A new Official Cinematic Trailer shows off Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the expansion for the cyberpunk RPG that's launching on September 26th. But before then players can expect the version 2.0 update for the game to arrive on September 21st, and this trailer is here with a look at what to expect from that. This post on the official website has details on a livestream to celebrate the launch. This post discusses how the new version will change perks and skill trees, offering a Build Planner, since word is players will be given a one-time free respec to adapt to the changes. Here's more:

With Update 2.0, we have completely redesigned the perks and skill trees to give you the freedom and flexibility to become the cyberpunk that you truly want to be. With a range of brand-new abilities that open up unique approaches to combat, stealth, hacking, and more, you’ll be able to take down your foes in exciting, creative ways that they won’t ever see coming!

Our vision for this new system was to have fewer, but way more impactful, perks for players to choose from. Instead of getting multiple low percentage increases to your damage, you will now get many opportunities to unlock completely different abilities that modify the way you play.

Continue here to read the full story.

Diablo IV and Diablo Immortal have grabbed a lot of the attention of the series, but Diablo III continues to roll along as well. Blizzard announces season 29 is now underway in Diablo III, brining Visions of Enmity to the action/RPG. Here's word, including a look ahead at what to expect (and what not to expect) from Season 30 when it follows:

Valiant Nephalem have hack-and-slashed hordes through Seasons introducing gameplay-alerting themes, experience-defining quality-of-life updates, and hellastic events for the last 11 years. Diablo III will continue to burn bright in Season 29 and beyond—this Season sets the bedrock for the game’s future and introduces our final brand-new theme.

Season 30 will bring fresh gameplay balances and bug fixes to reinvigorate your adventures but introduce no new theme. Instead, this Season will usher in the permanent return of a community-favorite theme, Rites of Sanctuary, which will be playable across all modes. Following Season 30, iconic themes and features from Seasons past will be reintroduced roughly every 3 months, ensuring there will never be a shortage of twisted obstacles to overcome and demonic blood to spill.

An announcement on Steam from NEOWIZ discusses next week's launch of Lies of P. This alerts those interesting in playing the Pinocchio-inspired action/RPG to the proper graphic drivers. Word is: "A new graphic driver that has been specifically tuned for Lies of P has been released. We highly recommend users update their graphic drivers to the latest version for the most optimal gameplay experience." These are the GeForce drivers for NVIDIA graphics released this week and new Adrenalin Edition version 23.20.11.01 drivers to play the soulslike on AMD hardware. Here's word on the Radeon drivers:

New Feature Highlights

• New Game Support
  • Lies of P™

Known Issues

• Performance Metrics Overlay may report N/A for FPS on various games.
• Audio may intermittently become out of sync with video when recording from AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition with AV1 codec.

Important Notes

• Factory Reset has been temporarily disabled as a precautionary measure while we address isolated installation issues that have been reported during PC upgrades. Users may use AMD Cleanup Utility as a temporary option.

EA SPORTS announces how EA Play subscribers will be able to check out a 10-hour trial of EA SPORTS FC 24 starting on September 22nd, a week ahead of the official kickoff of the new association football/soccer series. Word is:

With early EA Sports FC 24 access, members will experience the ground-breaking realism delivered by HyperMotion V (on Xbox Series X|S), resulting in true-to-football movement and animations. The enhanced Frostbite Engine introduces lifelike detail, reinventing how 19,000+ fully licensed players move, play, and look in every match. In addition, EA Sports FC 24 features over 700 teams and 30 leagues, including the UEFA Men’s and Women’s Champions League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, Premier League, Barclays Women’s Super League, LaLiga EA Sports, Bundesliga, D1 Arkema, NWSL, and many more.

Starting September 22, EA Play members will also be able to score member-only member rewards while perfecting their free kicks. A special Welcome Pack – including Ultimate Team Draft Tokens, as well as the EA Play Football Revolution and Press Start to EA Play kits – will be available on the same day that early access begins.

Go go gadget game! Inspector Gadget - MAD Time Party is now available for PC and consoles. The Windows edition of the cartoon tie-in action/adventure is said to be available on the Epic Games Store, GOG.com,* and Steam, but we've given up waiting on the Epic release, which still says "coming soon." Here's the Launch Trailer, and here are some M.A.D. details:

Metro City has fallen into the hands of the evil Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. agents. To save the city, Inspector Gadget must travel into the past using a time machine. Unfortunately, it breaks down and his ancestors find themselves teleported to the present.

Your mission: Explore Metro City and compete with your ancestors to collect the time machine's missing parts. You will need to complete mini-games to unlock the bolts needed to repair the machine. Play against three Gadget's ancestors to earn the bolts.

Visit iconic places from the famous original series, meet characters such as Chef Quimby, Penny, and the M.A.D. agents, and use the inspector's various gadgets to fight back against the M.A.D. forces.

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item. Continue here to read the full story.

• Far Cry Franchise Sale on Steam.

• Unity's self-combustion engine - This Week in Business - GamesIndustry.biz. Recaps a busy week for the newly enshittified game engine.

• Nexus Mods Is Happy To Remove Bigoted Starfield ‘Pronoun’ Mod.

Official patch.

• World of Warcraft Hotfixes: September 15, 2023.

• Dead and Buried 2 is getting buried. Thanks Aidan.

• NetherRealm starts “looking into” missing Mortal Kombat 1 feature.

• Game Overview Trailer - Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Crowd Control - Diablo 4 [Ep 8] - Carbot.

• Why Doom creator John Romero says video games are 'the greatest art form' - CBC Radio.

• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Beta (2309.230914-2200).
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Skip-Ahead (2408.230912-2000).

• Meta’s next Ray-Ban Stories may have just passed through the FCC.

• Musk’s X revokes paid blue check from United Auto Workers after strike called.

• Intel’s most expensive CPU can run without external RAM and yes, it can play Starfield. Thanks Max.
• China May Have Unmatched Supercomputer Abilities, Third Exascale Machine Apparently Online.
• Nvidia Sold 900 Tons of H100 GPUs Last Quarter, Says Analyst Firm.
• How to Play AAA Games on Your Raspberry Pi.
• StreamFab v6.1.4.3. Thanks Console General.

Thanks DSLReports and Ant.

• Two Vegas casinos fell victim to cyberattacks, shattering the image of impenetrable casino security. Thanks RedEye9.
• Lina Khan Got Stuck in the Fallout of the MGM Hack at Las Vegas.
• How Google Authenticator made one company’s network breach much, much worse.
• Crypto-gram- September 15, 2023 - Schneier on Security.
• Ransomware flingers hit Manchester cops in the supply chain.
• ORBCOMM ransomware attack causes trucking fleet management outage.
• Probe reveals secret Israeli spyware that infects via ads.

• Graphics Card: ASRock Radeon RX 7800 XT Phantom Gaming OC Review TweakTown.
• Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Review - TechPowerUp.
• Keyboard: Logitech G Pro X TKL LIGHTSPEED Gaming Keyboard - LanOC Reviews.
• Monitor: Monoprice 38035 Zero-G 35-inch Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor Review- Solid Gaming Performance For a Low Price - Tom's Hardware.
• Motherboard: ASRock Z790 Taichi Lite Motherboard - TweakTown.

Shanah tova to all who are celebrating, as Rosh Hashanah began at sundown last night. This celebrates the new year on the Jewish calendar. According to that, it is now 5784, though I'm sure it will still be a couple of weeks before I stop writing 5783 on my checks. Happy new year!

Traditional Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Story

• Oregon launches legal psilocybin, known as "magic mushrooms" access to the public.

Science

• NASA to Reveal Asteroid Sample Grabbed in Space, Delivered to Earth.
• Does firefighting gear cause cancer? Evidence mounts. Thanks Max.

Image

• Stunning image of Andromeda galaxy takes space photography prize of 2023.

Media

• The Crazy VW Beetles That Conquered Antarctica. Thanks The Flying Penguin.
• Marriage. Thanks VideoSift.
• Turning Water into Rock with Hydraulic Press. "It sounds pretty stupid, but I have a solid plan." Thanks RedEye9.

Follow-ups

• NASA clears the air: No evidence that UFOs are aliens.
• Hurricane Lee on path for New England and Canada becomes a post tropical cyclone expected to produce "hurricane-force" winds.

A post on Steam outlines the launch schedule for PAYDAY 3, showing the co-op heist shooter will arrive on September 21st at 11:00 am EDT. This is a simultaneous worldwide launch, and there's a map showing the local time in various cities. Three days of Early Access are included with the Silver and Gold editions, and the map reflects this as well. Speaking of the game's release, a separate post has announcement that PAYDAY 3 is dropping Denuvo DRM, which is a pretty unusual step to take before a game is even released. Word is:

We want to inform you that Denuvo is no longer in PAYDAY 3.

We look forward to seeing you in New York City!

Happy heisting!

Team6 Game Studios and GameMill Entertainment announce NASCAR Arcade Rush has rolled out for PC and consoles, offering the chance to experience its titular arcade racing. The Windows edition is available on Steam, carrying a 20% launch discount for the next week, and there's also a Project-X Edition with extra content. Here's the Official Launch Trailer and here's word:

Experience the thrill of NASCAR racing in a completely new way with intense arcade races on real-world NASCAR tracks, totally reengineered with jaw-dropping twists, hair-raising turns, gravity-defying jumps, nitro boosts and other surprises. Customize your car and driver as you compete to take the top position across a variety of game modes, including the Career NASCAR Cup Series plus online and local multiplayer.

Continue here to read the full story.

Tintinimaginatio and Microids announce November 7th is the release date for Tintin Reporter - The Cigars of the Pharaoh, the upcoming adventure based on the Belgian comic book series. The game will launch at that time for Windows, PlayStation, and Xbox, but the Switch version won't arrive until next year. The Trailer accompanying the news was previously released, so you may have seen it already. Here are the details:

In the game Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh, the famous reporter and his faithful companion Snowy are going to experience some extraordinary adventures…After meeting Professor Sarcophagus whilst cruising the Mediterranean Sea, the famous reporter sets out in search of the tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh. What are the dark secrets hidden in the tomb? From Egypt to India, passing through Arabia, Tintin & Snowy will end up investigating a gigantic drug trafficking network throughout the East.

With all the facets of the Tintin universe and a story full of twists and turns that are part of Hergé's great creative legacy, Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh immerses the player in the heart of a mysterious Egypt and other lands of infinite beauty.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Valve employee reveals “stupid expensive” scrapped VR console plans.

• Save 40% on Hubris on Steam.
• Save 70% on Biped on Steam.
• Untold Tales of Adventure (pay what you want and help charity).*

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

• Ubisoft Montreal's mandatory return-to-office order reportedly leaves staff in "turmoil."

• Developers switch off Unity ads in Runtime Fee protest.

• G FUEL x Mortal Kombat 1 - Collector's Box - Tub & Shaker Cup.

Official trailers.

• Rainbow Six Siege- PleaseFix Presents R6Fix.
• Riders Republic- Riders Republic- Dev Diaries, Episode 4.
• Selling game items to cashiers in real life - Viva La Dirt League. Thanks Ant.

• Insomniac- If anything, it's got better since we were bought by PlayStation - GamesIndustry.biz.

• Diablo III Season 29 Visions of Enmity Preview.

• NHL 24 Official Presentation Trailer - Deep Dive Trailer.
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - Expanded Marvel's New York Trailer.

• Foxconn Reportedly Paying Huawei Workers More than iPhone Builders.

• AT&T Once Again Wants ‘Big Tech’ To Pay For Broadband Upgrades. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Musk’s X revokes paid blue check from United Auto Workers after strike called.

• Three Ways to Generate AI Art Using Intel Arc GPUs.

• Google throws California $93M to make tracking suit go away.

• The Titanfall 2 devs have quietly fixed the beloved FPS, and fans are convinced that it's the start of something bigger…

Last Link of the Day: Honda's suitcase-style microscooter is a brilliantly impractical way to commute. This would be so awesome if they could cut the weight enough to where it's practical to carry. We'll get to The Jetsons yet!

Piranha Games announces MechWarrior 5: Clans, a new standalone MechWarrior game coming to PC and consoles next year. This promises a different approach to the series: "MechWarrior 5: Clans, while retaining the MechWarrior 5 designation, represents a transformative step forward in the MechWarrior 5 franchise. MechWarrior 5: Clans linear campaign will be an evolution of gameplay and storytelling in the MechWarrior series, experienced from the perspective of Clan Smoke Jaguar in the pivotal conflict known as the Clan Invasion starting in the year 3050." A short Teaser Trailer teases the news with a brief cinematic, a logo, and some flames, concluding with logos for Steam, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox. Here's more:

MechWarrior 5: Clans features a captivating and intricately crafted story that immerses players in the conflicts of the Clan Invasion. The campaign takes place across a variety of planets through stunning, meticulously designed biomes where immersive realism is baked into every detail. Hand crafted maps and missions deliver engaging combat, both complex and chaotic, demanding thoughtful, strategic play. Tactical options abound with an all new cast of customizable Clan Mechs boasting sleek and powerful Clan technologies. MechWarrior 5: Clans explores a pivotal time in the MechWarrior universe brought on by the Clan Invasion and incredible technological advances in Mech warfare, reflected within the Clan Invasion time period.

Continue here to read the full story.

A free weekend is underway on Steam for Friends vs Friends, offering the chance to dive into the PvP combat in this deckbuilding first-person shooter. The game is also on sale for half-off, easing the way to keeping the game following the promotion. The news is accompanied by a new trailer showing off cinematics and cel shaded gameplay. Word is this includes the chance to experience new content:

New updates have also been added today to enhance the overall Friends vs Friends experience for all players. An improved matchmaking system adds grading to the post-match screen and gives players an overall ranking, displayed on their player portrait. New anti-cheat protections have also been implemented to detect potential exploits. On top of all this, the development team continues to deliver a variety of balance changes and fixes to the game based on community feedback to help ensure a fun and fair experience for everyone.

Friends vs Friends combines combat and deck-building with all the frenetic fun of an online PvP shooter. Your powers, weapons and debuffs are all played from your card deck, allowing you to become a titan, summon friendly turrets, steal health with vampire bullets, and more. Choose your character, create a custom deck of madcap weapons and abilities, and hop into fast-paced multiplayer mayhem with friends and friends you’ve yet to meet! Earn new cards, level them up, and unlock new characters with unique skills in chaotic 1v1 or 2v2 game modes.

Continue here to read the full story.

Early Access to REMEDIUM is now underway for Windows, and the twin-stick shooter is available on the Epic Games Store and Steam. This carries a 20% launch discount for the next week. The Early Access release is the first of three planned chapters, and the concluding two episodes will arrive next year along with console editions. Here's the Official Early Access Release Trailer with a look, and here's some remedial reading:

Decades after the horrific Grey Plague wiped out nearly all human life, turning unfortunate souls and delicate fauna into decaying, hungry beasts, little remains. The few remaining survivors desperately fortify their defenses while searching for a cure, but hope dwindles for one as when a mission outside the fortress walls results in the infection invading their veins. He must scour the devastated landscape in search of a cure or be cast from the encampment forever.

Slay abominable mutants in perishing biomes, ready to strike in deadly droves. Evade chimeras, gargoyles, golems, elementals, and more with skillful dodging maneuvers while tearing through them with powerful combinations of firearms and alchemical ammunition. As the infection grows stronger, make the most of its horrific symptoms by using them as battle advantages.

Continue here to read the full story.

Marvelous Inc. and XSEED Games announce an October 3rd release date for Silent Hope, celebrating the news with a playable demo for the action/RPG for Windows and Switch. The PC version is on Steam, and word is progress on the demo will carry over to the full game when it launches. Here's a recent Seven Heroes Trailer with a look, and here's word on this throwback experience:

Silent Hope harkens back to the glory days of isometric dungeon-crawlers, but with modern flourishes. Players will take the role of seven unlikely heroes, each with their own unique weapon, fighting style, and non-combat job, spending their days battling through enemies and collecting materials in The Abyss before returning to Base Camp to rest, improve their gear, and prepare for their next adventure into the depths. Each journey into The Abyss will be a fresh experience, with procedurally generated layouts ensuring no two adventures are the same, with greater dangers lurking the further the heroes dare to venture.

• Save Up to 50% on Dragonflight Through October 2 — World of Warcraft.

• Take-Two Interactive to Host Webcast of 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Official patch.

• Diablo IV HOTFIX - September 14, 2023 - 1.1.4.

• Soul Covenant - Official Teaser Trailer.

• Here's how to fix the stuttering issues in Mortal Kombat 1 on PC.

• Diablo II: Resurrected Ladder Season 5 Coming Soon. Thanks Rhialto.

• Return From Core- Exploring the Mysterious Inner Earth by 2PGames — Kickstarter. "Return from Core is a survival sandbox adventure game that throws you into the Inner Earth, a vast underground world within a world. Long ago, humankind fled to the underground to survive the catastrophe that destroyed all civilization as they knew it, but that was only the beginning of their struggle. There, they established their first base and built the Core, but the Inner Earth is unforgiving, and life is not easy."

Thanks Slashdot and Ant.

• Google expands its iFixit partnership by offering parts for Pixel Tablet repairs.
• Google extends automatic updates for Chromebooks.
• FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023.
• The Galaxy S24 Ultra Could Mark the End of 10x Optical Zoom as Samsung Has Allegedly Removed it From The Device.

• The US Senate wants answers over Starlink's Ukrainian satellite internet denial.
• GoDaddy told to consider sale option if turnaround is no go. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Threads now lets you quote posts on the web.

Thanks Console General.

• Starfield Runs Better on AMD GPUs Thanks to Architectural Advantages, New in-Depth Analysis Suggests.
• ICARUS Available Now With DLSS 3, Ad Infinitum & Mortal Kombat 1 Launching With DLSS 2.
• GPU Manufacturers Slash GeForce RTX 4070 Price to $549.
• Windows Photos gets background blur, search, motion photo support, and other enhancements.
• New updates for Snipping Tool and Phone Link begin rolling out to Windows Insiders.
• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Win+L is the most cursed Windows 11 shortcut combo.

Thanks DSLReports and Ant.

• US-Canada water commission confirms 'cybersecurity incident.'
• Auckland transport authority hit by suspected ransomware attack.
• Only 14 percent get back all their data after a ransomware attack.

• TikTok fined €345m over children's data privacy.

• Another batch of Toaplan SHMUP awesomeness on PC! - Slap Fight, Flying Shark, Hellfire, Fire Shark - Retro Ramble (video).
• The Crew Motorfest Review - IGN.
• The Crew Motorfest Review- Fun And Frustrating - Kotaku.
• Star Wars Jedi- Survivor- FSR 2.2 vs. DLSS 2 vs. DLSS 3 Comparison Review - TechPowerUp.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• CPU/AIO Cooler: MSI MAG CoreLiquid E360 AIO Review- Impressively Cool and Quiet - Tom's Hardware.
• Laptop: MSI Stealth 14 Studio (2023) Review - IGN.
• Mini PC: Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 Mini-PC (Intel i5-13500H) Review - TechPowerUp.
• Mouse: Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed Review- Feels Lighter - Tom's Hardware.
• PC: Falcon Northwest FragBox 2023 Review - Can You Handle It? - PC Perspective (video).
• Printer: UniFormation GKtwo 3D Printer Review- Crank up the Heat - Tom's Hardware.
• RAM: TeamGroup T-Force Deltaα DDR5-6000 C38 2x16GB Review- Deceiving Looks - Tom's Hardware.
• SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 2TB (Heatsink Version) Review - APH Networks.
• SSD: Crucial T700 Pro Series 4TB Gen5 M.2 SSD - Nikk Tech.

I got a warning from the power company this morning about the possibility of outages after Hurricane Lee makes landfall this evening. But the report on the storm's path indicates this isn't passing very close to us. Hopefully that's correct, and the warning was just out of an abundance of caution. While I'm hoping, I'll add my wishes that this misses the coast entirely, as nobody needs any part of such a storm. As I say, it doesn't seem like we're very likely to lose power here, but I expect I'll be able to at least post a note about it here if we do. Meanwhile, please stay safe.

Windy Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link
Thanks Acleacius.

• Maybelle Blair receives inaugural Amazin’ Mets Foundation Legacy Award.
• Alan Moore, interview- I'm giving my screen royalties away.

Stories
Thanks RedEye9.

• Superyacht Season: Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, and Koru Win the Summer.
• Magic mushrooms- Thousands sign up for Oregon's psilocybin experiment.
• Mason Lee Spent 5 Years Training to Play Bruce Lee in Upcoming Biopic.

Science

• ESA - Mini space thruster that runs on water.
• Gut bacteria key to fighting colorectal cancer, study suggests. Thanks Acleacius.

Image

• Unprecedented spacecraft hack leads to never-before-seen views of the Sun. Thanks A.C.M.

Media

• "I'm Not Jealous" - Destination Perfect (Vol. 9) - Ozzy Man (NSFW).

Creature Features

• The bears woke up with the zoomies. Thanks RedEye9.

Follow-up

• $1B Fermilab project on hold after worker injured during fall. Thanks Acleacius.