A post on ModDB recaps the remarkable effort modder KingDavidW has put into modifying Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, the source-engine action/RPG released by Arkane Studios in 2006 (thanks PC Gamer). This expresses gratitude towards Ubisoft and NVIDIA for cooperation and assistance in expanding the scope of the Dark Messiah: Restoration Mod beyond bug-fixes to include restored content cut from the original release. There are also details on a new mod launcher and an Advanced SDK for better support, and a Co-op mod to enjoy the game with your friends. Here's word on the co-op mod, which is still just on GitHub for now:

It's been a long time coming for this one, but it's time to OFFICIALLY let the genie out of the bottle. Since last year, we've done private testing and let me tell you: it was not so easy. Outside of organizing times to get the things done, there were a lot of memory leak issues, crashes, and level issues that we simply did not encounter when the team did internal testing. Actually, it was the main reason we didn't hit our last Valentine's deadline. However, there is good news, as all our advancements on the SDK gave us more capabilities for an easier time updating and fixing things. The MapAdds in particular allow us to do easier updates, and live at that. Our new networking capabilities let us refine the fixes we made when things weren't communicating between server/client, and even add an inter-level ready up system. We were even able to bring a chatbox back into the game. Now it's time to get everyone involved for refine!

• Guildford Games Festival 2025 on Steam.

• How Diablo hackers uncovered a speedrun scandal - Ars Technica.

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gets a 21GB Texture Pack that enhances 98% of the interiors, overhauling around 14000 textures - DSOGaming.

• Vision Pro apps- the good, the bad, and the ridiculous - The Verge.

• BURAMATO - OFFICIAL TRAILER 2025 [4K]. Thanks Gematsu.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• If Video Games Were 61% More Realistic - Dorkly (NSFW). Thanks Ant.

• Canadian Game Awards want to remind you some of the best video games of 2024 were made in this country - CBC News.

• Sony reportedly might not hold a full PS5 summer showcase this year - VGC.
• Sony’s PS5 live service title Fairgame$ has reportedly slipped - VGC.

• Samsung set to unveil tri-fold phone that transforms into 10-inch tablet - TechSpot.
• NYC is handing out free, safer electric bikes to delivery workers - Electrek.

• New Disney+ TOS can force ads on -ad-free- subscribers, but that's not the worst part - Boing Boing.

Thanks Neutronbeam and Max.

• US retailer lists RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT starting at $649 and $749 — March 6 launch date confirmed - Tom's Hardware.
• WD's new HDMR tech to enable record-breaking 100TB+ drives - Tom's Hardware.
• SanDisk's new High Bandwidth Flash memory enables 4TB of VRAM on GPUs, matches HBM bandwidth at higher capacity - Tom's Hardware.
• Audit: Many N.Y. state computers, IT devices unaccounted for - Spectrum. Definitely not being illegally sold.
• Meta is reportedly working on humanoid robots that help with chores - Engadget.
• Mysterious developer shows exceptional skills by getting Linux to start in a PDF doc inside Chrome - TechRadar.
• 8 Common PC Cleaning Mistakes You Must Avoid - How-To Geek. Make me.
• 8 tools that will change how you use Windows - XDA.
• Paint.NET 5.1.4 is now available – paint.net blog. Thanks Ant.

• Increased Linux kernel timer frequency delivers big boost in AI workloads - Tom's Hardware. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Top US Election Security Watchdog Forced to Stop Election Security Work - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• The Official DOGE Website Launch Was a Security Mess - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• 10 years on after Data and Goliath warned of data collection • The Register.

• LeBron James' Tattoo Artist Drops NBA 2K Video Game Lawsuits - Bloomberg Law (may require registration or subscription). Appeal of previous defeat.
• Uber accuses DoorDash of anti-competitive practices in a lawsuit - Engadget.

• Avowed runs with over 130FPS at 8K-Epic Settings with Ray Tracing & DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen - DSOGaming.
• Avowed - Review - Skill Up (video).

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Case: DeepCool CH170 Digital Black SFF MiniITX PC Gaming Case - eTeknix.
• CPU: 65W Core Ultra 5 230F matches 125W Core Ultra 5 245K in gaming - Tom's Hardware.
• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: Review- NZXT Kraken Elite 240 RGB- A Superb and unique LCS cooler - Guru3D.
• Headset/Earbuds: Technics AZ100 earbuds review- audiophiles and multitaskers unite - The Verge.
• Laptop: Asus ExpertBook P1 review - The affordable laptop for office use and working from home comes with numerous security features - Notebook Check.
• Monitor/Projector: MSI MPG 491CQPX QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Review - OLED Goes Crazy Big - TweakTown.
• PSU: Enermax Revolution D.F. X 1050 PSU Review - Tom's Hardware.
• RAM: T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz 64GB CL34 - LanOC Reviews.
• Smartphone: Xiaomi 14T 8GB-256GB 5G Smartphone - Nikk Tech.
• SSD: Lexar Play 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSD Review - Lexar PLAY 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSD - Neoseeker.

We've got another severe storm warning today at the BlueTower, as the Northeastern winter continues to live up to its reputation. Nothing's coming down yet, but states of emergency are already declared in a couple of local areas. We're prepared as best we can, but the only tool I have at hand to deal with the threat of a power outage is hope, so I'm leaning on that. I should be able to post a notice here if we have an actual blackout, but as I say, I'm leaning into hoping it doesn't come to that.

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

Brunch Link

• Hallmark’s take on love: What 595 cards say about Valentine’s Day - CNN.

Stories

• 'SNL' Anniversary Festivities Go Live In New York As Milestone Weekend Begins - Deadline.
• Kurt Vonnegut's lost board game is back in stores after 70 years of obscurity and one sold-out print run - PC Gamer.

Science

• Yale Scientists Reprogram Genetic Code To Create Revolutionary Synthetic Organism.
• Restoring wildlife habitats in wealthy nations could drive extinctions in species-rich regions - Phys.org.

Media

• Humpback whale swallows kayaker whole - then spits him out. And that's why you don't bathe, kids.
• Canadian High Speed Car Chase - Ozzy Man Reviews (NSFW).

Creature Features

• Family investigates after an egg keeps showing up at their door — until they catch the cute culprit in action (video) - Boing Boing.

Follow-up

• Two People Shot At Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl Parade - TMZ. Second annual Super Bowl parade shootings.