The Long Dark is now available for free on the Epic Games Store as the day two offering in their 15-day holiday giveaway extravaganza. If you want this, collect your copy before 11:00 am EST tomorrow, as it will be replaced at that time by the next freebie. Here's word on this single-player adventure/survival game for Windows:

A thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. Only you, the cold, and all the threats Mother Nature can muster.

A post on the Cyberpunk Website has patch notes for a version 1.05 Hotfix for Cyberpunk 2077 (thanks ConsoleGenRL). This is now live for the console editions of the sci-fi RPG, and word is it's coming to the Windows edition soon. This includes a number of bug fixes, a handful of gameplay improvements, and a bunch of performance optimizations for both PC and consoles. The console edition was released yesterday, but they don't say exactly when to expect this for PC.

Reports on the CD PROJEKT RED Forums and Reddit have multiple accounts of problems with large saved game files in Cyberpunk 2077 (thanks Tom's Hardware). Apparently once these grow past about 6 MB it slows down the loading process significantly and when they pass 8 MB in size they end up corrupted. The developer hasn't officially acknowledged this yet, but this post from a moderator discusses ways to protect yourself from this problem:

No, but stop loading saved games.

First, back up all of your save files by copying them to a folder on your desktop or something. Then, do a verify / repair of the game.

After that, try loading. If it still doesn't work, erase the "corrupted" saves and replace them with the backups. Keep doing this as you troubleshoot. It can often be the loading process, not the saving process that borks a save.

If you were using any sort of modification to the game (like the community's AVX fix), and you disabled it, put it back in place. Any modification to the game can leave reference data that will corrupt the game's ability to read the save files unless the modifications are also running.

The ESRB now features ratings for Windows editions of No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (thanks PCGamesN). No More Heroes originally launched for Wii in 2008 and the sequel to the hack-and-slash adventure followed in 2010. Both games came to the Switch last month, and this is a pretty firm indications that PC versions are on the way.

AMD now offers new version 20.12.2 Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition drivers for running their graphics cards under Windows. According to the patch notes these add just one particular function to the mix:

Support For

• Cooler Master RGB LED utility for AMD Radeon™ RX 6800XT and RX 6900XT cards.

A winter sale is now underway on the DCS World E-Shop, offering discounts on various aircraft and modules for Eagle Dynamics' free-to-play flight simulation. This will run there until January 11th and a corresponding sale will also get underway on Tuesday on Steam. Tuesday will also kick off a two week period where players will get free access to all aircraft and terrain in their shop and on Steam, offering the chance to do some test-flying. Finally, they illustrate the news with a new 2021 AND BEYOND Trailer which looks back on what they accomplished this year and looks ahead to some of what they have planned for next year. Continue here to read the full story.

The Minecraft Website announces a "Community Celebration" with giveaways to the players who dig this open-world sandbox game so much (thanks Ant). Here's word:

Ta-da! We’re giving away free content for both Bedrock and Java! For Bedrock, we’re releasing new character creator items and maps over the course of four weeks.

We also have plenty of surprises for our Java players! These gifts will be released each Monday, and we will also be giving away a free week of Java Realms between December 8 and January 13 to both new and existing subscribers!

All of this content is made by amazing community creators PixelHeads, Noxcrew, Gamemode One, Mithey, and Jigarbov Productions!

Don’t forget to check in regularly for your Java and Bedrock gifts! Each week, I will be conducting a very serious investigation into each map, so get ready for some truly hard-hitting and award-worthy reporting. Consider it my gift to you, and no – you can’t exchange it.

• Annual Humble Premium Choice Plan.* Save 45%.

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

• Call of Duty Warzone Weekend Patch. Thanks Charlie INTEL.
• DIRT 5 Hotfix 2.00.1.
• Dota 2 Update - December 18th, 2020.
• Dota 2 Update - December 18th 2020.
• Kerbal Space Program 1.11: "Some Reassembly Required" is now available.

• Fortnite: Red vs Blue Prepare for Master Chiefs Arrival.
• Half-Life: Citadel & CS:GO Source 2 - MASSIVE DATAMINE LEAKS. Thanks Ant.
• HeroStorm Ep 78 "Wombo Combo" - Carbot.
• Miyamoto leads fans through Super Nintendo World—and it looks incredible. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• This Week on Xbox: December 18, 2020.
• Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 385- Our GOTY 2020 Picks.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• How a supercomputer inside NVIDIA’s HQ makes your gaming laptop quicker on the fly.
• Opinion - Facebook’s Tone-Deaf Attack on Apple - The New York Times (may require registration or subscription).
• Opinion - Apple and Facebook's Fight Over Your Data Privacy - The New York Times (may require registration or subscription).
• Zoox Unveils Robotaxi Powered by NVIDIA. Thanks Hypothermia.
• Blast into the Holidays on Call of Duty: Mobile Winter War, the Latest Season Launching December 21.

• New York Times says Caliphate podcast was conned by Canadian who claimed to be an ISIS recruit. Thanks Max.
• 'Wonder Woman 1984' rentals will start early in UK, where there's no HBO Max.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Here's How to Improve Cyberpunk 2077 Texture Sharpness When Using NVIDIA DLSS.
• Intel's Full 11th Gen Rocket Lake & Comet Lake Refresh Desktop CPUs Detailed.
• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX Flagship 8 Core Cezanne-H Zen 3 CPU Benchmarks Leak Out.
• Tesla is again forced to stop construction at Gigafactory Berlin due to missing $100 million deposit.
• The Best Memory for AMD Ryzen - A Beginner's Guide to RAM Performance (video).
• A Microsoft executive accidentally exposed one of the ugly truths of tech.

• US cyber-attack: Russia 'clearly' behind SolarWinds operation, says Pompeo.
• Trump contradicts Pompeo, plays down alleged Russian role in hack.
• VMware Flaw a Vector in SolarWinds Breach?

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Gaming Chair: Razer Iskur sold me on gaming chairs — after almost losing me - Tom's Guide.
• Graphics Card: XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 Black Review - TechPowerUp.
• Keyboard Switches: Gazzew Boba U4 Silent Tactile Switch Review - Overclockers Club.
• Laptop: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 review- An absolute corker - Pocket Lint.
• Laptop: XPG Xenia 15 review- The first gaming laptop from ADATA is a good foundation on which to build a brand - Windows Central.
• Monitor: Samsung Odyssey G9 Review - IGN.
• Speaker: Gravastar Venus Wireless Speaker Review - Nikk Tech.
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD Review - TweakTown.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Cyberpunk 2077 Was Supposed to Be the Biggest Video Game of the Year. What Happened? (may require registration or subscription).…
• Shinji Mikami's Tango made an unreleased game about four-inch cockroaches gunning down humans…
• How Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Was Made From Home…

We finally got the roadside assistance guy out to jumpstart MrsBlue's dead car, so it was homeside assistance in this case. He got it started, and confirmed what we suspected, that the battery was basically shot. So rather than let it idle to try and recharge the battery, I just drove it to the auto parts store and replaced the battery. It's now working right again, and it's nice to have confidence in it, especially in winter weather. Thankfully it died in front of our house where it was easy enough to deal with, rather than leaving us stranded somewhere.

Charged-up Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Link

• Cyberpunk 2077 Apology Generator. Thanks Boing Boing.
• T'was The Night Before Christmas in 2020.

Stories

• Toxic chemicals on planes add to COVID-19 travel woes. Thanks JDreyer.
• Pence announces that Space Force personnel will be called guardians. I still vote for Space Cadets.

Science

• Heartbreaking Study Shows The Long-Term Effects of Yelling at Your Dog. Thanks Max.

Media

• Best Of 2020 - Guinness World Records.
• How to piss off the neighbor. Some people.
• It's a Critter Christmas.

Follow-up

• Senate report: Boeing and FAA -manipulated- 737 MAX re-approval tests.

The Funnies

• "Santa Questions" - Christmas - FoxTrot.