The Back to School Sale on GOG.com* continues, offering discounts on thousands of games to help distract from your homework. The good old gamers are also offering another giveaway to draw attention to the festivities. Everyone is now entitled to a complimentary DRM-free copy of Once Upon a Jester for Windows. This comes with a caution that it "may include considerable amounts of silliness," so you've been warned. Here's the game's Announcement Trailer with a look and here's the pitch:

Best friends Sok & Jester devise a mischievous scheme to steal the Royal Diamond! To complete their master plan, they must start an improv theatre show and outperform every other act - including their rivals, Hofnar & Bok. Only becoming the best show in the kingdom will get them invited to the Royal Theatrical Spectacle in the Royal Palace, where the king keeps his precious gem.

They embark on a grand adventure across a fantasy kingdom, meeting tons of wacky characters, performing improvised shows and singing their hearts out. Along the way, they unintentionally discover the freedom and joy of musical theatre. Will the pair change their wicked ways or do whatever it takes to get rich?

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

KOEI TECMO announces Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is coming to PC and consoles on March 21, 2025, as the next installment in the Atelier series of JRPGs. A First Trailer is here with a look, featuring a Japanese voiceover and dialog with English subtitles. Here's more on this chance to be an outlaw alchemist:

In a world where alchemy has become taboo and is considered evil, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land follows the adventures of Yumia Liessfeldt and her companions as they seek to uncover the truth behind the fall of the Aladissian Empire – which once thrived with alchemy – and the memories of its lost history. Yumia’s quest will take her across a ruined continent, and despite the uncertainties of confronting her past, she will need to create her own path if she hopes to unravel the mysteries behind the cataclysm that destroyed Aladiss.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Rocksteady hit by layoffs after Suicide Squad- Kill the Justice League underperforms - Eurogamer.net.
• Until Dawn remake studio Ballistic Moon lays off staff ahead of the game's release in October - Eurogamer.net.

• STALKER 2 devs joke developing it -was a really bad business idea- - VideoGamer. Thanks Reddit.
• One Year Later, Larian Reflects On Baldur's Gate 3's Success, Future Plans, And Canceling DLC- -Ever Since, We've Felt Better - IGN.

• Snail Publisher Sale 2024 on Steam.
• Back to Hogwarts Celebration! on Steam.
• Save 70% on Hot Lava on Steam.
• Save 50% on Pacify on Steam.

• Console Wars The Card Game by XboxEra — Kickstarter. "Collect legendary gaming franchises and protect them with loyal fans. Brave the volatile game industry and win the Console Wars!"

Official trailers.

• Kill the Shadow - Gameplay Trailer.

• WARNO: Return of the real-time tactics king - Matchsticks for my Eyes.

• Offroad Mechanic Simulator - Xbox trailer.
• Papetura -- Tráiler Craft Edition.

• Huawei To Unveil Its Tri-Fold Smartphone On September 10, Just One Day After Apple Will Announce The iPhone 16 Series - Wccftech.
• iOS versions of Resident Evil 4, 7 and Village now need an online connection at startup - VGC.

• Disney cuts DirecTV customers' access to ABC, ESPN and more - Engadget.

• Intel Panther Lake processors could pack up to 16 cores, maximum of four performance cores according to leak - Tom's Hardware.
• AMD officially launches the Ryzen 5 7600X3D but in limited numbers and only through one US seller - PC Gamer.
• Windows 11 skips past 50% market share milestone in latest Steam survey - Tom's Hardware.
• NextGen TV Advocates Express ‘Deep Concern’ Over Future of 3.0 Products - TV Tech. Thanks Ant.
• Beware! Fake Ryzen 7800X3D CPUs are being sold - der8auer (video). Thanks RedEye9.

• AI-Fakes Detection Is Failing Voters in the Global South - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).

• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 G2 CPU Cooler Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• Headset/Earbuds: Creative Outlier Go Earbuds - Christ Centered Gamer.
• Motherboard: Hands-on with MSI’s MAG Pano 100L PZ PC case and Project Zero Motherboard - Tom's Hardware.

So it's Labor Day here in the US and in Canada, an annual concession to the necessary evil of the workers that are required to build unimaginable wealth. Since the AI is coming for everybody's jobs, we may be looking to rename this one of these days, but for now, happy Labor Day! The weather in these parts has cleared up nicely today, which will help with cookouts. Hopefully the weather is as cooperative for you if you have plans. And as always, please be careful on the roads.

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

Stories

• Killing rattlesnakes can be dangerous and illegal, warns NC Wildlife Commission - 13 News.
• Workers in Japan hire resignation experts to help quit their jobs - CNN Business. Someone needs to tell them about quiet quitting.

Science

• 'Catastrophic' SpaceX Starship explosion tore a hole in the atmosphere last year in 1st-of-its-kind event, Russian scientists - Live Science. Thanks Reddit.
• Companies are crafting new ways to grow cocoa, and chocolate alternatives, to keep up with demand - Phys.org.
• Brighter Than Ever- Tiny Green Lasers Are Changing the Game - SciTechDaily.

Media

• What Everyone Gets Wrong About Planes - Veritasium.
• Trying to Land a Plane (to Prove the Dunning-Kruger Effect) - Be Smart. Thanks RedEye9.

Follow-up

• The Starliner spacecraft has started to emit strange noises - Ars Technica.

The Funnies

• Savage Chickens.
• Brevity.

TT Games and Warner Bros. Games announce the LEGO Harry Potter Collection is launching on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 8th. This is a remastered collection that combines the content of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 along with the DLC packs for the complete brixelated wizarding experience. Here's the plan:

Warner Bros. Games, TT Games and the LEGO Group announced LEGO Harry Potter Collection is launching digitally on Oct. 8 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam). This remastered compilation brings together LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 along with two previously released downloadable content (DLC) packs in one fantastical package.

Developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Games, LEGO Harry Potter Collection takes players on a light-hearted and magical journey through the eight Harry Potter films. Players will solve mysteries, learn spells, brew potions, and face off against Lord Voldemort in the ultimate battle between good and evil. This remastered compilation is developed by Double Eleven and enhances both the graphics and gameplay with 60 FPS, native 4K resolution, haptic feedback, and high-resolution shadow maps.

Rogue Snail announces changes to the business model of Relic Hunters Legend, a looter-shooter currently in Early Access on Steam (thanks PCGamesN). Following a break with Gearbox Publishing, the game will now be a premium release with the removal of its free-to-play elements and online requirement. Word is the game "will no longer be F2P at 1.0 launch," but it has a price tag already while still in Early Access. The following explanation is for those playing the F2P version: "During these past months, we've worked diligently to ensure that all Early Access players’ progress in the online version is transferred. As the cloud servers are being shut down, your progress will be downloaded to your devices the first time you log in after the 0.11 update." This also involves a SPACEBUX bonus: "Founders and backers who supported us earlier and were promised monetization benefits will receive a new currency at the final launch that we've created called 'Fashion Credit,' equivalent to the value of the package they purchased. This currency will also be earned by completing missions and it’ll drop from enemies during your adventures - so everyone will be able to buy all cosmetics in the game." Here's more:

You know how the gaming industry has been changing a lot lately, and new challenges have been presented to various development studios - ours is no exception. With all these challenges in hand, we needed to think of a monetization plan for the game that would be fair to our players and sustainable for us as an independent studio.

With limited resources, both financial and human, we couldn't keep the promise we made in our Kickstarter to make Relic Hunters Legend free-to-play. We didn't want to implement predatory monetization features that would make players spend a lot of time, effort, and money to progress in the game. We want to respect your time and money and provide a complete and engaging content experience. We have to focus our limited resources into making the game as fun as possible, and we just can’t spare the effort that goes into monetization.

Continue here to read the full story.

Post-Launch Progress Report on Steam follows up on last week's launch of Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm. The post-launch progress is to realize the DLC for the action game is pretty broken, and work is underway to put things right. Word is a patch will come first to the Windows edition and then to consoles. This will not address every reported issue, as major bugs are taking priority, and there's a running list of problems this first patch will fix. Here's more:

Over the past few days we’ve been reviewing feedback surrounding the launch of Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm. Thank you as always to the incredible community of players who have come out to support us and provide insights which are helping to resolve some unexpected issues with the deployment of the latest DLC.

First, we want to share our plan for how we're addressing these concerns. We’ve been able to reproduce many of the bugs you’ve brought to our attention. We’re working as swiftly as possible to get fixes delivered to you. These will be shipped on PC first with consoles to follow as quickly as we can.
While this patch won't solve every issue you’re running into, we’re prioritizing the community reported issues as best we can. Please continue to submit bug reports on Discord, with video if possible. Reach out to our customer support team if you need help.

Caesar's Revenge is now available for Window on Steam, offering a slashy boomer-shooter allowing you to do as the Romans do. The Release Trailer shows off throwback graphics one might call primitive, along with old-style shooter combat featuring both period-correct weapons as well as a few anachronistic firearms. This carries a 10% launch discount. Here's word:

Caesar’s Revenge is a die-and-retry retro FPS set in ancient Rome. Assassinated by the senate on the Ides of March, 44BC, Julius Caesar returns to exact revenge on those who betrayed him. Storm a corrupt senate in this relentless slasher. Indulge in the violence. Become the fall of Rome.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Humble Tech Book Bundle- Software Architecture 2024 by O'Reilly (pay what you want and help charity).*
• Beamdog & Owlcat- RPG Masters (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*
• Save 75% on The Painscreek Killings on Steam.

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

Content creator videos. Thanks Ant.

• All The Call of Duty Games You'll Never Play - GVMERS.
• Firearms Expert Reacts to Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s Guns - GameSpot.
• This Dragon is hard for some reason - Elden Ring #78 - Carbot.
• This Is An Ubisoft Developer's NIGHTMARE - Bellular News.

• Black Ops 6 beta shows off Omni-movement and new maps - Call of Duty interview - VentureBeat.
• Jennifer Hale on SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike- AI Is Coming for Us - Variety.

• Why Doom 3 is still an important and misunderstood game - PC Gamer.

• PS5 physical editions of Outer Wilds- Archaeologist Edition have -the wrong version of the game- on them - Eurogamer.net.

• Ayaneo officially enters the U.S. gaming market — $399 Next Lite and $999 Kun now available at Best Buy - Tom's Hardware.

• Discord's activity tracker now tells everyone just how long you've been playing - Eurogamer.net.

• End-of-life IP cams being used to spread new Mirai botnet • The Register.

• Star Wars Outlaws pushes the latest PC technologies hard - and the results are stunning - Eurogamer.net.
• Star Wars Outlaws review - Helmet punching your way through disappointment - Neowin.

• Keyboard: XTRFY K5 COMPACT SILENT RED PBT EDITION Gaming Keyboard - Mad Shrimps.
• Laptop: Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 Review- Slim, powerful, but needs refinement - Tom's Hardware.
• RAM: ANACOMDA D5 RGB 32GB DDR5 7200MHz CL34 Dual-Channel Kit Review - Nikk Tech.

We thought we didn't have Labor Day plans, but MrsBlue saved us from overlooking an event on our schedule for today. A friend is having a Celebration of Life for his mom. This is a very lovely sentiment, and it would have been a shame to miss it, so thank you to my better half for remembering in time. This will naturally be a low-key affair, and while it's a bit of a drive, I imagine Sunday will be the lightest day of this travel-heavy three-day weekend in the US, so hopefully it will be a smooth trip.

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

Brunch Link

• Long sigh- Canada is among the 10 COSTLIEST countries to retire in - Canada.

Stories

• Startup Says It'll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttime - The Byte.
• Texas resident used Apple AirTags to discover plastics taken to Houston recycling centers aren't being recycled - Tom's Hardware.

Science

• Tall People Are More Likely to Get Cancer, And This Could Be Why - ScienceAlert.
• Scientists Develop “Shockingly” Simple Solution To Combat Coastal Erosion - SciTechDaily.
• Incredible Placebo Study Shows Fake Pills Can Reduce Stress - ScienceAlert.

Media

• Rick and Morty: The Anime - 3rd Episode Promo Spot - 'Rick and Morty- The Animated Series.'
• Reefer truck gets stuck under the 11foot8+8 bridge. Thanks Boing Boing.

Creature Features

• True Facts- How Snakes Move - Ze Frank. Thanks RedEye9.