This post on Steam announces August 15th is the release date for Intravenous 2, a tactical top-down shooter sequel from Explosive Squat Games and HypeTrain Digital (thanks Ant). To help the hype-train along, the first Intravenous is now available for free on Steam. The Windows action game is for keeps as long as you grab it by 1:00 pm EDT tomorrow. For some mix and match news, here's the Intravenous 2 Announcement Trailer along with the description for the first game, today's giveaway described as "a love letter" to early Splinter Cell games:

You just entered the warehouse through the vent shaft as you hear voices from outside. They know you’re here. Someone must have tipped them off.

You continue to stay in the shadows. You shoot out lights, flip off circuit breakers and lockpick doors. You are a silent assassin.

You distract the guards by throwing bottles or imitating their wives voices. One by one you pick their lights out.

Continue here to read the full story.

Speaking of top-down shooters, Shell Runner is now available in Early Access on Steam, giving Windows gamers the chance to take on the role of a mercenary in an extraction shooter set a couple of decades in the future. This shell game also includes looter-shooter elements, and the Launch Trailer is here with a look. This outlines what to expect from Early Access: "As Early Access journey kicks off, players can look forward to content to come, including new bosses, weapons, gadgets, and levels. The Reija team is committed to regularly improving gameplay systems and introducing fresh features and looks forward to involving players in shaping the game’s future." Here's more:

Step into the chaotic world of 2045, where megacorporations rule the urban jungle. As a mercenary Shell Runner, players control lifelike Shells (remotely controlled machine bodies) to take on dangerous PvE extraction missions. With over 20 unique Shells to choose from, each with its strengths and shortfalls, players will navigate the gritty dystopian underworld where danger lurks around every corner. Whether playing solo or teaming up in co-op mode with friends, every mission features a procedurally generated map, dynamic gameplay, and intense, handcrafted boss encounters.

Continue here to read the full story.

VEOM Studio and Crytivo have the crust to announce that Early Access to The Crust is now available for Windows on Steam. This is a narrative base-building game set on the Moon. Players must explore the lunar surface, build a colony, and establish trade with the earthlings they left behind. The Release Trailer will let you get all moon-eyed over this, and there's a 10% launch discount for the next two weeks if you want to pick this up. The description mentions "profound mysteries" to unravel, so maybe there's green cheese involved. Here's more:

Step into a world where every decision you make shapes the fate of humanity. The Crust offers a unique blend of survival, strategy, and exploration, pushing players to their limits as they navigate the harsh lunar environment. From managing scarce resources to leading daring expeditions, the game challenges you to build a thriving lunar colony and uncover the Moon's most profound mysteries. Will you rise to the challenge and secure humanity's future among the stars?

Immerse yourself in a narrative that intertwines scientific curiosity with the urgency of survival. The Crust isn't just about building structures and managing resources; it's about forging a new path for mankind in an unforgiving environment. Every choice you make influences the outcome of your lunar mission, making each playthrough a unique and gripping experience. With stunning visuals, a compelling storyline, and intricate gameplay mechanics, The Crust promises to be a groundbreaking addition to the world of simulation and strategy games.

Continue here to read the full story.

Activision announces details about multiplayer beta testing for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the upcoming military shooter sequel. A first beta weekend only for preorder customers begins on Friday, August 30th and runs through the following Wednesday, making for a long weekend. The second weekend will open to all players regardless of preorder status on Friday, September 6th, and will run until Monday. For the latest on the game, there's a new Official Call of Duty Podcast and this post has more on the beta. Here are the details on the schedule:

Weekend One: Early Access
Available to players who have preordered the game across all platforms (consoles and PC), as well as Game Pass subscribers, the first Beta weekend is scheduled to begin on Friday, August 30 at 10AM PT, and end on Wednesday, September 4 at 10AM PT.

Weekend Two: Open Beta
The second Beta weekend is for all players on all platforms, regardless of their preorder status, as well as Game Pass subscribers. The second Beta weekend is scheduled to begin on Friday, September 6 at 10AM PT, and end on Monday, September 9 at 10AM PT.

Continue here to read the full story.

The Steam Fighting Games Fest is underway, a celebration of games based on throwing hands and all the variants on traditional fisticuffs. There are discounts, demos, and presentations through a week from today, so don't miss out or you might beat yourself up over it later. Here's the Official Trailer and here are some fighting words:

Now through July 22nd, you can grab fighting games of all kinds at sweet discounts during Steam's Fighting Games Fest. This fest is specifically designed to celebrate games in (or inspired by) the Fighting Game Community (FGC) and there are tons of fun choices this week!

Continue here to read the full story.

Steam now offers Early Access to Galactic Glitch, a roguelike twin-stick shooter for Windows from Crunchy Leaf Games. The 25% markdown is no glitch, it's a launch discount for the next two weeks. The recent Early Access Launch Date Trailer revels in the game's colorful space-based combat and relentless soundtrack. This post discusses the Early Access version, and here's a description:

Galactic Glitch is an Twin-Stick Roguelike Shooter with physics based combat. Use your grav gun and exploit physics, grabbing and slingshotting rocks and mines off the walls of the arena. Grab enemy rockets and fling them back in their faces, or even grab and launch enemies into each other!

Explore, loot and fight your way through hostile space. Gain new abilities to unlock new paths, discover hidden secrets and blaze your own path.

Continue here to read the full story.

• EA SPORTS FC 25 full reveal on July 17th.

• Dungeons and Monsters 3 (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*

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

Official patches.

• Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut - Patch 6 Hotfix.
• Hearthstone 30.0 Patch Notes.

• Meta's CTO Predicts The Specs Of A 2030 Quest Headset - UploadVR.

• AI in gaming- Developers worried by generative tech - BBC.
• Forget Astarion, Fallout: London claims to have nabbed one of the UK's most memeable political figures to voice a robot that yells "Order!"

• STAR WARS: Dark Forces Remaster - Deep Dive Episode 3 - Nightdive Studios.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Girl skins in games are WAY better - Viva La Dirt League. Thanks Ant.

• A Deep Dive Into BioWare's Companion Design Philosophy In Dragon Age- The Veilguard - Game Informer.

• World of Warcraft — Season of Discovery Phase 4 Now Live.

• World of Warcraft — The War Within Pre-Expansion Content Update Goes Live July 23.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Copilot+ PCs explained- AI Windows meets Arm laptops - PCWorld.
• Buying a gaming laptop- Here’s why you should wait until early 2025 - Laptop Mag.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Less than 1 nm: New technology makes tiny chips possible - NotebookCheck.net News.
• Extreme Overclocking AMD's R9 9950X CPU to 6.6GHz - Gamers Nexus (video). Thanks RedEye9.
• 7 reasons to use Microsoft Lists - XDA.

• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of July 8, 2024 - CISA. Thanks Ant.
• ZDI shames Microsoft for coordinated vuln disclosure snafu.

• US Senators Secretly Work to Block Safeguards Against Surveillance Abuse - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• Music labels sue Verizon for more than $2.6 billion.
• Kaspersky culls staff, closes doors in US amid Biden's ban • The Register.

Last Link of the Day: 'What exactly is a planet-' Astronomers want to amend the definition - Space.com. We're doing this again? Spoiler alert: Pluto's still out in the cold.

Stellar Cartography and Blowfish Studios announce To the Stars will come to Windows and macOS on August 13th, offering the chance to fulfill your ambitions to take over the cosmos. The Official Trailer takes a look at what's called "tactical planet hopping," which somewhat resembles a Rube Goldberg machine. For more check out the official website and if you're inspired, there's a playable demo on Steam. The release version will also come to the Epic Games Store and GOG.com. Here's more:

The vast unknown holds powerful alien monuments untapped by any species… until now. Only one mighty faction can control the constellations, and it's time to conquer the wild expanses of space. Orchestrate a masterful plan of galactic dominance, taking over neutral and enemy planets to sequester the power of these ancient artifacts.

Take to the stars — see what we did there? — as one of nine tactically terrifying extraterrestrial civilizations. Embrace the mad genius of the Fringlots, the street-smart Sasharkpas, or the luminous beauty of the Cryspuritans. Combine cosmic might with space-shaking strategic maneuvers to out-pace enemy factions and assume control over each constellation.

Continue here to read the full story.

Early Access to Renaissance Kingdom Wars for Windows is underway on Steam, hoping to breathe new life into the real-time strategy genre. Reverie World Studios and indie.io provide a Official Launch Trailer with a cinematic look, and here are some strategic details:

Renaissance was an era of science, arts, philosophy - and the art of war. Split between warring kingdoms, merchants, and religions, the Renaissance saw the rise of mercenary armies, waging war across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for the highest bidder, with captains of these forces making or breaking nations.

Renaissance Kingdom Wars puts you in the well-trodden shoes of one such captain. You’ll wage wars for your king, fighting real-time battles to conquer cities for the crown. Then you’ll bring them to prosperity, becoming a lord in your own right. Once you master this grand strategy, you may already be sick and tired of bending the knee for scraps from the royal table.

Continue here to read the full story.

Retaliate is now available for PC and consoles, and the Windows, macOS, and Linux edition is exacting its revenge on Steam. This is like Space Invaders meets Enemy at the Gates, as it's a retro space shooter where you start with no ammunition. The previous Release Date Trailer takes a look, and here's more:

Retaliate is a retro inspired space shooter with a twist, you start with no ammo!

Unlike those in the golden era of space shooters you are not so fortunate as to have infinite ammo. Instead use your shield to both destroy your enemies and absorb their weapons, then use your enemies' weapons to retaliate!

Continue here to read the full story.

Here's a Steam Listing for Risk & Riches, which Growlery Games says will arrive in February 2025. This is a deckbuilding roguelite set in the wild west. Mine for gold to upgrade your ability to mine for gold! Here's an Alpha Trailer and word:

Risk & Riches is a roguelite deckbuilder set in a small Western town. Use your cards to fight monsters and descend into a mine to find gold and the source of the evil within. Choose to return to the surface with your gold at any time, or risk it all by continuing deeper for even greater riches.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Dead Weight on Steam (Windows). "Challenge the Ancient Gods! Set the sails of your flying pirate ship and embark on the adventure in the steampunk world of Dead Weight. Explore floating islands in search for loot. Choose a class or create your own and enjoy turn-based tactical combat on tiny battlefields where every step matters."

• Ex-Activision Dev Mentions ‘The Crash 5 That Never Was’ and Now Fans Are Heartbroken - IGN.

• Baldur's Gate 3 CEO says Larian was -fighting with embassies: to relocate developers after closing its Russian studio in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine - Edge.

• Genshin Impact's own voice actors join backlash at lack of representation in new region Natlan's character designs - Eurogamer.
• Team Fortress 2 legend says they will stop making videos on Valve FPS - PCGamesN.

• How Goddess of Victory- Nikke and Dave The Diver came together for one of gaming's most surprising crossovers - GamesIndustry.

• Crocs And Pokémon Are Teaming Up Again With Four New Gen 1 Shoes - Game Informer. Also work as birth control.

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• The New Adventures of The Silver Shroud is a new quest mod for Fallout 4 with new boss fights, voice acting, and the reimagining of an old Fallout 3 enemy - DSOGaming.

• Fallout: London won't be playable via Epic Games store copies of Fallout 4 at launch, GOG confirms - VG247.
• Puzzledorf - Mac + Linux + Demo coming Friday.

Official trailers.

• Fortnite - Seriously, you look amazing ✨.
• Mortal Kombat 1 – Official Takeda Gameplay Trailer.

• Interview with Counter-Strike creator Minh Le - Spillhistorie.no.

• Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke says that all the awards actually started to obstruct development- 'It is surprisingly draining on the soul.'

• Sony Interactive Entertainment announces ChinaJoy 2024 lineup - Gematsu.

• Sony Extends Concord Beta by a Day - IGN.
• Circus of TimTim - Console Release Trailer.

• Laptop fire caused American Airlines jet to be evacuated - Tom's Hardware.
• Love and Deepspace - Long-Awaited Revelry Trailer.

• It’s Shockingly Easy to Buy Off-Brand Ozempic Online, Even If You Don’t Need It - WIRED (may require registration or subscription). Thanks Max.

Thanks Max.

• Want a great-looking PC setup? These 8 upgrades are all you need - XDA. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• This accessory solves the biggest problem with Philips Hue smart bulbs - 9to5Mac.
• Google's Gemini AI caught scanning Google Drive hosted PDF files without permission — user complains feature can't be disabled - Tom's Hardware.
• Intel Partners Are Angry- Power Spec Woes, Silicon Degradation & Poor Communication - Hardware Unboxed (video). Thanks RedEye9.
• It Will Soon Be Easier for Americans to Recycle Batteries - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• The Hidden Ties Between Google and Amazon’s Project Nimbus and Israel's Military - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• AMD Zen 5 Technical Deep Dive - TechPowerUp.
• Google Researchers Say They Simulated the Emergence of Life.
• Notepad++ v8.6.9. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader version 2024.002.20933. Thanks Console General.

• AT&T Paid a Hacker $370,000 to Delete Stolen Phone Records - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• Google reportedly in talks to buy infosec outfit Wiz • The Register.
• Stalkerware vendor mSpy breached for a third time • The Register.
• Rite Aid confirms data breach following ransomware attack - TechRadar.

• UK cyber-boss slams China's bug-hoarding laws • The Register.
• Brazilian Instagram influencer jailed for trafficking and slavery - BBC. Thanks Max.

• SCHIM Review "Buy, Wait, Deep Sale, Never Touch?" - ACG (video).

• Case: Antec C5 ARGB Review - APH Networks.
• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 ION Liquid CPU Cooler Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• Dock: Icy Dock MB021VP-B FlexiDock - OCinside (German).
• Mouse: Turtle Beach Burst II Air Review - Fantastic Featherweight Gaming Mouse - MP1st.

• This Week’s Japanese Game Releases- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus, Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025, more - Gematsu…

A couple of years ago I picked up a two-pack of WD-40 cans in the belief that I would soon run out. But as miraculous as this lubricant is, I don't actually use much, so this left me with, well, a lot. When I recently realized the new cans have a much handier nozzle system I came up with the plan to use one, gift the other to someone, and dispose of the end of my old can. The trouble is that despite it starting to rust and looking pretty shot, the old can was still not entirely empty, so I really wanted to find a home for that as well. Then I had my stroke of whatever it is that isn't quite genius. I recently mentioned the work that's underway to re-side our row of townhouses. The crew doing this leaves a lot of their gear about when they quit work, so I just went out and placed my old WD-40 among their stuff. I didn't get to see if there was any recognition of my shenanigans when they showed up today, but the can did get absorbed into their gear, so mission accomplished. I do find it terribly amusing that leaving their stuff unattended resulted in the opposite of something getting stolen.

Sneaky Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Breakfast Link

• Recreating History: Building a Windows 98 Disk Defrag Simulator with Modern Web Tech - DEV Community. Thanks PC Gamer.

Science

• A chunk of the Earth's crust is missing and scientists have discovered where it is - indy100.
• The Perseid Meteor Shower Begins Today- When To See It At Its Best - Forbes.

Media

• TERMINATOR ZERO - Official Teaser Trailer - Netflix.
• Jackpot! - Official Trailer - Prime Video.
• Big fails 😂🤣🤣. Thanks VideoSift.

Follow-up

• How To Use Coffee Grounds To Improve Your Lawn And Garden - House Digest.