Captain Taco's log, September 17, 2012. The SS Frittata has set course for Late Night Computing.

You guessed it, I've been playing FTL: Faster Than Light all weekend. Well, for most of it. Watching the Pittsburgh Pirates implode against the Chicago Cubs, and then witnessing my very own implosion in the Shack NFL Pick 'Em and Survival Leagues, took up the rest of my time. I started on normal difficulty and finally unlocked the Engi cruiser before my Kestrel had to jump back into a system swarming with the Rebel fleet. Not the SS Frittata's finest hour.

News bits:

• Gearbox releases the new Mount Jackmore mini-game for your enjoyment just before the Borderlands 2 launch. Does not work for the US (spotted by EricZBA). [via 2K Games]

• Pre-orders for Apple's iPhone 5 tops 2-million units in its first 24 hours. [via ArsTechnica]

• Not that those intimidating pre-order numbers have stopped Samsung from taking a few pot shots of its own with a features comparison between the iPhone 5 and Galaxy SIII. [via Tom's Hardware]

• Following the recent release of Includification, AbleGamer's accessibility guide for game developers, Bioware Mythic's Paul Barnett joins the organizations board. [via Game Politics]

• Do you plan to get the next version of Adobe Photoshop and run Windows XP? You may want to read this article. [via CNet News]

Chatty posts of the moment.

Make sure you log-in and check your filters if you can't see the following:

• "UPDATE: Can't stop thinking about FTL. Status: Addicted, hull breach in Shield systems, in combat with boarding party in Life Support systems, enemy ship at critical hull integrity." And dropping knowledge torpedoes, too. [by MercFox1]

• "Hello friends! The gaming podcast that loves both the HPB and the LPB equally, Gamers After Life, is back with Episode 12! We have a pretty great episode for everyone, as joining Paul, Billy and myself this week is special guest Brian Leahy, and we talk about Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2, Dota 2, FTL, rage about Rage, Steam's Big Picture mode and more! Definitely one of those weeks where the recording time flew by even quicker than usual." [by geedeck]

Nightly file.

• Combat Mission: Fortress Italy demo 1.0. "Fortress Italy is a new 'family' of Combat Mission games covering the Allied struggle to knock Italy out of the Second World War. This initial release deals explicitly with the battle for Sicily and sets the groundwork for future additions to simulate the hard fighting in the rugged terrain of "Europe's underbelly" up until the war's end in 1945." Download the free demo for Windows or Mac.

Media.

Skylanders Giants features trailer:

A new threat has arisen, and only you can re-awaken the Giants from the frozen stupor to answer the threat once and for all.

The secret mercenary fight for the world goes live in Jagged Alliance Online, NBA 2K13 proclaims itself better with the Xbox 360 and Kinect, and Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers gets new screenshots.