Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Time again for the news:

SALES & DEALS

Resident Evil 2 Remake has shipped 4 million copies in its first month
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/resident-evil-2-remake-has-shipped-4-million-copies-in-its-first-month/
Capcom today announced that Resident Evil 2 has shipped 4 million units globally on all platforms. According to the press release, cumulative sales of all the games in the Resident Evil series now total 90 million units since the first title debuted in 1996.
Originally released in 1998, Resident Evil 2 went on to achieve cumulative sales of 4.96 million units, making it the fourth best-selling game in the Resident Evil franchise. In the 2019 release, Capcom used its cutting-edge R&D facilities to build the game completely from the ground up for current-generation game platforms.
>> The remake has almost outsold the original in just one month. Very impressive.

Hitman 2's first mission is now free for everyone
https://www.pcgamer.com/hitman-2s-first-mission-is-now-free-for-everyone/
Phil declared in his review of Hitman 2 that it "feels safe": It doesn't depart from the formula established by the first game, but it delivers levels "that can rival some of the best in Hitman's long history." The first of them, Hawke's Bay, is set in a small beachfront property in New Zealand, and as of today it's free for everyone in a new Hitman 2 Starter Pack on Steam.
The Starter Pack provides full access to all Hawke's Bay content, including challenges and unlocks, hidden stashes, new starting locations and weapons, and escalating difficulties. From March 8-17 it will also be the location of the fourth Hitman 2 Elusive Target, Dame Barbara Elizabeth Keating, aka "The Politician," a former Minister of Trade and Foreign Affairs for New Zealand who was busted siphoning charity funds into her offshore account.

 

Steam has a new daily deal and 3 Midweek Madness that are:

• Phantom Doctrine is the daily deal, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/
• Wreckfest is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/228380/Wreckfest/
• Armello celebrates the launch of their big update with a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/290340/Armello/
• And the Sudden Strike franchise is on sale, from 15 to 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/suddenstrike/

And at Fanatical, there are also several offers:

• The new Star Deal is The Age of Decadence, 80% off for the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-age-of-decadence
• The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle, with the 3 games, is 82% off for the next 5 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/stalker-complete-bundle
• Prison Architect arrives at the store and it does so with a 75% discount for the next 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/prison-architect

 

SOFTWARE/DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.3 released, improves performance in DiRT Rally 2.0
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/amd-radeon-adrenalin-2019-edition-19-2-3-released-improves-performance-in-dirt-rally-2-0/
AMD has released a brand new driver for its graphics cards. According to the release notes, the AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.3 driver adds support for AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon Vega Graphics and improves performance in DiRT Rally 2.0.
Going into more details, the AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.3 driver improves average performance by up to 10% for AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon Vega Graphics, by up to 17% in eSports games for AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon Vega Graphics, and by up to 3% in DiRT Rally 2.0 on a Radeon RX Vega 64.
This driver also fixes the character outlines that could appear stuck on screen after being revived in Battlefield 5, a loss of video when launching a fullscreen player application with Radeon FreeSync enabled, as well as fan speeds remaining elevated for longer periods than expected when using Tuning Control Auto Overclock or manual fan curve in Radeon WattMan on AMD Radeon VII.
>> Available from here. And they've also released a tech demo of Freesync 2, that's called Oasis and weights 5.4GB.

GOG is ending its Fair Price Package so it can give devs a larger cut
https://www.pcgamer.com/gog-is-ending-its-fair-price-package-so-it-can-give-devs-a-larger-cut/
GOG's Fair Price Package programme is coming to an end, the digital distributor announced today. This follows layoffs and reports of financial trouble, and while a statement yesterday framed it as a general restructuring, today's announcement is a lot more candid.
The programme was set up to make up for regional price differences. Some games are more expensive in other regions, but in those cases the price difference was then given out in store credit. On average, GOG gave customers 12 percent back, but it could go as high as 37 percent, it claims. It was able to cover those costs and still turn a profit, until now.
"With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller," the announcement reads. "However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss."
>> So they are, indeed, in some troubles. I hope this measure helps them.

It sure looks like Microsoft is testing Xbox One game support on Windows 10 PCs
https://www.pcgamer.com/it-sure-looks-like-microsoft-is-testing-xbox-one-game-support-on-windows-10-pcs/
Game consoles have become more PC-like than ever, and that is especially true of the latest generation Xbox One. That doesn't mean you can play Xbox One games on your Windows system. Not yet, anyway. However, there is evidence to suggest that Microsoft is working towards that goal.
That evidence is found within Microsoft's Windows Insider program, in which participants are able to preview and test upcoming upgrades to Windows 10 before they are pushed out to the general populace. Recently, Microsoft has been asking Insiders to install and test of special edition of State of Decay, which it has made available for free.
"We’re excited to bring technology tailor-made for gaming to Windows. Help us validate these systems work as expected, and play State of Decay for free (limited time only!). Just tell us about any problems you encounter with installing and launching the game," Microsoft explained in a blog post.
That in and of itself is a hint that something is brewing, but digging deeper, there are some interesting tidbits that go along with it, as Brad Sams outlines on Thurrott.com. For example, the game does not download from the Microsoft Store server (serverdl.microsoft.com), and instead comes from assets1.xboxlive.com. Hmm.
>> PCGamer also has an interview with Phil Spencer, in case you're interested.

 

MODS/EMULATORS

Here are the best mods for NieR:Automata Game of the YoHRa Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/here-are-the-best-mods-for-nierautomata-game-of-the-yohra-edition/
NieR:Automata Game of the YoHRa Edition has just been released on the PC and, surprise surprise, it still suffers from all the bugs and issues that affected the original/standard version of the game. As such, we’ve decided to collect the most crucial mods (at least in our opinion) and share them with you.

Red Faction receives an AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack, available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/red-faction-receives-an-ai-enhanced-hd-texture-pack-available-for-download/
Red Faction fans, here is something for you today. Captain Dagon has just released an AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack for the first Red Faction game that upscales all textures by 4X using AI techniques. Moreover, Dagon shared with us some screenshots, showcasing the new upscaled textures, that you can find below.
Now I have to say that some textures look great, while others – like the terrain textures – look really blurry and low-res. I don’t know if the original terrain textures looked worse than what is being shown here, however I was expecting better results for the terrain.
(...)
All you have to do in order to install this pack is unzip the pack (that you can download from here), drop the files on the Main Red Faction folder next to the game Executables and run the game. The modder also recommends downloading Pure Faction in order to play the game at higher resolutions on modern systems.

 

GAMING NEWS

Funcom and The Bearded Ladies remove Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/funcom-and-the-bearded-ladies-remove-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech-from-mutant-year-zero-road-to-eden/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. Funcom and The Bearded Ladies have released a new patch for Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden that, among other things, removes Denuvo. As such, this tactical XCOM-inspired game is no longer plagued by the controversial anti-tamper tech that a lot of PC gamers hate and boycott.

Skybound terminates its contract with Starbreeze, will discontinue all efforts on Overkill’s The Walking Dead
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/skybound-terminates-its-contract-with-starbreeze-will-discontinue-all-efforts-on-overkills-the-walking-dead/
Skybound has issued a statement, claiming that it has terminated its contract with Starbreeze Studios and that it will discontinue all efforts on Overkill’s The Walking Dead. This most likely means that there won’t be any additional patches for Overkill’s The Walking Dead (unless the developers decided for themselves to support/fix/tweak/improve the game).

New gameplay trailer released for the 3D Samurai Shodown fighting game, Samurai Spirits
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailer-released-for-the-3d-samurai-shodown-game-samurai-spirits/
SNK has released a brand new gameplay trailer for its upcoming Samurai Shodown game, Samurai Spirits. This new trailer showcases some of the new 3D models and environments, so we strongly suggest watching it if you are interested in this particular fighting series.
>> I'm still not convinced by the new visuals.

New gameplay trailer released for World War Z
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailer-released-for-world-war-z/
Saber Interactive has just dropped the latest gameplay trailer for World War Z. The “Zombies Are Coming” Trailer is the newest look at the game and shows off even more over-the-top, zombie-horde action – just in time to celebrate pre-orders being available at participating retail stores.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Patch #26 released, adds new vehicles and item, optimizes performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-patch-26-released-adds-new-vehicles-and-item-optimizes-performance/
PUBG Corporation has released a brand new update for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. According to the release notes, patch #26 adds two new vehicles (the Zima and Snowbike), improves Replay Editor functionality, and adds the Flare Gun.

First Crackdown 3 update improves co-op performance, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-crackdown-3-update-improves-co-op-performance-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Microsoft and Sumo Digital have released the first update for Crackdown 3. According to the release notes, this patch improves performance during particularly long co-op sessions and allows co-op campaigns should now prompt for an empty save slot to avoid overwriting existing world data, though it did not resolve the 30fps lock issue that players have reported.