• Verizon: Just 25% of global businesses comply fully with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
• Apple's T2 Security Chip Has an Unfixable Flaw.
• New HEH botnet can wipe routers and IoT devices.

• China Tells World Trade Organization U.S. Violating Rules With Bans on WeChat, TikTok.

• Locked out: Clash of Clans latest title off limits to Iran gamers. Thanks A51Abductee…
• "Resident Evil" Film Reboot Sets Its Cast. Thanks Ant…
• Activision Blizzard Is Reportedly Closing Its France Office…

Obituary: Eddie Van Halen, Legendary Guitarist, Dead at 65.

Larian Studios announces the launch of Early Access to Baldur's Gate 3 for Windows and macOS on GOG. com, Steam, and Stadia. This is the first act of the D&D RPG sequel, offering about 25 hours of content, 46,000 lines of English dialogue, 600 NPCs, and 146 spells and actions. As previously announced, this includes the game's extensive character creation system which allows you to pick from 16 races and subraces spanning six different classes, each with their own subclasses. Here's the Early Access Launch Trailer along with more details:

Today’s release into early access marks the beginning of a long journey toward full launch. Working directly with the community, the team will continuously iterate and improve upon the game, adding new content along the way. RPGs this large, with so many permutations, thrive from feedback as new features and fixes are incrementally added to the game. Early access gives players a chance to participate in development and gives the team an opportunity to explore different game ideas with a live community.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is an expansive, cinematic, player-driven RPG based on 5e D&D. It features a rich character creation system where players can create an avatar based on 16 different D&D races and subraces, select their cantrips, skills and abilities, and enter a world where their actions truly define the story. With a parasite planted in their brains, players wake up aboard a burning Nautiloid ship racing across hell at the center of an epic fight between Mind Flayers and red dragons. And that’s just the very beginning of this journey. Players will encounter many challenges upon their return to the Forgotten Realms in a tale about fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival -- and the lure of absolute power.

Continue here to read the full story.

A tweet from Xbox News says a new AAA IP has been in development since at least 2018 at ZeniMax Online, saying this is making use of a brand-new engine. A Twitter reply from Alex Tardif more or less confirms the report:

Not much to say about this yet, but it's been so much fun creating a brand new engine. With how rare this kind of thing is nowadays, I feel fortunate to be at this studio while we invest heavily in our own technology.

Money for the Vultures - Part 2: Five Steps Ahead is now available on Steam as the latest DLC for Desperados III, the Windows, Linux, and macOS strategy game set in the wild, wild west. This is also available for the console editions of the game and is part of the Season Pass. Here's a trailer with a look, and here's more on why the vultures are circling:

A brand new mission comes to Desperados III with the second DLC of the Desperados III Season Pass. The story continues in "Money for the Vultures Part II: Five Steps Ahead." The gang returns to Louisiana to challenge a new member of the DeVitt family. Explore a brand new location in the Bayou State, reunite with Isabelle for more Voodoo shenanigans and face off against a mastermind worthy of your talents.

Continue here to read the full story.

Spiderweb Software announces a Q1 2021 release window for Geneforge 1 – Mutagen, their crowdfunded fantasy RPG remake for Windows, macOS, and iPad. You can keep up with the game on the official website and its Steam Listing. Here's a trailer and here are some details on this remaster of the original Geneforge from 2001:

Spiderweb Software, Inc., makers of fine indie adventures for over 25 years, announces a new, unique fantasy role-playing epic! In Q1 2021, we will release Geneforge 1 – Mutagen, a truly unique and innovative fantasy sci-fi hybrid, for Windows, Mac, and iPad.

Geneforge 1 – Mutagen will be one of the most open-ended role-playing games available. Choose between a host of rival factions. Use magic or your deadly pets to crush your enemies. Or, use trickery, diplomacy, and stealth to win the game without ever attacking a foe. Destroy the final boss, or switch sides and join him. Fight alone or create your own army of custom-made mutant monsters.

Continue here to read the full story.

SquarePlay Games announces it's full steam ahead for Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up, as their mass transit simulator for Windows departs the station of Early Access and is now officially available on Steam. Here's an Extended Launch Trailer to help train you in what to expect from this. And here are the details on the new Everyday People Update (obligatory pop culture reference) that caps off the game's 15 month journey to this point:

The 1.0 update also adds new trains, achievements, a range of snazzy staff uniforms, a heatmap tool to analyse customer sentiment, and pigeons.

About Overcrowd

• Everyday People. Dozens of new commuters, including punks, wheelchair users, hoodies, cane users, suits and more. Lubdon Town feels more vibrant and alive than ever.
• Replayability. Design your stations across a series of procedurally generated maps. No game is the same. Build a single station or a whole network. A daily challenge means there is always a new station to build.
• Deep Systemic Design. Don’t be fooled by the cute pixel art. Beneath the hood lies a deep, systems-based simulation encompassing refuse, power and heat management, crowd control and a consumer-driven economy with stock and pricing.
• Spatial Design. Build your station 4 floors deep, using stairs, escalators and lifts to connect entrances to tracks in the most efficient layouts you can devise. Control the direction of commuters using the innovative crowd flow mechanic.
• Commuter Chaos. Contend with station-wide events from rat plagues to football matches. Watch out for vandals, hoodlums and norovirus too.
• Technology Procurement. Unlock the latest tech to pimp up your station! From turnstiles, tools and ticket machines to pharmacies, pubs, ponds and plants, make your commuters’ journey to work feel special.
• Staff Management. Hire rookies and level them up, or splash out on a master mopper, medic or mechanic. Use a job grid system to prioritise their tasks.
• Price. $19.99/€16.99/£14.99 with a 30% launch discount starting today, 6 October 2020 1pm BST/2pm CEST.
• Platform. Steam, Windows 10 PC

Continue here to read the full story.

Publisher Headup announces an October 23rd release date for Pumpkin Jack, so this 3D platformer developed by Nicolas Meyssonnier will arrive just in time for Halloween. This will come to Windows via Steam as well as to Xbox One and Switch. Here's a new Release Date Trailer to show off the game, and here's the outline of what to expect:

The Halloween-ish game it is set in a dazzlingly eerie world – just imagine the love child of MediEvil and Jak & Daxter made with Unreal Engine 4. Even though it was created by a one-man dev studio (Nicolas Meyssonier), Pumpkin Jack features a hair-raising array of gameplay mechanics providing for an entertaining playtime of 5-8 hours (one run).

Overcome tight platform sections, solve riddles, run for your life to escape giant burning barns and much much more, ride minecarts (in classic rollercoaster-ish manner of course…) – and yes, using an varied arsenal of weapons you’ll fight lots and lots of foes, from small, rather annoying ones up to huge bosses all of which will test your skills.

Continue here to read the full story.

Untale: King of Revinia is a medieval visual novel for Windows and Linux that's planned for release later this year. This is coming to Steam where there's a playable demo you can experience right now. MonumentPointStudio promises 13+ unique endings and 40+ hours of gameplay, showing off a bit of what to expect in this trailer. Here's word:

Medieval Revinia… A small peaceful kingdom at the ends of the earth…

One night changes everything forever… One mysterious death. One ancient legend. Only one chance to puzzle it all out.
Now it is your turn to take the reins of power! Who else is to govern Revinia if not the son of the dead King?

Continue here to read the full story.

Parallel is a first-person RPG from solo developer Rodrigo Banzato, who plans to launch it next year on Steam. The first Official Trailer creates a creepy atmosphere without giving away too much of what to expect. Here's part of the description that fleshes things out a bit more:

Parallel is a first-person RPG adventure game, which makes the player decide on important choices. It brings various types of emotions that make people think about life. Each player will go through different environments, from mysticism, paradise to claustrophobic and destruction scenes.

In our game you will have "butterfly effects". This means that choices are important, a simple yes or no in a conversation will change the entire destiny of your path. Sometimes the choices are unconscious. Small decisions, big twists.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Disc Room - October 22 - Nintendo Switch and PC.
• Starbase Alpha News: Material Selection, New Asteroid Field, Mining Updates, Audio Signal Device.
• The Quake Remastered Soundtrack on Vinyl unboxing. Thanks Ant.
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The Quest Begins.

• Notes from the Q&A Sessions with Steam - Gamasutra.
• Meet Mat Prior - a creative director at EA Sports - BBC Sport.

• BIG EAST Conference Selects Electronic Gaming Federation As Its Esports Governance, Marketing And Distribution Partner.
• Blocklete Games – Turner Sports’ Blockchain Sports Gaming Experience – Accepts Cryptocurrency for Payments Through BitPay.

• Journalist says Xbox Series X can get ‘hot like a fireplace.’
• PS5 3D audio will work with many current headsets but not TV speakers at launch.
• Xbox announces ‘record year’ for Xbox Game Studios with 1.66bn hours played.
• ESRB Rates Wolfenstein, Prey, And Dishonored Collections For Xbox Series X/S.
• EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Champions And Ultimate Editions Are Now Available For Xbox One.
• Xbox boss thinks 8K might never be the standard in video games.
• 9th Dawn III Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2- Grand Prix Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• Dreams: The Music Update launches tomorrow – PlayStation.Blog.
• This Week's Deals With Gold And Spotlight Sale Plus Publisher Sale.

• Mozilla adds two new badges to help identify trusted add-ons.
• Google rebrands G Suite as Google Workspace, gives Gmail a new logo.

• DDR5 is Coming- First 64GB DDR5-4800 Modules from SK Hynix.
• DDR5-5600 RAM is ready and waiting for the first compatible CPUs.
• Dell's first mini-LED monitor is bright, accurate and $5,000.
• NVIDIA Expands Developer Support for Arm Ecosystem. Thanks Hypothermia.
• Intel Optane Persistent Memory Wins a Best of VMworld 2020 Award. Thanks Hypothermia.
• Djokovic wants line judges replaced by technology. Baseball needs the same thing for calling balls and strikes. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Razer made a Visa card for gamers so naturally it has an LED.

• Meet the new aviation insecurity, same as the old aviation insecurity- Next-gen ACAS X just as vulnerable to spoofing as its predecessor.
• Hackers could have locked users inside a smart chastity device.
• Insurance firm Ardonagh Group disabled 200 admin accounts as ransomware infection took hold.

• Democracy 4 PC Review - GameWatcher.
• Mafia: Definitive Edition Shows the Peril of Unwanted Remakes - WIRED.
• Star Wars Squadrons PC Performance Analysis - DSOGaming.

• ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 (OC Edition) Graphics Card Review - TweakTown.
• be quiet Pure loop 280mm LCS review - Guru3D.
• be quiet! Pure Loop 280 Liquid Cooler Review - TechPowerUp.
• Corsair CX750F RGB 750 W PSU Review - TechPowerUp.
• Corsair Force Series MP510 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD Review - TweakTown.
• Corsair Katar Pro Wireless Mouse and MM300 Pro Mouse Pad Review - Neoseeker.
• G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 C16 2x16GB Review- Good Performer With Great Upside - Tom's Hardware.
• Nvidia RTX 3080 Gaming Performance at 1440p- CPU or Architecture Bottleneck?

• How Video-Game Voice Chat Builds Friendship. Thanks A51Abductee…

Dune Movie Sets New Release Date for Late 2021. So a lot more sand to pass through the hourglass before this one arrives too. Word is The Batman is delayed to 2022 also, along with Shazam 2 and The Flash, though the release date for Matrix 4 is being moved up. It seems more apparent all the time that a shift to premium video-on-demand is going to be the future of movies, doesn't it? The last few years almost every one of my rare visits to the multiplex felt like visiting a ghost town, and that was before the pandemic. And it's hard to imagine people are going to be eager to pack into theaters after the health crisis wanes, so it's difficult to see how the movie business will return to normal.

Sandy Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Play

• The Quantum Prisoner.

Story

• Meet Australia's new conservator superstar, 'Koala Whisperer' Izzy Bee. Thanks Acleacius.

Science

• 2020 Nobel medicine prize awarded to US-British trio for Hepatitis C discovery.
• NASA is testing the first of its new moonwalking spacesuits.
• Tasmanian devils reintroduced to mainland Australia after 3,000 years. Seems like it should help with the rabbit problem.

Media

• 2020 (a parody of the film 1917).
• Motorcyclist makes a nice catch on the freeway.
• When someone plays Sweet Caroline in a Boston Subway.

Auction

• Waldorf Astoria Hotel auctions off 80,000 items ahead of renovation in New York.

The Funnies

• System32Comics on Instagram- "So this is how they name computer monitors."