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

[JEMC]

Here are the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Persona 3 Reload has sold one million units in its first week
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/persona-3-reload-has-sold-one-million-units-in-its-first-week/
Atlus has just announced that Persona 3 Reload has sold over one million units worldwide on all platforms in its first week. As such, it currently is the fastest game in Atlus history (and from what appears to be a huge commercial success).
Although Atlus has not provided any platform-specific sales, we do know that the game sold well on PC. As we’ve reported, it immediately became the biggest ATLUS launch on Steam.

The Epic Store gives away two games:

• Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/doki-doki-literature-club-plus
• Lost Castle: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/lost-castle-abb2e2

Next week, they'll give away Dakar Desert Rally.

Steam has two new deals:

• Shredders will be 40% off until February, the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1874170/Shredders/
• ONE PIECE ODYSSEY gets a 50% discount until the same 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/814000/ONE_PIECE_ODYSSEY/

We have a new Humble Bundle: the Megaman Franchise Pack, with up to 8 games to get during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mega-man-franchise-pack.

Fanatical's Lunar New Year Sale has launched and will last until the 18th of February, but that's not all:

• First of all, there's the mentioned Lunar New Year Sale
• The new Star Deal is Hi-Fi Rush, 45% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/hi-fi-rush
• And there are these four new bundles:
  • NeuroVoider - Deluxe Edition, with 1 game + 1 DLC, will be 73% off during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neurovoider-deluxe-edition
  • Rimworld with all expansions, with the game and 3 DLCs gets a 20% discount during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/rimworld-with-all-expansions
  • The Jackbox Quintpack will be 50% off during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/the-jackbox-quintpack
  • And the Batman: Arkham Collection, with 3 games, gets a 87% discount during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix driver addresses micro-stutter issues
https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-hotfix-driver-addresses-micro-stutter-issues
The problem of micro-stuttering is one of the most common problems with computer graphics. It can run the experience for any gamer during the most competitive battles, or occur even when browsing the web. The issue of micro-stutter is a very complex topic that may not always have its roots in GPU architecture, sometimes it is related to the CPU/memory and sometimes all it takes is a new software update.

Turns out, NVIDIA has addressed at least one of the potential sources for micro-stutter with their latest GeForce hotfix driver. According to the changelog, it specifically focuses on users using vertical synchronization (V-Sync). There is also a stutter fix for users who are not playing games, but simply browsing the web. The explanation for these issues is not provided by NVIDIA, but they all might stem from the same issue.

This hotfix addresses the following issues:

• Some users may experience intermittent micro-stuttering in games when vertical sync is enabled [4445940]
• Potential stutter may be observed when scrolling in web browsers on certain system configurations [4362307]
• [Red Dead Redemption 2][Vulkan] Stutter observed on some Advanced Optimus notebooks [4425987]
• [Immortals of Aveum] Addresses stability issues over extended gameplay [4415277]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The world's biggest mod site pops the cork on 10 billion downloads and $7 million-worth of payouts: 'If every download were a footstep, you could walk to the Moon 11 times'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-worlds-biggest-mod-site-pops-the-cork-on-10-billion-downloads-and-dollar7-million-worth-of-payouts-if-every-download-were-a-footstep-you-could-walk-to-the-moon-11-times/
Nexus Mods, the world's largest mod site and almost certainly a bookmark in your browser if you've ever wanted to fiddle with Skyrim, obliterate yourself in Fallout, or annihilate thugs with cans of soft drink, is celebrating a milestone. Specifically, it's celebrating the fact that the site will today hit 10 billion total file downloads. That's a one and ten zeroes.
It's a staggering amount, but even more surprising—at least to me—is the relatively small pool of mods and modders it's drawn from. "These 10,000,000,000 downloads are spread across 539,682 mod files," reads the announcement from Nexus Mods, "created by a vibrant community of 128,361 mod authors, serving over 47 million total members, modding 2,683 different games."

Tekken 8 Mod allows you to go beyond Ultra Graphics, enabling GTAO, Full Screen SSR & Shadow Denoiser
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/tekken-8-mod-beyond-ultra-graphics/
Modder ‘xowny’ has released a new configuration file for Tekken 8 that allows you to go beyond the game’s Ultra Graphics settings. This mod will enable GTAO Ambient Occlusion, Shadow Denoiser and Full Screen SSR Reflections.
For those unaware, GTAO is a more advanced technique of Ambient Occlusion. GTAO takes advantage of temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) information. It uses information from previous frames to improve the accuracy of occlusion calculations. As such, it can provide a better image quality than the game’s default AO.
On the other hand, Shadow Denoiser can result in smoother and cleaner shadows, enhancing the overall visual fidelity of the game. It can help reduce flickering, blocky artifacts, and other noise-related issues that may occur in the shadowed areas of the scene.
As for Full Screen SSR, you already know what this setting does. Basically, it improves the quality of SSR reflections so that they can appear more accurate. Still, the game would benefit from RT Reflections as there are some stages in which the SSR artifacts look horrendous.
>> The article has an almost 15 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

Starfield AMD FSR 3.0 Beta Patch Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/starfield-amd-fsr-3-0-beta-patch-released/
Bethesda has just released a new beta patch for Starfield that adds support for AMD FSR 3.0. Thanks to it, NVIDIA, Intel and AMD GPU owners will be able to enable and experience Frame Generation in Starfield.

Homeworld 3 delayed until May 13th, will be now using Denuvo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/homeworld-3-delayed-until-may-13th-will-be-now-using-denuvo/
Gearbox Publishing has just announced that its upcoming sci-fi RTS, Homeworld 3, has been delayed until May 13th. In addition, the publisher has updated the game’s Steam store page, revealing that it will be now using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech.
>> Hey, at least you can try the demo thanks to the Steam Next.

Skull and Bones is going to be a BIG MESS, and you should stay away from it
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/skull-and-bones-big-mess/
Ubisoft has launched the Open Beta phase for Skull and Bones, however, things are not looking great for this upcoming title. The game currently suffers from major server/connectivity issues. Not only that but there are issues preventing you from even accessing its main menu. This game is coming in hot, and you should stay away from it.
>> I mean, that's kind of what Betas are for, right?

Alan Wake 2 Patch 1.16 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/alan-wake-2-patch-1-16-released-fully-detailed/
Remedy has just released Title Update 1.16 for Alan Wake 2, and shared its full patch notes. This is a small update that includes a handful of important fixes. So, let’s take a look at them.