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

[JEMC]

Wednesday news, part two:

C&C Remastered is looking good, and comes with a treasure trove of rediscovered FMV
https://www.pcgamer.com/candc-remastered-is-looking-good-and-comes-with-a-treasure-trove-of-rediscovered-fmv/
The C&C Remastered Collection is out on June 5, making two great '90s real-time strategy games much more playable on modern PCs. I attended a virtual demo for the collection last week to see how it's shaping up, and it looks good—all the graphics have been redrawn to support 4K monitors, and the UI includes modern conveniences like build tabs, unit queuing and custom hotkeys. After my demo, though, I'm less excited about replaying Command & Conquer and Red Alert, and more excited about diving into the extras packed into this re-release. The biggest draw, by far, is four hours of behind-the-scenes footage taken during filming of the famous live action cutscenes.

Try the demo for Kill It With Fire, a game about squashing bugs and destroying your home
https://www.pcgamer.com/try-the-demo-for-kill-it-with-fire-a-game-about-squashing-bugs-and-destroying-your-home/
When I read about Kill It With Fire earlier today, I thought to myself, "This sounds pretty dumb." Then I played the demo, Kill It With Fire: Ignition on Steam, and I discovered that I was 100 percent correct: It's dumb as hell. It's also a lot of very silly fun.

Valorant ranked mode coming soon, new patch makes a bunch of changes
https://www.pcgamer.com/valorant-patch-teases-ranked-mode-makes-a-bunch-of-bug-fixes-and-changes/
According to the latest patch notes, ranked matchmaking has been added to Valorant, but we can't actually join a ranked match yet. We'll have to "wait a little before it goes live," says Riot. I'm not sure why Riot announced that a competitive mode has been added to the game if we can't access it yet, but I suspect it'll show up soon.

Valorant executive producer won't solo queue because of the harassment women face
https://www.pcgamer.com/valorant-executive-producer-wont-solo-queue-because-of-the-harassment-women-face/
Earlier this year, a community survey of nearly 3,800 League of Legends players found that 79 percent of them had been harassed after a match, in manners ranging from outbursts of obscenities and repeated friend requests to, almost exclusively for players who identify as women, sexual harassment. Unsurprisingly, while slightly more men than women reported being the target of "general abuse"—flaming, racist slurs, or friend invite spam—women were far more likely to be the target of sexual harassment: 32 percent reported receiving "sexual remarks or propositions" after a game, compared to just three percent of male players.

Valorant's anti-cheat system can now be disabled from the taskbar
https://www.pcgamer.com/valorants-anti-cheat-system-can-now-be-disabled-from-the-taskbar/
Part of Riot's pitch for Valorant is that it's going to do everything it can to ensure a level playing field, which includes aggressively banning cheaters. But some have taken issue with just how aggressive Riot's anti-cheat software is: Part of the company's Vanguard system operates at the kernel driver level, meaning that it starts when Windows boots up and has more system privileges than normal, user-level software.

Destiny 2's Hard Light is getting nerfed
https://www.pcgamer.com/destiny-2s-hard-light-is-getting-nerfed/
The Destiny 2 exotic auto rifle Hard Light has been around for a long time, and hasn't been especially noteworthy for most of it. It has a lot going for it, including no damage drop-off, elemental damage types you can toggle between, and ricocheting rounds that are nasty in confined spaces. None of which mattered, because for most of its life span it's been widely considered unusable due to a nauseating screen-shake effect when firing that made it miserable to aim at any kind of range.

A DayZ studio has closed, but development will continue
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-dayz-studio-has-closed-but-development-will-continue/
A studio which provided assistance on DayZ has been shuttered, Bohemia Interactive has confirmed. Based in Bratislava, Slovakia, the studio had over 40 employees at the time of its closure, according to a statement provided to Gamesindustry.biz.

Actor Dimitri Diatchenko, who voiced characters in over 30 games, dies at 52
https://www.pcgamer.com/actor-dimitri-diatchenko-who-voiced-characters-in-over-30-games-dies-at-52/
Actor Dimitri Diatchenko, who was a frequent presence in videogames over the past two decades, died on April 21 at 52 years old. According to CNN, the cause of death has not been determined, but Diatchenko is said to have been recovering at home from an electric shock he received at work on April 13. Police have found "no signs of foul play," CNN says.
>> Sadly he's not the only one.

Gene Dynarski, who played Stalin in Command & Conquer: Red Alert, has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/gene-dynarski-who-played-stalin-in-command-and-conquer-red-alert-has-died/
Playwright Ernest Kearney announced earlier this week that actor Gene Dynarski died while recovering from a "heart episode" at a rehabilitation center in February. He was 86 years old, and is survived by two children.
Dynarski's prolific career included parts in Star Trek, Seinfeld, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind—but I first saw him as Joseph Stalin in Command & Conquer: Red Alert. That classic videogame performance can be seen above.
>> D.E.P., both of them.

Smite has launched on the Epic Games Store, with a bunch of perks
https://www.pcgamer.com/smite-has-launched-on-the-epic-games-store-with-a-bunch-of-perks/
Hi-Rez Studios' third-person godslaying MOBA Smite has just launched on the Epic Games Store, six years after its initial release on PC. The Epic Games Store supports cross-play with Steam and console users, and if you're keen to defect, you'll get $50 worth of in-game content, including five gods (playable characters), each with a voice pack and skin.

Blizzard co-founder believes accessibility has made World of Warcraft less social
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-co-founder-believes-accessibility-has-made-world-of-warcraft-less-social/
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime, who stepped down as President in 2018 and left the company the following year, has some thoughts about the current state of the MMO and, naturally, World of Warcraft in particular.
In an interview with New York Time's Seth Schiesel during the digital GamesBeat Summit, Morhaime speculates about the root of its declining popularity. It's still a beast of a game with millions of players and most expansions still selling around 3 million copies at launch, but it does feel like its heyday is behind it.

Games for Carers is giving away thousands of games to NHS workers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games-for-carers-is-giving-away-thousands-of-games-to-nhs-workers/
Developers and publishers are working with UKIE to provide NHS workers with free games, thanking them for their efforts in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
The Games for Carers initiative is a lovely idea that gives those looking out for our health a free game or subscription to help them relax when they get home or, if they're not gamers themselves, something they can gift to their family members.
>> Nice gesture from their part. I'm sure they'd prefer money, but at least it's something.