January 9, 2013, and the day is over with Late Night Computing.

Infinite Games Publishing is trying to sabotage me. Entering closed beta right now, MechWarrior Tactics released the sign-up for it's Founder's Program. Just when I thought I was going to make some coding progress. Between CodeAcademy, my ongoing addiction to MechWarrior Online, the killer list of new games next month, the Marvel Heroes Founders Program, and now this closed beta........just kill me now.

News bits:

• The lead writer of BioWare's Dragon Age series discusses the pitfalls of the 'toxic environment' a rabid fan-base can create. [via Tumblr]

• Internet denizens still using Microsoft Messenger take note - its being retired on March 15 and will transition to Skype as a replacement service. [via TheNextWeb]

• Tired of giving big banks your service? Simple, a start-up "that offers its customers free checking accounts and data-rich analysis of their transactions and spending habits," might just be for you. [via New York Times]

• The Pebble smartwatch is finally shipping on January 23, 2013 to Kickstarter backers! [via ReadWriteWeb]

• Hasbro resorts to Facebook fans to vote one of its iconic Monopoly peices off the island and into jail, permanently. Screw you, tophat. [via MSN Today]

Chatty posts of the moment:

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

• "OK, Shack, let's brainstorm. We all agree that the one game genre that has been ignored for far too long is the space dog fighting (Tie Fighter) and our buddy Rampancy is addressing that. So, what other game segment has been ignored for far too long? What kind of software has only shoddy options? What web services out there just don't do what you need them to do? Let's find a problem and tackle it. Any ideas?" [by Clay]

• "Bioshock ultra late to the party edition in reply. tl;dr - awesome game, some minor adjustments could have made it better, but very engaging and fun game. Playing Bioshock 2 next and I'm excited." [by flagg209]

Nightly file:

• Surface Tension Uncut 1.1 for Black Mesa. "Black Mesa was a crowning achievement for modding for sure, but it felt like it was lacking a little in some areas, particularly Surface Tension. For those of you that were not aware, Black Mesa's version of Surface Tension cut out a map from the original which was integral to the story's progression. Its replacement felt rushed and poorly implemented. This mod attempts to add that little something back into the game. I took the liberty of re-adding the cut chapters from Surface Tension as their omission harmed the story and really damaged the tone of Forget About Freeman. This mod currently adds 40 - 50 minutes of gameplay and story to Surface Tension, improving the Black Mesa experience and it's overall narrative. It integrates seamlessly with the Black Mesa campaign too, just like it should. Why not give it a whirl?" Download the mod for Windows.

Media:

Anarchy Reigns launch trailer:

Chaos and combat are king in the Anarchy Reigns launch trailer.

Dungeonland also has its pre-order bonus items outted in a new trailer, defend humanity from invasion in the Earth Defense Force 2017 launch trailer, and Omerta - City of Gangsters shows off its first gameplay for Mac.