GOG.com is offering a flashback to the 90s with the latest giveaway from its Summer Sale 2022.* For the next three days subscribers to its newsletter are entitled to a free copy of Flashback, the classic sci-fi adventure game. All you have to do is click the giveaway button on the GOG.com Front Page before the offer expires and it's yours to keep. Here's a refresher:

2142. After fleeing from a space ship but stripped of all memory, the young scientist Conrad B. Hart awakens on Titan, a colonised moon of the planet Saturn. His enemies and kidnappers are snapping at his heels. He must find a way back to Earth, all the while defending himself against the dangers he encounters and unravelling an insidious extra-terrestrial plot that threatens the planet…

On its 25th anniversary, rediscover this classic, consistently ranked among the best 100 games of all time! It was one of the first games to use motion capture technology for more realistic animations, with backgrounds that were entirely hand-drawn and a gripping science-fiction storyline.

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

Publisher Funcom and developer Shiro Games announce the launch of multiplayer support for Dune: Spice Wars, which recently entered Early Access. To celebrate, the game is on sale for 20% off on Steam. Multiplayer is one of the items on the roadmap released last month discussing the future of the spicy sci-fi strategy game. The Multiplayer Trailer takes a look, and here's word: "Players can now band together in 2v2 matches or face each other in a free-for-all of up to four players." The patch comes along with other changes:

There has never been a better time to lure friends in with promises of spice, then see who the desert takes first. In today’s update, take the reins of either the Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, or Smugglers in matches of up to four players. Any open spots can be filled with AI-controlled factions ranging in difficulty from easy to insane, and each game can be tailored to suit preferences, including map size and sandworm, storm, and Sietch activity. Victory conditions can also be tweaked.

In addition to multiplayer, this update also reworks the development trees with a focus on synergy between factions, and adds new political resolutions, events, regions, and many other improvements.

Continue here to read the full story.

Wales Interactive has a clever idea about standing out amid the flood of time-limited demos from the Steam Next Fest June 2022, which ends at 1:00 pm EDT today. They announce that the playable demo for Sker Ritual is not leaving after the party ends. The demo will remain available for another 10 days, giving an extended chance to sample this co-op first-person shooter. The limitations of the demo have been reworked, and it comes along with the promise of an open beta before the game officially launches:

Wales Interactive have announced that due to popular demand in the Steam Next Fest, they will be extending the Sker Ritual demo period an extra 10 days, until Thursday June 30th. Additionally, the time limit has been removed from the demo and instead swapped for a 25 round limit per repeatable game. This is due to the overwhelming success in the Steam Next Fest in which the Sker Ritual developer Broadcast was at that time, the highest watched demo Broadcast on Steam with nearly 8k concurrent viewers.

The Welsh developers have also revealed a sneek peek at some upcoming content players can expect to see. Although no specific date has been confirmed, an Open Beta is being planned with even more content, arriving before the launch on Steam Early Access later this year.

Though it's not properly reflected on the Heroes of Newerth Website as of this writing, today is the final day for the free-to-play MOBA. This post discusses the closure and offers what can serve as a farewell message:

Heroes of Newerth (HoN) has been in service for a long time. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has been on this journey, created special memories together with us, moved HoN forward, and created a lot of unforgettable stories for HoN, as well as making Heroes of Newerth become one of the most popular MOBA games in history.

The Heroes of Newerth team regrets to announce that Heroes of Newerth’s service will officially come to an end on June 20, 2022.

We, the Heroes of Newerth Team, would like to thank our players for all the support we’ve been receiving all this time.

• Skull & Bones release finally looks likely, following second rating board listing.
• Halo Infinite leak claims battle royale won't release for a long time.

• NetEase Delays Diablo Immortal's China Launch, Shares Tumble.

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• JAK AND DAXTER PC PORT!!! Nope, not even kidding. Literally.

Official trailers.

• Bloodline Game Teaser - Final Teaser.
• Evil West - Extended Gameplay Trailer.
• Scrap Riders - Gameplay Trailer l Microids & Games for Tutti.

• Path of Exile - Game Mechanics Q&A Answers.
• Matt Chat 488: Coach Happy Keller (video). Thanks Ant.

• The ALL NEW COMMODORE 64x Back and Better Than Ever! by My Retro Computer Ltd — Kickstarter. "Get 2022 Technology with 1982 Swag! The King of Personal Computers Has Returned with More Power Than Ever!" Thanks Yannick via HotHardware.

• Google no longer allows username and passwords on third-party email applications.
• Telegram’s Premium subscription is here and it costs $4.99 / month.
• How to Get Free Wi-Fi Anywhere If You Can't Connect at Home. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Is Google Dying? Or Did the Web Grow Up (may require registration or subscription)? Thanks Matthew.

Thanks Neutronbeam and Ant.

• A Look At Intel 4 Process Technology.
• AMD Radeon RX 6000 average pricing finally drops below MSRP in Europe.
• Intel Sapphire Rapids HEDT "Fishhawk Falls" CPU has been spotted with 16 cores.
• Thousands of PC parts go up for auction from the defunct Artesian Builds.
• 7 Red Flags When Choosing Cheap PC Components.
• Mark Zuckerberg has so many VR headset prototypes to show us.
• Your Own IBM Mainframe (or Vax, Or Cray…) The Easy Way.
• The ZX Spectrum At 40.
• How to Install Windows 11 on Your M1 Mac.
• AI Detects Autism Speech Patterns Across Different Languages. Thanks Max.
• Go read this report about a Google contractor who claims he was fired for calling out cult activity.
• 7-Zip version 22.00.
• CrystalDiskInfo v8.17.2. Thanks DSLReports.
• You Can Run Doom on a Chip From a $15 Ikea Smart Lamp. Thanks Slashdot.

• This phone-wiping Android banking trojan is getting nastier.
• US disrupts Russian botnet that 'hacked millions of devices.'

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• CPU Cooler: EK-Quantum Surface S360 Radiator Review - Class Leading! - TechPowerUp.
• CPU Cooler: EK-Quantum Surface X360M Radiator Review - TechPowerUp.
• Headset: Nokia Clarity Earbuds+ review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Headset: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro review- our new favourite gaming headset - Eurogamer.net.
• Laptop: Dell G15 5510 laptop review- Budget gaming laptop with the RTX 3050 - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Laptop: The iPad Air convinced me that the post-PC world is almost here - Android Authority.
• Laptop: Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360- 2-in-1-laptop with OLED display - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Microphone: Headset Microphones vs. Standalone: Which Is Better?
• Monitor: Asus ProArt PA148CTV Portable Monitor Review- Great Colors - Tom's Hardware.
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B660-i Mini ITX Motherboard Review - Hardware Asylum.
• PC: Dell XPS 8950 Desktop Review- Lots to Love, Inside and Out - CNET.
• SSD: ADATA Elite SE880 1TB Review - APH Networks
• SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD - STH.
• SSD: Silicon Power XS70 M.2 2280 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD - Mad Shrimps.

• Diablo Immortal streamer yeets $15k gem into the sun, quits…
• Diablo Immortal player beats final boss without microtransactions…
• Dragon’s Dogma has hit its highest player count in 6 years, following sequel news and discount…

Happy Juneteenth, Part II. As mentioned yesterday, the official federal holiday is being celebrated today. This makes it a day off for federal employees and a lot of others as well, including MrsBlue. So we'll observe this here today, too.

Obituary: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water Voice Actor Kumiko Takizawa Has Died.

Celebratory Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Links

• 5 Rare Mental Conditions You May Not Know About.
• The 'Scooby-Doo' Mystery Machine was listed on Airbnb and sold out fast.

Story

• I couldn't function at work for years―turns out I have ADHD.

Science

• Astronomers Discover Evidence for Most Powerful Pulsar in Distant Galaxy.
• Watch the Artemis moon rocket's final prelaunch test.

Media

• How NYC’s Sewage System Treats 1.3 Billion Gallons Of Wastewater. Thanks RedEye9.
• Sci-Fi Short Film- -Good Business- - Throwback Thursday - DUST. Thanks VideoSift.

VOID Interactive tweets that Ready or Not is once again available on Steam, ready or not. The game was delisted a couple of days ago amid speculation this was due to the addition of a nightclub shooting on the anniversary of the Pulse shooting. A tweet from yesterday said this was due to a trademark issue, and that the listing would return soon, which it now has.

Now that the removal above is settled, a tweet from American McGee says that Spicy Horse titles Alice: Madness Returns and Grimm are currently unavailable from Steam. Each bears its own variation on this message: "At the request of the publisher, Alice: Madness Returns is no longer available for sale on Steam." Alice: Madness Returns only recently rejoined Steam following a six-year delisting. The new problem is said to be an inadvertent error caused during the removal of Akaneiro, which was intended because that game needs some fixes. Word is outreach is underway to clear this up as quickly as possible:

From what I've heard, in trying to remove Akaneiro from @Steam (it was broken), all the other Spicy Horse games also got removed. We're reaching out to Support and trying to get this resolved. Anyone at @valvesoftware can help fix this faster?

Here's the new list of last week's bestsellers on Steam. Perhaps some dad's got new Steam Decks today?

1. Steam Deck.
2. Save 29% on FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE.
3. Save 40% on Chivalry 2.
4. Save 49% on MONSTER HUNTER RISE.
5. Save 10% on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Shredder's Revenge.
6. Pre-purchase Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
7. ELDEN RING.
8. V Rising.
9. The Quarry.
10. Starship Troopers: Terran Command.

• Ex-BioWare boss says studios should better set expectations of schedules.
• Cuphead Studio Director on Delays And Long Development- ‘Who Cares?’

• Steam Client Beta.

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

• Shake up Deus Ex with the Randomizer mod. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Zelda- Breath of the Wild gets a brand new DLC-sized Expansion Mod.

• Full tilt: Pinball FX, Zen Studios, and the art of changing things - The Loadout.

• Team Fortress 2 Operation Rewired Rampage.

• Minifigure Mayhem begins September 2 when LEGO Brawls hits PlayStation.
• Mega Recap, Games Coming Soon, and Updates - This Week on Xbox (video).

• Self-Driving Big Rigs Are Coming. Is America Ready (may require registration or subscription)? Thanks Roddy.

• AMD Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 Specs, Release Date Window, Benchmarks, and More.
• NVIDIA Ada Lovelace 'GeForce RTX 40' GPUs Power Limits Detailed.
• Apple Captures 90% Share of Arm PC Chip Revenue: Report.
• MSI X570 Beta BIOS Enables Ryzen 7 5800X3D Tweaking.
• Don't let Microsoft get away with this! Video. Thanks RedEye9.
• Peter Thiel helped build Facebook, now he's building a new anti-tech right (may require registration or subscription).
• LIVE: We Bought a Bag of 79 Mystery CPUs - Gamers Necxus (video).
• How to Remove the Annoying Icons in Windows 10’s Search Bar. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Is Google’s LaMDA conscious? A philosopher's view. Thanks Acleacius.

• US TikTok User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China, Leaked Audio Shows.
• Tinder Swindlers: How scammers steal your heart, then your money.
• Windows 11 could soon let you see which apps might have been spying on you. Such as Windows 11?

• Big Tech must deal with disinformation or face fines, says EU.
• Apple workers at Maryland store vote to unionize, a first for the U.S.
• Former Amazon engineer convicted in 2019 Capital One data breach. Illegally found out what's in YOUR wallet. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Review- A Price Cut Disguised as a New Chip - Tom's Hardware.
• CPU: Intel Core i3-12100 Review- The Little Gaming Giant - Tom's Hardware.
• Laptop: Dell XPS 17 9720 review - The premium multimedia laptop starts to show its age - NotebookCheck.net Reviews. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Motherboard: ASRock Z690 Taichi Intel LGA1700 Mainboard - OCinside (German).
• SSD: T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 2TB SSD Gaming Review - BabelTechReviews.

• 5 Reasons Underwater Stages Are The Worst Parts Of Most Games…

Happy Juneteenth to those here in the U.S. Since today is a Sunday and Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, it will also have an official celebration tomorrow. And happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Celebratory Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Link

• Juneteenth: Poet Amanda Gorman reflects on the holiday, the gift of Blackness. Thanks RedEye9.
• RRR Is The Must See Movie Of 2022. Thanks Acleacius.
• Nerf Unveils New Mascot Guaranteed To Haunt Your Dreams Or Clean Your Floors. Escapee from the automatic car wash.

Stories

• Juneteenth was finally recognized as a federal holiday. Then came commercialization.
• Glass bridge launches at Georgia's Dashbashi Canyon.

Science

• Scientists find possible black hole wandering the Milky Way. Both Las Vegas and galaxies intentionally make exits hard to find.

Media

• Red Devil Squid BITES diver. Maybe leave it alone? Thanks VideoSift.
• Why New Cars Keep FAILING the Moose Test. Thanks RedEye9.

Follow-up

• Omicron Variant Less Likely To Cause Long COVID.