Valkyria Chronicles is getting additional content on the April 16th PSN update. I am so kicking myself in the head for not picking this up. I guess I have a present for myself when I get some nice-paying clients! ^_^

Source Engine mod Neotokyo has been in the works for years. Quickly approaching their much anticipated release, they are beginning to drop other tasty morsels, first with an official trailer, an FAQ from a dev, and now the soundtrack on CD!

From the Neotokyo music page:

13 songs will be released as mp3's free with the mod, but if you want to support Ed Harrison, and all the hard work he has put into this 27 TRACK-DOUBLE CD, then we can't think of a better way to spend $11 dollars.

Beyond the pure excitement that we will soon be able to play this mod, this is a great example of independent developers coming together and creating something without the need of a game publisher backing them. Of course, that doesn't mean that the game won't be showing up on Steam sometime after it is released.

Because I am a chump for soundtrack music, and that I don't play mp3's, I ordered the CD today (it was out of stock quickly, so hurry and get yours!). Soon I will be chillaxing to an even larger ambient cyberpunk playlist! ^_^

Our favourite OSS RTS has just been released with an update that adds a whole lot, including: new campaigns, AI-objective setting, multiplayer balancing, new graphics, new tiles, and new music! You can read the whole change log at http://www.wesnoth.org/start/1.6/.

Congratulations to the Wesnoth team! This is a great update to an already great game. I will definitely be on later tonight! ^_^

From the PlayStation.Blog:

We’re finally able to announce that our latest free downloadable Burnout pack bikes will be out 18th September!!!

It’s tough to give specific dates on downloadable content, because we don’t know for certain until the last minute. But hey, we’re really excited about bringing bikes to Burnout, so we’re going to take a chance and tell you that we’re aiming for September 18 – that’s this coming Thursday!

There is more details on that post, but nothing new. The question is, get it now, or wait until the game is released on the PSN as a downloadable game?

The release notes for the preview beta of Book 14 are available, but I took the liberty of compiling the things that are important to me below. For those not in the know, Heren Vanista, the kinship that comprises of all the writers of this blog, plays on Landroval. Send Bookend a letter. He really likes letters.

Here you go:

• Animations and sounds for each Minstrel skill using their equipped instrument (no longer just the Lute!)
• New collection-based fishing deeds are here! Be sure to catch’em all!
• The Dressing Room UI now supports dye color previewing!
• New dyes for clothing available: Orange, Grey, Burgundy, and Turquoise!
• Optional crafting ingredients now stack to 20.
• New farming recipes are available from Novice and Expert farmhands! Farmers now have new crop options to add some variety to their harvest yields. All of the new farming field recipes have the potential to produce rare ingredients useful to Scholars in the production of new dyes, and wall paints for player housing!
• Single-use recipes for the Scholar profession are now available in loot! These recipes allows Scholars to make “Crafting Journals” for the following professions: Jeweller, Metalworker, Tailor, Weaponsmith, and Woodworker. The journals can be used as optional ingredients in single-use recipes for the five professions, allowing crafters to gain a significant increase in the critical chance for these recipes.
• Replaced the “woodchopping” animation with a new “hide tanning” animation for all of the Forester profession’s treated hide recipes.
• The Outfitter is now selling new outfits for crafters. A little retail therapy never hurt anyone, so go check them out!
• All dye colors can now appear on all clothing randomly appearing in loot (regardless of level and item quality).
• Chicken play: As soon as you become a chicken we now reveal the exploration deeds to you. This means those deeds have been versioned. If you are midway on one when Book 14 goes live you will have to restart the quest.
• Repeatable quests can now be shared with someone who has already completed the quest, as long as they would otherwise be able to pick up the quest again from the NPC. The fellowship Shared Quest filter will now filter out quests that your fellows don’t have.
• You can now Ctrl+right-click on many of the item icons in the game to create an item link in your chat window instead of dragging them to the text entry field. This includes item icons in the Auction house, crafting panel, quest rewards, vendors / barter NPCs, and so on. You can also re-map this command, “Item Link To Chat”, in the Key Mapping section of the Options Panel.
• Added 3 more looting options: Roll/Pass with Free For All, Need/Greed with Free For All, and Master Looter with Free For All. If the item is below the current threshold, any person in the group can pick it up. If the item is at or above the threshold then the Loot Policy will be in effect for the item (Roll/Pass, Need/Greed, Master Looter). In addition, for all landscape chests the first player to open the chest will always be able to loot the items below the threshold. All items at or above the threshold will follow the normal Loot Policy.
• When you are too far away to do a fellowship manoeuvre contribution it will now be clear on the UI that you cannot use that contribution as is.
• Smoothed out Companion following.
• Emotes
  • Burp
  • Charge
  • Chuckle – new!
  • Clap
  • Congratulate
  • Fidget
  • Hail – new!
  • Poke
  • Shiver
  • Slap
  • Think
  • Whippitydo – new!!
  • Wince
  • Yawn
  • Ahem
• You can now drag items from your inventory into the “Item Name” field of the “Auctions” tab on the Auction UI to populate it with the name of that item.
• Lore-master skills “Light of the Rising Dawn” and “Cracked Earth” – Fixed a rare error that left a book stuck in the Lore-master’s hand when the skill failed to execute completely. maiki note: not a rare error
• The Oleif twins have resolved their dual identity crisis by having their leatherworking member take on a new name, “Fielo.” Now when one gets in trouble, the other feels pain! (points for spotting the reference) (extra points for a youtube sample) kgo
• The height requirement for the summer festival horse race has been lowered to allow dwarves and hobbits to complete this quest.
• The Prologue for “Volume II: The Mines of Moria” is now available! Speak to Barbethnir in front of the House of Elrond to help the Fellowship prepare to embark on their errand of secrecy.

A cute video showcasing the new Epic Archtypes being introduced in Issue 12: Midnight Hour. New challenges for the Interi Group to combat in the protection of Paragon City!

In case you missed it, you can now view the video by Longbow Agent “Major Tasker” that reports all the details about the new Villain Epic Archetypes. Called the Soldiers of Arachnos, these new archetypes are included in the next free expansion to City of Heroes, Issue 12: Midnight Hour.

The video is available at http://www.cityofheroes.com/gallery/movies.html.