Steam Base Builder Fest is live now, celebrating base building games of all kinds for an entire week! From now through January 30th at 10am PST, come find discounts, demos, and more on games (both current and upcoming) that emphasize building habitable spaces.

Head HERE to join in the action! While you're there, don't forget to check out the brand-new Game Profiles (available both via the sale page and the Points Shop) from some of your favorite Base Builders.

In SteamWorld Build, you are the architect of a SteamWorld mining town. Break ground and raise houses for your steambot citizens, keep them fed and provide some rootin'-tootin' entertainment. You’ll also venture into the abandoned mine sitting under your town, rumoured to be filled with ancient tech that holds the key to escaping impending doom. Use the natural resources above ground and the abundant ores buried in the mine to expand your town. Stimulate new residential tiers to join the quest to dig deeper, unearth untold riches and ultimately help them to hightail it off the planet!

SteamWorld Build has been developed on PC and console simultaneously, ensuring that the game’s design, UX and UI all work just as well with a controller in hand, as they do with mouse and keyboard. The game features a user-friendly interface and mechanics designed to cater to both experienced players and newcomers to the city builder genre, further refined by three difficulty levels to choose from.

Farworlder, you have travelled wearily from some far-flung corner of the galaxy, across countless light years through the black expanse of space; now you find yourself crash-landed, your ship torn apart, your body cold, your stomach hungry, and your eyes searching for your destiny. From these desperate beginnings, an open-ended sandbox awaits.

This isn’t Earth. You’ll battle changing weather conditions while trying to establish your new life. You may even have to go underground to escape blizzards, radiation storms, and more in randomly generated worlds!

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• One of the leads of World of Warcraft Classic has departed Blizzard in protest of the company's stack-ranking system, saying he was forced to give an employee a lower evaluation than that employee deserved in order to hit a quota.

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• Welcome to the Hunt! An Intro to Monster Hunter Rise on Xbox and PC - Xbox Wire.

• How to Watch the Xbox & Bethesda Developer_Direct on Wednesday.

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WWE 2K23 features several franchise advancements, including a unique new take on the 2K Showcase, the WWE 2K introduction of the fan-favorite WarGames, and expansions to several marquee game modes. In addition, fans can also look forward to a deep roster of WWE Superstars and Legends including Roman Reigns, “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and more. Incredibly realistic graphics, animations, camera angles and lighting, plus accessible controls and a new optional pinning mechanic will add to the highly immersive experience. WWE 2K23 Deluxe Edition and Icon Edition are scheduled for worldwide release on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 via Early Access, followed by the Standard Edition and Cross-Gen on Friday, March 17, 2023.

• Do Not Buy Forspoken Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Never Touch?" - AGC (nsfw video).
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• 7 Reasons Forspoken Might Be 2023's Worst Game - Eurogamer (video).
• Forspoken Review - GameSpot.
• Forspoken review - Find your fire - GAMING TREND.
• Forspoken Review: IGN.
• Forspoken review roundup paints damning picture for PS5 action-RPG - The Loadout.
• 'Forspoken' Review: A magical world without wonder - NPR.
• Forspoken review: open-world adventure that gets good at the very end - Polygon.
• 'Forspoken' Review: Game Shines in Its Combat and Traversal - Variety.
• Forspoken review: it’s better than its bad name implies - The Verge.
• Forspoken review: Already on borrowed time - VG247.
• Forspoken review: Surprises and delights, but they take a while - The Washington Post.
• Forspoken Review - Stylish Action and Movement Don't Entirely Salvage This Game's Potential - Wccftech.

Following the previous title, Arc System Works, known for its Guilty Gear franchise, and Cygames have teamed up to develop Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. This new game maintains the high-quality presentation that the Granblue Fantasy franchise is known for and the easy-to-play game system praised by both newcomers and fighting game veterans alike in the previous Granblue Fantasy Versus title. Additionally, the game will feature many new game elements, including all-new characters, mechanics, and modes.

Furthermore, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising will utilize long-awaited rollback netcode technology for an even smoother and more responsive online play experience. The game will also support crossplay between PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, and Steam®, allowing players to engage in battle and interact cross-platform with more players for a more united player community and dynamic gameplay.

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• NSFW Week with hot games up to -80%, BYOBs, Kinky Bundle, Lust Academy release and new Kagura Games titles! - GOG.com.*

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

• Mass Effect Writer Mac Walters Leaves BioWare After Nearly Two Decades.

• The Last of Us Part 1 sales jumped 238% after TV show launch. Thanks Neutronbeam.
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• Albion Online - Coming to Asia.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Mario VS Pac-Man - Bizarre Crossovers Vol. 1.
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• Game Changers - Laila Shabir, Girls Make Games - GamesIndustry.biz.

• God of War Ragnarök Ties Record with 24 NAVGTR Nominations.

• London Developer Conference slated for March 30.

• Forest Ranger Simulator - Game about saving the nature by FreeMind Games — Kickstarter. More PlayWay crowdfunding. "Save the forests and the planet. Sort trash, and feed animals. Watch nature. Its survival depends on you. You are the Forest Ranger. "

• Alleged Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 Specs Leak.
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• Why It’s So Hard to Sleep After Looking at Our Screens (may require registration or subscription).
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• Spotify cuts jobs in latest round of tech layoffs.
• Wikipedia Quietly Shapes How We View the World (may require registration or subscription). Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Chess bot Mittens has the snark and the game to leave you in shreds. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• India floats plan to make big tech pay for news.
• Microsoft Shuts Down Legendary VR Metaverse.

• Microsoft announces new investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
• Wolfspeed plans multi-billion dollar chip factory in Germany, Handelsblatt reports.
• The Nvidia RTX 4090 is smaller than ever, thanks to watercooling.
• AI-Generated PC Cases Could Give Human Designers Stiff Competition. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
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• Why Not Cover Ugly Parking Lots With Solar Panels (may require registration or subscription)? Solar freakin' roadways!
• Raspberry Pi Hacking Like Its 1995.
• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4.4 Release Notes. Thanks Console General.
• CrystalDiskInfo v8.17.4. Thanks DSLReports.
• Paint.NET version 5.0.1. Thanks DSLReports.

• Industrial espionage: How China sneaks out America's technology secrets. Besides "with ease."
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• ICE releases asylum seekers after exposing their data.
• B.C. school district investigating data breach affecting up to 19,000 people. Thanks DSLReports.
• Nunavut energy corporation targeted in cybersecurity attack. Thanks DSLReports.
• The No-Fly List Has Been Leaked, Pokemon Briefly Involved.

• Case Fan: SilverStone Shark Force 120 and 160 Series Review - APH Networks.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X - OCinside.
• CPU: Intel Core i3-13100 vs. AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - TechSpot.
• Game Controller: PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge review- Is this pro controller worth it- - Polygon.
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT review- a good GPU with an awkward price - PCGamesN.
• Keyboard: Asus ROG Azoth review- better than my custom gaming keyboard - Digital Trends. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Laptop: Apple 2023 MacBook Pro review- A refined second generation - Ars Technica.
• Mini PC: Apple M2 Pro Mac mini review- Apple’s Goldilocks desktop for semi-professionals - Ars Technica.
• Mini PC: ASRock DeskMeet B660 Review- An Affordable NUC Extreme? - AnandTech.
• Monitor: Yeyian ODRAZ 32- 4K Flat Gaming Monitor - Nikk Tech.
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 32GB Memory Kit Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• SSD: Acer Predator GM7 1TB SSD Review - High Speed Flash - TweakTown.
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 2230 SSD Review: Tiny Powerhouse - Tom's Hardware.

Fandom Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Links

• From Halo to The Simpsons, would fictional mad scientists pass ethical review? Thanks Slashdot.
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Story

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Science
Thanks Acleacius and Max.

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Media

• Pierce Brosnan vs Daniel Craig- James Bond Face Off.
• Slipped Trying To Make A Sandwich. Wait for it. Thanks VideoSift.

Follow-up

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The Funnies

• Battery drain - The Oatmeal. Introverts of the world... unite? Thanks RedEye9.