• Steam's Weekend Deal is Fable III for $17 (66% off), all the game's DLC is similarly discounted

• Steam's Daily Deal is Cogs for $3.40 (66% off)

• Impulse's Weekend Deal is Max Payne Bundle for $3.74 (75% off)

• Impulse also has Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $33.33 (33% off), and their Daily Deals are Haegemonia - Legion of Iron for $5 (50% off) and Eufloria for $10 (50% off)

• Direct2Drive's weekend sale features Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $15 (50% off), Crysis for $12 (60% off), World in Conflict Gold Edition for $8 (60% off), and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames for $4 (60% off)

• Direct2Drive also has a Max Payne Collection for $3.75 (75% off)

• Amazon still has Dungeon Siege III for $30 (25% off)

• GamersGate's weekend sale takes up to 75% off King's Bounty games, get all three games in a bundle for $12

• GamersGate is also offering up to 40% off EA shooter games this week, including Battlefield 2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and BulletStorm

• Good Old Games has a selection of Activision strategy and tactical games for up to 50% off, including Caesar 3, Call to Power 2, Dark Reign + Expansion, Dark Reign 2, Police Quest: SWAT 1+2, and SWAT 3: Tactical GOTY Edition, get all six for $24

• OnLive has Red Faction: Guerilla for $5 (75% off)

THQ has announced that Relic's third-person action game based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe will be receiving a free content update before the end of October. It consists of "Exterminatus," a four-player online cooperative mode:

The Exterminatus DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is to be released on the 25th October, for 360, PS3 and PC!

This DLC is free, and adds the Exterminatus mode: four-player online co-op, set on either Assault on Hab Center Andreas or Escape from Kalkys Facility and featuring Space Marines versus Orks and Chaos Space Marines.

Performance in co-op will add to players� multiplayer rankings, while perks which have been unlocked in multiplayer can also be used in this mode too.

DICE have announced by way of the Battlelog forums that they've reopened Caspian Border servers for the final weekend of Battlefield 3 open beta testing on PC. This time there are more than 100 servers running the map, and no passwords! They say they're taking this opportunity to stress-test the 64-player server code on a large scale, but it's quite possible they just ceded to the thousands of complaints that Operation Metro has gotten a bit stale.

Regardless of their reasoning, this is a fantastic opportunity for everyone playing the beta to get a taste of the genuine Battlefield 3 experience: a gigantic map populated with 64 players and dozens of vehicles, including jets. The servers are available now, though they're understandably jam-packed, so be patient trying to get in. If you won't be joining in the festivities yourself this weekend, you can read about the beta, including the Caspian Border experience, in my Battlefield 3 PC Beta Impressions article.

• Steam's Weekend Deal is Fable III for $17 (66% off), all DLC is also similarly discounted

• Steam's Daily Deal is Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut for $2.50 (50% off), Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror for $3 (50% off), and Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon for $3 (50% off), you can get all three in a bundle for $5

• Green Man Gaming has Battlefield 3 for $49 (19% off), Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Digital Deluxe Edition for $14 (72% off), and Battlefield 2: Complete Collection for $14 (30% off)

• Impulse's Daily Deal is Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy for $10 (50% off), they also have Elemental: War of Magic for $20 (50% off) and Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity for $10 (50% off)

• Direct2Drive is offering 66% off Max Payne games this weekend, oddly the original is more expensive than the sequel, but it's best to get them both in a bundle for $3.75

• Origin has Crysis 2 for $30 (25% off)

• Amazon has Warhammer 40k: Space Marine for $22 (56% off), RIFT for $8 (73% off), Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $40 (20% off), and Dungeon Siege III for $30 (25% off)

• GamersGate's weekend sale takes up to 75% off King's Bounty games, get all three games in a bundle for $12

• OnLive has MX vs ATV Reflex for $5 (75% off)

• Steam's Midweek Madness deal is Portal 2 for $15 (50% off), in celebration of the free DLC that was released this week

• Steam's Daily Deal is Arcadia for $1.70 (66% off), they also have Sniper: Ghost Warrior Gold Edition for $18 (40% off) and Glowfish for $7 (30% off)

• Impulse's Daily Deal is Avencast: Rise of the Mage for $3.75 (75% off), they also have Elemental: War of Magic for $20 (50% off) and Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity for $10 (50% off)

• Direct2Drive's Midweek Munchies deal is Dungeon Siege III for $25 (50% off)

• GamersGate is offering up to 40% off EA shooter games this week, including Battlefield 2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and BulletStorm

• GamersGate also has the Theatre of War Collection Pack for $18 (60% off)

• Amazon still has Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $40 (20% off)

• Good Old Games has Space Rangers for $4 (60% off)

• OnLive has Darksiders for $5 (75% off)

Ever since Red Dead Redemption was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in May of last year, PC gamers have been wondering when they'd be able to get their hands on the open-world western action game. Some have gone so far as to avoid playing the game on a console, assuming that the PC port was in the works and being readied for release several months later. It wasn't an unreasonable conclusion to reach, judging by the way games from the Grand Theft Auto series and, most recently, L.A. Noire have been handled. As months turned into a year and beyond, however, that prospect grew increasingly dim.

Today, Rockstar Games has officially commented on the matter in an extensive Q&A; that deals primarily with the topics of Max Payne 3 and the PC version of L.A. Noire, but unfortunately, it only reaffirms our fears:

We do know that, yes, there is just one title absent from our PC release plans � that game of course being Red Dead Redemption, and of course we�re well aware that some fans have been asking for it. All we can say is that whenever it is viable (technically, developmentally and business-wise) for us to release a game for PC (or any other particular platform) � we will and we usually do; unfortunately, that is just not the case 100% of the time for all platforms.

We hope that with the announcement that L.A. Noire is coming to PC this fall, and the knowledge that our next big game Max Payne 3 will have a PC release (plus that we�ve released both Grand Theft Auto IV and the Episodes from Liberty City for PC), we can finally put to rest any misconceptions that we�ve �abandoned the PC platform�.

---

To PC gamers, we hope that between the Grand Theft Auto titles, and the forthcoming L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3, you�ll have plenty of great Rockstar action to enjoy.

One of the many complaints people have had about the Battlefield 3 beta is the odd lack of squad management. In-game, the only options you'll find to control this aspect of the team-based shooter are "Find a Squad," which randomly assigns you to an open group, and a checkbox to make that group private. This is a huge step backward from previous games, even the consolized Bad Company series.

You are able to leave the squad you're in, but clicking Find a Squad again will only re-assign you to the same one you just left! This makes it difficult not only to find a decent squad that is working together effectively, but to squad up with friends that might be playing in the same server with you. Luckily, DICE have listened to the feedback (much too nice a word for some of the things that have been said about it) and things will be changing for the better in the final version. As per the Battlelog forum FAQ :

HOW WILL SQUADS WORK IN THE RETAIL VERSION OF BATTLEFIELD 3 ON PC/XBOX 360/PLAYSTATION 3?

Since the Open BETA we�ve added more advanced functionality to manage your squad. You will be able to browse and join specific squads through the squad screen. You can see all players that are in a specific squad as well as who�s playing as lone wolf. As a squad leader you can set your squad to private as well as kick players from the squad.

On console you will also be able to choose if you want the active VoIP channel to be team or squad and invite friends to your squad. You will also be able to mute any player on your team through the scoreboard.

• Steam's Midweek Madness deal is Portal 2 for $15 (50% off), in celebration of the free DLC that was released today

• Steam's Daily Deal is 75% off Crysis and Crysis: Warhead, get both in a bundle for $10

• Impulse's Daily Deal is 18 Wheels of Steel Extreme Trucker 2 for $5 (75% off), they also have Elemental: War of Magic for $20 (50% off) and Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity for $10 (50% off)

• GamersGate is offering up to 40% off EA shooter games this week, including Battlefield 2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and BulletStorm

• Amazon still has Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $40 (20% off), Dungeon Siege III for $30 (25% off), and The Sims 3 for $30 (25% off)

• OnLive has Metro 2033 for $5 (75% off)

Steam News announces that the upcoming action strategy title from Robot Entertainment Orcs Must Die! is now available on Steam for $15. Purchase before its release next Wednesday and get the "Knight of the Order" costume for your in-game hero.

Additionally, a playable demo of the game has been made available, allowing you to try your hand at orc slaughter before you buy. The download weighs in at around 1.2GB and includes access to three out of the twenty-four total levels (I would guess that they're smaller, more introductory ones).

Spotted on Blue's News.

Epic Games today announced that their Unreal Engine 3 tech is now capable of running within any web browser, as the company's presentation at the Adobe MAX 2011 conference proved handily. This groundbreaking development is thanks to the hardware-accelerated 3D rendering support introduced with the newly-released Adobe Flash Player 11. See below for video footage of Unreal Tournament III and the "Epic Citadel" tech demo running within Mozilla Firefox.

Epic Games Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Technical Director Tim Sweeney today presented the company�s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) technology running fully inside an Adobe Flash-based environment during a keynote at Adobe MAX 2011, Adobe�s annual conference for developers, designers and business leaders. The live technical demonstration of �Unreal Tournament 3,� Epic�s blockbuster first-person shooter was visually enhanced for an unprecedented real-time experience inside Adobe Flash Player 11, which was released yesterday.

Flash Player is a key technology for gaming on social networks and the Web, and with UE3 will usher in the leap from 2D game experiences to world-class 3D gaming on the Web. Developers can now animate millions of objects with smooth 60 frames per second rendering and deliver console-quality games on Mac OS, Windows and connected televisions.

UE3 licensees will be able to access these new features that bring triple-A gaming to the Web. For more information about developing games for the Flash Platform with UE3, visit www.unrealengine.com.

Spotted on VG247.

• Steam's Daily Deal is Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle for $3.40 (66% off)

• Impulse has two "Stardock Mega-hits" on sale this week, Elemental: War of Magic for $20 (50% off) and Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity for $10 (50% off)

• Impulse's Daily Deal is You Don't Know Jack for $5 (75% off)

• GamersGate has up to 40% off EA shooter games this week, including Battlefield 2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and BulletStorm

• Amazon has Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $40 (20% off), Dungeon Siege III for $30 (25% off), and The Sims 3 for $30 (25% off)

• OnLive has Homefront for $15 (50% off)

Following a mass updating of retailer listings, Joystiq has confirmed that Ubisoft's upcoming third-person shooter set in the Ghost Recon universe will be releasing on March 6th, 2012. On that date, they'll be going head-to-head with EA/BioWare's Mass Effect 3, so they're either oblivious to that fact or VERY confident in their game.

It's a little unclear at the moment as to which platforms the game will be releasing on. I seem to remember finding out around E3 that no PC version of Future Soldier was in the works (instead we get the free-to-play Ghost Recon: Online), and retailers including GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy only have the 360 and PS3 versions listed. We're likely to have a clarification on that soon, though knowing Ubisoft, the game would arrive 2 months late on PC and include always-on DRM...

Spotted on Shacknews.

A post on the BioWare Social Network forums features a scan of an advertisement for Mass Effect 3 from a South African games retailer. It outlines the basic features of the game, as well as the contents of its Collector's Edition, which includes a hardcover art book, fabric patch, lithograph, and... "online multiplayer pass?"

Though unconfirmed by EA/BioWare at this point, the mere mention of multiplayer in marketing materials does add more fuel to the fire beneath the rumor that it will be featured in the third entry in the space-faring action RPG series. While it's unlikely to involve any sort of deathmatch action between players, some theorize that a cooperative mode where your AI squad mates are controlled by humans is very possible.

Spotted on Blue's News.

RAGE (PC, 360, PS3)

id Software's new Tech 5 engine makes its debut this week with the release of a brand new shooter IP, RAGE. It's not very often the pioneers of the FPS genre put out a new game, so that in itself is a good reason to pay attention to it. However, everything they've shown so far (despite generally being from the console version) has made me think it should be pretty awesome: open-ish world with RPG elements, varied arsenal with different ammo types for each weapon, crafting gadgetry like spider turrets and balloon bombs, plus the graphics... It's going to be a good week!

Dark Souls (360, PS3)

This action-RPG successor to PS3-exclusive Demon's Souls -- one of the most brutal and unforgiving games of all time -- is branching out to share the pain with Xbox owners when it comes out this Tuesday. The developer has assured us that Dark Souls will offer even more difficult dark fantasy adventuring, while retaining such ground-breaking online features as shared player messages, pools of blood marking other players' recent deaths (complete with ghosts re-living their final moments), and invasion by friendly or destructive player spirits. The latter has even been used to punish those players that got their hands on the game early! That'll teach 'em.

And the rest...

• NBA 2K12 (PC, 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
• Spider-Man: Edge of Time (360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, DS)
• Disciples III: Resurrection (PC)
• Payday: The Heist (PC, PS3)
• Just Dance 3 (360, Wii)
• Orcs Must Die (360)
• Sega Bass Fishing (360, PS3)
• Space Channel 5: Part 2 (360, PS3)
• Chrono Trigger (PS3)
• Motion Explosion! (360)
• Eufloria (PS3)
• BloodRayne Betrayal (360)
• Tetris Axis (3DS)