Part two of the news:

Here's why 'boycott Genshin Impact' is trending on Twitter
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-why-boycott-genshin-impact-is-trending-on-twitter/
The hashtag #boycottgenshinimpact is currently trending on Twitter and it appears to be, at least in part, due to questionable depictions of race in the Chinese free-to-play RPG. Now at over 10,000 tweets, the hashtag (and several others including #dobettermihoyo and #boycottgenshin, which have collectively nearly 100,000 tweets) began as a conversation about different criticisms of Genshin Impact's depictions of race, but has more recently devolved into an incoherent mess of different debates.

A nasty Outriders bug is completely wiping inventories
https://www.pcgamer.com/outriders-inventory-wipe-reset-bug/
The nightmare scenario for a loot game has become a reality for some Outriders players. Many on the Outriders subreddit are reporting that their entire inventories have been wiped of all gear following a crash. People Can Fly is aware of the issue and has helped a few players recover their lost gear, but there's no word on when the bug will be fixed.

Hearthstone's overdue rebalance is coming 'early next week'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstones-overdue-rebalance-is-coming-early-next-week/
As Ben "RidiculousHat" Goodman pointed out yesterday, the Hearthstone meta has descended into lunacy. (...)
That's about to change, although perhaps not soon enough for everyone's liking. As Hearthstone lead designer Alec Dawson said on Twitter today, "Balance changes [are] to go out early next week with 20.0.2. We'll be targeting some cards in Mage, Paladin, Rogue, and Neutral. Hoping to create more space for experimentation in the early Barrens meta and have a more diverse field of classes. 6 changes in total, details coming soon."

One of China’s biggest MMOs is coming to the West later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-chinas-biggest-mmos-is-coming-to-the-west-later-this-year/
One of China's most popular MMOs, Gu Jian Qi Tan Online, is coming to the West later this year. Entitled Swords of Legends Online, the "fully remastered and improved" version of the game will explore the timeless war between the forces of light and darkness, fought by those few chosen by the legendary (and hopefully metaphorical) sword buried deep within themselves.

Sea of Thieves Season 2 has a new emote that lets you be a sneaky sailor
https://www.pcgamer.com/sea-of-thieves-season-2-has-a-new-emote-that-lets-you-be-a-sneaky-sailor/
Sea of Thieves is bringing new booty with a second season pass dropping next week.
Rare teased the arrival of the new plunder pass in a short video. It didn't show much, except for a damn nice-looking red ship set and some new cosmetics. More interestingly, though, was a new emote that lets you hop inside a barrel.

Call Of Duty: Warzone's nukes are landing early
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-warzones-nukes-are-landing-early/
Nuclear bombs have begun falling on Call Of Duty: Warzone's battlefield. But fortunately for players, it seems someone forgot to arm these warheads before dropping them on Verdansk.

Arma 3 is going to Vietnam
https://www.pcgamer.com/arma-3-is-going-to-vietnam/
PC gaming's biggest military sandbox will be expanding soon with S.O.G. Prairie Fire, a new paid DLC focused on the Vietnam War.
The $23 (€23/£20) DLC will add a bunch of new era-specific weapons ("pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers … and deadly grenades, traps, and other special items."), along with 50-plus vehicles from the period, "armed helicopters, gunboats, light tanks, cars, trucks, static weapons, one jet, five small boats, and two bicycles," Bohemia Interactive says.

AMD to launch Radeon RX 6800 XT “Midnight Black” today

"Update: The Midnight Black edition has been released. Unfortunately, the graphics card is already out of stock:"

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-to-launch-radeon-rx-6800-xt-midnight-black-today

Thank you AMD for giving the scalpers a version that they can charge even more than they usually do...

Dell launches Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition with up to 5900HX and RTX 3070

https://videocardz.com/newz/dell-launches-alienware-m15-r5-ryzen-edition-with-up-to-5900hx-and-rtx-3070

Seems that at least for now, they are limiting Ryzen CPUs to the 3060 and 3070 and not putting AMD as an option on their flagship 3080 laptops. No word on the 17 inch either just yet. Baby steps I suppose.

Intel running out of wafers - shortage and extreme price jumps expected for Rocket Lake S in Q2 2021

https://www.igorslab.de/en/intel-going-out-of-wafer-scarcity-and-extreme-price-prices-for-q2-2021-expected/

Well if you were gonna buy Intel which granted, some of them are priced very competitively in the mid ranged, I'd buy them sooner than later if the report is to be believed.

*checks AMD website*

Kinda surprised Sony isn't showing up as they have generally been a big player.

They already backed out in 2019, when they had nothing to show, and it worked well for them. I guess that, since there was no E3 last year either and that didn't hurt them, they've decided to go on their own.

Yeah its a shame, its not really the same E3 without the big three in it. Nintendo did start it with them opting out a year with their big Nintendo Direct. Sony followed suit several years later. I liked it when everything was condensed within a few days, rather than watching loads of different events scattered throughout June.

Nintendo has always been at E3, they just stopped doing conferences for their Directs, but they still had a big Direct for E3.

Ah okay, its just the way its presented that it feels separate from the rest.

On another note I wonder if they'll show the new Switch this year :o A DLSS enabled handheld sounds nuts if the rumours are true!

Yeah, I also passed (again) this month.

Got the VR bundle instead for €12:

Spring into a new Humble Bundle full of virtual reality Steam games! Explore new worlds and even new universes in the new VR bundle, featuring games like Borderlands 2 VR, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and Sairento.

Plus, your purchase helps support a charity of your choice!

Choose one of 3 tiers; the more you pay, the more Steam keys you get:

TIER 1: Pay $1 or more to get Detached

TIER 2: Beat the average price to also receive Star Trek™: Bridge Crew, Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality, Swords of Gurrah and Espire 1: VR Operative

TIER 3: The final tier gets you all the games in the first 2 tiers plus Job Simulator, Sairento VR and Borderlands 2 VR

I'm not sure this E3 is the best scenario for such reveal, but it's not like they can do it in a more traditional way somehere else, so... In any case, if they announce it this year, I hope they're smart enough (or manage to keep the secret enough time) to do it close to its launch. That way sales of the regular console won't suffer much.

I have to say, tho, that I hope they save that for the Switch successor.