The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The PC Gamer forums are giving away two EPOS prizes to one lucky winner
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-pc-gamer-forums-are-giving-away-two-epos-prizes-to-one-lucky-winner/
This month we’re doing something slightly different with our SpecialEffect giveaway. Usually, you’d be vying for the chance to win one awesome prize but, this time around, how does winning TWO awesome prizes strike you?
In the latest installment of our campaign with this amazing charity, we’re now happy to announce that one lucky winner will be walking away with:
(1) EPOS GTW 270 Earbuds
(1) EPOS GSP 601 Headset

>> Good luck.

Get Stellaris for a single dollar in this Humble Bundle
https://www.pcgamer.com/get-stellaris-for-a-single-dollar-in-this-humble-bundle/
Stellaris is currently $1 (AU$1.25) over at Humble Bundle, which is only slightly more expensive than free. That's for the base game, which fared well in our review back in 2017, but you can also pick up a handful of its expansions if you pay a bit more.
If you pay $10 (AU$13) you'll get the Utopia and Leviathans expansions alongside the Plantoids Species Pack. If you fork out $15 (AU$18.79) you'll get an additional four expansions: Synthetic Dawn, Apocalypse, Megacorp and Ancient Relics.
>> The Bundle will last 13 days.

GOG has a new sale and two new releases:

• The Close Combat franchise is on sale with up to 76% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/close_combat_sale
• The game Don't Be Afraid launches with a 15% discount until the 25th: https://www.gog.com/game/dont_be_afraid
• And The Last Show of Mr. Chardish also launches with a 15% discount until March 25: https://www.gog.com/game/the_last_show_of_mr_chardish

At Steam, the PanCake Week Sale brings up to 90% discounts during the next 3 days: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PanCakeWeek

And Fanatical has three new flash deals, check them out by yourself, and a new bundle: the Mega Bundle 3, with 20 games at a 98% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mega-bundle-3

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

First-person adventure game, Paradise Lost, releases on March 24th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-person-adventure-game-paradise-lost-releases-on-march-24th/
All in! Games has announced that the first-person adventure game, Paradise Lost, will release on March 24th. In addition, the publisher released a new trailer that you can find below.

The Medium Patch 1.2 adds support for UltraWide (21:9) & SuperUltraWide (32:9) monitors
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-medium-patch-1-2-adds-support-for-ultrawide-219-superultrawide-329-monitors/
Bloober Team has released a new patch for the PC version of The Medium. According to the team, Patch 1.2 adds support for UltraWide (21:9) & SuperUltraWide (32:9) monitors.

CONTROL Update March 10th re-enables DirectX 11
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/control-update-march-10th-adds-support-for-directx-11/
When Remedy’s CONTROL launched, it supported both DX11 and DX12. However, Remedy removed support for DirectX 11 via a post-launch update. Thankfully, the team has released a new patch that re-enables support for DX11.

The Day Before gets a brand new screenshot and gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-day-before-gets-a-brand-new-screenshot-and-gameplay-video/
Fntastic has released a new screenshot and a short gameplay video for The Day Before. This new gameplay video showcases the game’s vehicles, as well as its terrain deformation. To be honest, this feels like Mudrunner, which is – obviously – good news.

First gameplay trailer released for MotoGP 21
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-released-for-motogp-21/
Milestone and Dorna Sports have released the first gameplay of MotoGP 21, the next game of the unique two-wheeled racing simulation. As the press release reads, the 2021 edition will feature a series of new introductions in gameplay mechanics.

Gothic Remake to be developed by Alkimia Interactive
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gothic-remake-to-be-developed-by-alkimia-interactive/
THQ Nordic announced today the incorporation of its new studio, Alkimia Interactive in Barcelona, Spain. As the press release reads, Alkimia Interactive will be now working on the upcoming Gothic Remake.

Part two of the news:

Crush your coffee shop rivals as the Espresso Tycoon
https://www.pcgamer.com/crush-your-coffee-shop-rivals-as-the-espresso-tycoon/
I'm a coffee guy, but a boring one. I like regular old coffee. Nothing fancy, just grind the beans, drip hot water through the grounds, and fill up my regular old mug. Still, the idea of running my own fancy coffee shop and creating a caffeine empire is appealing, so the trailer for Espresso Tycoon caught my eye.

Roblox makes its stock market debut, goes toe-to-toe with EA
https://www.pcgamer.com/roblox-makes-its-stock-market-debut-goes-toe-to-toe-with-ea/
Shares of Roblox Corporation were traded publicly for the first time today on the New York Stock Exchange. Up from a $45 per share reference price, stock in the online game platform started selling at $64.50 per share, rising to above $70 at its peaks before settling at $69.50 for the day. At present, the company's market capitalization—the value of all stock outstanding—is $38.26 billion. That puts Roblox among the largest publicly traded videogame companies in the world, with a higher market capitalization than game giants like Ubisoft, Take-Two, and CD Projekt. Roblox's market cap even pushed past EA's $37.4B.

Latest Nioh 2 patch adds mouse and keyboard button displays, but also crashes
https://www.pcgamer.com/latest-nioh-2-patch-adds-mouse-and-keyboard-button-displays-but-also-crashes/
Nioh 2 is a brilliant Soulslike with all the loot trappings of the original, but it launched with one glaring omission: mouse and keyboard input icons. It’s the kind of game that works best with a controller, so said our reviewer, but this being a PC game it makes sense to have the system’s primary input devices supported. Team Ninja recently added icons with patch 1.27, but it also inadvertently added incessant crashes for some players.

EA launches investigation after allegations an employee profited from FIFA 21 Ultimate Team trading
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-launches-investigation-after-allegations-an-employee-profited-from-fifa-21-ultimate-team-trading/
Right now, #EAGATE is trending on Twitter after allegations that an employee of EA has been selling FIFA 21 Ultimate Team icons directly to players. Normally these digital player cards are available in packs that have been compared to loot boxes, but some of them can also be traded over the transfer market. The tweets that set off the hashtag claim to show icons that aren't tradeable being purchased for hundreds of euros (in one case for €1,700, or roughly $US2,026). A video shows icons that arrived directly in the purchaser's game, all marked as having no previous owners.

Games Workshop is giving away a Steam key for 12 games with the next issue of White Dwarf
https://www.pcgamer.com/games-workshop-is-giving-away-a-steam-key-for-12-games-with-the-next-issue-of-white-dwarf/
White Dwarf is a monthly magazine that covers Games Workshop's tabletop money-spinners like Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar, with additional rules and background, battle reports, painting and modeling tips, and so on. I once got a free plastic space marine with a copy and thought that was a sweet deal, but this month's edition will come with a Steam key that gets you 12 games and some DLC.

Watch a teaser for The Outer Worlds' second expansion, Murder on Eridanos
https://www.pcgamer.com/watch-a-teaser-for-the-outer-worlds-second-expansion-murder-on-eridanos/
We're expecting the second half of The Outer Worlds' season pass to arrive this month, and Obsidian have begun ramping up to a reveal tomorrow with a teaser clip showing your ship, the Unreliable, landing on a floating platform. After that came a tweet showing a Willy Wonka-esque golden ticket from Rizzo's, the in-game corporation who make all their food and drinks out of "purpleberry".

A new level from Fall Guys Season 4 has been revealed
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-level-from-fall-guys-season-4-has-been-revealed/
The forthcoming Fall Guys Season 4 will have a sci-fi theme, and be called Fall Guys 4041. Because 4041 is the year it's set—a time of rocketships, robots, and space travel if the bumblethon battle royale game show's recent promos are anything to go by. One of the seven new levels coming with Season 4 has been revealed, and it's called Skyline Stumble.

Capcom reportedly forced staff to work on-site despite Japan's 'Covid Emergency'
https://www.pcgamer.com/capcom-reportedly-forced-staff-to-work-on-site-despite-japans-covid-emergency/
It's been roughly a year since Covid-19 took over our lives. While it isn't worst-affected by the global pandemic, the games industry has struggled to adapt to the necessity of remote work. But this January, in the face of Japan posting some of its highest case figures, Capcom reportedly forced employees to continue clocking into the publisher's Osaka office.

Hearthstone is heading to the Barrens at the end of March
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-is-heading-to-the-barrens-at-the-end-of-march/
Hearthstone's dusty new expansion, Forged In The Barrens, is taking us on a Horde-themed adventure on March 30th—and there'll be a pre-launch party to prepare you for your hike across The Barrens.

Intel “Raptor Lake” desktop and mobile series appear on a leaked roadmap



https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-raptor-lake-desktop-and-mobile-series-appear-on-a-leaked-roadmap

Sounds like there's going to be a number of gaming related improvements to Raptor Lake in 2022. Does make me a bit curious about the performance of Alder Lake.


First NVIDIA CMP (Crypto Mining Processor) has been pictured

https://videocardz.com/newz/first-nvidia-cmp-crypto-mining-processor-has-been-pictured#disqus_thread

Hardware Unboxed: Nvidia has a driver overhead problem (in CPU-limited scenarios)

While I personally don't like Hardware Unboxed due to them being historically bias towards AMD, they do some tests once in a while that are interesting.

In CPU limited scenarios, especially at the low end, getting an AMD GPU would net you better performance, sometimes up to 20-30% better. Now this doesn't apply universally as we have seen with Several Direct X11 games, Nvidia does better even at the low end. And the tests that were shown, the game settings were set to medium. But if you do have a low end CPU like a 1600/2600 and you are playing at 1080p medium settings and it's a DX12/Vulkan game which most modern games are, an AMD GPU, both 5000/6000 series will be better than 2000/3000 series from Nvidia due to the Driver Overhead. As you increase the GPU load by playing games at ultra settings or with RT on and etc, that's where Nvidia's GPU perform like they are supposed to with low end cpus.

Hopefully Nvidia fixes it in the future because while this isn't a problem with mid-high end CPUs now, we all know that high end CPUs eventually become mid ranged and then low end. And if AMD did have an answer to DLSS and was competitive in Ray Tracing and 4k, then you would have a scenario where RDNA 2 might have been the better choice. For now though, if you have a low end CPU and you play at 1080p medium settings, it's better to get a 6000 series.

^That's certainly interesting, and something to keep in mind for those outside of the high-end hardware segment. Nvidia does have to take a look at it.

You can play a ton of Bethesda games if you have gamepass tomorrow

Raptor Lake, really?

Are they gonna say to Lisa Su "Clever Girl" with that one, or what?

^Amd isn't any better either with all those painters.

On the other hand, they don't call everything conceivable and inconceivable a lake...