Croteam and Devolver Digital announce the release date for The Talos Principle II, saying the puzzle adventure sequel will arrive on Windows and consoles on November 2nd. This follows through on the surprise announcement in May that it was coming this year. The game is now available for preorder on Steam. And while preorders may be a fool's errand, the news comes with a corollary lesson about the wisdom of patience, as the original game is on sale on Steam for 90% off. Here's a Release Date Trailer and more:

The Talos Principle II greatly expands on the beloved original with more mind-bending puzzles to solve, new puzzle mechanics, a richer storyline, more secrets to uncover, and the biggest, weirdest world Croteam has ever built.

Set in a distant future where humankind has long been extinct, human culture lives on through interminable robots made in our image. Embarking on a quest to investigate a mysterious megastructure, you will be confronted with questions about the nature of the cosmos, faith versus reason, and the fear of repeating humankind's mistakes.

Continue here to read the full story.

DON'T NOD announces a new release date for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, saying the action/RPG is now expected on February 13, 2024 (thanks Gematsu). This is a delay, as the game was previously expected on November 7th, and the new date is now reflected in its Steam Listing. The announcement is frank about the reasoning, saying this is to avoid a particularly crowded release window:

DON'T NOD, an independent video game publisher and development studio, and FOCUS Entertainment announce that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, originally scheduled for release on November 7, 2023, will now be released on February 13, 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Oskar Guilbert, CEO of DON'T NOD, and John Bert, Managing Director of FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT, jointly declare: “We have decided to postpone the release of this new franchise by three months, as the market is experiencing an intense release cycle for AAA titles on PC and consoles at the end of the year. We are convinced that a commercial release of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden during a less saturated period will give it the attention it deserves.”

PAYDAY 3 Xs a maintenance schedule for PAYDAY 3 as work continues to address the launch difficulties for the co-op shooter sequel. Here's an outline of scheduled outages as Starbreeze strives to eliminate the unscheduled kind:

Heisters. In order to improve server and matchmaking stability, we will make upgrades to the environment ahead of this weekend. In order to perform these upgrades the service will be offline between 8AM and 11AM CEST Tuesday and Friday. We appreciate your patience.

• Todd Howard Says Planet Exploration in Starfield Was Brutal Before Being 'Nerfed.'
• Starfield Paid DLSS Mod Creator Hits Back at Pirates, Threatens to Add 'Hidden Mines' in Future Mods.

• The Talos Principle Franchise Sale on Steam.
• Save 30% on Smushi Come Home on Steam.
• Fireshine Games Publisher Sale on Steam.

• Has Unity repaired the damage done by its Runtime Fee plans?
• Blizzard veteran Chris Metzen is Warcraft's new executive creative director.

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Red Dead Redemption 2 just got a huge HD overhaul, and it’s out now.

• Over 243,000 people attended Tokyo Game Show 2023.

• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Beta (2310.230921-2200).

• Resident Evil 4 Remake Will Cost $60 On iPhone. Blink. Blink.
• The World’s Game Is in Your Pocket With the Launch of EA SPORTS FC Mobile.
• YouTuber Shows How Instagram App is The Reason Why Your iPhone 15 Pro Models Are Overheating and Depleting Battery Health.

• Disinformation most active on X, formerly known as Twitter, EU says.
• Reddit to begin paying people for popular posts.
• Mozilla Thunderbird — Release Notes (115.3.0). Thanks Frans.
• Malwarebytes 4.6.3.282-1.0.2158. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• LibreOffice 7.6.2. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• US PC market showing signs of recovery despite 6% yearly decline.
• Corsair's Dominator Titanium Memory Now Available, Unveils Plans for Beyond 8000 MT/s.
• Even the CIA is developing an AI chatbot. Hi, it looks like you're trying to spy. Would you like some help?
• Windows 11 begins (very slowly) rolling out a slew of new features.
• Ryan Shrout announces departure from Intel.
• 15 incredibly useful Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts.
• PowerToys 0.74 brings Text Extractor 2.0, plus stability fixes to FancyZones, and more.

• GPUs from all major suppliers are vulnerable to new pixel-stealing attack.
• NFT marketplace OpenSea has been hacked, again. People breaking in to return NFTs?

• FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly.

Obituary: Hall of Fame 3B, Orioles legend Brooks Robinson dies at 86.
Obituary: Designer of U.S. Nutrition Facts label dead at 76.

SAG-AFTRA announces that its membership has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a video game strike authorization to empower its leadership as it enters another three days of negotiations over a new contract for video game work. Over a quarter of the union voted, and over 98% of the votes supported the authorization. The announcement helpfully clarifies that this is not a call for a strike. It is just the official authorization to do so if negotiations break down:

SAG-AFTRA members have voted 98.32% in favor of a strike authorization on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers members’ work on video games. 34,687 members cast ballots, representing a voting percentage of 27.47% of eligible voters.

The strike authorization does not mean the union is calling a strike. SAG-AFTRA has been in Interactive Media Agreement negotiations with signatory video game companies (Activision Productions Inc, Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Epic Games, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.) since October 2022. Throughout the negotiations, the companies have refused to offer acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members, including wages that keep up with inflation, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence, and basic safety precautions. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Sept. 26, 27 and 28, and we hope the added leverage of a successful strike authorization vote will compel the companies to make significant movement on critical issues where we are still far apart.

An X from CD PROJEKT RED Customer Service alerts Cyberpunk 2077 players on the Epic Games Store and Steam that mods are automatically disabled after last night's launch of the Phantom Liberty expansion. This was done proactively in case these mods need updates to prevent conflicts with changes in the game. In a twist, this can't be done for the version of the game sold on CD PROJEKT's own GOG, since the DRM-free version is playable without an external launcher. Here's word:

Attention all Steam and Epic players!

We wanted to let you know that mods will be automatically disabled for the launch of #PhantomLiberty. This is to prevent issues with the game that are caused by mods before they receive their update from the modding community. We want to make sure you have the best experience when playing the game.

Valve announces SteamVR 2.0 is in beta, offering enhanced support for the world of virtual reality, which is also still in beta. Word is the goal of the update is to bring current features from the more mainline side of Steam to your HMD:

Greetings! Today we are shipping SteamVR 2.0 in beta. We see this is as the first major step toward our goal of bringing all of what's new on the Steam platform into VR.

Users who opt into this beta will notice a new UI with lots of added features:

• Most of the current features of Steam and Steam Deck are now part of SteamVR
• Updated keyboard with support for new languages, emojis, and themes
• Integration of Steam Chat and Voice Chat
• Improved Store that puts new and popular VR releases front and center

Continue here to read the full story.

Defying its title, El Paso, Elsewhere is here, as this neo-noir third-person shooter is now available for Windows on Steam and for Xbox Series X|S. This is a throwback title, and the announcement comes with a new gameplay reveal trailer showing minimally textured environments, and a trench-coated, akimbo-armed, bullet-time protagonist who seems Paynefully familiar. Here's more:

Taking notes from one of the most iconic third-person shooters in gaming, Max Payne, El Paso Elsewhere applies modern technology and gameplay sensibilities to a stylized retro foundation. The game features a complex narrative exploring loss, grief, relationship abuse, and addiction. Woven into the game’s dark aesthetics is a completely original hip-hop horror soundtrack featuring vocals from Xalavier Nelson Jr. himself. Pop pills to keep the pain away, dodge through the hordes while unloading your weapons with bullet-time mechanics and don’t stop running. Your life depends on it.

Hunt the monsters protecting your ex, Draculae, the lord of the vampires, who now seeks to perform a ritual that will end the world as we know it and place it under her reign. Armed with shotguns, pistols, uzis, stakes and more, the only choice players have is to keep moving forward, one slow-motion dive after another, to preserve reality itself.

Continue here to read the full story.

Activision and FromSoftware announce a major sales milestone for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, saying the third-person action adventure has sold a whopping 10 million copies across all platforms since its launch in 2019:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the 2019 Game of the Year winner from renowned developers at FromSoftware and published by Activision, has officially reached the 10M sell-through mark! The third-person action-adventure directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki launched in March of 2019 to rave reviews and has delighted millions of players around the world. Josh Taub, Activision’s Chief Operating Officer shared, “It has been an honor to partner with FromSoftware for all of these years, and we highly value our shared passion to create incredible worlds that engage our players.”

Continue here to read the full story.

DSOGaming has the English version of comments from a FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS video presentation revealing plans to bring the game to PC via Steam. There is no suggestion of when this will happen. Here's the translation: "We are actively developing the Steam version so that you can enjoy Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis on PC. You will also be able to share the data you play on the mobile version with the Steam version." You can check out the official website for more on this mobile-first game. Here's a bit:

Immerse yourself in beautifully rendered Active Time Battles tailored for mobile devices. In addition to familiar abilities, materia, summons, and limit breaks from FFVII, battles also include features unique to FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS—such as Command Stance and Limit Combo—that add a new dimension to the experience. Additional support features such as Auto Mode and Accelerated Mode make battles even more accessible.

Continue here to read the full story.

Trianga's Project: Battle Splash 2.0 is now available on Steam, offering an arena first-person shooter where combatants are armed with water guns. But these aren't your grandkids toys, as seen in the Release Gameplay Trailer, your arsenal includes high-powered sniper rifles, rapid-fire machineguns, and more. There's a playable demo where you can get your feet wet without getting soaked for $0.99. There's also a Release Trailer with an overview. Here's more:

The game is designed to be as Easy to Play as possible, while still keeps the best features of Classic Arena Shooter and Class-based Shooter. Battle Splash's gameplay heavily relies on Water Splash Mechanic, which changes the shape of the Splash Explosion depending on the surrounding area. In addition, the game is fully Physics-based, leading to Ballistic Bullets, Bouncing Balloons and lots of Physics features, thus feel free to perform some "Redefined" old tricks from Arena Shooter such as Bullet Dodging, Rocket Jump or Balloons Hop.

Continue here to read the full story.

• ‘I won’t disappoint you’- Kamiya thanks fans for support after quitting Platinum.
• Capcom’s president thinks its games should cost more. He should complain to the guy in charge.

• Welcome to the Melbourne International Games Week 2023 Steam Festival.

• Idris Elba- Actors in video games like Phantom Liberty is 'sign of the times.'

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Disk Cache Enabler Mod released for Skyrim, Fallout 4 & Starfield.

• Resident Evil 4 VR Mode – PlayStation VR2 hands-on report.

• CD Projekt apologizes for anti-Russian dialogue and images in Ukrainian version of Cyberpunk 2077, says it was added without permission.

Official trailer.

• Flyin' De Palma discussed The Godfeather.

• Truck Driver: The American Dream - Launch Trailer.
• Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission - Launch Trailer.

• LG is getting in on the flexible-screen laptop game with the Gram Fold.
• Samsung may be planning to move up the Galaxy S24 series launch.
• Xiaomi dives headfirst into Wear OS with the Watch 2 Pro.
• This New Autonomous Drone for Cops Can Track You In the Dark (may require registration or subscription).

Thanks Frans.

• Elon Musk's Starlink Satellite Internet Service Added 1M Users In Last 9 Months, Hits This Key Milestone. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Return to Office Mandates Are Making Remote Jobs Impossible to Find. Thanks Matthew.
• Mozilla Firefox 118.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes.
• Mozilla Firefox ESR 115.3.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes.
• Google Podcasts to shut down in 2024 with listeners migrated to YouTube Music.
• YouTube's ad-free Premium Lite tier is going away.
• Amazon says you might have to pay for Alexa’s AI features in the future. Cue spit takes.

Thanks Max.

• Newegg Introduces Graphics Card Trade-In Program.
• Modular LPDDR Memory Becomes A Reality- Samsung Introduces LPCAMM Memory Modules.
• Nvidia's Blackwell B100 GPU to Hit the Market with 3nm Tech in 2024: Report.
• China Gears Up for Chip Dumping, Ex-DoC Official Says.
• MSI launches Ventus Essential series, new RTX 4090 has dual HDMI & DisplayPort config.
• How to Actually Clean Install Windows 11 (may require registration or subscription). Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Computer Science Is No Longer the Safe Major (may require registration or subscription). Thanks Matthew.
• Signal’s Meredith Whittaker- AI is fundamentally ‘a surveillance technology.’

• Space Force chief says commercial satellites may need defending.
• BORN Ontario child registry data breach affects 3.4 million people. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.

• FCC Aims to Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules as US Democrats Gain Control of Panel (may require registration or subscription). Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Australia sets new classification standards for video games with gambling and loot boxes.
• Fan Sues Over KotOR 2's Canceled DLC On Switch.
• Hunter Biden sues Rudy Giuliani and his former attorney, alleging they tried to hack his devices.

• Case: Montech Air 903 MAX Mid-Tower Case - TweakTown.
• CPU/GPU/AIO Cooler: Watercool Heatkiller V Pro RTX 4090 Strix-TUF GPU Block Review - TechPowerUp.
• Graphics Card: ASRock Radeon RX 7800 XT Steel Legend Review - TechPowerUp.
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte RX 7600 Gaming OC 8G - LanOC Reviews.
• Laptop: HP Victus 16 Laptop Review- A 1080p gaming powerhouse with few compromises - NotebookCheck.net Reviews. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Monitor: LG UltraGear 27GR38Q-B review- A 240Hz monitor for the masses - PCWorld.
• SSD: Crucial X10 Pro Portable 2TB USB SSD - Guru3D.

• Cyberpunk 2077's Update 2.0 Includes a Tribute to Late Driving Legend Ken Block…

So I keep seeing these ads for new and improved wallets, especially endorsements from "influencers." These all promise a more compact footprint, protection from RF scanning, and an added degree of sturdiness, since they are all hard little metal boxes. Now maybe this is just me being old-fashioned (it wouldn't be the first time), but I carry my wallet in my back pocket, just like they recommend you don't. It already has RF shielding and just enough bulk that I know it's there. And despite its lack of rigidity and me sitting on it all the time, I've never managed to damage its contents. So yeah, this feels like a solution looking for a problem. I need a wallet has hard as a cell phone like I need a hole in the head. What I want is a phone as soft as a wallet.

Stiff Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Links

• Martin Scorsese: “I Have To Find Out Who The Hell I Am.”
• Chevy Chase Slams Community: 'Not Funny Enough' or 'Hard-Hitting.'

Stories

• When Scripted Series Return As Writers Guild Deal Saves Broadcast TV Season.
• Why many business owners don't like it when you use your credit card. Many around us offer cash discounts. Thanks RedEye9.

Science

• Exploring the mind-mitochondria connection. Thanks Max.
• Why Einstein must be wrong: In search of the theory of gravity. Thanks Acleacius.

Media

• The different types of rollerbladers. I was a proud #3.

Creature Features

• New cat is supposed to chase a mouse away, but instead he finds a tiny best friend.