Isn't that normal behavior for Rockstar games? Like in GTA that, when you had to steal a certain kind of car you had seen and used lots of times, it was impossible to find.

I always found it weird in GTA games how they are clearly coded to spawn lots of shitty cars when you're driving one, lots of nice cars when you're driving a nice one, etc.

^Is that a fact though, or is it just the mind playing tricks on you? The mind is ludicrously good at playing tricks, so that's my first explanation for a lot of things that can be explained by it.

It may not be in every GTA game, but it is DEFINITELY in some of them and not my mind playing tricks on me. It's like a night and day difference when you step out of one car and into another.

Huh. That's definitely a bizarre mechanic if true. I can come up with some justifications for it, but it still seems like something that's more work than it's worth.

Sometimes we forget how big Intel really is jeez...

Kinda fits the GTA vibe no?

Hey, look! It's the Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG starts the week with three new deals:

• The new flash deal is CrossCode, 40% off during the next 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/crosscode
• The Weekly Sale comes with puzzle and adventure games up to 75% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220131_weekly_sale
• And there's also a new Special Sale featuring games from Meta Publishing with up to 85% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/meta_publishing_sale

Steam's Lunar New Year is still going on.

While the Humble Store will keep its New Lunar Year for another 3 days, there's a new Humble Bundle: the Myst and More Bundle, with up to 12 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/myst-more-bundle.

Fanatical only has one new deal:

• The Star Deal, that started yesterday, is The Jackbox Party Pack 8, 40% off during another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-jackbox-party-pack-8
• And their Lunar New Year Sale is also still going on.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Resident Evil 2 Remake gets an HD Texture Pack, overhauling over 100 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/resident-evil-2-remake-gets-an-hd-texture-pack-overhauling-over-100-textures/
Resident Evil 2 Remake was one of the best-looking games on PC in 2019. Still though, the game suffered from some really low-resolution textures here and there. As such, we are happy to report that modder Ashok has released an HD Texture Pack that overhauls over 100 low-res textures.
As the modder noted, this texture pack overhauls over 100 Resident Evil 2 Remake textures with higher resolution textures (1K – 4K) from Resident Evil 3 Remake. This is a clever move as both of these games use the same environment (Raccoon City). Moreover, the modder has handmade a few convenient store textures.
Overall, these new textures will greatly improve signs, posters, decals, props, etc.
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

New God of War mod lets you mess up Kratos in every way imaginable
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-god-of-war-mod-lets-you-mess-up-kratos-in-every-way-imaginable/
Most of the projects for God of War up on its Nexus Mods site are lighting overhauls or maxed out save files, but one modder over on YouTube is pushing in a more avant-garde direction.
In the past, modder Speclizer has focused on finding out-of-bounds secrets and unused assets in the Last of Us and the console release of God of War, similar to how Zullie the Witch or Lance McDonald do for From Software titles.
>> Check the article to go to his Patreon page, where you'll be able to buy this mod.

GAMING NEWS

God of War Update 1.0.4 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/god-of-war-update-1-0-4-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
God of War came out on PC earlier this month and Santa Monica and Jetpack have already released four patches for it. The teams have just released a brand new update that adds support for DLSS Sharpening slider, and fixes a number of issues.

New Elden Ring gameplay footage and 4K screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-elden-ring-gameplay-footage-and-4k-screenshots/
GameInformer has shared a new gameplay video for FromSoftware’s highly anticipated action RPG, Elden Ring. In addition, the official Elden Ring Twitter account has shared two new 4K screenshots.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Frontline Beta Gameplay Footage Leaked
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-frontline-beta-gameplay-footage-leaked/
It appears that a Closed Beta testing for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Frontline is currently underway. And although there is an NDA, that didn’t stop some players from sharing some gameplay footage from it. As such, you can find below a video showcasing over 30 minutes of gameplay footage from this Closed Beta testing.

Monday news, the long part two:

Elden Ring has multiple poison swamps because 'I can't help myself,' Miyazaki says
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-has-multiple-poison-swamps-because-i-cant-help-myself-miyazaki-says/
Elden Ring, like every Souls game before it, will unfortunately include a poison swamp: a presumably nasty area where you're assaulted by enemies and projectiles that inflict you with the relentless ticking damage of a poison debuff. It turns out creator Hidetaka Miyazaki can't help but make one every time.

Flashy ARPG Lost Ark details pre-load times and servers for February launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/flashy-arpg-lost-ark-details-pre-load-times-and-servers-for-february-launch/
The ridiculously pretty ARPG Lost Ark has been available in Korea since 2018 and is finally getting a western localization and servers in Europe and the Americas next month. Developer Smilegate has now served up details on when you'll be able to preload and where servers will be located ahead of the launch on February 11.

Check out the next project from the creator of Cruelty Squad
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/check-out-the-next-project-from-the-creator-of-cruelty-squad/
Ville Kallio, creator of cult hit FPS Cruelty Squad, has been posting progress updates on his next game, an as-of-yet untitled shoot-'em-up highly reminiscent of the 2001 classic Ikaruga.

Open-world snowboarding in Shredders hits pretty soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/open-world-snowboarding-in-shredders-hits-pretty-soon/
Snowboarding game Shredders will likely hit in February or March, according to a leaked release date and a cryptic Tweet. The Microsoft store in the UK lists Shredders for a March 17, 2022 release date. That seems pretty trustworthy, given that Shredders debuted at Microsoft's E3 showcase and will come to Xbox Game Pass on launch. On January 8th, the Shredders Twitter account said you wouldn't play the game for "at least a month or so."

Players in The Anacrusis have killed about a billion aliens already
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/players-in-the-anacrusis-have-killed-about-a-billion-aliens-already/
Neato alien shootin' cooperative FPS The Anacrusis released as early access a few weeks ago, and studio Stray Bombay seems pretty happy to announce that over 200,000 players have killed over a billion aliens. The Anacrusis has been available as Early Access and/or Game Preview on Steam and PC Game Pass since January 13th. The Anacrusis is doing a "really weird" early access, which has cross-platform, cross-storefront play and metaprogression, among other things.

Microsoft Flight Simulator devs outline plans for helicopters, historic planes, and Australia
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/microsoft-flight-simulator-devs-outline-plans-for-helicopters-historic-planes-and-australia/
Microsoft and Asobo Studio have detailed some exciting changes coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator over the course of 2022 in a development update and attending Q&A on YouTube.

A Star Wars Galaxies revival celebrates 7 months of success
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/a-star-wars-galaxies-revival-celebrates-7-months-of-success/
A fan-driven revival of Star Wars Galaxies has been going strong for seven months, and enters 2022 with big plans to expand, revamp, and even add original content to the 2003 cult hit MMO.

George R.R. Martin may be 'shocked' by how his Elden Ring lore has been twisted
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/george-rr-martin-may-be-shocked-by-how-his-elden-ring-lore-has-been-twisted/
Elden Ring game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has elaborated on just how much the team at From Software has changed and twisted George R.R. Martin's worldbuilding, which formed the overarching mythos for Elden Ring. That myth formed the basis of the world, but Martin's characters existed before the "Shattering" of the eponymous Elden Ring.

Warframe's next expansion is Angels of the Zariman
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/warframes-next-expansion-is-angels-of-the-zariman/
Warframe's first expansion after the giant New War is coming, and it's called Angels of the Zariman. Announced on a developer stream Friday, it's an expansion that will include a new quest, Warframe, and "at least two" new game modes, among other things.

343 reckons it's fixed Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle matchmaking problem (again)
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/343-reckons-its-fixed-halo-infinites-big-team-battle-matchmaking-problem-again/
Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle multiplayer mode hasn't been working as intended for a good while: The problem being that larger parties can't get into games and, even when they do, frequently disconnect. A patch apparently addressing this issue went live a fortnight ago but, unfortunately, the fix didn't take hold and the issue persists and even got worse for some players. "Well, damn...," as 343 Industries' Brian Jarrard tweeted at the time.
A new update on Halo Waypoint says that 343 reckons it's solved the issue, although the patch won't be available till next week at the earliest.

Riot apologises for DMCA takedown on artist for use of the word 'arcane'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/riot-apologises-for-dmca-takedown-on-artist-for-use-of-the-word-arcane/
Riot Games has apologised for wrongly copyright claiming a Ukrainian artist's original work, seemingly for use of the word "arcane."
Kutty Sark was hit with the takedown notice on January 28 for a design being sold on TeePublic. It features a character from her original comic series Arcane Flames which has been going since 2019, with the design dating back to a 2018 Inktober challenge. Presumably, the word "arcane" is what landed her on Riot's radar, thanks to its recent hit Netflix show Arcane—which Sark's work has absolutely zero relation to.

Worms emerges from the mud to issue NFTs
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/worms-emerges-from-the-mud-to-issue-nfts/
Team17 has announced that, yes, it hasn't made quite enough scratch from Worms over the years: So it's crypto time, baby. The publisher is partnering with Reality Gaming Group, probably best-known for that dodgy looking Doctor Who NFT card game, to release NFTs based on the muck-dwelling annelids, which will cover the 26 year history of the series.
>> Another one of the bad list.

A new single-player Gwent game is in the works
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/a-new-single-player-gwent-game-is-in-the-works/
CD Projekt Red has a new Gwent game in the works, due to release sometime this year.
The currently-codenamed Project Golden Nekker is going to be a single-player, standalone version of the beloved card game (thanks, IGN). We already have one of those in the form of The Witcher Tales: Thronebreaker, but Gwent comms lead Paweł Burza claims the two won't share many similarities.

Square Enix says Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 will be revealed this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/square-enix-says-final-fantasy-7-remake-part-2-will-be-revealed-this-year/
2022 marks 25 years of Final Fantasy 7 so it's an excellent time to reveal Part 2 of the remake don't you think? Following the PC port and Intermission DLC of 2021, developers have confirmed that the intention is to reveal the next section of 7's remake this year.