Friday news, the second part:

WoW players are already using the new Warbands system for its true purpose: Memes and transmog flexing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-players-are-already-using-the-new-warbands-system-for-its-true-purpose-memes-and-transmog-flexing/
World of Warcraft recently debuted its Warbands system—and with it, a shiny new login screen. For the uninitiated, a Warband is a group of four characters that get to share a bunch of stuff. Reputation, currencies, a bank, and 'warbound' items to name a few. They also line up on the character select screen like they're posing for an album cover.
Given you can arrange who is and isn't in your warband—and, naturally, the outfits they're wearing—the World of Warcraft community's already gone full speed ahead on memeing the everloving crap out of the feature. My favourite by far is this pitch-perfect recreation of the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" by user Zombosa.

The Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 7 closed beta is live for invitees, now that Larian has fixed a critical bug: '[The] dice are now rolling'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/yep-that-d-do-it-the-baldur-s-gate-3-patch-7-closed-beta-is-delayed-because-passive-dice-rolls-literally-stopped-working/
Recent updates
July 25, 2024: While further info is still under wraps, Larian studios has announced that the 'dice are now rolling', making the Patch 7 Baldur's Gate 3 closed beta available for those participating. The original story, as well as current details on the patch itself, can be found below.

A big gameplay leak for Star Wars Outlaws has done wonders for my Ubisoft showcase fatigue—it's actually given me a new hope
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-big-gameplay-leak-for-star-wars-outlaws-has-done-wonders-for-my-Ubisoft-showcase-fatigue-it-s-actually-given-me-a-new-hope/
Star Wars Outlaws has, like a lot of Ubisoft games nowadays, sprung a big leak—around 13 minutes of gameplay all told, with a few more clips out there showing off space combat. Ubisoft has naturally nuked the very bold YouTube upload into low orbit, but it remains pretty easy to find yourself if you're interested.

Helldivers 2 takes a crack at the CrowdStrike outage as its Destroyers suffer from a systems update: 'Please manually reboot each affected computer 15 times'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/helldivers-2-takes-a-crack-at-the-crowdstrike-outage-as-its-destroyers-suffer-from-a-systems-update-please-manually-reboot-each-affected-computer-15-times/
Helldivers 2 has been 2024's live service hit, a lot of which is down to how developer Arrowhead manages the overarching Galactic War with constant Major Orders, while being highly reactive to player behaviour. (...)
Now for the first time some of the real world has found its way into Helldivers 2. Last week an update from Crowdstrike caused global IT chaos, affecting over 8.5 million Windows and Linux machines worldwide: this was serious business, impacting airlines, train companies, health and emergency services, and all the way down to whether you could buy a coffee. Loading up Helldivers 2 currently, which sees you begin the game on the bridge of your Destroyer spacecraft, sees the following "Systems Update" message: 
"A cybersecurity software update has caused an unexpected outage for all Destroyer surveillance systems. All personnel are ordered to manually record their own behavior until services are restored.
"Instructions to service technicians: to bring systems back online, please manually reboot each affected computer 15 times."
>> Will they also give players a broken gift card?

Fortnite players declare the Cybertruck public enemy number one: 'You are now in a truce with everyone else in the lobby until they're taken down'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-players-declare-the-cybertruck-public-enemy-number-one-you-are-now-in-a-truce-with-everyone-else-in-the-lobby-until-theyre-taken-down/
Earlier this week, Epic revealed its latest cross-marketing campaign, which brings Tesla's Cybertruck—a vehicle that's earned four NHTSA recalls in seven months and has been called a "guideless missile" by safety experts—to Fortnite. The announcement earned a rare sense of unity from Fortnite players, though perhaps not the one Tesla might've hoped for.
>> I can get behind this movement, even if it gives free exposure to Fortnite and Epic.

Motordoom is a 'freestyle-sports roguelite horde shooter' about skeletons on motorcycles
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/motordoom-is-a-freestyle-sports-roguelite-horde-shooter-about-skeletons-on-motorcycles/
Of course you'd like to play a game where you're doing motorcycle tricks while shooting bad guys in droves, and also all the people riding the motorcycles are low-poly skeletons and monster mashers with chainsaws and flamethrowers. In what is undeniably one of the best ideas for a genre combo you'll see this year, Motordoom—sorry, Motördoom—calls itself a "freestyle-sports roguelite horde shooter" and that is a pretty exciting concept.

Blizzard is finally doing it: Overwatch 2 will try 6v6 again, reversing the single biggest change of the sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/blizzard-is-finally-doing-it-overwatch-2-will-try-6v6-again-reversing-the-single-biggest-change-of-the-sequel/
One of the most contentious changes in Overwatch 2 was its shift to a 5v5 format. The loss of a tank hero on each team fundamentally changed how it's played, and debates over whether or not it should go back to 6v6 have gone on since its release. In a new blog post, game director Aaron Keller laid out plans to try 6v6 again, along with other format changes, in a series of experimental modes coming later this year.

Videogame voice actors are officially on strike over AI: 'We refuse this paradigm'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/videogame-voice-actors-are-officially-on-strike-over-ai-we-refuse-this-paradigm/
It's happening again: Videogame voice and motion capture actors in the SAG-AFTRA union are going on strike. Over 160,000 performers will refuse to work on games in production at a number of major developers, including Activision, Disney, and EA, until the companies agree to a contract with "critical AI protections" for union members. The strike officially begins on July 26.

Marvel Rivals is adding two new heroes before the end of the closed beta test: Thor, the god of thunder, and Jeff, a shark with legs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-is-adding-two-new-heroes-before-the-end-of-the-closed-beta-test-thor-the-god-of-thunder-and-jeff-a-shark-with-legs/
Marvel Rivals closed beta test is off to a pretty impressive start since it began earlier this week. With servers getting overwhelmed at first and the hero shooter climbing into the top 10 most viewed games on Twitch, boasting just over 68K active viewers. But with only a few days before the end of the test, Netease is adding another surprise: two new heroes.  
>> At least one person doesn’t like it, the writer of this PCGamer’s article.

Guilty Gear Strive's producer hints at further Cyberpunk: Edgerunners characters—or a continuation of Lucy's story from the anime—before clamming up to avoid spoilers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/guilty-gear-strive-s-producer-hints-at-further-cyberpunk-edgerunners-characters-or-a-continuation-of-lucy-s-story-from-the-anime-before-clamming-up-to-avoid-spoilers/
Guilty Gear Strive somewhat-surprised fans late last week when it announced its first crossover character, Lucy from the excellent anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a show based on CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 (and, consequently, the OG Cyberpunk TTRPG).
(...)
In an interview with IGN, though, producer Ken Miyauchi has hinted that there may very well be more guest fighters coming: "We've been doing this work since 2023, actually. And we've been talking to CD PROJEKT RED because our lead artist, Hidehiko Sakamura, is actually a big fan of The Witcher series."

And here are the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• The first of the 70 hours long limited time deals is Lords of Magic: Special Edition, 66% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/lords_of_magic_special_eddition
• Source of Madness gets a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/source_of_madness
• Waxworks will be 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/waxworks
• And Daymare: 1998 features a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/daymare_1998

+Steam

• The Game of Life 2 is going to be 60% off until the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455630/The_Game_of_Life_2/
• The Plants vs Zombies franchise is on sale with up to 90% discounts until July 30: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PlantsvsZombiesFranchiseSale
• Boomerang Fu will be 70% off until the 1st of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/965680/Boomerang_Fu/
• The Total War: Warhammer franchise is on sale with up to 75% discounts until August, 1st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TotalWarWarhammerFranchiseSale2024
• The Early Access title Builders of Greece is going to be 40% off until August 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1273100/Builders_of_Greece/
• Dead by Daylight will be free to try during the weekend and has a 60% discount until the 8th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/381210/Dead_by_Daylight/
• And the last one, 112 Operator, gets a 70% deal until August 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/793460/112_Operator/

That’s all folks! Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Major European Retailers Are Witnessing “Four Times” Higher Return Rates With Intel’s 14th Gen & 13th Gen CPUs

https://wccftech.com/major-european-retailers-witnessing-four-times-higher-return-rates-intel-14th-gen-13th-gen-cpus/

What a shit show

AMD Ryzen 9000 reviews will be posted day before launch

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-9000-reviews-will-be-posted-day-before-launch

AMD officially begins Ryzen 9000 reservations in China, potential delay reason surfaces

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-officially-begins-ryzen-9000-reservations-in-china-potential-delay-reason-surfaces

Cyber Insurance Firm Believes That The CrowdStrike Outage Was The Largest In IT History, And Is Estimated To Have Cost Other Companies Over $5 Billion In Losses

https://wccftech.com/crowdstrike-outage-biggest-in-history-estimated-to-have-cost-5-billion-loss/

Intel Denies Possibility of 14th & 13th Gen CPU Recall Amid Heightened Consumer Woes From Instability Issues, 65W & Above CPUs Affected

https://wccftech.com/intel-denies-14th-13th-gen-cpu-recall-sales-halt-amid-rising-instability-reports-65w-above-cpus-affected/

Keeps getting worse and worse.

A product recall would be a financial disaster and a huge PR disaster for its upcoming CPUs. They'll try to avoid it at all costs.

At this point, one should really start considering legal measures against Intel.

Finished playing Metal Slug XX on Steam earlier today. 

The games are short but they are really fun and worth it for the price when it goes on sale.

There is replayability with multiple difficulties and the training mode is basically challenge mode with levels from the main game.

I just did the main story/campaign which takes an hour.

Game: Metal Slug XX
Genre: Shooter
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
System: Steam (PC)
Year of Release: 2019
Length of Playthrough: 1 Hour
Total Score: 93/100

+7 Missions along with several challenges part of the training mode
-Very short

Score wise comparison sake...

Metal Slug (NGO): 82
Metal Slug (PC): 81
Metal Slug (PS4): 79
Metal Slug 2 (NGO): 88
Metal Slug 2 (PC): 88
Metal Slug 2 (PS4): 86
Metal Slug X (NGO): 90
Metal Slug X (PC): 90
Metal Slug X (PS4): 89
ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug X (Xbox Game Pass): 78
Metal Slug 3 (NGO): 92
Metal Slug 3 (PC): 92
Metal Slug 3 (PS4): 91
Metal Slug 3 (PSNow): 92
Metal Slug 4 (NGO): 91
Metal Slug 4 (PS4): 91
Metal Slug 5 (PS4): 92
Metal Slug 6 (PS4): 93
Metal Slug XX (PS4): 93
Metal Slug XX (PC): 93
Metal Slug Anthology (PS4): 94

Metal Slug is one of those games that only care about being fun while challenging, and it always does a good job at that.

I have a question, tho: why do you give the PS4 version of some of the games a lower score than the PC or NeoGeo versions?

The PS4 versions I played were through the Metal Slug Anthology collection which are emulated versions of the NeoGeo versions - unfortunately they come with frame drops during a lot of animation, longer than usual load times, and bad controller delay - all of which are not present on the original NeoGeo releases, the PC versions or any of the ACA game ports on PS4, Xbox One or Switch.

I finished Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry (standalone) on Steam yesterday as well.

Game: Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry
Genre: Action
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
System: Steam (PC)
Year of Release: 2014
Length of Playthrough: 5 Hours
Total Score: 77/100

+Includes all aspects from the original game such as shipbuilding, equipment, etc

-Only way to play AC Freedom Cry on Steam/PC even if you bought the Gold Edition

Series wise comparison

Assassin's Creed Director's Cut (PC): 84
Assassin's Creed II Deluxe Edition (PC): 90
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Deluxe Edition (PC): 92
Assassin's Creed Revelations Gold Edition (PC): 85
Assassin's Creed III Deluxe Edition (PC): 80
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD (PC): 71
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Gold Edition (PC): 85
Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry (PC): 77

Oh, wow. That alone is a deal breaker. I would have lowered the score even more.