There's an interview on the PlayStation.Blog talking with Marathon Game Director Joe Ziegler about Bungie's presentation yesterday of Marathon, the continuation of the first-person series that's now expected in September. We've seen questions about the decision to make this an extraction shooter, and one of his answers touches on the choice of genre. But it mostly focuses on the game's feel, making it sound like crossplay support may cost it some of the controller fidelity (or "finickiness" as Joe calls it) PC gamers have grown to expect:

I will definitely say that this game is challenging and intense, but it’s very rewarding. As you learn it you’ll feel yourself developing survival skills that you may not have experienced before, that begin to make you feel masterful. We have also designed this game to feel really natural on controllers as well. There are a lot of PC extraction shooters where mouse and keyboard are a little bit more common, and so in designing for that what we’re trying to do is get the interface and gameplay finickiness out so you can play it naturally. We want you to be able to focus on adapting and learning those survival skills to pull off memorable runs.

• EA reminds Battlefield players, "things taking place in Labs may or may not make their way to the final" game - Eurogamer.net.

• Players Are Not Happy About Path of Exile 2's New Microtransactions - Game Rant.

• 'The Last of Us' Season 1 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 2 - The Wrap.
• Bungie hired an Oscar winner to make Marathon's stunning 8-minute short, but only real sci-fi nerds will spot the cult movie that inspired it - PC Gamer.
• Eli Roth Reflects On "Borderlands" Difficulties - Dark Horizons.

• Apple is reportedly working on two new versions of the Vision Pro - Engadget.

Content creator videos.

• How "The Last of Us" Show Was Made - The Warp Zone. Thanks Ant.

• Matt Chat 551- Agustín Cordes of Asylum and Scratches (video). Thanks Ant.

• Marathon Hands-on Preview- Can Bungie Do to Escape From Tarkov, What Fortnite Did to PUBG? - IGN.

• Marathon Comes to Xbox This September, and Here’s What We Know So Far - Xbox Wire.

• Is This Solid State Battery REALLY Solid State? - Undecided with Matt Ferrell. Thanks Max.

• Pat Gelsinger turns to particle accelerators for a new way to make chips, joins xLight - Tom's Hardware.
• This Electronic Device That We All Throw Away Contains 450 Milligrams of 22-Carat Gold - Daily Galaxy.

• ChatGPT Has Receipts, Will Now Remember Everything You've Ever Told It - PCMag. Thanks Reddit.

• Microsoft finally removes a six-month old Windows 11 24H2 update block - Neowin.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Case: Alienware Area-51 (2025) Review- Speedy, Stunning, and Now, Only Slightly Proprietary - PCMag.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review - PCMag.
• Dock: Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 dock review- Simply the best right now - PCWorld.
• Laptop: A 1,100 nit OLED and AMD Zen 5 in a creator‘s laptop - The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 14 G10 review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• SSD: Crucial X9 Pro 4TB Portable SSD - Mad Shrimps.

We had to cancel dinner plans last night because MrsBlue hurt her foot. It happened early in the day when she slipped on some unseasonable ice in the morning. And while it didn't seem bad at first, it got worse over the course of the day, and by the evening she had a significant limp. She's calling in a sprained ankle, which I know it is not. It's a little swollen, but on top of the foot, and her pain is nearer the arch. I'm wondering if it might be a Lisfranc injury, but it's been so many years since I graduated medical school that I may as well not even be a doctor. She thinks it's better today, and I'm hoping she's right, but I'm also suspecting we may need to go and get her an X-ray tomorrow. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Obituary: Actor's Actor Nicky Katt Has Died At 54- Sources - Deadline.
Obituary: Kyren Lacy, Former LSU Wide Receiver, Dead at 24 - TMZ.

Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Brunch Link

• Ringworld: Larry Niven discusses Dyson Spheres, the science of Ringworld and success - New Scientist.
• The Most Popular Beer in Each U.S. State - Visual Capitalist. Only 12% of states have decent taste, though it's closer to 24% of the population.
• DB12 Goldfinger Edition - Luxury Super Tourer - Aston Martin USA. But James Bond merch is on a whole different level. Thanks Devicer.

Story

• Weighing 42,600 tons, this new Chinese “monster” was built for one purpose: to break the world record for the deepest drill at 7 miles - Farmingdale Observer.

Science

• You can now manipulate 3D holograms thanks to display breakthrough - Live Science.
• ‘Milky sea’ events mysteriously cause the ocean to glow. Scientists are trying to track them - CNN.

Media

• OK Go - Love (Official Video). Thanks The Flying Penguin.
• This Toy Carved The Nicest Table I've Ever Made - Fortress Fine Woodworks.