Bungie announces it is being acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment as the latest battle in a console war that heated up when Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard a couple of weeks ago. Sony's perspective on the sale, reportedly worth $3.6 billion, can be found on the SIE Blog. Interestingly, Bungie has been in bed with all the players in this story at one point, having signed a 10-year partnership with Activision in 2010 and previously having been owned by Microsoft from 2000 until 2007. Here's word on why Bungie feels its third marriage is true love:

In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart. Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.​

An announcement on Steam confirms the rumored March release for Shadow Warrior 3. This specifies March 1st as the release date that was promised when a delay was announced in October. In an unfortunate twist, the announcement also mentions the new voice of Lo Wang the same day we reported the passing of the original. Here's word:

Finely sculpted, athletic developer Flying Wild Hog and their personal trainer Devolver Digital have announced Shadow Warrior 3, a stunning new entry in the global best-selling franchise, will launch its barrage of over-the-top weapons and offbeat humor on March 1 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Pre-orders are now open and include the exclusive Koromodako Katana - a weapon so great they gave it eight legs. Console owners will also receive Flying Wild Hog’s 2013 Shadow Warrior and Shadow Warrior 2 for free.

In addition, the team is excited to reveal that actors Mike Moh, Andromeda Dunker, and SungWon Cho have joined the cast as the new voices of Lo Wang, Motoko and Zilla, alongside the returning Alex Dobrenko as Hoji.

Continue here to read the full story.

Dogs and cats! Living together! Blizzard announces some form of detente has overtaken Azeroth. Word is it is working on cross-faction instances where Alliance and Horde players can drop their differences in World of Warcraft:

I am pleased to announce that we are working on adding the ability for Alliance and Horde players to form premade parties together for dungeons, raids, and rated PvP. There have been two decades’ worth of code and content crafted with the assumption that parties can only have players of a single faction, and while we want to make this feature available as soon as possible, the extent of the change means that it couldn’t be ready in time for the upcoming Eternity’s End content update. Instead, we are planning to test and release it as part of a subsequent 9.2.5 update. We’re eager to hear your feedback about the details we’re sharing today and on the details of our implementation when this feature becomes available to the Public Test Realm following the release of Eternity’s End.

• Marketplace: World Update VII Sale - Microsoft Flight Simulator.

• Microsoft Flight Simulator Release Notes (1.22.2.0) World Update VII- Australia Now Available.
• Portal 2 - Update.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Bloodborne PSX Demake is now available for download on PC.

Official trailer.

• Risk of Rain 2: Survivors of the Void – Railgunner Survivor Showcase.

• Rainbow Six Siege: Road to Six Invitational 2022 Trailer.

• PlayStation: Bungie deal is about multiplatform, live-service games.
• MLB The Show 22 Is Now Available For Digital Pre-order And Pre-download On Xbox One And Xbox Series X-S.
• World of Warships: Legends First Update of 2022 is Now Live.
• You Can Now Link Your Discord And PlayStation Accounts.

• The New York Times Buys Wordle (may require registration or subscription).

• Single AMD RX 6900 XT Beats Four GTX 1080 Tis to Take 3DMark Record.
• What happens to all the Windows 10 devices that are incompatible with Windows 11 in 2025?
• Plex Media Server version 1.25.4.5468. Thanks Console General.

• Ransomware: Over half of attacks are targeting these three industries.
• The top reasons countries ask Google to remove content. Photos that make their asses look fat.

• Amazon operations manager steals $273,000 in PC components. So, like three 3090s?

• Electronic Arts Names Chris Suh as Chief Financial Officer…
• "It Takes Two" Being Adapted For Film & TV…

Last Link of the Day: PREMIERE: “MARS” An Immersive Skate Part w/ Victor Cascarigny. Thanks VideoSift.

CD Projekt RED announces plans to release a new Gwent game later this year, reports IGN. While the original Gwent is a Witcher-inspired multiplayer game, the new installment in the card-based strategy series will be single-player, and may not connect to The Witcher:

Project Golden Nekker will be something else entirely according to Gwent Comms Lead Paweł Burza: “It’s not another Witcher Tales [game] but something different,” he said. “We’re aiming to provide a captivating single-player for players who prefer it over competitive multiplayer Gwent.”

Although this is the first time we've learned that it's an entirely new game, CD Projekt Red has been quietly teasing the project for several months, dropping hints on Gwent streams and community podcasts.

Worms don't have toes, but Team17 announces it is dipping its toe into the NFT waters with MetaWorms NFTs. Worms don't have hands either, but this is not stopping them from reaching into your wallet with this new entry in the NFT art market. Word is these NFTs will exist on a "side-chain of the Ethereum mainnet" which will reduce their environmental impact: "Crucially, this enables the creation of environmentally friendly NFTs that offer substantial reductions to the amount of energy used per transaction - The cost of minting 100,000 NFTs on Reality Gaming Group's sidechain uses the same energy as the average ANNUAL kettle usage of just 11 households." On a related note, voice artist Troy Baker tweets that he's no longer participating in an announced NFT scheme. He also apologizes for hating by calling his critics haters:

Thank you all for your feedback and patience. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I’ve heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of “hating” just by simply disagreeing with me.

Gameforge announces a roadmap for Sword of Legends Online, outlining new content coming to the MMORPG over the course of 2022. This includes a version 2.0 that will launch next month, making the game free-to-play. Word is this will not involve any pay-to-win elements, and those who have purchased the game will receive cosmetic rewards as compensation:

With the launch of 2.0, players can now forge their own legendary adventure completely free and without restrictions. All in-game purchases will remain cosmetic, as will Battle Passes. There will not be any pay-to-win elements. Players who have previously purchased the game will be eligible to receive a variety of exclusive cosmetics. The full details can be found on the FAQ located on the Swords of Legends Online community page.

Continue here to read the full story.

The Hollywood Reporter has details on plans to adapt American McGee's Alice as a TV series. The show-runner will be David Hayter, but Linda Lavin is apparently not involved (RIP Vic Tayback). Hayter is probably most familiar to gamers as the English voice of Solid Snake, but he is also an accomplished writer for the big and small screen. Here's word on this mix of creative influences:

The TV adaptation will begin after Alice returns from the trip the Looking-Glass, her house is burnt down and her parents have died in the fire. Alice is the only survivor of the terrible accident. After repeated attempts at suicide, she gets locked up inside a mental institution and is slowly wasting away there before she is summoned to Wonderland again by the White Rabbit.

But this time it’s a Wonderland gone seriously bad and gory. The only chance for Alice to restore her peace of mind and find out more about the death of her parents is to fight through Wonderland and free it from the evil powers.

Continue here to read the full story.

A post on Facebook announces the passing of John William Galt, actor and voice artist (thanks Lee). John's IMDb Page shows he voiced video game characters in games like Deus Ex, Daikatana, and Prey. He's best known as the voice of protagonist Lo Wang in the first three Shadow Warrior games. Here's a post from his son, Geoff Galt, a voice artist in his own right:

My Dad passed away last night. He stopped breathing in the middle of routine care, in his own bed, surrounded by family. He was taken to a Farmers Branch hospital, where emergency medical personnel did everything they could. It was pretty clear Dad was ready to go. He's off on a new adventure.

• Halo Infinite Devs Say Shop Wasn't 'Delivering on Value, Quality, or Price' Ahead of Changes.
• I'm not gunna qt the person cuz I don't like the dogpiling that happens on twitter, but as a dev on the @PlayOverwatch team, I am strongly against NFTs and will fight to make sure they aren't integrated into our game. Thanks Dot Esports.
• Elden Ring Director Thinks George R.R. Martin Might Be 'Shocked' By What He's Done to His Characters. Go ahead, shock the incest guy.

• Special Sale: games from META Publishing up to 85% off - GOG.com.
• Weekly Sale: fascinating puzzle and adventure games up to 75% off - GOG.com.

Official patches.

• Path of Exile Patch Notes - 3.16.3b.
• Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic - New version 0.8.6.10. Here's a trailer.

• Welcome to Wonderlands #3: Spore Warden and Graveborn - Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• An Avoidable Disaster - The Tragedy of Mass Effect Andromeda - GVMER. Thanks Ant.
• Halo The Series (2022) - Official Trailer - Paramount+.

• New State Of Play Announced For Feb. 2, Will Feature Gran Turismo 7 - PlayStation Universe.

• Spotify responds to Joe Rogan controversy with COVID-19 content warnings.
• Joe Rogan pledges to try harder after Neil Young Spotify row.
• The Belgians getting the right to disconnect from work.
• Big Tech Needs to Stop Trying to Make Their Metaverse Happen (may require registration or subscription). But... investors!
• Elon Musk offered a teenager $5,000 to delete a Twitter account tracking his jet. It wasn't enough.

• Robots could be used to support soldiers in combat.
• Wiltshire Police 'Digi-dogs' trained to sniff out technology.
• The Plan to Put Bitcoin in Mouse DNA With a Genetically Engineered Virus. Maniacs gotta maniac.
• GitHub - clsid2-mpc-hc- Media Player Classic version 1.9.19. Thanks Ant.

• Your graphics card could be used to track you across the web regardless of cookie consent. Fingerprinting is by no means new.
• North Korean hackers launch attack using Windows Update and GitHub. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Microsoft: Here's how we stopped the biggest ever DDoS attack.
• Unsecured AWS server exposed 3TB in airport employee records.

• Crypto outfit Qubit appeals for return of $80M coin heist. Wouldn't you rather have $2M and a clean conscience?

• CPU Cooler: SilverStone Hydrogon D120 ARGB CPU Cooler Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• Game Controller: Winwing Orion Throttle F-16EX - Modders Inc.
• Headset: Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT Gaming Headset Review - TweakTown.
• Headset: SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ Wireless Headset - Mad Shrimps.
• Keyboard: MSI VIGOR GK71 SONIC Gaming Keyboard Review - The FPS Review.
• SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD - Nikk Tech.

• The Secrets of Space Invaders. Thanks Slashdot via Ant…
• Reports claim Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson set to star in Call of Duty movie…
• EA's Alice Game Becoming A TV Series With David Hayter Writing…

Wow, this was yet another amazing weekend of playoff football. The brilliance of these games will make it that much harder to put up with a two-week wait for the single game that remains in the season. But that's about the only thing to complain about. These games couldn't have been more suspenseful and dramatic if they were scripted by Hollywood writers. Just awesome.

Obituary: Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst dies at 30 (may require registration or subscription). Here's a link to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Thanks JDreyer.

Brilliant Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Story

• Cruise ship enters launch hazard area, forcing SpaceX to scrub again.

Science

• We Already Have the Technology to Save Earth From a “Don’t Look Up” Asteroid.
• Florida is so cold iguanas are falling out of trees. Thanks brother19.

Media
Thanks VideoSift.

• Sioux Falls police officer delivers DoorDash order.
• Rock Collapse - Goûter Route, Goûter Couloir, Mont Blanc. Nightmarish.

The Funnies

• Savage Chickens.