Is it...is it summer already? I locked the door to my apartment in March when it was cold and blustery outside and...well, it's June in San Francisco, so it's probably cold and blustery outside. But the point is that I'm reduced to marking time by the various Steam sales, and that means today it's summer. Yes, the Steam Summer Sale kicks off Thursday, and runs through July 9 at 10AM Pacific. "Rewards" is a bit strong of a term maybe, given it's all profile backgrounds and chat effects and the like, but hey, it's a "souvenir" of the sale, as Valve puts it.

Learn how machine learning was used to automate the incredibly tedious process of adding hand-drawn inks to the textures of Borderlands 3. After an overview of the Borderlands 3 art style, you'll learn why automating the inking pipeline is the holy grail for Gearbox's art department. Gain insights into the steps taken to achieve this goal, including but not limited to selecting the right network architecture, choosing the training curriculum that gives the model the best chance of success, training the model, and wrapping the resulting model into an artist-friendly GUI. This session is aimed primarily at artists and technical artists in hopes that they understand and gain insights into how they can add machine learning to their toolbox. Attendees will leave with an understanding of how machine learning was used in the Borderlands 3 art production pipeline.

The Borderlands video game franchise, which kicked off a decade ago, is one of the most innovative around in terms of gameplay and gear progression. Gamers quickly fell in love with the game's first installment because of all the loot, shooting, and enemies the developers packed into a dynamic world. So the news that "Borderlands 3" was in development was met with much anticipation. Developed by Gearbox and published by 2K, "Borderlands 3," arrived Sept. 13 ($60-up, for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC). How does the game deliver and add to the franchise's stellar reputation?

The video game that helped create the term "loot shooter" is back. On Friday, publisher 2K Games released "Borderlands 3," the long-anticipated sequel from the video game franchise developed 10 years ago by studio Gearbox Software. The game, which serves as the proper follow-up to 2012's "Borderlands 2," features four Vault Hunters seeking unlimited treasures on the planet Pandora and beyond. It boasts a similar vibe to movies like Mad Max but features animated visuals resembling comic books. Here's everything you need to know about "Borderlands 3," which is available for PC through the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Friday, and launches on Steam's PC platform in April.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: Nintendo has reimagined this iconic 1991 Game Boy title for Nintendo Switch owners in 2019. It's no secret many of the year's biggest video games debut around the holidays – to capitalize on the all-important gift-giving season, perhaps – but you might be surprised what's new this fall. In fact, September is shaping up to be an unusually big month with a handful of big-name releases bowing this month – a pair of sequels in beloved sci-fi action series, the latest in a best-selling basketball franchise, and the remake of a Nintendo Game Boy classic. While there are other basketball simulation games, NBA's 2K basketball franchise is the best of the best. Landing next week on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC, "NBA 2K20" (2K/Take-Two Interactive; $59.99, rated Everyone for all ages) is the latest in the celebrated basketball simulation series, which fuses several solo and multiplayer game modes with near-photorealistic graphics.

Can you feel it in the air? The heat is starting to falter. The wind is coming in stronger. Starbucks is about to start selling Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Fall is almost here, and with it come all the biggest video game releases of the year.

If you're going to try to keep up with the best video gaming has to offer, you'll want to start thinking about getting these titles when they launch. Gamers, get your thumbs ready. If 2019's E3 is any indication, you need to rest them up for the onslaught of upcoming titles, for all gaming platforms. Attracting roughly 60,000 attendees – all of whom play a role in the multibillion-dollar interactive entertainment industry – the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles once again shone a light on the near future of video games, hardware and services. Especially if you're into action-heavy games, the following are eight highlights from this year's E3 that will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC and upcoming streaming platform Google Stadia.

The Google Stadia controller used for playing games on Google's video game streaming service. The Stadia controller (priced separately at $69) uses WiFi to connect directly to the game running in Google's video game streaming service .the Google has shed some more clarity on its upcoming cloud-based video game service: an entry price, launch window and some of the games you will be able to play. Google's Stadia will become available in November with an entry price of $129.99 for the Founders Edition package (pre-order on Google's Stadia site), which includes a game controller, Chromecast Ultra streaming device and a three-month subscription. Cloud gaming promises to make it easier for consumers to play online games, as it sidesteps the need for pricey gaming PCs or console video game systems.

Mindless violence and inane gags go together like Monty Python and a killer bunny, but when it comes to video games, especially shooters, gritty, po-faced realism tends to win out over comedy. But 2019 is bringing an explosion of comical madness, from the superhero antics of Crackdown 3 to the Mad Max-style mohawks and DayGlo insanity of Rage 2, out in May. The bright, cartoonish Fortnite dominates battle royale, while among competitive shooters, Overwatch brims with colourful personality. Games with guns don't have to rely on military stylings and a dull colour palette any more. The first Borderlands game, in 2009, was an interesting forerunner to the "looter-shooter" genre Destiny has popularised.

With a month to go before the massive E3 video game trade show, some potential announcements may have been spoiled by a retailer leak. A series of big-name video game sequels, some of which were previously unannounced, popped up on Walmart's Canadian website Wednesday morning and brought to the public's attention by a Twitter user. At the time of writing, the listings are still visible on the website, though they could get taken down at any moment. Each game's retail page is accompanied by a black, placeholder image instead of actual box art. Some of the titles, like "The Last of Us 2" and "Final Fantasy 7 Remake," were previously announced and could have major presences at the upcoming E3 trade show. Major video game companies will get together in Los Angeles in June to announce their newest, biggest upcoming releases.