Looking for a free game today is a recipe for disaster, as Recipe for Disaster is the new weekly giveaway on the Epic Games Store, offering a Windows game to speak to your inner Chef Slowik. This management simulation is yours to keep as long as you claim it before next Thursday. That's when Warpips will take its place as the store's next free game. Here's what this week's freebie has cooked up for us:

Recipe for Disaster is a management game that challenges you to create and run a highly successful restaurant. Whether turning around the fortunes of failing establishments in pre-set scenarios, or bringing your own vision to life in freeplay mode, you’ll be carefully designing restaurants, hiring and managing the right staff, customizing food menus, and experimenting with ingredients to invent tasty new dishes that will impress your customers. Sounds idyllic, right? Wrong.

A free weekend for Two Point Campus is underway on Steam, offering the chance to try this Windows, macOS, and Linux education simulation for free for the next few days. This gives everyone the chance to check out the Valentine's Update 4.0 that just went live to bring a little romance (and a new Challenge Mode) to the game. Here's a Valentine's Day Update Trailer, and here's a quick lesson on the game:

It’s time to spin academia on its head! Got a yearning for learning? Or just keen to build an educational masterpiece? Campus is jam-packed with new creative tools to help you build the university of your dreams.

For the first time, build in the great outdoors as you develop your own delightfully educational campus environment, housing the top teaching facilities in the land. Whether you prefer building on simple foundations, or placing every tree, you can build the university you want.

Lay down pathways with new easy-to-use tools. Plant glorious collections of outdoor flora. Place benches, fountains, sculptures, hedgerows – even picket fences. The only limit is your imagination (and your in-game bank balance).

Continue here to read the full story.

Square Enix announces a playable Windows Prologue Demo for OCTOPATH TRAVELER II is now available on Steam. This sample of the RPG sequel is timely, as the full game is expected to travel out in two weeks. Not only that, but progress from the Prologue Demo will carry over for those who choose to carry on with the release version. Here's an explanation:

The OCTOPATH TRAVELER II Prologue Demo with save data transfer to the full version of the game is now available!

While the story can only be progressed up to the early stages of the game, you can choose to play all eight protagonists just like in the full version, as well as decide where to go and what to do within the 3 hours and preliminary areas of the game.

Choose to make new friends, challenge powerful enemies in dungeons, or simply admire the scenery.
Embark on an adventure all your own.

A post to the Team Fortress 2 Blog announces this year's Team Fortress 2 summer event will include a "full-on update-sized update." This includes a call for submissions from those who would like to include their Workshop creations in the patch:

The last few Team Fortress summer events have only been item updates. But this year, we're planning on shipping a full-on update-sized update — with items, maps, taunts, unusual effects, war paints and who knows what else?! Which means we need Steam Workshop content! YOUR Steam Workshop content!

So get to work! (Or back to work, if you were already working but got distracted when the entire internet simultaneously found out about this state-of-the-art blog-post.) Make sure to get your submissions into the Steam Workshop by May 1st, so they can be considered for this as-yet-unnamed, un-themed, but still very exciting summer-situated (but not summer-themed) (unless you wanted to develop summer-themed stuff) update.

• Save 25% on Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon on Steam.
• SNK Publisher Weekend 2023 on Steam - UP TO 80%.
• Save 20% on Dinkum on Steam.
• Save 70% on Death and Taxes on Steam.
• Music Producer 2023- Plugins & Software Essentials (pay what you want and help charity).*

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

• Analysts see CMA objection to Activision Blizzard acquisition as a sign deal will go through.
• Bobby Kotick accuses Sony of ‘trying to sabotage’ Microsoft’s Activision takeover.
• Krafton sees full-year sales, profit dip.
• Nexon Releases Earnings for Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2022.
• The Walt Disney Company Announces Strategic Restructuring, Restoring Accountability to Creative Businesses.
• Corsair Gaming Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results.

• Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Mythic Update.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic - Game Update 7.2.1 is coming to the Public Test Server.
• Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Notes- Version 1.0.6.0q.
• Vampire Survivors - Patch 1.3.0.

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

• Dark Souls 3 gets a 24GB 4K Texture Pack, aiming to overhaul all textures.

• Xbox Game Pass "Cannibalizes" Game Sales Admits Microsoft in CMA Documents.

• For Honor- Content of the Week - 9 February.
• For Honor: Afeera Hero Gameplay Showcase.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• When the epic cutscene doesn't match the game play #shorts - Viva La Dirt League. Thanks Ant.

• Game Changers - Ladell Smith, Auroch Digital - GamesIndustry.biz.

• Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Season 02 Tactical Overview — Call of Duty- Modern Warfare II.

• Diplomacy is Not an Option - A Year in the Early Access.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Dome Map Intel.

• Free Play Days – Scarlet Nexus, TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2, and The Ascent.
• Xbox Celebrates Super Bowl LVII with a Week Full of Activities, Community Engagement, and Fun.
• PS5 Creators: How Hogwarts Legacy harnesses PS5’s power.
• PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe punches in on PlayStation this year.

• Epic’s new clips app, Postparty, helps you easily share your Fortnite moments.
• Framework - Now offering 2TB SSDs for Steam Deck in the Framework Marketplace.
• Arm-Based Laptops Gaining Share Despite PC Market Weakness: Report.
• Here is a List of Eligible Samsung Phones That will Get Android 14.

• The Chatbot Search Wars Have Begun (may require registration or subscription).
• Elon Musk’s reach on Twitter is dropping — he just fired a top engineer over it.
• Twitter is making millions of dollars from previously banned accounts, report says.
• Meta restores Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Thanks Console General.

• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.1255 and 22623.1255.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25295.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Delta (2302.230207-2200).
• Update to Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 11 (February 2023).
• Visual Studio Code v1.75.1.
• StreamFab v6.1.0.6.
• Start11 version 1.39.
• Plex for Windows v1.30.2.6563.

• Valve waited 15 months to patch high-severity flaw. A hacker pounced.
• Windows 11 Sends Tremendous Amount of User Data to Third Parties, YouTuber Claims.
• This is now the best encryption method for IoT devices, experts claim.
• 1Password does away with passwords, shifts to passkeys.
• Watchdog warns monitoring not keeping up with surveillance tech.

• ‘Disrespectful to the Craft-’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• U.S., U.K. Sanction 7 Men Tied to Trickbot Hacking Group.
• Seven Russians sanctioned over ransomware cyber-crime.

Last Link of the Day: Paint - Teaser Trailer Ft. Owen Wilson.

Stunlock Studios announces the first major content update for V Rising is a free expansion coming to the vampire survival game in May. A new Dev Update #17 reveals the content this will bring alongside an overhaul to the game's magic progression system. Here's word:

This update will primarily be about strengthening our foundations with new ways to live out the Vampire fantasy. To us, this means enhancing the way you already play by giving you more of what you already love, but it also means adding more layers of depth and complexity to the world to masterfully tie things together. We’re taking this time to build the game out and prepare it for a satisfying endgame, where we can build up to an apex moment that lets you fully realize your potential.

That journey should be dense with memorable and diverse experiences. By creating new layers of enrichment, like Multiple Floors and Jewels, we’ll be able to build a game that creates more of those moments. The Free Expansion will let you build bigger and better lairs with more control than ever, wield new weapons and magic, explore new areas, and encounter new bosses and factions. Vardoran will get grander, darker, and deeper.

Indie German developer Envision Entertainment announces Pioneers of Pagonia, a new city building game coming to PC via Early Access on Steam by the end of this year. This is the brainchild of Volker Wertich, the original creator of the Settlers series. The Announcement Teaser Trailer takes a look at the game, and the announcement lays out what to expect:

Pioneers of Pagonia is the ultimate simulation title, a return to classic city-building gameplay where players will discover and explore the fabled islands of Pagonia and forge alliances with its many inhabitants. With over 40 different building types and over 70 different goods and dispersed production chains available in Early Access, players can get creative in building their own unique economy. Watch your economy come to life through stunning animations for all goods transports, production processes, and discoveries of the population. And thanks to the procedurally generated maps, countless variations are possible for a unique game experience every time.

Exploration of the islands also plays a significant role in Pioneers of Pagonia; you can discover lost treasures, underground resources, fertile lands, and hidden places. Although you’ll have to be careful, as not all inhabitants of these beautiful islands are peaceful. A co-op mode is also being planned, so players can explore and develop the islands of Pagonia together.

Continue here to read the full story.

Sabotage Studio announces August 29th is the official launch date for Sea of Stars, its not-actually-science-fiction turn-based RPG. The game is coming to PC via Steam and Switch. A playable demo for the Switch edition is now available, while a PC demo is promised before the end of the year. There will be a livestream on Twitch tomorrow at 4:00 pm EST to show off the demo. Here's a bit on the game:

Promising the Sabotage touch in every system, Sea of Stars aims to modernize the classic RPG in terms of turn-based combat, storytelling, exploration and interactions with the environment, while still offering a hearty slice of nostalgia and good old, simple fun.

Pressing the action button in sync with the animations increases damage output while reducing incoming damage. Along with timed hits, combat features multi-character combo attacks, boosting, and a strategic "locks" system offering options to play with different damage types in order to hinder enemies while they are channeling powerful attacks or spells, all in an immersive take on the genre; no random encounters, no transitions to separate battlefields, and no grinding.

Burst2Flame Entertainment now offers a new version 0.21 World Map Update for Stolen Realm on Steam. This is a next step towards the official release of the turn-based RPG, which the developer now announces will come during Q2 of this year. A new Stolen Realm World Map Update Trailer features a discussion of what's new. Here's a summary of what's happening:

Burst2Flame are pleased to announce that their simultaneous turn-based tactical RPG, Stolen Realm, will be exiting its Early Access phase and releasing on PC, Xbox and Switch in Q2 2023. The studio today also released the new World Map Update, removing the transition between the map and battles and introducing three brand new areas to the game, along with a host of other additions and improvements.

Praised by the likes of Shroud and Sacriel for the flexibility of its class customisation and a design that avoids RPG bloat, Stolen Realm takes the deep tactical systems of RPGs like Divinity: Original Sin and gives it a unique twist. Simultaneous turns allows all members of the player and enemy team to take their actions at once, creating the kinds of fast-paced encounters you’d typically find in action RPGs, without sacrificing the strategic richness that turn-based RPG fans love.

Continue here to read the full story.

• RESIDENT EVIL: DEATH ISLAND - Official Teaser Trailer.
• 'Blizzard On Midgard' Teased By Sony For Super Bowl LVII, Urges Fans To Keep Their Eyes Peeled During The Big Game. Finally a reason to tune in.
• New Diablo cookbook lets you make IRL health potions.

Official patch.

• World of Warcraft Hotfixes: February 8, 2023.

• Play Games With Friends Remotely With Ubisoft Connect’s Share Play Program Today.
• GFN Thursday: ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ on GeForce NOW.
• Google Stadia barely made a dent in the cloud gaming market.

Official trailer.

• Blood Bowl 3 - This is Blood Bowl.

• How Resident Evil 4’s Directors Approached Designing The Remake - Game Informer.

• What Creepy Video Game Sounds Do to Your Brain (may require registration or subscription). Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Gayming Awards 2023: Industry Diversity Awards nominees.

• Sony Confirms More Than 100 PSVR 2 Games Are Currently In Development.
• Konami is selling its latest baseball game for $1 to try and reach a global audience.

• Understanding The Power, Performance & Efficiency Of GeForce RTX 40 Series Laptops.
• Visible will now pay for your phone service if you lose your job. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• 240W fast charging will charge this smartphone fully in under 10 minutes.

• Amazon secures key FCC approval to deploy its Project Kuiper broadband satellites.
• Comcast gave false map data to FCC—and didn’t admit it until Ars got involved.
• Ukraine war: Elon Musk's SpaceX firm bars Kyiv from using Starlink tech for drone control.
• Twitter becomes pay to play as its API will now cost $100 for developers.
• Twitter now has daily limits on how much you can tweet.
• Want to Delete Your Twitter DMs? Good Luck With That (may require registration or subscription).

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Why Taiwan dominates the semiconductor industry, as US and China's tech war heats up (video).
• Silicon wafers are getting cheaper but CPUs and GPUs may not follow.
• Asus' ROG X670E-I Has a Chipset on a PCIe Stick.
• These 5 technologies will change the world by 2050 (video).
• Time to Get Lit With ROCCAT’S Stunning Magma Mini 60% RGB Gaming Keyboard – Available Now. Get lit? That copy is so on fleek.
• Opera is looking to integrate ChatGPT into its products.
• Microsoft formally announces death of MSDT in Windows 11 Moment update, Windows 12, beyond.
• Your Tech Stuff Is Getting Slightly More Repairable (may require registration or subscription).

• Microsoft confirms Windows 11 and 10 Patch Tuesday broke DirectX apps on Intel hardware.
• Australia to remove Chinese surveillance cameras amid security fears. Thanks brother19.
• There's been a big rise in phishing attacks. This one worked.
• Ransomware has hit 3,800 servers, but CISA says this tool might help.
• Tiny IoT devices are getting their own special encryption algorithms.
• Cryptocurrency’s Myth of Anonymity (may require registration or subscription).

• Destiny 2 cheat maker must pay $12m damages, says Bungie.

• Dead Space Remake PC: a premium port marred by intrusive stutter - Eurogamer.net.
• Dead Space Remake PC - DF Tech Review - The #StutterStruggle Continues (video).
• AMD Radeon RX7900XTX can be up to 40fps faster than the NVIDIA RTX4090 in Hogwarts Legacy - DSOGaming.
• Hogwarts Legacy Benchmark Test & Performance Analysis Review - VRAM Usage Record - TechPowerUp.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Gaming Desk: SecretLab Magnus Pro review- -The complete gaming desk, and a truly brilliant standing desk- - GamesRadar+.
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti review- the first RTX 40 series GPU worth buying - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Laptop: Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 (2023) review- RTX 4090 is the real deal - Laptop Mag.
• Laptop: Next-gen RTX 4090 laptops tested- Proof you really can't have it all - PC Gamer.
• Mini PC: Beelink SER6 (Ryzen 9 6800H) mini PC review - Guru3D.
• Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790 Edge WiFi DDR4 - LanOC Reviews.
• Mouse: Corsair Katar Elite Wireless Review - TechPowerUp.
• PC: Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming PC Review - TweakTown.
• PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M - 850W ATX 3.0 PSU review - Guru3D.
• Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review- Photo and video take center stage - Engadget.
• Speakers/Soundbar: TRETTITRE TreSound1 Bluetooth Speaker Review - 360° Surround Sound - TechPowerUp.

I planned to conclude my auto accident recap today, but a question about how this all got paid for prompted an extra chapter. Here's Part One and here's Part Two.

Part Three: Insurance
I was told by my lawyer's paralegal that I should be happy I have Geico auto insurance, saying it and State Farm were the best companies to deal with after an accident. My experience did nothing to contradict that. All of my medical bills and rehab throughout were completely covered by my no-fault insurance (mandatory in New York). My car was deemed a total loss by the adjusters and I was paid off. The other driver was at fault, and he had to pay all my deductibles, and there was no need to fight about that since he was using Geico too. I don't know if the cost of my car was attributed to him as well, but that would just be on paper anyway.

All this happened right around when the chip shortage started making new and used cars hard to find. For that reason, the payoff on my totaled car was actually more than I paid for it! I had to wait until I was out of the splint to drive, and it took quite a while to locate a replacement. But by the end of the summer of my accident I was back on the road. Like many car shoppers at the time, I ended up with a "more expensive" car than planned because it was actually cheaper than the "less expensive" models I was looking at. Strange days indeed.

At the end of last year my case was remediated and I received a small pain-and-suffering payoff from his/my insurer. You know all those ambulance chaser commercials where people talk about the huge cash awards they got in injury cases? Well notice this: Those are actor portrayals of the actual victims. People who get those big settlements have lifelong injuries and are not usually able to stand outside the mall to brag about their millions for the camera. I'm told there are larger awards in some areas (the Bronx came up frequently), but the system is generally not as nuts as it sounds, and minor injuries get minor payouts. Therefore I'm actually extremely grateful I did not qualify for a big award. I didn't need surgery, and my lasting effects are minimal.

Tomorrow: Part Four: The Aftermath

Obituary: Burt Bacharach Dead: Grammy, Oscar-Winning Composer Was 94.

Insured Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link

• How to pronounce Nike, Nutella, Adidas, Bvlgari, Fjällräven and more. None of it is rocket surgery.

Stories

• New Zealand police find 3.5 tons of cocaine in Pacific Ocean. Move over Cocaine Bear, Cocaine Shark inbound.
• Peru reports hundreds of sea lion deaths due to bird flu. Thanks Acleacius.
• Woodpeckers stashed 700 pounds of acorns in the wall of a California home. Thanks RedEye9.

Science

• Desperate For a Dip in a Hot Tub- A Quick Sniff Might Change Your Mind. Not a fan of people soup.
• Tech Is Changing What it Means to Have Dominant Hand (may require registration or subscription). I was born fairly ambidextrous (equally uncoordinated in either hand).
• Astronomers puzzle over dwarf planet ring system. No one sure why a planet needs a doorbell camera.

Media

• Strays - Official Trailer.
• Perry Mason Season 2 - Official Trailer.
• "Star Wars" directed by Stanley Kubrick? Thanks RedEye9.

Creature Features

• Breathtaking Eagle POV Flying Over The Alps in 4K. Thanks VideoSift.

Follow-up

• Wood & Others Slam AMC's Sightline Plans.

The Funnies

• Savage Chickens.